Since the Hallmark Ornament Premiere in July (and really before that) I could “feel” Christmas approaching, and by the time we went to the Hallmark Open House in October… I [knew] it was Christmastime.   As I sit here looking at yet another Hallmark invite (this time it’s to promote Santa’s visit for picture-taking) I realize that this is the last promotional for the store and Christmas is here!   I love the Hallmark Store.

I love the fall, I love the holiday season from Halloween through New Year’s; when Halloween is over,  I stay up late to pack all the décor and have Christmas going up on November 1^st.  Since the kids went back to school (and I was part of that this year since my youngest granddaughter lives with me and was just starting first grade), I was “investigating” the local stores to see who would put out Christmas décor early.  The first store, of course was Hallmark but one night I walked in Home Depot to see if they had anything large for Halloween, and to my surprise ALL of their Christmas decorations were lit up and stocked up in their “Christmas Corner”.  As I approached the corner I noticed the barricade tape. What?  They were blocking me out?  We asked the manager if we could walk down the aisles and see the new products and he said “no”… we had to wait a few days because it takes a ‘crew’ to unveil the décor and put up the trees and formally present the displays – WOW!  I even offered to stay and help 🙂

As the Christmas season approaches, I am planning and preparing in every way…  I always make a list of the movies to buy or rent, as I mentioned in “Preparing for the Holidays“, but I also list all of the Christmas movies or movies being released during the season.  I must say that I am very upset that there aren’t any family Christmas movies on the schedule (except for an animated film); I miss the days of good wholesome movies such as “The Santa Claus”,  “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” or “Miracle on 34th Street”. 

I was just watching “Deck the Halls” last week and it makes me laugh every time!  I especially love watching these movies to see the decorations like “Christmas with the Kranks“.   So I will do what I always do to fill the void, I will watch my Christmas DVD’s over and over again!

Here is a list of what’s being released this season…

I am so excited!   Less than 150 days until Christmas Eve.  I start to get overwhelmed with ideas as soon as I see July approaching because for me this is the half-way mark.  And if you don’t pick your decorations, and make major gift selections now, you will be out of the loop for the “most wonderful time of the year”.

I have a storage box labeled “Christmas in July”, stored with goodies (notes, catalogs, Christmas mugs, t-Shirts, etc.) to have a brainstorming meeting with the family; that’s when we talk about how we will magically decorate each part of the house, incorporating our treasures with new items… so that each year has that “traditional look” with something timely for the season.   We plan the gift baskets and that includes the cookies that my daughter will decorate; so we look at what we loved from previous years and all her new designs … she makes most of her own cutters and designs them all by hand; she’s such an elf!  My other daughter (the fashionista) tells us what we need to be wearing in September, October, and November… as we add more glitz and glam getting closer to December; good gosh, if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have my red coat with the shiny gold buttons and my sequin lined cardigans; she is such an elf too… she wears a huge button that says “Santa’s Helper” when she’s shopping with me!

For me, no truer words were ever said “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”; that is how I feel about Christmas. It isn’t just Christmas Eve, or Christmas day… it’s the spirit of Christmas, the very soul of the entire year.

My best memories of Christmas as a little girl were when I went to Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Spectacular… and sitting on Santa’s lap; of course, growing up in New York City I had the pleasure of seeing Santa at Macy’s and at the Daily News Building. In fact, when my first daughter could walk I took her to those same locations even though we were living outside the New York City area. But growing up in an apartment did not allow us to have a large tree or leave room for elaborate decorating; we had a fresh-cut 4ft pine tree in the center of the kitchen/dining table… but for me, it was huge. We could walk to church for midnight mass, and I was mesmerized every minute as I adored the lights that streamed down 3rd Avenue and across 42nd Street. I remember my “Chatty-Cathy” doll sitting under that tree next to my brother’s “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em ROBOTS”… they seemed enormous compared to the mini-tree. Throughout the years, I have taken all that I love and multiplied it over and over for each of my children and then my grandchildren… I want them to love Christmas just as much and hold on to these memories and valuable traditions.