Christmas Time

I've been tagged by Jess, and I love these things, so here goes:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bag? Wrapping paper! I love wrapping gifts. I turn on the Christmas music or put on a favorite Christmas movie, pour myself a cup of eggnog and just wrap, wrap, wrap. I'm not very good at it though. The fanciest thing I do is add a little curling ribbon or a pretty bow.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. My parents gave me their artificial tree a few years back and I love it. It reminds me of Christmas at home. It even has a few pieces of tinsel stuck to it from the year (a decade ago or so) when we thought tinsel on an artificial tree would be a good idea (it isn't by the way, very hard to remove as evidenced by the fact that some of it is still hanging around!).

3. When do you put up your tree? Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take down your tree? The weekend after Serbian Christmas so somewhere around Jan 10.

5. Do you like eggnog? No I don't like it...I love it! Yum-o!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My piano. I remember running and kissing the bench seat when I saw it.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but only because dollish things and figurines kind of creep me out. Do they make a stuffed animal version??

8. Hardest person to buy for? My husband - only because he always buys everything he wants for himself and then leaves me with nothing or has me wrap and give it to him.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Me! Just kidding. Probably my Dad.

10. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received? I can't think of anything right now. To me the worst is the gift I asked for every year but never got: the Barbie Dream House. Maybe if I keep on asking Santa, one of these years he'll come through... (I also always asked for the game Operation, but never got that either. No wonder I'm not a doctor - thanks mom and dad!)

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. I love to write and receive the annual Christmas letter. Though this year, I think I'm going to email a few people too. Best of both worlds, I guess.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? More like Top 10 Favorite (and I count any movie that has the Christmas season in it): Love Actually, While You Were Sleeping, The Holiday, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th ST, Christmas Vacation...

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I try to start early, but every year it's always after Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Possibly - not in the same year or anything, but I save gifts and give them to Goodwill mostly. (I'm a teacher, so I get a lot of stuff from the kids and I can't always keep or use it all.)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Eat and drink: the infamous Vodka Slush, eggnog, Spritz cookies (must be green trees - those are my favorite and my cousin loves me enough to make me my own special batch every year!), other Christmas cookies and my mom's fudge.

16. White or colored lights? Both. Colored on the tree, white outside.

17. Favorite Christmas song? I already dedicated a post to my categories of favorite Christmas songs, but my favorite "favorite" is: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Ella Fitzgerald's Swingin' Xmas version)

18. Traveling for Christmas or stay home? We mostly stay home and the parents and in-laws come to us.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Vixen, and Rudolph. Possibly not in the right order, but I think that's all of them.

20. Angel or Star on top of tree? Star (again angels can be too dollish for me).

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The crowds at the mall.

23. What I love most about Christmas? The feeling. Everything feels fun, festive, magical, childlike and I am reminded of simpler times and treasured family memories.