My Own 25 Days of Christmas

I love Christmas. If you know me, you know that about me. I started decorating my house this year on about November 3. Those decorations will probably be up until February. To me, Christmas isn’t just a holiday, but rather, a season. And one of my favorite parts of said season is the delightful bits of cinema that honor it. ABC Family does their “25 Days of Christmas.” Every night, they feature a different Christmas movie. Well, this is MY personal “25 Days of Christmas” list. Please note: this will not be your list of favorite Christmas movies. Many of the classic favorites (like, the Charlie Brown, Rudolph, The Grinch, etc.) are not on this list. These are some of MY favorites. Some of them are not even Christmas movies, per se, but rather movies that feature Christmas scenes or make me feel Christmasy. They are presented to you in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

1. About A Boy

Notable Cast: Hugh Grant, Rachel Weisz, and that kid who grew up to be Beast in “X-Men: First Class.”
Basic Plot: A kid with a mentally unstable mom and no father befriends a man with no connections to anyone and seemingly no conscience who makes his living off of the royalties from a terrible Chistmas song that his father wrote years ago. It’s not strictly a Christmas movie, though.
Favorite moment: The boy accidentally kills a duck at the park. It sounds morbid, but it’s actually hilarious.

2. Bridget Jones's Diary

Notable Cast: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant
Basic Plot: A chronically single woman documents her life over the course of a year. It features an EPIC lip-synching moment and a hilariously hot fight scene between two very attractive British men.
Favorite moment: Hugh grant plays the PERFECT douchebag and his character’s cyber-flirtation with Bridget is oddly appealing to me.

3. A Christmas Carol- 1984

Notable Cast: George C. Scott
Basic Plot: If you don’t know the plot, you should be ashamed of yourself. However, it is worth noting that Scrooge has never had a better set of mutton chops.
Favorite Moment: The ending is always poignant. God bless us every one!

4. The Christmas Toy

Notable Cast: The Muppet Performers
Basic Plot: It’s scary how strongly the plot of this movie was echoed some years later in Toy Story. Toys come to life whenever they’re left alone in the playroom. However, in this iteration, if the toys are caught out of place, they are frozen forever. Incredibly sad. But it makes for a heartwarming moment near the end. It’s fun to watch and try to identify which Muppet performers are performing these characters.
Favorite Moment: The opening song. It makes me break into a crazy dance, if when I’m alone.

5. A Claymation Christmas

Notable Cast: Rex the Tyrannosaurus and Herb the Triceratops
Basic Plot: Two dinosaurs host a variety-type show during which they try to figure out just what the heck “wassailing” is. It’s only about half an hour long, but it’s one of my very favorite Christmas specials from my childhood.
Favorite Moment: It’s hard to choose between the singing camels and the California Raisins’ version of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

6. Elf

Notable Cast: Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschenel, James Caan, Mary Steenbergen, and Ed Asner
Basic Plot: In case, by some chance, you’ve missed this gem, let me explain it to you. A man who was raised by elves in the North Pole learns that his biological father is on the naughty list and goes to New York City to try to save him. Hilarity ensues.
Favorite Moment: Oh, it’s so hard to decide. Buddy being hit by cab? Buddy trying to ride an escalator? Buddy jumping on top of a Christmas tree? Buddy drinking an entire 2-ounce Coca-Cola and subsequently letting loose with the loudest longest belch in film history? Yeah, probably the belch.

7. Ernest Saves Christmas

Notable Cast: Jim Varney AKA Ernest P. Worrell
Basic Plot: Santa Clause goes to Orlando to find his replacement. Ernest comes to his aid, as does a teenage runaway named Harmony Starr who I thought was SUPER cool when I was a kid. Scrunchies, freedom braids, acid wash cut-offs, and all. Also, fun fact: the actress who plays Harmony is named Noelle Parker. And she was born on Christmas. (Also, my middle name is Noelle, so I’m inclined to love her.)
Favorite Moment: Any time Ernest is in disguise is amazing. But the best is when he dresses up as the head of the Apopka Snake Ranch in order to smuggle Santa onto a movie set. Side note: Wes’s dad lives in Apopka.

