before you end up under a pile of fruitcake

...consider some last minute holiday television specials. Honestly, it doesn't get much better than this. You thought Thanksgiving had good TV, well think again!

This time I went a little more personal. Besides the ones already discussed, these Christmas specials are really dear to me, I remember watching them repeatedly growing up. Each one can honestly make you feel pretty warm inside.



Full House -
S02E09 - Our Very First Christmas Show
CHRISTMAS IN AN AIRPORT. And also an epic speech by Uncle Jesse about the true meaning of Christmas. It also the first kiss between Jesse and Becky which is something most of us were living to experience in the late 80's.
S06E12 - A Very Tanner Christmas
DJ and Steve break up (and get back together) and Jesse gives Becky the gift of snow courtesy of sno-cone ice. Michelle and Stephanie also get a wonderful gift from their Uncle...they visit a homeless shelter and serve Christmas dinner. They finally realize it's not about what is under the tree.



The Golden Girls
S02E11 - 'Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas
The girls decide to make gifts for each other. This is the unveiling of The Men Of Blanche's Boudoir Calendar. They are held hostage at the grief center before going their separate ways for the holidays. In a freak storm for Florida all of their flights are cancelled and they spend the evening in a diner, only to realize that they actually are celebrating with family.
S05E12 - Have Yourself A Very Little Christmas
The girls join Rose serving Christmas dinner to the homeless at her church. Dorothy's ex-husband Stanley is among the patrons after making some bad investments and being kicked out by his current wife. Dorothy gives him a handout which pays for some flowers to get him back into his house, but not before dressing as Santa and bringing some joy to the homeless kids.



Saved By The Bell
S03E24&25 - Home For Christmas Parts 1 & 2 *To be honest, the season/episode may not be right, I'm going off of IMDB because nowhere in internet land seems to know actual seasons/air dates of this show. IMDB, Netflix and the DVDs all have different listings.
In a super random two part episode, the gang gets jobs at the mall over the holiday break (so seriously for a few days). Zack meets a girl named Laura and tries to woo her. Zack, Slater and Screech also encounter a homeless man living in the mall. Turns out this man is Laura's father. They all reach out and try to help them get back on their feet, all while performing a Christmas play (A Christmas Carol, of course) in the mall.



Friends
S07E10 - The One With The Holiday Armadillo
Out of all of the Friends Christmas episodes, for me this one is the obvious choice. Ross wants to teach Ben all about Hanukkah this holiday but all he wants to do is talk about Santa Claus. In an effort to please his son he tries to find a Santa suit but comes up empty. Instead he poses as the Holiday Armadillo to try and teach Ben about the Jewish Holiday. Chandler obtains a Santa suit and Joey obtains a Superman suit so all of the mascots get to learn about THE MACCABEES.



Roswell
S02E10 - A Roswell Christmas Carol
This is the holiday special I will watch repeatedly. It's a great treat even if you haven't seen the entire series (WHICH YOU SHOULD). Max, Michael and Isabel are aliens from the New Mexican crash now hiding in plain sight as teenagers. A local girl they find out has a rare cancer and in an effort to rectify not saving a father from a car wreck Max tries to heal the little girl. The others are against it, fearing they will be caught but once Max starts he can't stop. He tries to heal all the little kids with cancer in the hospital and eventually all of the aliens are on board with his decision wishing they could have healed more. For a teen drama on the WB in the late 90's it is heartbreaking and magical all at the same time (and it's on Netflix). And not gonna lie, I couldn't look at screencaps for this without welling up.

And even though it's been done, if you haven't already, give The OC, Home Improvement, Family Matters, The Office and Doctor Who a shot, they could always use more love.

happy wholidays

I could have written about Doctor Who, but I chose to leave it to an expert. My dear, dear Chryshele is my go-to Who expert because she is the knower of all things Whovian. I could not have nailed it this hard kids, so I'll let her tell you about why the Doctor Who Christmas specials are an essential part of holiday television. THANK YOU BBC.

I was asked by the lovely Jordan to guest post on her awesome blog about my favorite subject. And not only that, but on the Christmas specials to boot. I jumped at the chance to share my thoughts on these, so here goes:

Doctor Who! oooooooeeeeeeeoooooo!

So Doctor Who has had this thing since it’s reboot in 2005 where they have a Christmas Special episode. The best part about this is that they actually air the episode on Christmas Day. It’s like the best thing ever, and I usually look forward to it more than spending time with the family. Yep I said it.

This year’s Christmas special is titled “The Time of the Doctor” and will see Matt Smith leaving his role as the Doctor and passing the torch to not-so-new-to-Who actor Peter Capaldi. I’m actually kind of really intrigued for this, although it will be hard to say goodbye to the fabulous Matt Smith. It might be just as hard as it was to say goodbye to David Tennant, which is saying a lot because I cried like a baby when that happened.

So with all of this being said, Jordan has asked me to go over the Christmas Specials that have aired to date, and put my own spin on it. I’ve decided that I will rate them from least favorite to most favorite, because we all love to see things rated. Right?



