All of the decorations and the advertising have taken their toll: I have given in and started Christmas shopping. Even though Thanksgiving isn’t until Thursday and Christmas is more than a month away. And there’s actually very little that I still need to do - a few miscellaneous items that need to be purchased in person or were not in stock when I looked for them online, but I have plenty of time for all of that.

Here’s my final capitulation: I have switched my standard Starbucks drink from a red eye to a skim peppermint mocha for the duration. That’s right - I’m motherfucking festive.