A Playlist for December

I am such a sucker for the holiday season. Growing up in Arizona, I never really experienced any negatives to the winter season. Then, I moved to New York City after graduation and realized that with adulthood and actual seasons come holiday stress and frozen toes. Thankfully, I'm back in the South West and am absolutely loving the holiday season again: I'm close to my friends and family, and the coldest weather I've had to trudge through was a spicy 50 degrees.

I also didn't grow up religious – my dad is a buddhist and my mom is agnostic/spiritual/witchy. But we always celebrated Christmas with fervor as an American holiday. The second Thanksgiving was over, I opened Spotify to my favorite holiday songs. I rediscovered Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin, a song I was obsessed with during winter 2008: While it isn't a particularly cheery song for Christmas, it makes me feel like the holiday has set in. I'm also really into the Christmas albums from the Ramones and LCD Soundsystem, which I had to include. And Christmas isn't really Christmas without gratuitous jazz and Mariah Carey, right?

It's been a fun couple of weeks getting into the holiday spirit. I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do!

1. What a Night! — Harry Connick, Jr.

2. Pull — Efrain Cotilla Duo

3. I'd Like You for Christmas — Nils Landgren, Johan Norberg, Sharon Dyall, and Eva Kruse

4. Blue Christmas — Nicki Parrott

5. My Favorite Things — Kelsea Ballerini and Joey Alexander

6. Rejoice — Fat Cat Jam

7. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (feat. Esperanza Spalding) — John Legend and Esperanza Spalding

8. You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch — Straight No Chaser

9. Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) — Ramones

10. Santa Baby — Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies

11. Dark Blue — Jack's Mannequin