December 25 – M*E*R*R*Y* C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S* :D

It’s finally here!!!! It’s Christmas Day!!! The very best holiday of the year!!!

Wherever Christmas Day finds you, I hope you have a wonderful day with your family, friends, and loved ones.  We’ll be getting up for a very unhealthy breakfast of Toaster Strudels and chocolate oranges, and then spending the morning opening presents and smelling turkey before we sit down to eat our Christmas dinner.  Then it’s time for a turkey nap and enjoying our presents.  Usually some family stops by in the afternoon and we eat all the Christmas cookies we didn’t have room for at noon.  It’s a lazy day and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve definitely saved my favourite Christmas song for Christmas Day.  As reviled as Celine Dion is, I love her Christmas album and this song in particular.  Enjoy and Merry, Merry Christmas 🙂 See you next year!

 

December 24 – One More Sleep!

I can’t believe it’s Christmas Eve already!! Where did the year go?  I have so much to be grateful for, especially traditions.

My family will be spending the day making seafood chowder, our traditional Christmas Eve supper.  Dad might cook some salt fish, too, so we can have salt fish and molasses bread (that’s the Newfoundlander’s traditional meal).  We’ll go to church tonight to sing some carols, then come home and hang stockings and open new pyjamas to wear to bed. My sister and I are 22 and 26 (respectively) but we would not be happy if any of these traditions got messed with.

Mom will read us a story before bed – Follow that Star.  When we were little then it was off to bed but I think this year we’ll be able to stay up a bit later and maybe watch some Christmas movies.  Whatever happens, we will be singing this song all day 🙂

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Merry Christmas 🙂

December 22 – Christmas Concerts :)

Until I graduated from high school, I attended all the Christmas Concerts in my small town.  Some of them I performed in as a school member, some of them I accompanied choirs.  Then when I moved away, I missed out on some of that, but still managed to attend a Christmas concert somewhere – a church or at my university.  This year was going to be my first year without a Christmas concert but when I got home, my mom showed me the videos from her choir concert so I got some of the excitement of a Christmas concert without having to sit in a hot, crowded auditorium – bonus!

Here’s some of the videos for you to enjoy, too!  Merry Christmas!

 

P.S. I know this is late but it took much longer for the videos to upload than I thought.  Also, I now have participated in my first (and probably only) “Christmas Concert” this year.  I got to sing with Baccalieu Sound at a local extended care facility.  Easily the best part of my Christmas so far 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 23 – Tibb’s Eve!

It’s Christmas Eve Eve – Tibb’s Eve here in Newfoundland 🙂

Tibb’s Eve is the start of the festivities of the Christmas season here in Newfoundland (shortened from Tipsy’s Eve!)

While I won’t be tipsy ALL day, I’ll definitely be enjoying a festive beverage or two this evening 🙂

 

And to continue celebrating Christmas in Newfoundland, here’s a few more Newfie Christmas songs to keep you going!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re from St. John’s, you can’t listen to the next one.  Too bad.

 

December 21 – Home for the Holidays

I finally made it home, after waiting for almost an hour for my suitcase and then a bit of a messy drive home in the snow on slippery roads. I’m loving how so much has changed at home but how familiar everything seems too. I went back to my old primary school for their Christmas singalong this morning and my sister and I decorated our tree this afternoon. The very late arrival at home has left me curled up by the wood stove and ready for a nap. The songs are right; there’s no place like Home for the Holidays.

Posting from my iPad means I can’t add videos, but here’s the URL for Perry Como’s classic Home for the Holidays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xg-hVud3xU&sns=em

Merry Christmas!!

December 20 – HOME HOME HOME HOME HOME!!!!!

Wheeeeeee!!!!! Today is the day!!!! I am off to Newfoundland for Christmas and I absolutely can NOT wait!

SO much to do between now and 8:30 when my flight leaves so I only have time for a quick post, but I’ll be blogging from the Rock from now until Christmas 🙂

While this video may expose every single negative stereotype about Newfoundlanders, it is HILARIOUS!!!! Enjoy! 🙂

December 19 – Make it Snow!

Yet another day in the car kept me away from my blog yesterday, so here’s a quick, nerdy, AWESOME image that expresses my wish for the season 🙂

 

December 18 – Christmas, the way kids see it!

A friend posted this video on Facebook this week and I thought it would be perfect to share with you today.  As excited as I get about Christmas, I wish I could still recapture some of the frenetic excitement of Christmas from my childhood.  The not being able to sleep on Christmas Eve, the absolute magic of the season; sometimes that gets lost as we get older.  Hope this helps you recapture some of that magic!

 

Merry Christmas!

 

December 16 – Office Christmas Parties – WNTW!

I am a huge fan of What Not To Wear – the PVR is set to perpetually record episodes and I watch and rewatch them all the time.  I ♥ Stacy & Clinton and think they give fantastic advice.  I’m not claiming to be a fashion guru; I’m as guilty of going to the grocery store in sweatpants as the next person, but I do try to take their advice to heart when dressing for work and particularly for a work function.  Both J and I have our work Christmas parties today, so with that in mind, here’s some awesome What NOT To Wears for the office party.

5.  A Mr. or Mrs. Claus Outfit – unless you’re being paid to either jump out of a fruitcake or play the big man or his wife for the kiddies, steer clear of the red velour and faux fur.  I think it goes without saying, but DEFINITELY don’t wear this, unless your boss is Hugh Hefner or you work at Hooters:

4.  Any clothes that come with a battery pack

You might think your blinking Rudolph nose or singing, dancing Christmas hat are perfect attire for your Christmas party but after one or two or twelve glasses of eggnog will it be cute anymore?  I’ll save you the mental stress; the answer is No.  Chances are, if you’re “that colleague” withthe annoying musical outfit, your coworkers will want to forcefeed you to the Abominable Snow Creature by the end of the party.  Men, this goes for your choice of neckwear, too. No one wants to hear your tie sing Jingle Bells eleventy million times.

Seriously, rethink that singing, dancing, Christmas pin

3.  Club Wear

Unless you work at a club, this probably isn’t the best occasion to show off your metallic Spandex low cut skin tight cocktail dress.

But it's red... that's festive!

2.  Leggings.

Leggings are not pants.

Let me make myself perfectly clear – LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS.

Leggings are tights masquerading as pants.  Clever marketing and their ubiquitous nature has led us to believe that we can wear leggings with any old top and that all will be well.  This is a lie.  If your top (while standing, sitting, and walking) covers your tush, leggings can look great.  If you are going to the gym, leggings are a perfectly acceptable option.  If you are going to your office party, leggings are probably not your best choice.

And, the number one thing NOT to wear to your Office Party?

CHRISTMAS SWEATERS

Unless you are over the age of 80, or (maybe… and this is a very tenuous maybe) a primary school teacher, there is no need for the Christmas Sweater.  The advent of the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, popular amongst hipsters and those who profess to live a life of irony, should lead you to realize that these sweaters are just a vessel for mockery.  Please, for the love of Christmas, leave the sweaters at home.  This counts doubly if the Christmas sweater also fits in any of the other categories on this list.

*** note: this list should be read as a tongue-in-cheek commentary.  Except for the part about leggings. That’s dead serious. Please don’t hate me.

Merry Christmas!

December 15 – Duets :)

Sorry for the lack of timely post for today – I was out the door by 6:30AM and an icky snowstorm on my drive back left me totally drained.  In an effort to look at the bright side of that long, scary drive, it gave me tons of time to become even more intimately acquainted with my Christmas music library.  I realized that I have a ton of duets on my playlist – some familiar and some notsomuch.  So here’s a few duets to enjoy!