Holiday questions
Whiling away some work time, added my own question at the end, feel free to grab (and adapt) if you'd like.
Eggnog or hot chocolate?
Neither really? But probably eggnog, alcoholic, and not too much of it. My Puerto Rican coworker gave me a bottle of his homemade coquito (coconut eggnog) I'm about to bust into.
Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa wrapped unless it was a huge thing like a bike or dollhouse. Santa's handwriting looked JUST like my dad's!
Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Yes
I like the uniformity of white lights but I like the festivity of multicolored. We have tiny multi on the tree, tiny white on the mantle and kitchen windows, and big fat old fashioned opaque colored on the porch
Do you hang mistletoe?
No, but I would if I could find it fresh
When do you hang your decorations up?
3-2 weeks before Christmas. We don't put up a lot. They stay up through my birthday but I try to have it down by mid-Jan. There was the year of the infamous mid-June tree take down.*ahem*
What’s your favorite holiday dish *including dessert?
Mmm, my mom makes crab muffins/crab delights/crab canapes which I look forward to. Also, cornflake wreath cookies, yes!
Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Getting dressed up for 5 p.m. Christmas Eve mass (love the pomp and pageantry), then the rounds to visit some family friends, then heading to my grandparents as people came in and out all evening and I was beside myself wanting to open gifts. My grandparents' covered every surface with holiday decorations and they had a fake rotating tree and there was Christmas music on from Thanksgiving through mid-January (Nana's birthday). It was magical.
What is on your Christmas wishlist this year?
Thanks to Karina for reminding me about "Pioneer Girl", it's on there now! Also, Swedish gummy candy, Marvel movie DVDs, and random pretty things I found on easy.
Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?
Not now, as a kid it was one gift which was usually something to wear to mass.
How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Well, not all my ornaments are on there because, you know, 4 cats.
It's a mix of ones I inherited from my dad's parents (mid-century glass), ones from Getcrafty swaps, a few sentimental favs from when I was a kid (including ones I made in preschool with my grandfather) and ones I've collected (mostly glass food).
I really want a tree like the ones you see in pictures of Scandinavian christmas trees, that have very few branches. Why, I have no idea.
Snow. Love it or dread it?
Love! As long as I'm not driving in it.
Real tree or fake tree?
Real, I try to buy them from small local sellers. I have a fake one I inherited but, no good smell. I would love to rent a live tree that was then planted somewhere (no room in our yard to plant), there are places you can do that.
Do you remember your favorite gift?
I vaguely remember getting my first Walkman and tapes (1982 I think), and sitting there and listening to them in the middle of present opening. Loved that thing. I still love getting music players, the refurbished basic iPod Justin got me is still chugging along.
More recently, a cone of red and white bakers twine, because I wanted it, I never would have bought it for myself, and Justin paid attention to my wish list!
What’s the most important thing about Christmas to you?
Setting aside special time with friends and family. I like the hush of Christmas Eve evening, the lights, and being tucked away inside (though sometimes we'll go for a walk to see lights), a breather before the hustle of the holiday.
What’s you favorite holiday dessert?
Cornflake wreathes, duh! Also, fruitcake. REAL fruitcake.
What is your favorite tradition?
Justin and I watch Christmas movies, drink and wrap presents on Christmas Eve, and that's fun. We loved doing Unsilent Night (a music installation event) when it was being organized in the city. Personally I like to take a night to kick back, light a fire, and reread my favorite holiday story "I Sing of a Maiden" by Judith Tarr. I wrote her on FB years ago and she responded that she was incredibly flattered that her story had become a part of someone's holiday tradition. You can read it here: http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/I-Sing-of-a-Maiden
What tops your tree?
A gold glitter and semi-opaque (from pieces of shell) lit up star.
Do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving, but, you know, I like getting things too. No lie.
What is your favorite Christmas song?
Right now it's Tim Minchin's "White Wine in the Sun" and the Pogues "Fairytale of New York". "In the Bleak Midwinter" is also a fav.
Candy Canes, yuck or yum?
Eh? I like one a season
Favorite Christmas movie?
Rare Exports. Watch it! It's awesome!
What do you leave for Santa?
As a kid, cookies, milk, and carrots for the reindeer.
They were always gone, with crumbs left on the plate with the chewed nub of carrot . Also, there were footprints in the fireplace ashes, with some of it tracked onto the hearth.
Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?
Now, just try to get out of the house on time with coffee in hand. As a kid it was open stockings in my parents' room on their bed while they worked on their coffee (and I'm sure hangovers). And Christmas morning waffles are a must.
Do you prefer to shop online or at the mall?
Local small business or online
Christmas letter or card?
Card! I'd like to send more of them but I have a basic card list I try to hit for friends and family. I'm ambitious.
What traditions are you trying to start/change? (this is my own added question)
I'd like to change our gift giving in my family, maybe draw names or stuff stockings with fun items. There are no little kids right now in the family so that kind of Christmas present expectations are not happening.
As a non-Christian I'd like to move away from Christmas into celebrating the solstice. I think that a festival of light in the dark part of the year is a great way to bring people together and bolster everyone up, and I do like a festive house filled with greenery and lights and candles and a fire and good food smells. I like traditions that uplift, comfort, and unite people; the rhythm of repetition can be really nice when it's not confining and I'm all for putting a little more magic into the world. It's hard, though, to change gears especially with the familial and societal expectations that hover about. Maybe next year I'll finally make it happen, I'm thinking a potluck with a fire (or bonfire!), warm drinks, maybe some sort of reading/poetry/toasting, possibly some sort of thematic craft/activity. Maybe flaming punch or pudding?
