Throw this Seinfeld-inspired, shame-free Regifting Party
We’ve talked about what to do with gifts you don’t want on Offbeat Home & Life before. One of the suggestions is to regift — that wonderfully taboo idea many of us are familiar with thanks to Seinfeld. Thanks to my extended family’s incredible generosity but general cluelessness about what I want or need for Christmas, every year I find myself with a bunch of gifts that are very nice, but not quite what I want. After some conversations with friends in the same boat, I decided that regifting shouldn’t be a dirty word. It should be an excuse for a party!
New Year’s resolution + bucket list = Choose your own adventure with 101 in 1001 lists
So what is a 101 in 1001 list? Simply put, a list of 101 things that you’d like to do in 1001 days. It fits somewhere between a New Year’s resolution (1001 days is about 2.75 years) and a bucket list.
I shaved my head, and I feel beautiful
This past Halloween, I shaved my head for my costume.
It’s something that I’ve thought of doing for years. A little bit daring, really easy to do, and wouldn’t it be fun to see what my head looked like underneath the hair?
More exciting than being Superman: What it’s like living as a closeted, trans, sex worker
I keep trying to come up with a snappy way to describe the experience of living a triple life, and I keep failing. For a while, I was telling new people that I was like a really boring version of Superman but that doesn’t feel true either. I am “Legal Name,” “Sullie,” and a sex worker. In a single day, I might check five different emails, four Twitter accounts, two Tumblrs, and two Facebooks before I even get out of bed.
What holiday traditions have you kept or created as your lives have changed?
Currently my husband and I live in my childhood home with my father. Every Christmas here we do what my dad has always done. As my husband and I dream and prepare to be out of my childhood home, we talk about starting our own Christmas and holiday traditions.
Money envelopes have taken over my life in the most overwhelmingly wonderful way
About a year ago, my partner and I — while broke and realizing that our Christmas money budget was about negative fifty dollars — had an idea. We grabbed a few envelopes, and on each one, wrote the name of a bill, the amount it typically cost, and when the bill was due. We put the envelopes in a stack in our room, and with every paycheck, we’d take a bit out to put in the envelopes. But guys, these envelopes, they are taking over my life!
How kitty sweaters, virtual fires, and friends saved the day I had to work on Christmas day
Last Christmas was a lonely one for me. I was separated from my family and I had to work. My heart was broken. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. After my Christmas fate was sealed, I told my group of besties about how sad I was about missing my favorite part of Christmas for work. We then decided to have our own Christmas celebration after my shift was over. The name for our shindig was not original, but it meant the world to me: Friend Christmas.
How do you celebrate birthdays that fall on, or close to, holidays?
We welcomed our sweet baby boy in to the world last year on Christmas Eve. My husband’s birthday is the 28th, so he’s not a stranger to being forgotten at Christmas time. But in this Pinterest-crazed day and age, I feel kind of put-out that we won’t be able to have big birthday celebrations, as almost everyone will be busy with Christmas festivities. Any suggestions?