A Daily Dose of Christmas Magic
The obvious question first: how did it start?
I guess my love of Christmas started as a child, of course, but where it is now is a combination of the nasty “collectors” gene I was born with and looking around and realizing how good the ornaments, decorations and lights make me feel. I used to think my sister was crazy for putting up her Christmas decorations the day after Halloween, not so much now.
Do you own all the ornaments and other memorabilia you post on Instagram?
I only post pics of thing I own unless stated. I know I posted a few of my sisters and a couple of my bosses but I always give credit.
Is your home decorated year-round?
This is the first year that I’m basically leaving everything up. I can no longer see a good reason to take things down anymore. I remember reading that Carrie Fisher kept a tree up all year because as a child she would visit Harold Lloyd‘s home and he kept a huge tree up all year. If it works for Princess Leia and one of the greatest silent film comedians ever, who am I to argue.
What is your favourite piece? You can name more than one… I totally understand.
This is a tough one, even though you were kind enough to say I could name more than one. If I think about this too much, I’ll keep changing my mind, so I’m going with my first thought. I bought a box of Christmas crackers from an ETSY shop in England. I love it because it’s from the 60’s, the artwork is amazing and that they are real proper English crackers makes it special. I wish I had some of my Nana’s ornaments but one of my siblings got those, I’m sure they would be at the top of I had any.
Where do you find your collectables?
I’m a big Hallmark guy. I can’t wait for Christmas in July every year and to see all the new ornaments. Plus, I can say Merry Christmas to strangers and not get really strange looks. I also get many on eBay, of course. Occasionally Etsy, antique stores and garage sales.
How does your Christmas tree look like?
My tree is are covered with ornaments there are barely any blank spaces. In the past I did have trees that were only red and silver ornaments, which was nice. Last year I did start a tree with only round ornaments, I wanted them to be only vintage Shiny Brites but I had to add in some new ones to fill it out. I prefer white lights, maybe because there are so many colors on the ornaments it just works better. Also, all my trees are fake and this does make me sad. I do love a real tree, the wonderful smell and the imperfections of the tree add to the magic. I’m sure I’ll get a real tree again but the last one I got some issues…there were like 20 baby praying mantises and a few spiders and I’m just not a huge fan.
How do celebrate Christmas?
I celebrate Christmas pretty traditionally. As I get older and the emphasis has been taken away from the presents and has been placed more on nostalgia and just enjoying the magic, it’s much less stressful. With that said, I oddly miss running to the mall Christmas Eve for that one last gift. I go to a church service Christmas morning, it’s always the traditional turkey dinner, lots of music and movies. In the last couple years, we have been doing fondue and shrimp cocktail on Christmas Eve. Why? I don’t know it’s just something I started for some reason, but it is delicious. One of the newer things I love doing is watching Youtube vintage Christmas home movies. Hours of fun! I like to rate the trees.
What’s your favorite Christmas movie?
The easiest question. My favorite Christmas movie is It’s a Wonderful Life. There certainly are so many I love but I’ve always held this one in a special place since I started watching it when it became public domain in the mid 70’s. It’s a tradition that every year I watch it at midnight Christmas Eve.
Do your friends and family think you are a bit obsessed?
Yes, my friends, family and acquaintances think I’m obsessed but they get used to it. I mean I wear Christmas socks a few times a week and Christmas t-shirts year-round, and I’m always playing Christmas music in the car. There’s a cashier who always ask me if I “have taken my tree down?” she laughs and explains to the next person in line about me as I leave. Just last week I was showing a couple colleagues my bedroom Christmas set up and got a “wow, Brad really does live in his own world.” I do, but I’m happy here.
And finally, where do you live?
I live in Pennsylvania but probably not for that much longer. I need more snow! I miss Colorado my favorite place I’ve lived (and I’ve lived in 13 states) maybe I’ll head back to New Hampshire, I grew up there. They say you can’t go back home but Christmas is my real home and I go back there all the time.
2020
