With the holidays officially beginning (for me, at least) in a few days with Halloween, I decided to do some research and see what would be involved in re-creating the holidays from my childhood. If I ever did decide to do that, it might look a little something like this:

1 polyester Princess Leia Halloween costume, including paper mask with cut-out eyeholes and an elastic band stapled across the back (which immediately becomes layered in condensation as soon as you take a breath, and pulls out little pieces of your hair every time you turn your head): $10.00 on ebay

1 set of large, ceramic Christmas tree light bulb strands, with at least one dead bulb which no one thought to mark last Christmas when we took the tree down: $25.00 on ebay

The rush of adrenaline that comes from knowing that at any moment you, your Christmas tree, and possibly your whole house could burst into flames due to the extreme flammability of all holiday products manufactured in the 1970’s: priceless.