Every year, it feels like Christmas gets here earlier and earlier. Before, you'd know that it was socially acceptable to put up your decorations and begin your shopping as you took your first bite from the advent calendar.
Then, people started dressing up in ugly sweaters as soon as the final piece of turkey and drop of gravy was mopped up with some bread from the Thanksgiving plate. But now, I'm beginning to see fancy lights and tinsel around the town, and it's not even Halloween yet.
It's only a matter before that one really overrated song from Mariah Carey (you know the one) starts to worm its way into my brain, the thought of Mariah Carey cashing those royalty checks for her holiday shopping haunting me for the next six weeks and beyond. All I want for Christmas is to never hear that song again.
I'm all for getting into the Christmas spirit a little early (I kind of wish it could be Christmas all the time), but to paraphrase that Band Aid 30 song, how will I know it's Christmas? The rules have all changed, but I've got a new metric: Christmas starts whenever Oreos come out with holiday-themed treats.
Why? Because I love Oreo cookies so much! And also because I needed an introduction to this article.
Now any Oreo lover worth their creme filling knows that apart from their usual fare, Oreo like to come out with different funky flavours to keep things interesting after several decades of delicious sandwich cookie. But you know that Christmas is just around the corner when Oreo start appropriating their other flavours for a serious Christmas twist.
So remember delicious Mint Oreo? Well, you know what else is mint-flavoured and Christmas themed? Peppermint. So as the nights grow long and cold and we all get that distinct holiday feeling, let's all munch down on a Christmas-themed Peppermint Bark Oreo to take us through the cold winter nights. Yay!
Of course, if you were paying attention back in the heat of summer (I don't blame you if you weren't - summer was great!), it was revealed that we'd get six new flavours back in June.
"An upgrade on the Mint Oreos, this holiday-themed flavor will be amped up with crunchy sugar crystals in the cream. We think this will be a hot commodity come the end of the year," explained Real Simple, and I don't know about you, but I think "hot commodity" might prove to be a huge understatement.
But while Strawberry Shortcake, Pistachio Thins, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, Rocky Road Trip and Mickey Mouse Oreo have all made their grand entrance, I feel as if Oreo are saving their best for last with the Peppermint Bark Oreo cookies. I can't wait, you guys!
So far, they've been spotted online Target and Walmart, so I think it's a matter of mere days before we see them popping up on a shelf near you. I don't know about you, but this is a sign that Christmas has officially arrived.