8. Garfield's Christmas Special

Notable Cast: Garfield, Odie, and Jon
Basic Plot: The gang goes to visit Jon’s family for Christmas. Garfield finds a sweet gift to give to Jon’s feisty grandmother.
Favorite Moment: There’s a particularly hilarious and awkward moment when Grandma speaks to the values of “having a kitty in your lap.”

9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Notable Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and magic
Basic Plot: Well, see, there’s this evil wizard named Voldemort, and… well, it’s a long, LONG, wonderful story. All of the movies in this series make me feel vaguely Christmasy, but this one wins honorable mention in this list for one reason: Yule Ball.
Favorite Moment: Well, there’s this hilariously awful set of dress robes…

10. The Holiday

Notable Cast: Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, and the two most adorable British children ever
Basic Plot: Two women are unhappy with their lives (read: love-lives) and decide to house-swap for the holidays. One meets a film score composer and a cute, cheeky old man and the other meets the hottest single dad in England.
Favorite Moment: There’s a WONDERFUL scene in a movie store featuring maybe the best cameo ever.

11. It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

Notable Cast: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, the whole gang.
Basic Plot: Think “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but with Kermit instead of Jimmy Stewart, David Arquette as an angel, and Whoopie Goldberg as God. Throw in a Muppet original musical called “Moulin Scrooge” and try to imagine what would have happened if Kermit had never been born.
Favorite Moment: Beaker as a body-builder. Totally hilarious.

12. It's A Wonderful Life

Notable Cast: Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed
Basic Plot: George Bailey can never catch a break. He has to constantly give of himself. When his business is threatened, he wishes he’d never been born. An angel named Clarence is sent to show him just what would happen if that wish came true. This, in my opinion, is the ultimate Christmas movie.
Favorite Moment: “What is it you want, Mary? You want the moon?”

13. Little Women

Notable Cast: Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, and Susan Sarandon
Basic Plot: Jo March and her sisters grow up in Civil War-era Massachusetts. Jo wants things always to stay the same and has a hard time dealing with her sisters’ changing lives. This is not specifically a Christmas movie, but any film that includes the song “Ding Dong, Merrily On High” makes me feel darn Christmasy.
Favorite Moment: Jo meets Laurie at a fancy party and the two engage in hilarious shenanigans.

14. Love Actually

Notable Cast: Basically every British actor ever. Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy. Oh! And my first exposure to Andrew Lincoln, who does the best southern accent of pretty much any actor out there. But not in this movie…
Basic Plot: It’s an ensemble drama with a bunch of different interweaving plotlines. But here are some important lessons it teaches us: 1) All chicks dig drummers. 2) To Americans, all British people have cute accents. 3) There was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus. 4) Prime ministers love to dance to the Pointer Sisters. 5) The thing about romance is, people only get together at the very end. 6) Don't buy drugs; become a pop star and they give you them for free. 7) If you love someone from a distance for long enough, they just might start to love you back. Just turn off your cell phone if you start doing it. 8) Don't go through Mr. Bean's checkout line if you're in a hurry. 9) True love lasts a lifetime.
Favorite Moment: There’s an awkward car ride involving a child in an octopus costume. Classic.

15. Mean Girls

Notable Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Tina Fey, and Tim Meadows
Basic Plot: Cady Heron is the new girl at school. She’s been homeschool all her life by her parents who are scientists in Africa and now she tries to fit in with the popular crowd, known as The Plastics. It’s not a Christmas movie, but it does have a hilarious little stretch of Christmas scenes.
Favorite Moment: Christmas-wise? “Four for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!”

16. Mickey's Christmas Carol

Notable Cast: Mickey Mouse, Scrooge McDuck, Goofy, Donald, and a bunch of lesser-known (but highly-deserving) Disney characters in the supporting roles.
Basic Plot: It’s “A Christmas Carol,” only with Disney characters. It’s so epic that they have shadow boxes of the movie at Disney World.
Favorite Moment: It changes. This year it was the moment that Mickey Mouse pulls a entire cooked turkey from Scrooge’s bag. Silly.

