Festive and merry, right before January

Blog Project 3.0 has been going on for about two years, even though one of the group members changed after a few months. I love blogging with this group and I hope we can continue to inspire each other.

This week, Moma Rock chose the topic: What are some of your favorite (or least favorite) holiday memories?

First, read what everyone else had to share on this topic. I will be only posting links to posts on this same topic from my group. So check back if you were hoping to read their blogs and don't see a link yet.

Darwin Shrugged
Froggie
Moma Rock

Since I am doing this Winter Joy retreat, I am a bit drained from writing anything else. I will instead share some excerpts from previous posts about holidays. I'm just focusing on the winter holidays. Thanks for understanding!

Hanukkah (from Chick Lit Central; December 26, 2011):
The thing that makes Hanukkah really come alive for me is the most is latkes. I associate the smell of frying potatoes with Hanukkah. Sure, that smell will linger for days on furniture, clothes, etc. However, it is so warm and delicious that it doesn't bother me a bit! When I was growing up, and even into my adult years, my dad was well-known for making latkes for us, extended family and our friends. There was one night that he made them for me and some friends at midnight after we got home from a late showing of Aladdin, back in 1992. Over the years, we've also had many latke parties with him standing over the frying pan the entire time so that we wouldn't run out of the tasty treat. Nowadays, my husband is the chief latke maker. His latkes look and taste different, but are delicious, as well. We haven't had latkes for Hanukkah this year, but we plan to before the last day. I think when I take that first delectable bite of steaming potatoes and onions, Hanukkah will really give off its true "feel" for me.

Family Hanukkah pic from 2013

My husband's latkes

Christmas (From 'Tis the season; December 23, 2011):
My mom's first cousin is not Jewish. (There was some intermarriage in our family.) Therefore, she and her family celebrate Christmas. We would celebrate the day with them when I was growing up and even as I was becoming an adult. As a result, there was a time in my life when I actually enjoyed Christmas and all it had to offer. I love celebrating Hanukkah, but there was something warm and wonderful about Christmas at the time. It gave the whole month of December a certain "feel." We would go to our cousins' house and the whole place would be decked out in Christmas gear. They had a really nice (huge) tree taking up part of their living room. (Their house represented Christmas so well that it was weird to go there any other time of the year, when all the decorations were gone.) They had relaxing Christmas tunes playing in the background the entire time. And then there was the food. There would be snacks when we first came in. Amongst the snacks was a bowl of dill weed dip (my favorite). I'd use it for cucumbers and potato chips. Dinner was turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, etc. I don't think the items ever varied from year to year. The best part was dessert. Our cousin had my late maternal grandma's cheesecake recipe and would make it with cherries on top. There were Frango mint cookies and brownies, as well. Three other things that made the experience memorable....eating dinner on the giant ping pong table in the basement, getting free Disney CDs (our cousin's husband worked for Disney records at the time) and most important of all, having my grandma and great-uncle there. (They were brother and sister and passed away about 4 1/2 years apart from one another.) Another treat was my cousin's husband's sister coming in every other year or so. She was just really nice. On the way home, we'd be all bundled up in the car on a snowy night, passing by all the houses with twinkling lights. There was something so peaceful about the drive back to our house.

At our cousins' house in 1991

My late maternal grandma and her brother
about seven months before he passed away
(Taken at my college graduation dinner)

Side note: My least favorite holiday memory is when my sister and I woke up on Christmas morning to find our dog laying dead in our family room. I didn't really understand death at the time, but it put a damper on what was supposed to be a fun day. (This was back when we wanted to be like our cousins and celebrate Christmas.)

New Year's Eve (from Out with the old...; December 30, 2010):
On the last night of 1994, I was involved with "Rocky Horror" and NYE was on a Saturday. My parents drove me to the theater in a snowstorm and I had a blast ringing in the new year with my friends there. After the show, the cast (which I was part of at the time) went to an apartment (owned by two of the cast members) to all hang out together and party through the night. That was an interesting experience in itself. Let's just say I didn't do anything I shouldn't, but I still felt the effects from everyone else who was doing this thing. I can't remember if I slept at all that night.

New Year's Eve 1994 at the Mundelein Cinema

On the last night of 2001, I spent NYE in Israel. I was there for Birthright and completely jet lagged. I had no idea what time it was and almost missed the changing of the year altogether. The hotel had this party for all the people visiting for Birthright, even though Israel had celebrated their new year in September. I spent my first day of 2002 touring around Jerusalem. It was almost surreal.

On the last night of 2002, my husband (then boyfriend) and I went to the Olive Garden for dinner and then went to First Night Evanston and walked around in the freezing cold to the different shows and events going on. They had a hula hoop contest, where I realized that I could no longer hula hoop like I did during my Bar/Bat Mitzvah party days. One of the buildings hosted a dance, which is where we officially rang in the new year while dancing to big band music.

Happy holidays, no matter what you celebrate!