#8 - The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe (2011)
A widowed mother of two takes up residence at a large home, I believe as a matron? Still not entirely sure on that. There they meet the Caretaker formerly known as the Doctor. Formerly you ask? Yes, he’s just gone into hiding after becoming too well known and faked his own death. After the Caretaker shows the family around the house, tries to jump into a hammock and fails big time, the children are sent to bed. Little boy doesn’t listen well though and finds a large present under the tree of which he can’t seem to stop himself from opening. Upon doing so he finds that this present in fact transports him to another world where wood people grow on trees. I learned I was wrong on how trees procreate….silly me thought it was through seeds planted in the ground. Well the Doctor finds out Little Boy is gone and he and Older Sister go after him. Mother finds out they’ve all disappeared and follows too. Turns out the planet is about to have all the trees destroyed by acid rain, and this poses a big problem for Mother trying to rescue her children. The tree people have found a way to communicate through a halo you place on the head. They are looking for someone strong enough to house their entire species inside them. Makes sense. Turns out Mother is magical and can withstand the acid rain, she locates her family and the tree people find that she’s strong enough to house their species. Something happens where they end up flying a ship through the time vortex where her dead husband happens to be caught. He follows her light and she travels back home and the family is reunited. The tree people are saved and all is well. This episode didn’t do much for me, it was full of showy moments, and the wood people were just lame. The best moment of the episode didn’t happen until the very end where the Doctor goes to Amy and Rory’s house and there’s a mini reunion. Sob!
Reason for Rating: It’s a typical Moffat story where it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and exists to wow on showy moments.



#7 - The Next Doctor (2008)
The Doctor has just had the biggest moment ever saving the Earth from the Daleks, and is now looking for a little relaxation time. So he heads to the 1800’s at Christmas time. Unfortunately he finds trouble right away, by hearing his name be called. He goes running and finds who he thinks is a future regeneration of himself. The Governor! Ok, so he wasn’t The Governor just yet. He actually went by Jackson Lake at this point, but he didn’t know that yet either. Jackson got a boo boo on his brain, and blocked out the murder of his wife and kidnapping of his son by the Cybermen, and instead replaced his memories with those of the Doctor on accident through a memory cartridge flashing intel on the Doctor. The Doctor at first is really excited to see that he has a future, and that they can fight alongside each other, but then things start to unravel, and he realizes this guy isn’t his future self, but a man who needs a memory reboot. The Doctor helps Jackson to recover his own memories and in the process Jackson remembers that he has a son who was taken from him. So now they have a larger mission, to retrieve Jackson’s son and also take down the Cybermen who have built a humongous Cyberman controlled by a woman they have possessed and all the town’s children. Jackson and The Doctor save all the children, and then the Doctor takes Jackson’s version of the TARDIS (hot air balloon) and attacks the giant cyberman and takes it down. And by down I mean, using a huge sonic screwdriver to obliterate the huge cyberman thus saving the city. Now that everything has been taken care of, the Doctor is on his way, but not before showing Jackson the inside of the actual TARDIS, oh and actually accepting a dinner invitation by Jackson. Something he hasn’t done since Rose. Awwww.
Reason for Rating: The giant Cyberman was a little over the top. I did feel bad for Jackson Lake losing his family and finding out he’s not the Doctor. That would be a sad day.



#6 - A Christmas Carol (2010)
This episode pretty much sounds like it is; a take on the classic Christmas Carol story by Charles Dickens (hey the Doctor’s met him before!). This version though includes the Doctor, so then of course also includes time travel. The Doctor meets Dumbledore Kazran, a grumpy old man who basically owns a planet and controls everything. He’s the Scrooge of the story if you haven’t picked up on that yet. On this planet with fish that swim in the air, exists a payment plan to Kazran of giving up a member of your family who is then cryogenically frozen to pay off a debt owed to him. I’m not sure why he accepts this as payment, because it’s honestly kind of morbid, and also weird. I’m thinking it’s because his father did this, and he just continued the “tradition”. Is that the right word to use? So anyway we have a frozen girl whom Kazran is obviously attracted to, but instead stores her in his human storage freezer. Kazran’s father had accepted her as payment a while before Kazran took over the business. Well in comes the Doctor through a chimney no less and wreaks havoc. He sees how big of a grump Kazran is and makes it his mission to fix this on the side of his real mission to save Amy and Rory who are on a spaceship for their honeymoon and are about to crash on that very planet. So the Doctor travels back to when Kazran was a boy and from there basically acts as the Ghost of Christmas Past. None of the other ones really showed up. The Doctor then ends up releasing frozen girl from her slumber and young Kazran, frozen girl and The Doctor have a magical Christmas Eve. This ends up occurring every year for many years. The Doctor almost marries Marilyn Monroe one of the years. Well we eventually find out that frozen girl gave up her life to Kazran because she was dying. Kazran had fallen in love with her at this point and then had it all taken away. So instead of changing Kazran’s life, the Doctor only enabled the bitterness that engulfed Kazran later in life. Cut to the present, and Kazran is horribly miserable now having these new memories, and hates the Doctor even more. Well long story short the Doctor manages to fix things, and Kazran and frozen girl enjoy one more Christmas Eve together, the Ponds live to see another day, and we got a really pretty song from the frozen girl.
Reason for Rating: Again another Moffat story full of show, but at least the story made slightly more sense. I’m still unsure of the whole taking people as payment bit, but that’s my largest complaint.