17. Miracle on 34th Street

Notable Cast: Natalie Wood and Maureen O’Hara
Basic Plot: Santa Claus has to prove that he is who he says he is to the US government. Children in the future may not understand this movie if the US Postal Service disappears.
Favorite Moment: Kris Kringle smacks this douchebag with his cane. He cray-cray.

18. Mixed Nuts

Notable Cast: Steve Martin, Rita Wilson, Juliette Louis, Liev Schreiber, and a very young Adam Sandler
Basic Plot: Chistmas gets depressing for a group of people who run a depression hotline and their friends. I picked this movie up for, like, three bucks at Big Lots, having never seen it before. If you haven’t seen it, you should make a point to.
Favorite Moment: Adam Sandler making up ukulele songs. It’s Opera Man all over again.

19. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Notable Cast: Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, and, most importantly, Danny Elfman as the singing voice of Jack Skellington
Basic Plot: The Pumpkin King of Halloween Town wanders into Christmas Town and is mesmerized by the joy and cheer of it all. He decides to take over Christmas to enliven his mundane life. This movie is suitable for watching all the way from October through December. (And the rest of the year, too.)
Favorite Moment: The music is INCREDIBLE. And this is a certified music snob speaking. My favorite is probably “Jack’s Lament.” So dramatic.

20. Sleepless In Seattle

Notable Cast: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Bill Pullman, Rosie O’Donell, Rita Wilson, and Victor Garber
Basic Plot: A widower’s son calls a radio talk show and says that his dad needs someone to make him happy. A woman on the other side of the country hears the show and writes him a letter. The son reads the letter and becomes obsessed with the idea of bringing the two together. The rest is history. Not a Christmas movie exactly, but if Meg Ryan in her car singing about “Harses, harses, harses,” doesn’t make you feel Christmasy, nothing will.
Favorite Moment: Rita Wilson tearily explains the plot of “An Affair To Remember” to Tom Hanks and Victor Garber who turn around and tearily explain the plot of “The Dirty Dozen.” Priceless.

21. The Small One

Notable Cast: Nobody really. The voice of the boy may be the same voice as Skippy from Disney’s “Robin Hood,” though.
Basic Plot: A boy reluctantly travels to town on his father’s request to sell the family’s elderly donkey with whom the boy is best friends. This 30-minute special is one of my favorite, favorite bits of Christmas cinema ever. I’m not going to spoil the end of it for you, because you NEED to see it. Come over and watch it. I have the DVD.
Favorite Moment: The ending. It makes grown men tear up.

22. The Snowman

Notable Cast: No actors. Animated, no dialogue.

Basic Plot: A boy builds a snowman who comes to life and leads him through a snowy adventure. It might sound silly or cheesy, but it’s truly a beautiful way to spend half an hour.
Favorite Moment: The snowman replaces his nose with various fruits. The pineapple is the best.

23. When Harry Met Sally

Notable Cast: Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Basic Plot: Boy meets girl. First they hate each other. Then he likes her. Then they become friends. Then they fall in love. Oh, boy. One of my all-time favorites. It’s not a Christmas movie, but it has some wonderful New Year’s Eve scenes.
Favorite Moment: “Waiter. There is too much pepper on my paprikash.” Or possibly, the game of Pictionary. “Baby fish mouth!”

24. While You Were Sleeping

Notable Cast: Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, and Glynis Johns. Yes. Mrs. Banks from “Mary Poppins.”

Basic Plot: A lonely woman rescues a man who has fallen on the subway tracks. While he is in a coma, his family mistakes her for his fiancée. Meanwhile, she falls in love with the man’s brother.Favorite Moment: Less of a moment, more of a character. Joe Fusco, Jr. Hilarious.

25. You've Got Mail

Notable Cast: Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, and, amazingly, Dave Chapelle.

Basic Plot: This is probably one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time. It spans all four seasons in New York City, but the Christmas scenes are lovely. Anyway, a man and a woman meet online (back in the days of dial-up…) and turn out to be business rivals. Through trials and tribulations, they eventually become friends and finally fall in love. Beautiful. Favorite Moment: How do I pick one? Today, at least, I think it’s Joe and Kathleen’s first blind date, during which he doesn’t let her know that he’s the one she’s there to meet.

So there you have it. Go watch every one of these movies. You will not regret it.

