This is such a lovely list Sabrina! Many of your favorites align with mine, and give me warm feelings to see them collected here. Some other favorites I have include attending a Holiday Pops Concert put on each year here by the Rochester Philharmonic, with an accompanying high school choral group that brings tears to my eyes when they sing, watching Arthur’s Perfect Christmas DVD with my now grown kids, and making batches and batches of Christmas and Hanukkah cutout cookies with red, green and blue sprinkles! And celebrating in all sorts of ways with family and friends is always the best part...thanks for sharing your list with us!
Thank you Martha! And I agree with those school concerts-it has been too long since I was able to attend one. They ALWAYS being tears to my eyes! Wishing you and your family warm gatherings this year.
It inspired me to get revved up about Christmas again. It's been a tough few years, starting with the theft of all our possessions, including three boxes of Christmas decor, some of which I had as a child. We also lost the ornaments and other Christmas paraphranalia I collected throughout the children's lives and on numerous trips. That loss and then the pandemic took the wind out of my sails but this post fills them up again.
One of my favorite, favorite traditions is listening to Handel's Messiah ad nauseum and going to a Messiah concert. This year, we attended one in Madrid and tears slid down my cheeks the whole time. My mother also played it as a loop during Christmas which was probably the main reason for my sniffles. Another is to fill the stockings for the family. And of course, the best is the family time.
So many wonderful things. Thank you for sharing yours.
Thanks so much for sharing your memories Andrea, even the tough ones. I'm so sorry, again, for the loss of your belongings. It really tears at your soul to lose everything like that. Even though it is 'stuff' each item has a story behind it that triggers smells and sounds and memories of beloved people. I'm so happy you took the time to listen to the Messiah and let it fill your heart and also to let you appreciate and grieve your beloved mother. I'm wishing you small and great joys this holiday season, and also hoping we finally cross paths again next year!
Lovely. Now that my kids are all in their thirties (how the hell did that happen?) and married or partnered up, we're in the process of developing new holiday traditions. (They were all here for Thanksgiving, which was lovely, but we won't be gathering for Christmas.) As for setting the mood, my favorite album of seasonal music is probably Christmas, by the Players (https://music.apple.com/us/album/christmas/461357203), from 1989; despite featuring ex-Roxy Music members Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay, it's a lovely collection of traditional, acoustic instrumentals. Happy holidays to you and Pete!
Thanks for the recommendation Martin! We listened to it whilst doing the dinner dishes last night, and when we weren't quite finished with all the tunes, we toyed with taking the iphone with us still playing while we did our evening ramble around the neighbourhood to look at the festive lights. Luckily for our neighbours, we opted not. For some reason the album reminded me of high school...?? Wishing you all the best this holiday season!
This is such a lovely list Sabrina! Many of your favorites align with mine, and give me warm feelings to see them collected here. Some other favorites I have include attending a Holiday Pops Concert put on each year here by the Rochester Philharmonic, with an accompanying high school choral group that brings tears to my eyes when they sing, watching Arthur’s Perfect Christmas DVD with my now grown kids, and making batches and batches of Christmas and Hanukkah cutout cookies with red, green and blue sprinkles! And celebrating in all sorts of ways with family and friends is always the best part...thanks for sharing your list with us!
Thank you Martha! And I agree with those school concerts-it has been too long since I was able to attend one. They ALWAYS being tears to my eyes! Wishing you and your family warm gatherings this year.
I loved this post! Another wonderful one.
It inspired me to get revved up about Christmas again. It's been a tough few years, starting with the theft of all our possessions, including three boxes of Christmas decor, some of which I had as a child. We also lost the ornaments and other Christmas paraphranalia I collected throughout the children's lives and on numerous trips. That loss and then the pandemic took the wind out of my sails but this post fills them up again.
One of my favorite, favorite traditions is listening to Handel's Messiah ad nauseum and going to a Messiah concert. This year, we attended one in Madrid and tears slid down my cheeks the whole time. My mother also played it as a loop during Christmas which was probably the main reason for my sniffles. Another is to fill the stockings for the family. And of course, the best is the family time.
So many wonderful things. Thank you for sharing yours.
Thanks so much for sharing your memories Andrea, even the tough ones. I'm so sorry, again, for the loss of your belongings. It really tears at your soul to lose everything like that. Even though it is 'stuff' each item has a story behind it that triggers smells and sounds and memories of beloved people. I'm so happy you took the time to listen to the Messiah and let it fill your heart and also to let you appreciate and grieve your beloved mother. I'm wishing you small and great joys this holiday season, and also hoping we finally cross paths again next year!
Lovely. Now that my kids are all in their thirties (how the hell did that happen?) and married or partnered up, we're in the process of developing new holiday traditions. (They were all here for Thanksgiving, which was lovely, but we won't be gathering for Christmas.) As for setting the mood, my favorite album of seasonal music is probably Christmas, by the Players (https://music.apple.com/us/album/christmas/461357203), from 1989; despite featuring ex-Roxy Music members Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay, it's a lovely collection of traditional, acoustic instrumentals. Happy holidays to you and Pete!
Thanks for the recommendation Martin! We listened to it whilst doing the dinner dishes last night, and when we weren't quite finished with all the tunes, we toyed with taking the iphone with us still playing while we did our evening ramble around the neighbourhood to look at the festive lights. Luckily for our neighbours, we opted not. For some reason the album reminded me of high school...?? Wishing you all the best this holiday season!
Such a wonderful festive post, Sabrina! Have a very happy Christmas! 🎄
Thank you as always for reading and commenting Rebecca! Wishing you all the best and looking forward to reading more from you in 2023!
Thank you so much! Likewise!