What I have learned over the years is that no matter where we are, the holidays always find a way to creep up on us the same way. Each year, as soon as the leaves begin to change colors, there is an enchanting feeling in the air. It begins with the craze and excitement that leads up to Halloween. There are reruns of Halloween Town, “ghosting” pranks, and home decorations go up all to join in the spirit. Weeks of planning and costume anticipation are spent all for just one night of mysterious fun. But by the time you wake up in the next morning, the race to Thanksgiving has already begun.

November is the month of sweaters, boots, tights, scarfs, and all things pumpkin spice. It’s that great transition between fall and winter for everything weather, apparel, or sports related. It’s the perfect stretch for apple picking and jean jackets. It’s the month when your cheeks blush up from a surge of heat you get after entering indoors from the crisp autumn wind. Best of all, November is summed up by the magnificent day we call Thanksgiving, probably one of the greatest American holidays of all time. There is no religious pressure or stress but instead just a time for family to come together to watch football, the parade, and eat a whole lot of turkey. It is a day devoted entirely to giving thanks, such a wonderful concept –something I think all people could be nudged a little to do.

Literally the day after Thanksgiving, the rush to get in line on Black Friday commences. While this may not be considered truly a real holiday, it is still a fun event that most like to participate in, that marks the start of the countdown to the fun of Christmas. If you are Jew like me, you adore Hanukah and all of the holy traditions and religious rituals, but you still have that guilty pleasure for all things Christmas.

I love seeing snowflake decorations in store windows, singing along to the catchy Christmas songs that play on the radio, all things twinkly and bright, gingerbread, and keeping up with ABC Family’s 25-day countdown to Christmas. There is that amazing smell of fire or burning in the air, and as Hanukah and Christmas come around, it indicates the ending of December. If we are lucky, it may have already began to snow and there may be that bitter wind that nips the end of your nose each time you go outside. If not, don’t fret, that’s just global warming and the days of winter and hot coco with marshmallows are surely on their way.

Just a few days later we enter the New Year! For some this can be a symbol of relief due to the end of a long trudging year, but for others, it’s the sign of a new start and hope for what the future has in store. However, if you peek your nose up from your champagne flute, and look past the balloons and glitter that is New Year’s Eve, we realize that by jumping from one holiday to the next the last three months have flown by with the blink of an eye.

The holidays have a way of making everyone feel warm and cozy –why else would they make fantastic slice and bake sugar cookies depicting little holiday symbols on them? It’s a time for making memories. But what I have learned this year is that, you do not have to be home to experience this mix of emotions and feeling. It’s the people you are with that make it special. This year I got to celebrate thanksgiving both at school and at home. While of course I was excited to return home to my cousin’s house for the holiday, where most of my earliest memories celebrating it are, I got to make my own traditions by celebrating my first thanksgiving at school with my new college friends.

I think the reason we love that holiday stretch from October to January is because the holidays are linked to the seasons. They each roll around at the perfect time, as soon as you start to dread the present you have something to look forward to right around the corner. They keep us grounded and happy. So as long as time continues this addictive cycle of excuses to be around company of family and friends, we are all going to continue experiencing that holiday feels.