Meat Free Monday

I have not been good for the last week or so. Some friends of mine got married this weekend and, between the rehearsal dinner and reception, I positively gorged myself. The good news is that I had some AWESOME barbecue.

That being said, this is my week. I've started off on the right foot. I've started participating in Meat Free Monday. A lot of people do this, but I got the idea from Paul McCartney. He is a long-time vegetarian and encourages others in that direction. And for those of us who don't want to live a life without steak or chicken tenders, he preaches Meat Free Mondays. One day a week, you just go without meat. So for lunch today, I had Tomato Parmesan bisque and potato pancakes. Tonight, we're gonna have a pasta-like baked zucchini dish. (I need a better name for this particular dish.) So the goal is to do this one day a week. It may not always be on Monday, but we're gonna do it. This is happening.

And I have another goal for this week: no french fries. Boy, they're really a weakness for me.

Painting the Roses Red OR Fat Jeans

So, I don't mean to bombard you with celebrity weight loss pictures, but Kelly Osbourne looks AWESOME! At the Emmy's last night, she looked better than I've ever seen her look. I thought I'd start off this particular entry with a picture of her. Check out those curves!

Last night, we painted our master bathroom. It's now a lovely blue called Ocean Breeze. And tonight, we hung new cabinets, moved in some shelves, and hung a painting. It really looks lovely. The idea was to go for a spa feel, and I think it was achieved. Anyway, while we were painting, all I wanted to do was sing "Painting The Roses Red" from Disney's "Alice in Wonderland." I wonder if I could rewrite the words to the whole song and sing "I'm painting the bathroom blue..." Perhaps I should try.

In preparation for the messy work last night, I changed out of my good clothes and put on yucky ones that I wouldn't mind getting dirty. I went into the closet in the guest room (That's where I'm keeping clothes I'm not using regularly. Wes's unused clothes go in the office closet.) and pulled out my Fat Jeans. Most people have a pair. They're old and baggy and, if you're involved in the theater, usually covered in paint stains that you can trace back to specific shows and, thus, specific memories. Mine have a little bit of white from the picket fence in the Ascot scene in "My Fair Lady" and, if I'm not mistaken, some yellow from a certain brick road of the same color. And that is going BACK! They also have paint from when I moved into my house in Spartanburg. So these pants have been around for a while and seen their share of work. But guess what? My Fat Jeans don't fit anymore. That's right. I've out-fat-ed my Fat Jeans. Gross.

Have I been painting the roses red all this time? Have I been pretending that something is true when it's not? Have I been pretending I'm not all that fat when I really am? This is not a self-loathing thing. I think it really may have gotten out of control without my knowing. I feel fat, but I don't feel THAT fat. It's not like I sweat going up the stairs or anything. I feel like I make DECENT grocery decisions. Yeah, I like cookies and ice cream and soda, but I don't like many store-bought cookies and I don't bake very often. And I buy Skinny Cow ice cream and diet soda. But it's not enough.

Tomorrow, I'm getting up and going for a walk. I've got to start doing some sort of exercise. Which KILLS ME! I really hate exercise. I mean, HATE. Sweating is gross. My heart rate rising is uncomfortable. And, for some reason, exercising makes me really itchy. (No big deal; I'm just the itchiest person alive.) But it's GOT to happen. I'm also going to start going to yoga class. I bought a Living Social deal for a local yoga studio and I'm going to try to get it set up and start going at least twice a week. It's got to change. These Fat Jeans have got to get back to where they once belonged. Which is hanging loosely around my hips.

Inspiration in the most unlikely places

I just popped open my laptop and clicked my homepage button. Yahoo. No big. I like to flip through Yahoo's new headlines. Few of them are actually ever news. They're usually celebrity gossip, fashion correspondence, sometimes a cute animal video. The news-iest things on there are usually "Democrats fear the worst in upcoming election" or "Being poor in America today." My favorite single headline today was "Is Mexican Coke really tastier?" Anyway, I like to browse through them, just to see if there's anything interesting. Today, the first two were about celebrities who have lost weight! Crazy! Links are provided below.