#5 - The Runaway Bride (2006)
This is the first time we meet Donna! She’s not entirely likeable in this episode, but you don’t hate her either, so I feel that’s a win. So the Doctor has just had to say goodbye to Rose which broke his hearts and mine as well. He’s in the TARDIS mourning his loss when boom there appears a mouthy ginger in a wedding dress. Neither of them know how she got there, but they’re bound to find out. So they head back to Earth and begin their adventure. We learn that there’s a giant spider woman trying to harvest her babies and needs humans to feed them. She’s a Racnoss and they hate the humans because they took over the planet that the Racnoss’ originally inhabited. So the Doctor and Donna travel back to the beginning of the Earth as it’s being created and see that a Racnoss ship became the core of the Earth as it was being created. Weird. So now they head back to present time to take down the Racnoss. Poor Donna learns that her fiance has been helping spider woman, but he himself has been duped. The Doctor takes an approach he surely learned from being in the Time War and took no mercy on spider woman and her children by flooding the whole area where she was storing her eggs. He’s about to do more damage until Donna stops him and makes him realize he’s going too far. The Doctor realizes this and he and Donna leave. Just before they part ways, the Doctor asks Donna to go traveling with him and she declines. What??? I would have been all over that, and him…..Anyway….. Donna declines, and the Doctor tries to not look too butt hurt and leaves.
Reason for Rating: Most of the story is fun and action packed. I didn’t much care for the Racnoss Empress, I found her irritating. Other than that, the story was pretty good. Doesn’t get much better than having Donna around to bicker with the Doctor.



#4 - Voyage of the Damned (2007)
The Doctor has just said goodbye to Martha, which went better than when he had to say goodbye to Rose. He’s just getting set on a new course when all of a sudden there’s a huge crash and there’s a ship protruding through the TARDIS. This is where you get an awesome rendition of “what?” from the Doctor. Especially when he picks up a life preserver with the word Titanic on it. This wouldn’t be so weird if he weren’t in space and in the year 2007. So of course he sets out to investigate. We find that it’s a cruise spaceship that’s been modeled on the most famous ship on Earth, the Titanic. Bad omen! On this ship he meets Kylie Minogue who is in disguise? Ok she’s a waitress named Astrid, and she’s never truly seen the stars, let alone another planet. Good thing Earth is the cruise destination! Forget that they don’t entirely know about aliens yet… So the Doctor takes a shining to Astrid, but also makes an effort to find out what’s going on. He meets a few other interesting folk, as well as some demonic looking angel robots. Demonic isn’t far off, because they end up going off grid and trying to destroy the ship. The Doctor and his little gang now have to try and stop it. Lives are lost along the way, but eventually it comes down to the Doctor meeting Max, the cruise ship company owner, who looks like a poor man’s version of Davros. Astrid follows the Doctor and ends up giving up her own life to save him, and takes Max down with her. The Doctor is pretty upset about this, and finds a way to “save” her and let her travel the stars like she’s always wanted to do. Unfortunately because of the way he saved her it’s going to be forever, I hope she’s ok with that.
Reason for Rating: Overall this episode had a lot of great moments, and a few cheesy ones. For example the Doctor being flown up the ship’s core shaft by the demonic angels. And then the ghostly kiss with Astrid, but other than that, it’s an enjoyable episode.




#3 - The Snowmen (2012)
The Doctor is acting like a bitter old man after the loss of Amy and Rory. Basically he’s become his own version of Scrooge and has planted himself in the late 1800’s which fits. Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax have taken it upon themselves to watch over the Doctor, albeit from a distance most of the time. This is also where we meet Clara, a barmaid by night and a governess by day. She experiences a weird occurrence with the snow as she’s leaving the bar one night. The Doctor happens to be walking by and they meet, and then they meet an evil looking snowman that has magically appeared. This intrigues the Doctor, but only slightly. He decides he needs to rid himself of Clara, so he can investigate on his own. The Doctor has no idea who Clara is, but finds her annoying and not befitting of his grumpy demeanor. Strax is his driver that night and as the Doctor instructs Strax to use the memory worm on Clara, it backfires on Strax, and Clara retains her memories of all that’s happened thus far. The Doctor retreats to the TARDIS which is high up in a cloud. I’m still confused as to how he can do this, but I’ll play along. During all this we are also reintroduced to the Great Intelligence, the baddie of the episode. Only it’s an invisible villain who inhabits a large glass globe, and works through the brainwashed mind of a once vulnerable child, now grown. The Doctor catches onto the existence of the Great Intelligence, as well as the fact that Clara isn’t exactly who she says she is. And a battle ensues with an ice woman at the house Clara governs, which ends in the mortal injuries of Clara, and the Doctor outwitting the Great Intelligence in return. Or so he thinks. As Clara dies, she mutters the words, “run you clever boy, and remember”, sparking a realization that he’s met Clara before, she’s souffle girl!
Reason for Rating: This is the best of the Moffat era Christmas Specials, and it’s because it almost entirely makes sense and isn’t painfully confusing. It’s also where we officially join the Clara Oswin Oswald bandwagon. Or at least where I did. Plus you get Strax! And it’s always a good time when Strax is around. Who knew we could love a potato head, er Sontaran.



