It’s no secret that the holidays ignite a sense of cheer inside of me that I simply cannot shake. Rather than fight it, I happily embrace it and soak up all of the fun surrounding the holidays.
Since I know a lot of you share my enthusiasm, I thought it might be fun to play a little game that I’ll call “Holiday Favorites.” It’s similar to last year’s Holiday Survey which I thought was a lot of fun! Please feel free to play long in the comments section of this post so we can all get that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from talking about the holidays and our favorite holiday traditions.
- Favorite Holiday Cookie
My grandma Mimi’s sugar cookies. There’s nothin’ better!
- Favorite Holiday Song
O Holy Night.
- Favorite Holiday Movie
Christmas Vacation.
- Favorite Holiday Tradition
When I was growing up in Illinois, my favorite Christmas tradition was my family’s annual Christmas Eve Rudolph walk. My dad would hide a red flashlight deep in the forest behind our house and after the evening Christmas Eve church service, we would all bundle up and head out on a walk in hopes of seeing Rudolph’s nose glowing from afar. When my family and I moved to St. Pete in 2003, my new favorite tradition became our Christmas Eve boat ride in the dark.
Now that my parents moved to Jacksonville and the boat is gone, we’re in the market for a new tradition! Oh! We do still have the pickle ornament tradition, but if you share a family tradition that sounds especially fantastic in the comments section, my family and I may steal yours. You’ve been warned.
- Favorite Holiday Breakfast
Every Christmas morning, I know I can count on monkey bread and my mom’s cheesepuff casserole. They’re family favorites and I love them!
- Favorite Holiday Meal
A seafood feast with lots of shellfish and crab legs.
- Favorite Person to Shop For
My sister.
- Favorite Way to Open Presents
Stockings first while eating breakfast!
Once the stockings are done and our bellies are full, my dad puts on Christmas music and we all seem to take turns opening our gifts. Watching everyone open their gifts is the best… especially the ridiculous gag gifts.
That little gem was a gift to Ryan on Christmas Day in 2008. Ryan will occasionally wear it on our evening walks with Sadie and we laugh because whenever he wears that shirt, we always seemed to get stopped by our neighbors to talk and he’s left standing there looking like a dog-obsessed crazy…. which he is.
- Favorite Tree Topper
After our half-lit mini Christmas tree died a slow death last year, I’m sad to say Ryan and I never got around to buying a tree this year. Oh the horror! We kept flip flopping as to whether or not we should buy a new fake tree or go for the real deal and in the end we settled on… nothing. Next year we will have a tree! I’ll default to my family’s favorite tee topper for this question and say that we have a beautiful angel that sits atop our family tree. My dad waits to put the angel on top of the tree until the whole family is together and we do a ridiculously obnoxious drumroll a la Christmas Vacation.
Question of the Afternoon
- Pick some of your holiday favorites from the above list to share! Favorite holiday tradition? Favorite holiday cookie? Favorite way to open presents? Favorite holiday breakfast?
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