Kat Von D's got my coat...

I love Christmas. For all the usual reasons like white lights and fudge and Christmas music, but for years one of the things I looked forward to most was dragging my perfect Christmas coat out of the closet for its once a year wearing. I’m not sure what possessed me to purchase it in the first place; maybe it was because it was the perfect shade of green. I love green.  Not hunter, not moss, not pea, not too bright and not too light. The perfect green.  Green velvet. If you’re familiar with Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B brand, you won’t be surprised when I describe it as a mash-up of  anime/the 80’s/pirate wear for women like me who just can’t seem to resist over the top details, plaid, or fringe. Ever since I was little I've had a very specific fashion concept in mind. The year I turned seven, it was covering my arms. Even in the heat of summer, I’d be sporting long-sleeves. In high school and college the drum beat of my own drummer intensified; my friend Beth once told me that I was the only person she knew who could wear green pants, a lilac top, crisscrossed Heidi braids, boots and get away with it. I’d describe my aesthetic as bohemian-cowgirl-lumberjack-old man-tablecloth. You are starting to understand how this magical swashbuckling pirate meets Victorian Goth L.A.M.B. coat ended up in my closet in the country. But once a year, I would step out of my country-mom  life of jeans and t-shirts and reverently remove this green confection from my closet and wear it to church on Christmas. Yes, church on Christmas. I felt like a million bucks wearing it, and I have no idea what anyone else thought when they saw me stride into the Christmas Eve service like I had a cutlass strapped to my waist, just in case.  You never know when s@#$s gonna get real.  

And then one year, just months before Christmas, I decided to let it go. I was having a saddle made and decided that coat sitting in my closet for 364 days each year could be put to better use as funds to go towards my saddle. This thought was compounded with my own personal moment of illumination when I realized that I was probably quite a bit too many years over 20 to be wearing such a thing and was edging towards eccentric rather than edgy, and I wasn’t ready for the old women wear purple/or red hats club. So I said goodbye to my coat.  I wore it one last time in the privacy of my closet, and listed it on eBay. There were black velvet coats of the same style for sale, but no green coats like my magical coat. I did my research and then doubled the price, because while I had said goodbye, I really enjoyed having that coat in my life and its new owner would have to pay dearly for the privilege of calling it their own. Less than 24 hours later my magical green coat sold. While packaging the coat to mail, I shook my head twice when the addressee said 'Kat Von D, Los Angeles.' The Kat Von D of LA Ink, Jesse James/Sandra Bullock infamy, and the bomb makeup line at Sephora. That Kat Von D. I couldn’t think of any more polar opposite life my coat could be living, and had to thank the universe for irony and the  general cosmic weirdness (and probably the best validation of my decision to let this coat to on to greener pastures)  of my magical coat leaving our small rural county to head down to LA for KVD to wear.

This year I was missing my green coat and wishing Christmas had lasted a little bit longer. I love the whole holiday season, but I always feel like I’m a little (and sometimes a lot) behind in getting my holiday on. This year we barely got the tree up before Christmas and my idea of decorating was to throw some colored lights on the wine opener and call it good. It always feels bittersweet when it’s time to put the lights away and drag the dried up tree out for our family tradition of lighting it up with a Roman candle (but I won’t miss nutcrackers).  But I like New Year’s too. I like the concept of turning the page, arbitrary or not. I think people who like/don’t like New Year's are probably as divided as those who like nutcrackers and those who don’t (I’m a don’t). I like looking back at the year past; the good, the bad, the ugly and hopefully the forward progress. I like thinking about the fresh year before me. A new year feels like a blank canvas, and a cleansing wash of opportunity to set new goals and cultivate new joys. I hope your New Year's feels the same. 

 Maybe I’ll find a new favorite coat this year. - xoxo