Eggnog or hot chocolate?
Neither really? But probably eggnog, alcoholic, and not too much of it. My Puerto Rican coworker gave me a bottle of his homemade coquito (coconut eggnog) I'm about to bust into.
Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa wrapped unless it was a huge thing like a bike or dollhouse. Santa's handwriting looked JUST like my dad's!
Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Yes
I like the uniformity of white lights but I like the festivity of multicolored. We have tiny multi on the tree, tiny white on the mantle and kitchen windows, and big fat old fashioned opaque colored on the porch
Do you hang mistletoe?
No, but I would if I could find it fresh
When do you hang your decorations up?
3-2 weeks before Christmas. We don't put up a lot. They stay up through my birthday but I try to have it down by mid-Jan. There was the year of the infamous mid-June tree take down.*ahem*
What’s your favorite holiday dish *including dessert?
Mmm, my mom makes crab muffins/crab delights/crab canapes which I look forward to. Also, cornflake wreath cookies, yes!
Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Getting dressed up for 5 p.m. Christmas Eve mass (love the pomp and pageantry), then the rounds to visit some family friends, then heading to my grandparents as people came in and out all evening and I was beside myself wanting to open gifts. My grandparents' covered every surface with holiday decorations and they had a fake rotating tree and there was Christmas music on from Thanksgiving through mid-January (Nana's birthday). It was magical.
What is on your Christmas wishlist this year?
Thanks to Karina for reminding me about "Pioneer Girl", it's on there now! Also, Swedish gummy candy, Marvel movie DVDs, and random pretty things I found on easy.
Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?
Not now, as a kid it was one gift which was usually something to wear to mass.
How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Well, not all my ornaments are on there because, you know, 4 cats.
It's a mix of ones I inherited from my dad's parents (mid-century glass), ones from Getcrafty swaps, a few sentimental favs from when I was a kid (including ones I made in preschool with my grandfather) and ones I've collected (mostly glass food).
I really want a tree like the ones you see in pictures of Scandinavian christmas trees, that have very few branches. Why, I have no idea.
Snow. Love it or dread it?
Love! As long as I'm not driving in it.
Real tree or fake tree?
Real, I try to buy them from small local sellers. I have a fake one I inherited but, no good smell. I would love to rent a live tree that was then planted somewhere (no room in our yard to plant), there are places you can do that.
Do you remember your favorite gift?
I vaguely remember getting my first Walkman and tapes (1982 I think), and sitting there and listening to them in the middle of present opening. Loved that thing. I still love getting music players, the refurbished basic iPod Justin got me is still chugging along.
More recently, a cone of red and white bakers twine, because I wanted it, I never would have bought it for myself, and Justin paid attention to my wish list!
What’s the most important thing about Christmas to you?
Setting aside special time with friends and family. I like the hush of Christmas Eve evening, the lights, and being tucked away inside (though sometimes we'll go for a walk to see lights), a breather before the hustle of the holiday.
What’s you favorite holiday dessert?
Cornflake wreathes, duh! Also, fruitcake. REAL fruitcake.
What is your favorite tradition?
Justin and I watch Christmas movies, drink and wrap presents on Christmas Eve, and that's fun. We loved doing Unsilent Night (a music installation event) when it was being organized in the city. Personally I like to take a night to kick back, light a fire, and reread my favorite holiday story "I Sing of a Maiden" by Judith Tarr. I wrote her on FB years ago and she responded that she was incredibly flattered that her story had become a part of someone's holiday tradition. You can read it here: http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/I-Sing-of-a-Maiden
What tops your tree?
A gold glitter and semi-opaque (from pieces of shell) lit up star.
Do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving, but, you know, I like getting things too. No lie.
What is your favorite Christmas song?
Right now it's Tim Minchin's "White Wine in the Sun" and the Pogues "Fairytale of New York". "In the Bleak Midwinter" is also a fav.
Candy Canes, yuck or yum?
Eh? I like one a season
Favorite Christmas movie?
Rare Exports. Watch it! It's awesome!
What do you leave for Santa?
As a kid, cookies, milk, and carrots for the reindeer.
They were always gone, with crumbs left on the plate with the chewed nub of carrot . Also, there were footprints in the fireplace ashes, with some of it tracked onto the hearth.
Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?
Now, just try to get out of the house on time with coffee in hand. As a kid it was open stockings in my parents' room on their bed while they worked on their coffee (and I'm sure hangovers). And Christmas morning waffles are a must.
Do you prefer to shop online or at the mall?
Local small business or online
Christmas letter or card?
Card! I'd like to send more of them but I have a basic card list I try to hit for friends and family. I'm ambitious.
What traditions are you trying to start/change? (this is my own added question)
I'd like to change our gift giving in my family, maybe draw names or stuff stockings with fun items. There are no little kids right now in the family so that kind of Christmas present expectations are not happening.
As a non-Christian I'd like to move away from Christmas into celebrating the solstice. I think that a festival of light in the dark part of the year is a great way to bring people together and bolster everyone up, and I do like a festive house filled with greenery and lights and candles and a fire and good food smells. I like traditions that uplift, comfort, and unite people; the rhythm of repetition can be really nice when it's not confining and I'm all for putting a little more magic into the world. It's hard, though, to change gears especially with the familial and societal expectations that hover about. Maybe next year I'll finally make it happen, I'm thinking a potluck with a fire (or bonfire!), warm drinks, maybe some sort of reading/poetry/toasting, possibly some sort of thematic craft/activity. Maybe flaming punch or pudding?