There are many reasons why Christmas in New York is special. One reason is that New Yorkers go all out when it comes to decorations. Especially when it comes to Christmas trees. Sure, the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center is great, but you’d be missing out if you went to Manhattan and only saw that one. There are at least 15 Christmas Trees in NYC that are great and not in Rockefeller Center, as that link will prove. Check some/all of them out. You’ll be glad you did.
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If you are looking for a low key, low cost Christmas craft to help decorate your place, I highly recommend making paper snowflakes. If you have kids who are getting under your feet while you are doing other things, teach them how to make snowflakes and get them to make a bunch. Then gently tape them to the wall or hang them with some thread. Your place will look more Christmas-y for sure.
If you don’t recall how to make snowflakes, here are three places to go for advice on them: One Little Project and A Piece Of Rainbow and Martha Stewart.
Of course Martha has more than good advice on how to make paper snowflakes. She has a section of her site devoted to holiday crafts and Christmas. So if you feel you need some inspiration on how to make your home life more festive, check out those links.
Back in 2005 I created a Microsoft Word document titled Christmas 2005. I did this because it seemed like Christmas was becoming a project in itself, with milestones and deliverables, and having such a document helped me keep on top of things. The document had a calendar, breakdown of things to do (e.g. get gifts for A and B, prepare food Y on date Z), and eventually it had lessons learned. (Hey, I’ve done a fair bit of project planning over my career…it’s a skill you tend to apply to everything.) Every year since 2005, I would take the previous year’s list, duplicate it, and modify the duplicate for the new year. Voila: new list!
But I kept the old lists, and I’m glad I did. I can see my life change year over year. People come and go. The gifts you buy for people change, especially kids. Technologies change (no more need to buy VCR tapes to record the kids). Traditions evolve. Even details like the price of Christmas trees over the years makes an impression viewed over time. The list remains the same, but the content changes, sometimes dramatically.
I encourage you to keep your own such records for Christmas and other special events over the years. At first it might not seem like much, but if you keep at it, you will have a special journal of an event that meant much to you over time.
Everyone has their own way of planning special events, from structured plans like me to having it all in their head. However you do it, try keeping a record of it. This year. And next year. And the next.
Merry Christmas. Did you get all those things done you said you were going to? No? Better write it down and get to it. 🙂
How to think about week 52, the last week of the old year before the first week of the new year? It’s a good question I’ve been considering since I read this post by Austin Kleon over on his substack: How I’m spending Dead Week. He states:
For years, I have dreaded the weird no man’s land between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Because I set my own hours around here, I never know what I should be doing. Should I be working? Should I rest? Should I do both? I was delighted when Meg sent me Helena Fitzgerald’s piece, “All Hail Dead Week, the Best Week of the Year.” Finally, a term I can use. “Dead Week!” Fitzgerald says instead of dreading Dead Week, she looks forward to it all year long. She frames Dead Week as a “nothing time” in which nobody really expects that much of you and nothing you do matters that much.
Ha! That’s one way to look at it! I think it especially good if your year has had you burning the candle at both ends….use that week to let the candle burn out! Rest and recuperate, I say. Read some books. Take some baths! Grabs some naps. Let things slide.
I also think of the week as Janus week. As wikipedia explains:
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (Ianuarius).
That’s how I like to use the week. There’s lots to look back upon and consider during that time. Indeed, it’s hard not to, as media of all kinds publish their Bests of 2023 lists on every topic you can think of. And while it is fine to contemplate the year that past — and I recommend you do — it’s also a good time to think about what you will do in the new year. So do that too. Like Janus, look backwards and forwards simulataneously.
So while it is a dead week for some, for others like myself it is a transition week where the old goes out and the new comes in and I prepare myself accordingly. Does this mean I am discouraging you from hot baths, trashy TV and Christmas leftovers? Not at all. I think there is room for both in this, the last week of the year.
Enjoy week 52, however you go about it. Your earned some rest, and then some.
Merry Christmas to all the smart people I know! I’ve written quite a bit on the topic of Christmas over the years, as you can see if you follow that link. As a small present, so to speak, I’ve pulled out some of my best Christmas links and put them below:
Well this is fascinating. People have been claiming that Bob Cratchit from A Christmas Carol was a) destitute b) still earning more than the current U.S. minimum wage. So USA Today did some investigating, here: Fact check: Bob Cratchit’s salary higher than US minimum wage.
They state:
The claim: Bob Cratchit was destitute but still earned more than the U.S. minimum wage The work of Victorian-era novelist Charles Dickens went viral over the holidays, when a tweet used his 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol” to make a point about the minimum wage. Posted Dec. 19 and retweeted by over 14,000 users, it centered on Bob Cratchit. The character works as a clerk and accountant for wealthy Ebenezer Scrooge yet struggles to provide enough food and clothing for his wife and six children. According to the post – which was screenshotted and shared by many Facebook users – Cratchit symbolizes “destitution” in the novella but would have made an inflation-adjusted wage of around $13.50 per hour – almost twice the federal minimum wage.
From there they go on to say the claim is not really true. I highly recommend you go read the rest of it on their site.
P.S. If you can, I recommend reading “A Christmas Carol” on Christmas eve (today!). It puts me in the Christmas spirit, and it’s a great read (of course).
(Image, from wikipedia, of Scrooge hosting Cratchit.)
Christmas time is a busy time and a stressful time. If you are having people over for dinner during this holiday season, you can reduce your own stress by taking some tips from House & Garden and serve what they have to offer, here: The easiest dinner party you’ll ever host: seven cold plates to serve this Christmas.