#2 - The End of Time Part 1 & 2 (2009, 2010)
I kind of forget this is a Christmas special because not much is centered around the holiday time. You do get some Donna time, and Wilf! This is the Doctor’s song ending basically. The Master whom was once dead has been brought back to life, but he’s not really himself so much. He’s extra crazy, and this poses a huge problem for the Doctor. As the Doctor is searching for the Master who has already started wreaking havoc, he happens upon Wilf. Well not really, Wilf has kind of been stalking the Doctor like all the people who meet him do. Ok well like the Noble family does. Anyway, the Doctor reluctantly recruits Wilf as his companion to help take down the Master, who has been apprehended by the new Prime Minister. But they didn’t count on the Master being as cunning as he is, and the large machine that has been built to heal, is now the Master’s ultimate weapon. And because his ego is that big, he uses the machine to turn every person in the world into him. The whole world is the Master! Everyone except for the Doctor, Wilf, the green cactus aliens and Donna(!). So now it’s up to the Doctor’s small team (minus Donna who has basically exploded on the Master’s clone minions and knocked herself out) to put everything back to normal. But things go slightly wrong and the Doctor is taken hostage by the Master and reveals his plan to bring back the Time Lords. It’s never sat well with him that he and the Doctor are the only survivors of their race. The only problem is that by bringing back the Time Lords, he’s also brought the entire planet of Gallifrey with, and it’s encroaching upon the Earth. So the Doctor is now left to not only fix every human on Earth, but once again destroy his species. The Doctor has managed to reverse the cloning effects, and is now about to end the Time Lords when the Master interjects and does it himself. So now all of the Time Lords are gone, and Wilf trying to help has locked himself in a nuclear control room which is about to malfunction and release a shit ton of radiation into the area. So now the Doctor is left with the agonizing decision of giving up his own life or Wilf’s. Of course the Doctor does the right thing and switches places with Wilf, absorbing all of the radiation, and beginning the regeneration process because he is now dying. We then get a super sad goodbye moment where he sees all of the people he’s spent his time with during that current regeneration, and I cried a lot. And then we watch the Doctor regenerate and I bawled my eyes out. And boom regeneration done, and we have our 11th regeneration and I’m hysterical.
Reason for Rating: You’d think I’d rate this one a lot lower. It is the end of the David Tennant era after all, and it’s no secret he’s my favorite. And this is why it ranks as high as it does, because it was the most emotional regeneration I’ve seen yet. I didn’t want him to go, just as he said he didn’t either.



#1 - The Christmas Invasion (2005)
The Doctor has just regenerated due to Rose becoming the Bad Wolf and his regeneration has gone a little wrong. His body isn’t taking it so well, and the Doctor basically goes into a coma. Meanwhile he’s disbursing energy as he sleeps and it’s attracting aliens bent on obtaining the Time Lord to use as an energy source. They try to get to him by using killer Christmas trees and deadly musical instruments, but it doesn’t work, the Doctor awakes for a moment and puts a stop to it, and then collapses again. Next up are the Sycorax who have come for world domination. Harriet Jones the new Prime Minister kindly takes on the role of Earth’s ambassador and tries to reason with the Sycorax. It doesn’t go well, and she loses a few men. They then detect an alien intelligence device on Earth, we know it as the TARDIS, and beam it onto their ship thinking Harriet Jones is trying to deceive them in some way. Really Rose and Mickey have just loaded the Doctor onto the Tardis and are trying to get it to come alive, and triggered something. Unfortunately when they leave the TARDIS they find themselves on the Sycorax ship and in a lot of trouble. The Sycorax have used blood control to threaten the lives of ⅓ of the population. Well as Rose is trying to save the Earth, the Doctor awakens and does that for her. He loses a hand in the process, but grows it back. It’s a Time Lord thing. The world is once again saved, but at a cost. Harriet Jones takes it upon herself to destroy the Sycorax ship the Doctor just told never to return. This prompts the Doctor to take action with her and basically destroy her career. He doesn’t do second chances. After all that drama, the Doctor now gets to dress up his new self and join Rose and family for dinner. After a night of fun, the Doctor is ready to get a travelling again and Rose is keen to join. Aw she really likes this new regeneration, and so do I.
Reason for Rating: The first episode of David Tennant. That is all.

