Getting Into The Holiday Spirit

I have a love/hate affair with “The Holidays,” that period of time that has come to encompass the end of November, all of December and now seems to even be encroaching into January. This is not to be confused with the hate/hate relationship I have with Thanksgiving, covered in my most recent post.

Anyway, my holiday likes: hot chocolate, the abundance of food that suddenly appears at everyone’s houses, Christmas trees, gifts, snuggly hoodies, all the typical sappy stuff, etc.

What I dislike: the expectations. I feel like the holidays are so romanticized by everyone—including America’s biggest retailers—that we have come to expect it to be this magical, warm, happy, fuzzy time where everything is perfect and the sky is filled with marshmallow clouds.

I don’t like the pressure. So I get bummed out pretty easily during the holidays, probably because I’m thinking about how I’m supposed have an ecstasy-like high during this time period, when I really just feel like I do the rest of the year. Except busier. And more full.

One of the things that seems to really perpetuate these expectations: the endless spool of Christmas songs that play over and over from Thanksgiving to Christmas in pretty much every retailer, not to mention the heavy play holiday songs get on the radio. Usually, I’m not feeling it. It makes me kind of headachey. But, I don’t want to be a grinch. So, in an effort to get more into the holiday spirit this year, I’m trying to figure out my perfect holiday playlist. Unfortunately, the holiday songs that I truly, truly enjoy hearing are pretty few. So I need some suggestions. Here’s what I have so far.

Wonderful Christmas Time-Paul McCartney
Happy Christmas (War is Over)-John Lennon
Happy Christmas (War is Over)-Melissa Etheridge
O Holy Night-New Orleans musicians (coordinated by the Tipitina Foundation for the holiday episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)
Mele Kalikimaka-Bing Crosby (and yes, totally on the list just because of its inclusion in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation)

Suggest away!

Giving Thanks...

I'm really not big on Thanksgiving... turkey is one of the few foods I don't care for, and it always seems like the day just drags on and on and on. So the last couple of years Rob and I have decided to take advantage of the built-in vacation days that come with the holiday and travel instead of doing the traditional family dinner. This year, we're headed to London to hang out with Rob's brother Matt and see the sights for a week. As I'm sitting here in Dallas/Fort Worth airport waiting for our connecting flight, I thought it might be nice to do just one thing to celebrate the holiday--give thanks. Here are a few of the things I'm thankful for:

My husband
Family and friends
My house
That I don't live in Texas anymore
Super Mario Galaxy
Colby-Jack Cheese
Kristen Bell
Friday Night Lights
Keri Russell
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
30 Rock
Anthropologie
Banana Republic
CourtTV
Sam Waterston’s eyebrows
Hoodies
The Wire
Lost
Aveda
Alpha-Hydrox AHA Souffle
H&M
Pie
My Garmin GPS
Macs
Laura Mercier
Converse shoes
High-Speed Wireless Internet
PerezHilton.com
Snapped
Entertainment Weekly
Target
World’s Best Burger and my co-blogger. And actual burgers, because they’re tasty.