Make those dishes: the food will still be great, and you will have a much more enjoyable time hosting.
Good luck!
For Canadians who still have some Christmas shopping to do, this list of made in Canada Christmas gift ideas from Chatelaine could be just the thing to help with those left on the gift list.
And hey, unlike the beautiful panettone from Viva pictured above, many of them would make good birthday gifts too. So even if you have all your holiday shopping done, give it a look.
Why this, the Official 2023 Sufjan Yule Log video, containing all of Sufjan Stevens’s Christmas music:
Almost 5 hours of seasonal songs to accompany a lovely fire. Perfect to get you in the spirit of Christmas.
When I was younger, I loved listening to Christmas music all through the holiday season. This was hard in the days of radio only music, since they often stopping playing Christmas tunes once Christmas day was done. To keep it going, I could play my own records/tapes/CDs, but they get old after a time. (Except for the music for Charlie Brown’s Christmas: that never gets old.)
All that is to say that Spotify solves the problems I used to have. They have LOTS of Christmas music, and you can listen to it all you want. You can even listen to it in July. (That’s too long for me, but you do you.) Not only do they have lots of songs, but they have plenty of playlists. You can even make your own playlist. That way you can list to the type of Christmas you want, when you want it.
Happy holidays to you. Keep it festive with Christmas music, be it from the radio, your own collection, or Spotify. Joyeux Noel.
For some households, there is this debate: white lights or colored lights on a Christmas tree? Well, with the Philips Festavia lighting from Hue, you can have both! And so much more. To see what I mean, see this piece in The Verge.
I am a big fan of Philips Hue lighting. I bought a wide assortment of bulbs over 5 years ago and I use them daily and they are still going strong. So while these lights ain’t cheap, they may last you a long time. And give you much joy for years to come.
What are you plans this weekend? As for me, I think anything I do outdoors will involve warm clothing because the weather is getting colder. And while I won’t be attending this year, I will be thinking of all the parents and their kids who will be bundling up to go downtown this Sunday and attend the Santa Claus parade! It has been on hold due to the pandemic, but now it’s back! Yay!
I love the Santa Claus parade. When I was a kid, I always wished I could attend. In my 20s I remember seeing it in person for the first time and being a little kid again as the floats and bands went by. And then I got to take my own kids. Some of my best parenting memories are with them at the event. It’s one of those things that makes Toronto great.
(I also use the Santa Claus parade as a reminder than Christmas is coming soon and it’s time to get planning! Perhaps this will be a good reminder to you.)
If you are thinking of going, here’s the official site for the parade. (Map above is from the site.) Have fun!
P.S. Here’s some tips I found to having a success Santa Claus parade:
When I would take my kids, we would go stand to Bloor and Avenue Road. There is lots of space around that area, so there’s a chance you can see the parade. As well, it is near two subway stops (Museum and Bay), which makes it easy to get to and easy to leave if you take transit. Finally, the parade has to turn there which gives you lots of ways to enjoy the view.
Instead of hoping right on the subway, I would find a place to get a coffee / hot chocolate. (There used to be lots of Starbucks and other coffee shops all around Bloor and Cumberland.) My kids loved this ritual, as did I. Just as good too was the fact that it was easier to get on the subway after your drinks since the crowds had dissipated by then.
If it is going to be cold, bring hot pockets or things to warm you up. You might be ok when you first get there, but after standing around for hours, you will get very cold. Be prepared.
Here are the Tenors performing White Christmas:
Regardless of whether your Christmas is white or not, like them, I hope that your days are merry and bright.
The holiday season is upon us! If you need help, The Washington Post has your back with these tips for decorating — and staying organized — for the holidays.
Included are such classics as:
And more. Don’t fret. You can do it. It’s not too late. Grab a piece of paper and a candy cane and get working on planning, and more importantly ENJOYING, the holidays. Cheers!
Are here: Best Gifts from West Elm for $50 or Less | Apartment Therapy.
Even if you can’t get them from West Elm, try and use the ideas and get your last minute items crossed off your list.
(Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash)
It’s that time of the year. And if you haven’t gotten a tree yet — either from a field or from the attic — you might be asking yourself: what is the most environmentally friendly option? Well, the folks at the New York Times asked themselves that too and wrote about it, here.
I am a big fan of real trees and will continue to get them. But read the article and judge for yourself.
(Photo by Danny Castaneda on Unsplash)
…are here!
Years ago (2011, 2012) I used to post music links every Friday night (as well as other days and nights). On December, I would focus on Christmas music. These are some of my favourites.
Enjoy! And joy to the world….
Bonus track: In the Bleak Midwinter which is hauntingly beautiful.
Then you need this article in the New York Times:
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/smarter-living/last-minute-gift-ideas.html
It has a wide range of gift ideas but more importantly, it will help you better think about what to get someone.
Don’t panic, you still have time!
I can’t vouch for everything on this list, but over the years I’ve acquired a three of the items on it and they are all good:
Some are even on sale!
For more details, go here: Gift Ideas Under $200 | Bay Bloor Radio Toronto | Bay Bloor Radio Toronto Canada
The folks at Apartment Therapy have put together a nice compilation of Christmastime decorating ideas that are simple as it is beautiful. For example, this:
from here. And this
from here.
What all the images have in common is the use of natural decoration, from boughs to wood to wreaths to baskets to lanterns. It’s seasonal, but timeless.
If you find it too austere, mix in some holly or some ribbon.
Enjoy the season, and the beauty of this time.
Smart People I Know 