Sunday, November 25

Christmas Is Coming....

Ok, so I am sufficiently stuffed from DAYS of turkey and potatoes...along with other assorted comfort foods. Thanksgiving was a great time with my grandparents and immediate family of 4. We hauled the entire dinner to up Grandma's house in Baltimore. Then, the next day my sister made the meal all over again and all we had to do was show up, drink beers and watch football! Sweet deal. Normally, there are many more of us together...but, the smallness was quaint.

I really DO try hard to consciously enjoy one lovely holiday at a time, appreciating it's meaning and unique flair. But, I must say Christmas is by far my favorite...and I am really getting into the spirit already! Wednesday night, we went to see "A Tuna Christmas" at the Warner Theatre in DC. It was a hysterical comedy about a town in Texas. These two actors play all 24 characters (makes for a lot of costume and voice switches)! It was a cool way to kick off the season, and I highly recommend it, if it stops near you!

This past weekend I went to the UVA/VA Tech football game with friends. We tailgated, bundled up in the cold, and watched America's favorite sport, live, in all it's excitement.

It was kindof my final farewell to autumn as leaves fell from the surrounding trees and my frozen fingers reminded me that snow and ice are coming!

Today, I stopped by a few shops on my way home. Michaels, HomeGoods and trusty Wal-Mart. I got a 6.5 foot artificial tree (not allowed the real thing in my apartment building, something about a fire hazard - WHATever) that will not spell like fresh pine, but will look fun once I throw a bit of magic on. Maybe I will take a picture and post it here later! Now I just need to make the journey down to my packed storage unit in the basement to dig out the Christmas decorations and figure out what to use this year. I love looking through the boxes, forgetting the little things I grabbed on sale at the end of the holidays LAST year. They are new to me all over again!

In case any of you are doing a 'secret santa' or gift exchange with friends for Christmas, check out elfster.com, once you enter the names of everybody participating, they randomly match names together, and notify everyone via email, so that NOBODY knows who has who. It is free and easy!

I decided to burn a little Christmas CD of my own from Itunes, and thought I would share the playlist I selected. If you have favorite holiday songs, let me know what they are!!


"Mary, Did You Know?" - Kimberely Locke


"Christmas Canon" - Trans-Siberian Orchestra


"Where Are You, Christmas?" - Faith Hill


"Ave Maria" - Christina England


"Once Upon a Christmas" - Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers


"Little Drummer Boy" - Josh Groban


"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" - Elmo & Patsy


"What Child is This?" - Bebo Norman


"Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel" - Joshua James


"Twelve Days of Christmas" - John Denver & The Muppets


"Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"


"Christmas Song" - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds


"Bolingo" - African Children's Choir


"Do You Hear What I Hear?" - Whitney Houston


"River" - Sister Hazel


"I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas" - Relient K

8 comments:

Jason and Jennifer Haynes said...

Happy Thanksgiving (late) and Merry Christmas (early)! I love this time of year too but I'm not sure how it's going to work out with sand instead of snow? I have to admit I'm a bit jealous of your "blustery" and very real Christmas weather up there. If A Tuna Christmas makes a visit I'll check it out! Hmmm as for the christmas songs, I like Jack Johnson's version of Rudolf the Reindeer. Your playlist sounds great! (no pun intended!) Thanks for sharing :-)

Becky Swann said...

Oh I love Christmas! I've been decorating my house lately and I am all about some Christmas music!

Sunday Grant Photography said...

that josh groban cd is awesome. i just downloaded if from itunes as well. sarah maglauhlin (i have no idea if that is how you spell her name) she had an awesome christmas cd last year with "river" on it. thanks for sharing all your christmas spirit. it is by far my favorite holiday. what a bummer about the no tree rule in your apartment. i am sure you will make yours wonderful!

Sunday Grant Photography said...

oh and i LOVE Ava Maria!

Sunday Grant Photography said...

and the Christmas canon. sorry i just keep remembering after i type

Just April... said...

I think my favorite on my own list is the Joshua James' version of Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel. I think it's because I am such a fan of all sounds folk.

Anonymous said...

April.. your Thanksgiving sounded like so much fun! I would have totally rather seen the football games in person all bundled up outside than on the TV all day like the Stillwell's did.. but so much fun indeed!

Sunday Grant Photography said...

is your shop open?