So there you have it. We all have our favorite episodes and specials, and this was the order of mine. I’d like to thank Jordan for asking me to guest post. I hope you all have a Happy Wholidays! Yep that just happened.

VERSUS // holiday lighting contests: home improvement vs family matters

There are a number of sitcoms that do up Christmas right. So many in fact that it was hard to choose. I finally settled on these two per my love of Christmas lights. I thought no one compared to Tim Taylor in the spirit of this festive competition but I think Carl Winslow may have given him a run for his money.

Home Improvement started the competition in their first season with Yule Better Watch Out (S01E12). In Family Matters seventh season they joined in with Fa La La La Laagghh (S07E11).



Plot

We all know Tim the Tool Man Taylor from Home Improvement. Tim is an avid competitor and also fancies himself a tool connoisseur (why else would he host a tool show?), however this often gets him into trouble. Christmas is no exception. Tim wants to outdo his neighbor, retired physician "Doc Johnson" in the rooftop lighting decorating. While they never speak of an official competition, I'm guessing it's implied. Of course in years past he's been sent to the ER so Jill wants nothing to do with it. He ignores her objections, borrows crap from Wilson (that Wilson didn't already lend to the doctor) and goes about his festivities. Of course he gets his tongue stuck to a hammer, the power goes out a few times, and things get messy. The firefighters only have to come once and in true Taylor/Griswald fashion the lights are spectacular and Tim feels he's dominated. Jill distracts herself with making Randy's costume for the nativity play (he's the Innkeeper until he's demoted to sheep). Meanwhile Mark is starting to not believe in Santa with help from his brothers, Brad and Randy. Jill is upset that her kids are starting to grow up and wants to keep the magic alive just a little bit longer. Wilson dresses as Santa to renew Mark's spirit and the Taylor's realize that Wilson is actually in his yard as Santa leaves, sort of restoring all of their spirits.

Family Matters takes the route of the man of the house, Carl, not really caring much about decorating until he learns from his poker buddies of the $5000 prize for the best roof. Knowing very well that Urkel has wanted to decorate but hates competing (he feels it diminishes the meaning of Christmas) Carl tricks him into decorating anyway to try and win the prize. At the last minute things start to fall apart and Carl and Urkel themselves have to dress up to play the part of Santa and the elves. It's then that Urkel realizes that he's been tricked, only to also realize that their decorations are too heavy and they fall through the roof. Carl apologizes and all is well. Harriet keeps trying to get her kids, Eddie and Laura to help her decorate the tree. It's really important to her but they're growing up and too busy. It takes a talk from Grandma and them being denied her perfect gingerbread cookies for them to accept that this means a lot to their mother and they end up un-decorating and re-decorating the tree to let their mom know that it's special to them as well.

Characters



Tim Taylor vs Carl Winslow - The competitor. Both are pretty aggressive so it's a tough call. I think though I will go with Tim on this one because he doesn't do as much trickery. I mean, he goes behind Jill's back, but I'm pretty confident that she knows he's doing it the whole time. On the other hand, Carl lies to Urkel and Urkel believes him up until the end. NOT COOL.



Jill Taylor vs Harriet Winslow - The sad mother. I will go with Harriet on this one. Jill is sad about her kids, but she is still distracted making costumes for Randy. Harriet's kids are a lot older and they have their own lives. She seems genuinely upset that they aren't in on the festivities with her anymore.



The Taylor kids vs The Winslow kids - The grown-ups. The Winslow kids have this one in the bag. They're too busy to help their poor mother decorate and that's all she asks. They learn the best lesson being jipped their Grandma's cookies. As for the Taylor boys, Randy and Brad don't learn much in terms of a lesson but Mark's Christmas spirit is restored.

Breakdown

The decorating - It has to be Home Improvement. He is the king of this sort of thing, I can't not give it to him. He also had all the props, he didn't have to stand in himself.

The lies - Family Matters. Carl takes the deception to a whole new level with how he tricks Urkel. Like I said, I'm pretty confident that Jill knows what's going on the entire time so there wasn't much of a lie.

The true meaning of Christmas - Home Improvement. Both were really touching but Wilson/Not Wilson showing up at the last minute and even convincing Tim and Jill he was the real Santa? That's a big deal, I almost expected someone's eye to twinkle.

IT IS A TIE. That's okay, both of these were too good to have one winner, so because it's the holidays we'll leave it a tie.

workplace festivities - christmas at the office

If there is on thing that The Office nails each year it's their annual Christmas party. For the most part its a given that there will be cookies, booze, double fudge brownies and Angela, however each year brings a sort of Christmas miracle and/or disaster. By taking note of the shenanigans of The Office you can plan the best workplace party by knowing what is a hit and what is a miss...

Christmas Party - S02E10
Hit: Secret Santa. This is probably something that will happen every year, but set a nice limit and try to make something thoughtful.
Miss: Yankee swap. This DOES NOT work especially if the gift IS personal, and someone usually gets hurt.

