HOLIDAYS 2014 - THE CHRISTMAS TAG

by - December 02, 2014



Now that December has hit, I'm planning to do a lot of holiday related posts. Now is the time of family and parties and madness all around us and I absolutely love this time of year (minus the stress that comes with it, but we try to ignore that.) I have a few more posts already planned for the coming weeks, but when I saw this tag over at Glitter Diaries, I knew I had to get in on it as well. So without further adieu, keep reading for The Christmas Tag...
 



1. What is your favourite Christmas Movie/s?
I'm pretty much a fiend for Christmas movies come this time of year, but every year without fail I watch The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2. (Already forced my boyfriend to watch it the night we put up the Christmas tree.) I also really love the first two Home Alone movies and the Doctor Who Christmas Specials... Those count, right?

2. Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
In my family we have a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve at the big family celebration we have every year and then the rest are opened on Christmas morning. I love this tradition and I go out of my way not to miss it every year, because I love the ceremony of doing something like this every Christmas throughout your life.

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?
The first Christmas memory to pop into my head was sneaking out of bed and falling asleep next to the Christmas tree "waiting up for Santa" when I was a kid, but that's not actually my favorite memory. In my family, during our Christmas Eve celebration, we used to do a kind of pageant when we were kids. All the kids would prepare some kind of performance and sing or dance or do skits for the rest of the family. I'm not even sure how old I was at the time, but I remember me and my cousin getting up and performing a New Kids On The Block Christmas song for everyone. And it was ridiculous. But hilarious to remember.

4. Favourite festive food?
Every year the ladies in my family make vinarterta, which is a traditional Icelandic Christmas cake. It's a tower with thin layers of white cookie-like cake and a prune based filling and a white icing. You can sometimes find it at farmers markets and some bakeries, but I've never found one better than my Amma's. I know that the prune part might put some people off, but I swear it's delicious. Another Icelandic treat that I love at Christmastime is Pönnukökur, which is basically a crépe. My Amma makes them on a special pan that she got from Iceland and then rolls them tightly with cinnamon sugar. Mmmm. Is it Christmas eve yet?

5. Favourite Christmas gift?
I was going to say that I didn't know if I could name one gift that would be above the rest, but that's not true. My favorite Christmas gift is handknitted socks, scarves, mittens, etc. I love the kinds of gifts that have that stamp of uniqueness and the effort of DIY. Know what I mean?

6. Favourite Christmas scent?
I love spicy holiday scents like cinnamon and nutmeg, so I absolutely go crazy for the smell of Snickerdoodles cooking. They're my favorite Christmas cookie, but I think it's probably just as much about the baking scent as it is about the taste of them.

7. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?
For my family all of the traditions come on Christmas Eve. As me and my cousins get older the old "progam" of performances and carols has started to go by the wayside, but some traditions still remain. First, we always sing The 12 Days of Christmas as a family, with pairs or groups getting assigned a day to sing. This was a favorite of my Grandpa when he was still with us and probably remains a tradition for that reason. Grandpa always sang Five Golden Rings. We also have the one present tradition and a photo tradition where all of the grandkids take a photo with Amma.


8. What tops your tree?

This year is the first year that my boyfriend and I are putting up a tree together, so we had to get new ornaments. I picked up a small sparkly gold angel ornament that sits beautifully on top of our teeny, tiny tree. Neither of us are particularly religious, but she's very pretty.

9. As a kid what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received?

POWER WHEELS. Oh man, I always wanted a Power Wheels so badly. Obviously, being that I was kind of a girly tomboy, I wanted a pink Jeep so that I could roll up on all my neighborhood friends like a grown boss. This, of course, was a complete pipe dream... and I'm kinda glad, because I would have crashed that shit in no time. Or gotten maimed in a collision with a real car.

10. What's the best part about Christmas for you?
For me, it's all about family. I absolutely love my family and I love the traditions that surround Christmas. Of course, I also love just the spirit that comes along with Christmas. There's something very warm and very safe about it. I also absolutely love giving gifts. The receiving part is pretty great, but I definitely love the giving part more.

If you're interested, I tag all of you to do the Christmas tag. If you do, leave a comment with a link and I'll come check it out!

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