Kirstie Alley has lost a TON of weight and looks ah-MAZE-ing! I've always thought she was pretty. I guess that comes from a childhood filled with episodes of "Cheers" and frequent viewings of "It Takes Two" and "Look Who's Talking." And, no, she hasn't always been the best role model for those looking to shape up, but I think maybe she is now. Check her out!

Now, I don't know anything about football, but apparently Baltimore Ravens' defensive tackle, Terrence Cody, has dropped some poundage as well. Of course, he's still a hulking mass of a man, but he's not flubber-y anymore.

These guys are awesome! I consider this my inspiration for the day!

Monday, Monday

I have a new car. It's a BRAND NEW CAR! I have never had a brand new car. I'm not even sure that my parents have ever had a new car, at least not in my lifetime. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to be in a place in my life where I can afford a new car. Or to have a man in my life who helps make these things possible. I currently live in the nicest house I've ever lived in, I have the nicest car I've ever had, and I have the best job situation I've ever had. I hope this doesn't all come across as bragging. I just have been overwhelmed by the blessings in my life lately.

Yesterday, Grace, Wes, and I went to the Cabarrus County Fair. It was maybe the best fair I've ever been to, and that's really sort of saying something. We didn't get to do a whole lot because we got there kind of late and were on a limited budget. But we got to eat some good fair food (funnel cake anyone?) and hear some old guys ROCK OUT some bluegrass and pet some farm animals and fwalk around and see all the lights and sights. It was really a fun time. Plus, this fair is HUGE. And it felt really safe there. And I didn't feel like I was going to get hepatitis or anything. It was really wonderful. I recommend it to anyone in the area.

So as far as healthiness and eating better go, I haven't really gotten a good start. But the good news is that we have to be frugal this week (didn't really expect to get a new car this weekend...), which means that we're going to be cooking all of our meals, which means that we can be healthier. And Mondays are historically the easiest day of the week to start something new. Or RE-start something.

So, Monday, Monday, be good to me.

Here's to a healthy harvest.

Yes, this is about losing weight! But I'll get to that in a minute. Let me start with the good stuff.

It is autumn. I mean, it's not yet, but it's starting to feel like it. I wore boots today. And a sweater. And I bought Autumn Delight snack mix from the Fresh Market. So, I feel like it's fall. As you may know, fall is my very favorite time of year. One of my favorite quotations is from George Eliot and speaks to this matter: "Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

A lot of people think of spring as the season of new beginnings. And of course spring is lovely and a welcome relief after the bleak winter. But for me, autumn is where it's at. For me, summer is WAY more oppressive than winter. When that upwards-of-100-degree weather finally breaks, when Starbucks finally releases their pumpkin spice flavor, when you finally see that first orange leaf, it's like Jesus looks down and says "Hey, I didn't forget about y'all. It's okay!" (Yeah, that sounds silly. Whatevs.)

And so, in the spirit of new beginnings, I have decided that it is time for me to make some changes. This past year has been one of my best to date. I've spent it with the most wonderful man for whom I am so grateful. This is a forever kind of love and I'm just so blessed to have found such a good match. I have finally broken into the business that I've always dreamt of working in. I've moved away from my lovable but admittedly small hometown. Good things have happened. Good things CONTINUE to happen. But through these good things, I've become a little complacent. I've been calling this my "fat and happy" phase of life, but the truth is, I've gotten sloppy. A couple of years ago, I lost a ton of weight and was feeling really good about myself. And, OF COURSE, I have enjoyed being wined and dined during this early stage of my relationship with Wes. But it's time to undo some of the damage I've done this year.

This morning, I googled "how to get motivated to lose weight." Some of the advice I got was not so good ("cut out pictures of models you'd like to look like"), but some of it wasn't so bad. I was reminded that I need to keep myself accountable. And that's what this blog is for. I'm going to share my progress and post little tidbits along the way. You may see things like recipes, links to articles, pictures, bits of inspiration, etc. I'm starting by posting my "before" picture. It's not a pretty sight. (It doesn't help that I have one of the most awkward haircuts of my life. It's growing out, lest ye be worried.) But it's a sight I need to see and to share with others.

So wish me luck! This is not going to be easy. But with your prayers, encouragements, and even advice, I think it's going to be a fun ride. And here we go!