A Benihana Christmas - S03E10
Hit: Try a theme! Whichever tickles your fancy, be it a margarita/karaoke Christmas (just don't misplace your power cord) or a Nutcracker Christmas (no one gets seconds until everyone has had a cookie).
Miss: Try and remember your dates name, it's pretty uncool to mark her with a sharpie because "all waitresses look the same".

Morrocan Christmas - S05E11
Hit: When the theme is picked for you, go with the flow even if it's untraditional. You may surprise yourself with having the best time ever.
Miss: It may ruin the mood to try to stage an intervention for an alcoholic co-worker during the festivities.

Secret Santa - S06E13
Hit: You can have more than one Santa at a party, however take turns and do not steal anyone's thunder and it will be a good time.
Miss: Don't dress up as God or Jesus or any sort of Deity. It probably will not go over well.

Classy Christmas - S07E11&12
Hit: Have TWO Christmas Parties, that way you can have twice the fun!
Miss: Try not to ruin anyone's sentimental toys and also steer clear of snow ball fights, they just break windows and cause people to have major anxiety. The holidays are stressful enough.

Christmas Wishes - S08E10
Hit: In the spirit of Christmas offer everyone a ride home that has too much to drink, or at the very lease a place to crash for the nights.
Miss: Drunk impressions of your co-workers may seem like a hit at first but eventually they will challenge your rage blackouts and then you just get yourself into a predicament you may not be able to joke your way out of.

Dwight Christmas - S09E09
Hit: Celebrate someones heritage. You've already had experiences with the non-traditional, why not celebrate the diversity in your workplace?
Miss: Don't leave halfway through, it will seriously bum everyone out.

essential christmas movie: the 12 dates of christmas

I've had a thing for Mark-Paul Gosselaar since I was probably about eight. Zack Morris was my first real-life crush (I don't count JTT, I didn't know what a crush was, I just knew Home Improvement gave me warm feelings) and it carries on to this day. It has probably helped that I rewatch my Saved by the Bell DVD's at least once a year, or the discovery of this gem of a movie.

Netflix brought The 12 Dates of Christmas into my life last year (and will probably take it away this year and you cannot buy it anywhere believe me I have looked) and I had no idea the effect it would have on me. I watched it as may times as I'd watched Love Actually which believe me, is a lot. I'll never forget the first viewing though, it was about midnight and I just wasn't tired so I watched and watched and then I sobbed and sobbed and crushed MPG and crushed MPG. And it also stands out because I wrote this post immediately after watching it, so you know I was totally emotional. That's a good thing!

A brief overview, gal gets spritzed by cheap perfume at a mall counter on Christmas Eve and is forced to relive a blind date 12 times (a la Groundhog Day). Each time is a little different but overall she learns (of course) a valuable lesson and Christmas and friends/family.

It's amazing, please watch it on Netflix if you haven't already. And then lets relive the 12 dates so that you can see what you're missing.


Date 1 - Sets up the story. Kate has been set up with a dude named Miles by her dad's girlfriend Sally. Truth is Kate isn't exactly over her ex boyfriend Jack. She's kind of a jerk. She gets spritzed at the mall and faints. On her way home she ignores all the people on the street being kind to her, also blows off her neighbors good will gestures of cake. Before the date her girlfriend comes over to talk clothes, she gets a voicemail to meet Miles at a bar, also picked out by Sally. When she arrives a nerdy gentleman mistakes her for his blind date, Phyllis. She sees Miles. Miles is cute. He tries to be sweet and ordered her a lager. She is kind of a jerk. She orders wine and says her name is Kate, not Katie. She doesn't stay long after her ex calls to trade off their mutual dog but finds out that Jack has moved on and has a new fiance, Nancy.

Date 2 - Wakes up and realizes that she gets a do-over. She knows Miles is a nice guy but still wants to hook up with Jack. She dresses for him, still hates better. In passing, Miles mentions a wife, but Kate doesn't give him any time to explain. She tries to meet up with Chad again and it's a no. When Kate confronts Sally about the wife, she explains that she had died about a year ago. Kate feels like crap.

Date 3 - This date is probably one of my favorites. Thinking something is going on because this is try 3, she shows up really early at the bar only to find Miles is there, too. She sits with him but doesn't give away her identity. She gets to hear all the good stuff about him without him really trying. She gets to hear about his wife's passing and is starting to really like this dude. She admits in a way that she isn't over her ex. She then meets up with her lonely neighbor that she is also typically a jerk too and they bake until midnight.



Date 4 - Probably still reeling off the good deed baking with her neighbor, she notices a gal in the streets she passes each day, holding a bundle of Christmas lights. Her boyfriend seems to be making from her. She hijacks the girl, skips the date and have a "girls night". Her parents come over because she ditched Miles. Miles meets her at her parents house, they walk around, talk, turns out he's an architect. She admits she's been a jerk. He thinks she has a good heart. Still talking about Jack. He tells her that she can't change fate. Back at the bar, nerdy guy, Toby, seems to know what's going on and she doesn't know how to make the night end. Miles overhears and bails.

