Every year before the start of December I go on a quest for a cool Advent calendar. Counting down the days until Christmas using an Advent calendar is my favorite childhood tradition. I am fascinated by the designs that range from simple to elaborate and the different surprises behind each little window. I own a wooden Advent calendar that I have enjoyed for years that is carved into the scene of a ski village and when you flip each window block it reveals a different toy, but every year I always buy a new paper Advent calendar. One of my friends who lives in Seattle surprised me this year with a calendar from her area that has a classic design of two children with sparkles and behind each window is a letter spelling out a message and a different flavored gourmet chocolate from Seattle Chocolates (photo above). Two of the most unusual paper Advent calendars I have enjoyed are: a NHL-themed calendar from Canada that had 32 days of team logos – one day for each team in the league and a beautiful pop-up calendar called Dream Snow that I bought through MOMA — each day revealed an ornament you could hang on the tree or present you could put inside one of the boxes. I can’t wait to see what next year holds in store!