A holiday meme...
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, definitely. Egg Nog, whether it’s spiked or not just does not do it for me. Hot chocolate conjures up thoughts of ski lodges with roaring fires, people cuddled under blankets and frosty nights.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? They’d always been wrapped...unless there’s some sort of paper shortage at the North Pole.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Depends on the tree, I would say. My parents always have the colored lights, but I see trees that are simply the white ones and they look just as pretty. If you have a lot of colorful ornaments, I’d say run with the colored lights.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Haven’t in a long time. Can you even buy mistletoe?
5. When do you put your decorations up? I have to admit, we haven’t in a few years. It’s because most of our ornaments are pet-related and since our beloved Puddy Tat crossed the rainbow bridge, I just don’t have the heart to put the kitty ornaments out. Growing up, we’d put the tree up on my sister’s b-day (December 9th) and always keep it up for my b-day (December 28th) as well.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I’m a sucker for green bean casserole made with cream of mushroom soup and those fried Durkee onions on top. Mmm, mmm, mmm...
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: We had just moved to Alabama from Massachusetts and I was not confident that Santa Claus would be able to find me. We moved into a house that my grandfather owned and used to have his business in. He had put the word “Marley” (his last name) on the chimney to indicate the business. Well, when we moved in, my parents told me the lettering was there so Santa would know where I lived. And yes, he found me, because Christmas morning, there were boot prints in the fireplace. (Came to find out years later that my brother had put on Dad’s boots to make the prints.)
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My cousin Ben told me in third grade, “You go sleep with your parents on Christmas Eve and see if they don’t get up in the middle of the night.” I was horrified. Cried for days.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No...I just stare at them and impatiently try to figure out what they are.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I learned this growing up. You put the lights on first, then the garland and then you fill in with the ornaments. Angel/star on top is always the last as a crowning touch.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Well, 13 years of New England Nor’easters and I think I’m through visiting with the snow.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes. Have a great pair of Bauer hockey skates. No toe pick for this girl! A couple of years ago I took lessons, skated a lot, could skate backwards and even do a spin. Skated on our cruise last month – so cool to have an ice rink on the ship! – and didn’t do too poorly on the healed broken foot.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My green neon skateboard was a favorite. I’d asked for one, but was sure I wouldn’t get it. I’d opened all my presents and I didn’t have it and then my father told me I’d missed something behind the tree (it was in the corner of the room) and there was George. Yes, I named it.
14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? It used to be how everyone was so happy, pleasant and friend, but our society seems to have lost that holiday spirit, at least when it comes to peace, love, tolerance and joy. I wish we could get back to that.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Cheesecake in any shape, format or flavor – except don’t put death nuts in the crust or on top!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I always have to watch Rudolph and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. They’re the best...ever. I love the songs, the claymation, the story, the moral, the good feelings..everything. True, true, classics. Oh yeah, and I have to watch Bing and Fred in Holiday Inn. I can practically recite the entire movie.
17. What tops your tree? A star.
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I’m a pretty strong giver and like to give people special little things to help them remember me. I’ve always enjoyed making other people smile and giving them something memorable. I certainly appreciate receiving gifts, too. (Reminder...there are ten shopping days until my birthday. LOL!!)
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Wow...so many to choose from. I was in choir growing up and we religiously (no pun intended) went caroling and always put on big Christmas pageants/presentations. I absolutely love The Hallelujah Chorus and Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella and O Little Town of Bethlehem. The harmonies on those are just magical.
20. Candy Canes? What about them? They’re awesome! They’re a total necessity to the season.
I tag all our blog readers to answer in the comments section. We'll have one big holiday party there...how's that?
Marley = )
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6 comments:
Okay, I'll go first (rather succinctly)...
1-Hot chocolate
2-Wrapped presents
3-Colored lights
4-Yes to Mistletoe (we buy it from the Boy Scouts)
5-Decorations go up all month long
6-I love that GB casserole, too!
7-I remember being over-the-moon to find a Pebbles the Flintstone doll
8-And older friend told me about SC when I was only 4!
9-Yes, we open a present
10--We have what I call a "family Xmas tree," which means rich in kid-made ornaments and memory ornaments
11-Love snow (but it's easy to when you live in LA)
12-Yes, I ice skate, and I remember doing some of that on a pond as a kid
13-I always liked dolls, so all dolls were favorites
14-I love the no-pressure family time at Christmas
15-No special holiday dessert, I generally eat anything offered me!
16-Holidays traditions have changed, but right now I enjoy watching Christmas in Connecticut
17-A star tops our tree
18-I'm basically a giver, although every year I buy books for myself, wrap them and write "To Tina" with my husband's name!
19-I like many, but "Silent Night" always does it for me.
20-Candy canes are cool, and not nearly as fattening as some other Christmas treats.
Thanks, Marley!
Tina
Oh my gosh, this is SO fun! Here I go.
1)Hot chocolate-I've never tried egg nog I'm afraid I would love it & it's so fattening I don't need another fattening vice.
2)definitely wrapped presents
3)I have colored lights on my little 3ft tree, but I love the white ones too. We didn't set up a big tree this year b/c we knew our littlest one would constantly try to karate kick it to the ground.
4)I've never hung mistletoe, but I think it's so romantic.
5)Decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving and don't come down until after New Years Day.
6)I love stuffing!
7)Catching a glimpse of what I thought was Santa as I was half asleep. I found out later it was just my mom in her red robe.
8)I don't remember my age, probably around 3rd grade. I had my susciptions then I found the wrapping paper "Santa" had used under my mom's bed.
9)yes and usually a couple before christmas eve b/c I'm horrible about wanting people to open stuff immediately.