Date 5 - She and Miles go Christmas tree shopping, decorating and attend midnight mass. It's fairly perfect.

Date 6 - One of the men who have been picking her up off the mall floor, Jim, has been so kind to her each time. She's starting to notice people and so she takes him for a walk around the gardens and they talk a bit. She figures she'll just get to do this again tomorrow so like we all wish we could, she spends a crap-ton of money on herself and others, gathers her ladies in lonely ladies apartment to bake, again. There is absolutely no date.

Date 7 - This time she tries to help out light guy. Calls Miles and says she'll meet him at his hockey gig, finding out he is a coach for inner-city kids (aw). One of the kids, Michael, bailed the other night. He laughs at her introduction of Kate, says that Sally said to call her Katie because it bugs her. They go ice skating and she wow's him with her moves. They end up at the architecture he designed in the city and the kissing begins.



Date 8 - She meets up with Chad and tells him that his new gal Nancy is great and they know they wouldn't have worked out. He tells her that he was going to propose to her but then her mother died and now he's wanting to propose to Nancy. Can't change fate. Kate realizes that their talk distracted him and he didn't buy the ring. She tries to go back and fix it, in turn making Miles think that she is a nutjob. She definitely sounds like one so Miles takes off. She goes to meet up with Nancy and Jack only to find he did propose, just without the ring.

Date 9 - She see's Toby at the bar. She goes home and watches Hoarders and then attends mass with her lonely neighbor, Margene.

Date 10 - She tries to help out light guy once again but gets a bit distracted by Michael, the missing kid from Miles's team. She tries to run after him but isn't wearing the right shoes. She decides she'll try again on her do-over tomorrow...



Date 11 - Ends up with light guy again. Follows Michael this time in running shoes and workout clothes. She is super prepared. He found a dog and can't have him at the group home. She meets Miles, again doesn't tell him who she is and he ends up ditching Kate for "Kate".

Date 12 - Jim and Margene hit it off, lonely neighbor is lonely no more! Toby gets a bit of a makeover and Kate introduces him to her friend from the beginning and they also hit it off! Light guy turned his gift of light into a proposal! She finally tells Miles she is cool with the lager. She is no longer a jerk! She apologizes to Sally for also being a jerk since she isn't anymore. She invites everyone to Christmas dinner and celebrates with all of her newly formed friendships.

And I'm assuming that she and Miles get married and have lots of sex and babies (Love Actually reference, I'm not that forward, jeez).

So again, do yourself a favor and hop on the Netflix and watch this gem 12 times before it's gone! And if anyone can find a DVD copy for sale online please point me in that direction.

can we skip september

?

I love October. I don't hate September but when this time of year rolls around (back to school, hooray for Target commercials) I would be fine if I could skip most of September, or better yet just have two months of October. That would be fine.

I love fall, I love Halloween, I obviously love to watch The Shining on repeat (I do this even in the summer time...and Christmastime, and all the time) so why can't we just have a really long October? I don't think that many people would be opposing.

It's the kick-off to the holidays which a lot of people love, I kind of don't love a whole lot but I don't mind the holidays. You have autumn and leaves and Halloween and all the scary stuff and then it's November and oh the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade that Aadi and I watch every year. Then food and Rebecca Black Friday and hopefully buying a Dyson pet vacuum. Then comes December, the month of my birth (and then the birth of Jesus as well, not that I'm trying to steal anyone's thunder or anything) and Santa and reindeer and snow (I HATE SNOW but I love snow until it SNOWS).

And then the new year. And then it's really boring until next back to school when I start to remember that IT IS ALMOST OCTOBER.

*Shoe photos from last year, all via my instagrammy.

moz the tree skirt and i am homeless

So Moz decided to lay in front of our baby Christmas tree today and make himself a tree skirt (thanks Starry for giving him the official title). It was rather cute so I figured it must be documented. It's pretty quiet here on a Tuesday. It's feeling rather festive (mostly because it's rainy and stormy) around these parts. So festive that I make several trips to Target throughout the week looking like an even homeless-er Olsen twin (MY GOAL IN LIFE).

Good lord, who lets me go out like that? Me.

merry holidays

All in all I had a fantastic holiday. It's so different to wake up on Christmas as an adult than when I was little. No more waiting up all night for Santa, no more anticipation of the following morning. Honestly, it's kind of upsetting but I'm sure that will all change once there is a baby Shutt running around.

I've been kind of on the grinchy side this year, and I realize Thanksgiving is the optimal time to remember what you're thankful for, however I find Christmas to fall under the same hat. This years Christmas made me realize how thankful I am to have what I do have, even if it's isn't that much. I still have quite a bit of good to relish in. I have a great family and extended family, I have good friends, I have my health. I may not have all the material things I want to possess, but I'm still very grateful for that which I do.

