Holiday Survival Guide

It's holiday season, which means everyone is back in town. Friends, family, and a most likely a hand full of people you'd rather not see (ie those mean girls from high school, or an ex). Awkward encounters are destined to happen this time of year, so I'm here to spare you a little bit of pain.

Here are a few tips to get you through what is left of the holiday season...

 The Mean Girl:
We've all dealt with a mean girl or two, whether it was the girl in elementary school who made fun of you for not having the most "up-to-date" Limited Two wardrobe, or the girl in high school who spread rumors about how you made out with a hot dog. Either way, you'd probably rather not see her. But if your luck is anything as good as mine, you will.
No matter how badly you want to slosh your vodka tonic across her face at the bar, tackle her Mean Girls style, or point out that time has been far cruder to her than it has been to you, resist the urge!

Instead:
- Be classy by being the first to say hello.
- Don't lie. Rather than feeding her lines like, "it's so good to see you,"ask a simple "how are you?"instead.
- Don't play the one up game. Rather than trying to out-do her with facts about your "fab' life, tell her that things are good overall. Don't embellish.
- Make the encounter short and sweet. A simple, "it was nice seeing you" will do the trick.

Your Ex:
No matter how things ended, it's never fun running into an ex unexpectedly. The situation is most likely uncomfortable, and with luck like mine, you'll run into him after having created a stain the size of texas on the front of your shirt, while his hand sits comfortably around the waist of some new girl. Your gut says run for the nearest exit, your hand begs to slap him, and the alcohol tells you to kiss him but once again, resist the urge.

Instead:
- Grab a glass of water rather than another drink. You never know what will come out of your liquored-up mouth in this moment of desperation.
- Once again, don't play the one up game. We are young, you have a few more years before you have to have your life together. You've accomplished a lot of things, but at our age, no one's life is anywhere near perfect, meaning there is no reason to try to make your life seem better than it truly is.
- Keep the conversation brief and light.
- Go your separate ways. It didn't work out for a reason, no need to try again.

GOOD LUCK!