10)I kind of just throw everything on. I hate decorating the tree. I love looking at it, but would rather pay somebody to come decorate for me.
11)Love snow, we don't get enough anymore.
12)No, I can barely walk and chew gum.
13)Cabbage Patch Kid- a blond haired girl named Amelia
14)For my family to be happy and hopefully together, although this keeps getting harder and harder
15)I love peanut brittle, but nobody really makes it anymore. I guess I'll have to learn.
16)Every year I watch Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, and It's a Wonderful Life to get me in the holiday spirit.
17)An angel
18)BOTH!
19)Rocking around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee
20)It's funny because I'm usually not a mint or peppermint person during the year, but I do love to suck on candy canes. I like dipping them in a can of Coke.
Ooh, that was fun. I can't wait to read everybody else's responses. thanks, marley!
1. Hot Chocolate, with peppermint schnopps
2. Unwrapped, in piles so each kid knows whose is whose (not that we didn't try to swipe things from each other's piles
3. either
4. it's fun when you put mistletoe up and catch unsuspecting house guests
5. I decorate any time after Thanksgiving
6. bourbon cake
7. my mom's tradition of giving my sis and me a piece of pretty jewlery every year
8. not sure what you mean by this one ...?
9. used to open 'em all on Christmas Eve(Santa gifts on Xmas morn) but now my husband makes us wait
10. lots of gold stars (I went crazy at Pottey Barn my first year of marriage) and homemade ornaments
11. love it until April, then I'm ready to wear flip-flops again
12. I pretend to do fancy tricks
13. Nicky my potbellied teddy bear
14. seeing the look in my boys' eyes when they come downstairs Christmas morning
15. bourbon cake, as mentioned above. Also like those ball-shaped chocolate cookies rolled in powdered sugar
16. singing and dancing to Ricky Martin's "Aye Aye Aye It's Christmas" with my boys (a great way to battle the holiday weight gain!)
17. A huge gold star (Pottery Barn vintage -- ha ha!)
18. both, but I feel more comfortable in the role of giver
19. Jingle Bells as performed by the Bare Naked Ladies (it has the batman lyrics)
20. Candy Canes? Ugh. Only if I have an industrial-sized box of handy-wipes for my boys to use
Wendy Toliver
green bean casserole rocks the house especially with a lot of mushrooms ad crispy onions on top.
1. Egg Nog, of course. You can have cocoa anytime -- it's always good -- but egg nog is seasonal. And then there are the Egg Nog shakes at fast food joints... yum.
2. Wrapped.
3. White lights always look good. There once was this house down the road from me that had snowmen in the front yard with... red lights. Not good, people.
4. I used to have mistletoe hanging above my writing desk year round. Sadly, it was ineffective. Haha.
5. I put up decorations about two weeks ahead.
6. Fave holiday dish is my dad's Christmas cake. It has choclate, coconut, figs, cherries, almonds and more. Soooo good. It's a family heirloom. Also Dad's Christmas Eve Chowder with crab, scallops, mussels, clams, shrimp. Hungry now...!
7. Fave memory... maybe my first Christmas after college when my sis and I rented a house together. We bought a Charlie Brown tree from some boyscouts and then made homemade ornaments out of pictures from TV guide, egg cartons, and sprinkles. I think we hung them with paperclips. It was a horribly lovely tree.
8. I learned the truth about the Big Guy when my bro revealed the hidden presents in my parents' closet. Thanks for that.
9. We ABSOLUTELY open gifts on Christmas Eve. It's the only time my fam is together, so we like to open and enjoy that night. In the morning, we open presents from significant other, out of town relatives, etc.
10. This year I decorated my Target tinsel tree with little glass balls. It's very retro festive.
11. I like snow.
12. I am not the best ice skater, but I've got a tough booty. Ha.
13. One of my favorite gifts was an Amy Tan book from my Dad about six years ago. He had stood in line for two hours to have her sign it at a Costco in Wisconsin. The inscription read, "To Heather, Keep writing that novel. Amy Tan." It was so special because it was my dad's first acknowledgement of my writing dream. I cried then, and I'm getting misty now. What a sap, I am....
14. The important thing about the holidays is appreciating your family and friends and loving them just as they are
15. Dad's Christmas Cake described above.
16. Fave holiday tradition is getting together on Christmas Eve.
17. My tree is naked on top. Bald, I guess.
18. I like giving. Receiving is pretty good, too. :)
19. Fave Christmas songs are ... Melekaleeki Maka sung by Bing Crosby, Happy Christmas by John Lennon, Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth by David Bowie and Bing Crosby, Do They Know It's Christmas by BandAid, and for traditional hymns... The Holly and The Ivy and In the Bleak Midwinter.
20. Candy Canes are good if they are rootbeer flavor, or if they are regular ones crushed into ice cream. Mmmm.
Since I'm Jewish, I'll answer them as best I could:
1.Egg Nog (unspiked)
2. Harry Hanukkah wraps
3. White lights
4. Not a Jewish tradition, sorry
5. Menorah comes out the first day of Hanukkah and goes back in the cabinet on the last.
6. "Latkes" - potato pancakes
7. Lighting candles with the fam
8. I always knew...parents didn't want me to think Santa didn't like us.
9. N/A
10. N/A
11. Love snow!
12. yes, but not after my back surgery
13. A Rubiks cube
14. Being with family
15. Cookies
16. Going to see the lights at Sauganash - a town in Chicago
17. N/A
18. Giving
19. You make it feel like XMas by Neil Diamond
Thanks for this post, Marley!
~Simone Elkeles
www.simoneelkeles.com
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