As we throw out our pumpkins that have gone bad, and we put away our 12 foot skeletons, it's time to turn to the other holiday boxes we have on our shelves. But before you hang up your tinsel or bring out your menorahs, I regret to inform you that it is NOT Christmas (or any December holiday) yet.

Every time I say this I'm immediately seen as a scrooge by most people already taken by the holiday season, but to that I say that Christmas, the holiday I celebrate EVERY year, is my favorite holiday, perhaps second only to Halloween. Trust me, by the time December 1st rolls around, I too will join in on your merriment and drink peppermint hot chocolate and sing jingle bell rock while wrapping the gifts and trimming the tree. But as someone that is also a fall fanatic I beg you: LET ME ENJOY THIS TIME!

Let me enjoy crunching the leaves under my feet without seeing candy canes in the driveway. Let me enjoy the taste of chai before I start making gingerbread. Let me enjoy my mom's Thanksgiving stuffing before I look for that Christmas ham.

Look you do you, but if I start singing Christmas carols and rewatch Home Alone now I will for sure be burned out by the time the 25th of December rolls around. So if you excuse me, I'll be sipping my chai latte and watching the rest of the leaves fall before it's turkey time.