Not much happened on our Christmas Eve, but our Christmas day was filled with lots of light. We spent the morning over at Zack's families house opening presents, eating Breakfast and setting up Zack's little sisters Lego Harry Potter set. She came to me after she had fixed Gilderoy Lockharts hair on Ron Weasley's body and asked me to remove it. She then proceeded to tell me how Ron Weasley was her new boyfriend as well as Harry Potter. I understand wee one that you are from Utah, but that is one footstep you need not follow, m'dear.

After a quick jaunt to Ogden to visit my mom we headed back to Zack's parents house to play a rousing game of Star Trek scene it. We received it as a gift from our friend Kramer this year and I've been dying to rip that plastic off the second that we opened the amazon box with the smiley face on it. We figured Zack's parents house was the perfect place to try it out since his family is made up of Trekkie's (did I not marry into the perfect family? Yes). Turns out, the game is actually kind of hard. I may be a relatively new Star Trek fan (Next Generation FTW), but I think I held my own. Zack, of course, dominated, and we found that just watching the DVD clips and shouting out answers was a lot easier than trying to play the actual game (it took us nearly 30 minutes to move 5 spaces, I kid you not). Either way, it was nice to expand our Star Trek knowledge while eating celery and spray cheese.

Dinner of sandwiches came and went, even though I was still carrying my spray cheese food baby, and then a rousing game of Just Dance was played, and to all a good night.

I'm kidding.

After Just Dance, we came home, snuggled in the bed and watched Die Hard. Hey, it's a Christmas movie? I haven't seen it in probably ten years and I was thrilled to see Alan Rickman expand his acting from Severus Snape (I kid again, he acts just like Snape in this movie, only younger, am I right)? Then it was to all a good night.

Today I plan on doing about fourteen loads of laundry, watching some Star Trek (I have to show the Father-in-law my favorite Borg episode) and reading. Oh yeah, I have to go to the grocery store and make Zack cuddle with me some more. Then tomorrow it is back to the grind.

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!

to be or not to be

via I've fallen into that depression funk that comes with winter. I would rather do nothing more than sit in bed watching movies or television with Zack and the doggies. It isn't really that I am anti-Christmas, I'm not at all, but I seem to be this year.

I hear that comes with getting older. Christmas isn't as big of a deal if there aren't little kids around to share it with. I don't get as excited as I used to but I used to at least want to put on the occasional Christmas sweater. Now I'm lucky if I have one glass of eggnog. Presents now are money for family to pay off bills and things we haven't throughout the year.

I still hope that I can see the lights this year, we've talked about Temple Lights and Zoo Lights. Utah sure has a lot to offer through the holidays and for that I am thankful, even if I don't use it to my advantage.

I feel lower than I have in previous years and I'm honestly not sure why. I asked one of my doctors and they think it might be a chemical embalance, low on Vitamin D (hello, I'm pale, I never see the sun, this is not news to me), so they've upped my daily Vitamin D intake from 1000mg to 2000mg so I'm really hoping that will help. I have other issues to work on but I'm happy that this will be a good start for me.

Things that make me happy:

-design books/coffee table books
-soft carpet
-tea
-the smell of christmas,br /> -warm blankets
-tv on dvd
-cookies
-daisies
-the touch, the feel of cotton
-cheese omelets
-snow globes
-a fantastic book I can get lost in

Happy Holiday's y'all. I hope that your days are merry and bright!!

my christmas list

So this morning on Buzzfeed I stumbled across a fun article...a 90's Kid's Christmas List. Um I basically wanted all of these, but here are a few of my favorites.

Photos all from the site.


If you're a Gilmore Girls fan, you know this is essential for those awkward guest situations.


I wanted this EVERY year.


I didn't get one of these until I was 24 years old...now I play it all the time.


I'd still rock these today, it's better than a trampoline.

What are some of your favorites?

we need a little christmas

Found this over on IROCKSOWHAT and thought it would be fun to participate. Why not? I need a little Christmas this year.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate, I can do maybe one egg nog a year.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Oh, they were always wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored is more fun!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope...I'm not a fan I think it's creepy.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Done and done.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Funeral potatoes.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Driving home from the family Christmas party and my dad pointing out a star and telling me that was Santa on his way to our house. I always loved that and it kept me believing.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I found presents in the trunk of my mom's car (a Barbie car when I was far too old to want a Barbie car...but I still really wanted it).

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Anything at the family Christmas party was fair game.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We have a lot of ornaments handed down that we use.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love it for about a month.

12. Can you ice skate? Never could...sad.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Wedding Day Midge.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Food and family. I ove the holiday spirit everywhere.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? PIE!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Hmmmmm. Watching Titanic on Christmas eve. It was so long so it passed a lot of time when I was little, still try to do it if I can.

17. What tops your tree? Iron Man.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I like both, go figure.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? LOVE THEM.

20. Favorite Christmas show? Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer ("Just because my nose glows....")

21. Saddest Christmas Song? O Holy Night always makes me cry no matter who is singing it, however the first time I heard these two I was completely floored.




22. What is your favorite Christmas song? Oddly enough, O Holy Night...but I do LOVE Sting's rendition of Three Ships. So much.



FUN.