With its drizzly rain, cold weather, and short, dark days, sometimes it seems like November is the cruelest month, or at least the most hated. But although summer days are now long past, there are plenty of reasons to love November! Here are ten of them:
1. You can get leftover Halloween candy for cheap.
Halloween is now over, and you know what that means…cheap candy! Like the day after Valentine’s Day and the day after Christmas, now is the time to stock up on all your favorite sweet treats.
2. Election Day
November 6 is Election Day, so you can go out there and exercise your right to vote! Even if your candidate doesn’t win, November means that the long presidential race is OVER – and I know that at least some of you are getting as sick of election coverage as this little girl.
3. NaNoWriMo
November is National Novel Writing Month, so sharpen those pencils or get that keyboard clacking! There’s still plenty of time to sign up and get writing.
4. Warm sweaters and fuzzy socks
November is cold enough to wear all your favorite warm clothing. Bury yourself in knit sweaters and stock up on fuzzy socks and scarves – or knit them yourself!
5. November movies
With plenty of blockbusters, Oscar-bait, and indie flicks, November is a great month for movies. This year, we’re looking forward to Vamps, Starlet, Anna Karenina, and Life of Pi.
6. Ice skating
November means the start of ice skating season! Whether you’re twirling gracefully or falling over, and whether you’re at the Rockefeller Center or a homemade rink in a hose-flooded Midwestern backyard, ice skating is one of the best parts of winter.
7. Thanksgiving food coma
November means Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving means food! We can’t wait to sink our teeth into turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.
8. Black Friday
Thanksgiving means Black Friday, the most hectic shopping day of the year. Black Friday is the perfect time to stock up on holiday presents for your family – or “You Survived Black Friday!” presents for yourself.
9. Holiday songs on the radio
You might be a little sick of them by the time Christmas comes around, but it’s always exciting when holiday songs first come on the radio. Here’s one of my favorites – John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Christmas (War Is Over).”
10. Peppermint, gingerbread, and cinnamon flavored everything!
October means pumpkin-flavored everything, but November means the “winter flavors” come out! From Starbucks red cups to Trader Joe’s seasonal treats, it seems like everywhere you go is tempting your tastebuds with peppermint, cinnamon, or gingerbread-flavored coffee, tea, cookies, cereal, and, well, everything! Mmmm….tastes like November.
Images courtesy of pledman/sxc.hu, spiders/sxc.hu, wired.com, flickr.com/polkadotcreations, facebook.com/AnnaKareninaTheMovie, flickr.com/bensonkua, alex27/sxc.hu, linder6580/sxc.hu, ale_paiva/sxc.hu