Day One: Here We Go Again!

“Oh great. You’re doing this again?”
– Unnamed family member


Yes. I’m back!

Warning! I’m about to do some writing about this adventure and my life the last few months. If you’re not one of the approximately six people who actually care about what I’m going to be writing about, feel free to skip down to the part where it says “YEAR SIX. DAY ONE.” and look at the pictures and go on your merry way. No judgment from me whatsoever, and I will still love you just the same.

The remaining six of you, I do have a confession to make: I’m so far behind this year. Normally by now, I’d have all my sweaters numbered, I have music picked out, I would have given the blog a facelift of some sort, and I would have been so ready to go. This year, not so much! All of my sweaters for this year are in a pile on the floor. Heck, I didn’t even get my last one until yesterday. Granted, I don’t have to have all my sweaters on the first day considering this blog will span the next several weeks, but I like to be prepared. Why am I so far behind this year?

I think a lot of it has to do with major life changes the last few months. As you may know, I was let go from my job in September. After several weeks of freaking out and not knowing what was going to happen next (plus a lot of eating my feelings… see: fuller figure), I landed a new job with awesome coworkers. Around that same time, I got a dream role in our community theater’s musical. I feel like I’ve been on non-stop sprint (metaphorically, obviously… Will you pass the pie, please?) since the beginning of October. I am also getting ready to move into a new apartment soon. So, perhaps mentally I didn’t even realize that December was coming.


A few things that are different this year:

1. No Christmas Mugs. I mentioned this to a friend the other day and she seemed a bit shocked. To answer your most burning question: Yes, I am still obsessed with coffee mugs. The last couple years, it really has been fun to find all of these quirky mugs and people have seemed to enjoy them. This year, I decided to do away with that portion of the blog. A: sweaters are expensive (especially some of the ones I’ll talk about in the next point) and I don't need to be spending extra money on mugs. B: they aren’t as easy to store as sweaters. I have several boxes of Christmas mugs in our basement that I’m not really sure what to do with. I don’t need to add to that chaos. C: I just ran out of time. I racked my brain to think of something fun to replace them with. Socks? Ties? Brooches? Maybe if I’m still doing this next year, I’ll come up with something cool. Until then, it’s just the sweaters

2. More themes. The sweaters that I got most feedback on last year were the ones from different movies. I got the most compliments on the Star Wars sweater I bought for the premiere night of The Force Awakens. (I do have a new one for Rogue One. Stay tuned). So, I figured this year I’ll have a few more sweaters that come from some of my favorite movies and TV shows. I also have a bunch of thrift store finds too, so if that’s more your style, don't give up hope!

3. Movie suggestions? Along with my Christmas album of the day, maybe I’ll suggest a great holiday movie. I’m still toying with this idea. I’ll try it the next few days and see if I like it. Your feedback would be awesome!

4. More personal. I have a problem every year where I start off December and I’m really excited about the blog, but about halfway through I start to get a little bored and say things like, “Here’s today’s sweater! It’s gross! Bye!” Maybe it’s because I just read Anna Kendrick and Lauren Graham’s autobiographies back to back, but I really want to try and write more. The other day, I came across a file of a letter that I wrote several years to an old friend that I’m no longer close to anymore. It was a nice reminder of who I used to be and how far I’ve come as a person. It may be silly, but I thought that it would be good material to look at years from now when I sit down to write my own memoir about my weird life. I know it seems like I’m off on a tangent at the moment, but I do want to have a more detailed record of this part of my life, even if it is only 25 days in December.

As you may remember, this blog really started out as a joke back in 2011 during my senior year of college. I really didn't think it would last as long as it did.  Dad is still a little bit upset that I’m not Internet famous yet, but there are a lot of people who have heard about my blog. I went back to Milligan for homecoming last month, and someone said, “Oh! You’re the Christmas sweater guy!” About five other people whipped their heads around and said things like, “Oh! I love you blog!” While I might not have gone viral (yet?), I do have some awesome followers, and I’m thankful for each and every one of you.

Is this my last year? Who knows? It is something I consider every year, but I’ve kept coming back so far. So, let’s go on another journey together and see what happens. Sound good? Are you ready?

YEAR SIX. DAY ONE.

Those of you who skipped ahead…. Are you back with us? Great!
Here is today’s outfit:

A friend of mine said that he calls this one “Great Grandma meets Country.”

It resembles a doily pasted on a red sweatshirt. The figure looks like an angel wearing a wedding dress with a bouquet of poinsettias? I’m not sure. It’s quite a strange image if you really think about it.

I purchased this one at the Goodwill that is right down the road from my new office. Awesome!

MOVIE OF THE DAY

Growing up, I was first introduced to Dolly Parton not as a singer, but as an angel in training in the 1996 movie Unlikely Angel. Does anyone else remember this movie? I was doing some cleaning over the summer and I found my old VHS copy. I remember being in love with it.

If you’re not familiar with this movie, it’s about a country singer named Ruby Diamond (obviously played by Parton) who dies in a car accident. Get gets to heaven, but they won’t let her in until she goes back to earth to bring a family back together just in time for Christmas!! CLASSIC. I don't know why I was so obsessed with this movie, but I remember watching it often. You can find the whole thing in pieces on YouTube.

Here’s a clip from the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h4fhJeb8jg
(For some reason it wouldn't let me embed the video, so I just posted a direct link instead.)

Also, this movie features a pre-Smallville Allison Mack. The nerd side of me thinks that is really cool.

SOUNDTRACK OF THE DAY

Since I’m in a Dolly Parton mood, let’s listen to her 1990 album Home For Christmas, shall we?

CONNECT AND SHARE

Don’t forget! Feel free to send me pictures of your Christmas sweaters! I’d love to share them on my blog! Send them to brennansethtracy@gmail.com.

Also, make sure you go “like” my FACEBOOK page and “follow” the TWITTER account.

If you want to be my friend, you can also follow my personal Twitter and Instagram.


And we’re off to a great start! I think I’ve got a bunch of great sweaters this year, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of all of them! I do this for YOU!

See you tomorrow!
Stay tacky,
Brennan