Guest Post: Lizzy from Cornucopia of Reviews

Today I'm very excited to welcome Lizzy  from the excellent blog Cornucopia of Reviews for a guest post about her favorite holiday traditions (which also happen to match many of my favorites). After you're done reading this post, you should really check out her blog too.  :)  So without further ado, take it away Lizzy!

I absolutely love the holiday season. I mean, it's kind of unhealthy how much holiday cheer I have, even when we have a shorter number of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The reason why I love it most is because of the time that I get to spend with my family. We all have different schedules, so getting these two weeks a year to catch up and relax together is awesome. Here is how we celebrate:

The weeks leading up to Christmas: It's time to get in the festive spirit. This means that I don't brave the mall (because usually I don't find that too fun). Instead, we start watching Christmas movies and TV episodes. This usually hits me in the 90's nostalgia, and we re-watch a bunch that my dad had originally taped for me at Christmas in 1993 (obviously they are now on DVD...and I sort of miss the game boy and 7up commercials).

We always watch the classics: A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon), Rudolph, and Garfield's Christmas (which has the best music ever). I always wrap gifts while watching Love Actually and sobbing openly during the sad bits...and usually give up trying to make them look good about halfway through the movie. My favorite, however, is The Santa Clause. So I usually force my family into watching it a couple times in December (sorry I'm not sorry).

I also have a couple of books that I love to read this time each year. I'm not sure why Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a Christmas read for me. Maybe it's because I love that I have time to curl up with some tea and get into Elizabeth's story. So, my poor paperback copy is all worn out...I should probably invest in a second copy...and it's just about time for me to start reading it again.

On Christmas Eve: We go visit extended family, and when we get home it's time to hunker down for my dad's dramatic reading of...

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg: This is a new family tradition that started last year. Both my sister and I are adults, but we talked my dad into reading it aloud to us. It was the most hilarious part of our Christmas. So, I'm looking forward to hearing if my dad has improved altered any of his character voices this year.

We also always watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. I've grown up with the Muppets, and this is one of my favorites. During college I worked in a video rental store, and this was one of the movies that I could consistently watch, shift after shift, without getting sick of! There's something fun about this version...maybe it's because there are jokes for the grownups that I now understand, and maybe because the last ghost was so scary that it still gives me the creeps. Regardless, it's the last thing we do before we all head to bed!
A big thanks to Alyssa for letting me ramble on about my favorite time of year!