Tag Christmas

Hanging With A Couple Of Favorite Candle Scents

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Fir & Firewood by Capri Blue is the ultimate Christmas tree scent!

As a self-proclaimed scented candle fanatic, I have definitely selected some fragrances which are favorites. Two of my favorites are actually promoted and sold as holiday candles, but I use them year-round because they don’t scream Christmas like some aromatic varieties do. The two limited-edition holiday candles with which I can honestly say I am obsessed are Nest’s Blue Cypress & Snow, and Fir & Firewood by Capri Blue.

Blue Cypress & Snow is described as: “Create the aroma of a snow-covered mountain retreat in winter with NEST New York’s candle collection, featuring notes of crisp blue cypress, juniper berry, and hints of smoked vanilla bean.” What does it smell like? Fresh woods, nestled in cozy, warm vanilla. I don’t even like the smell of vanilla, but this combination is absolutely beautiful. I think it’s a bit heavy for the middle of summer, but it absolutely works any other time of the year. Although Nest only sells this one during the holiday season, there are other stores which sell this for a good portion of the year.

Fir & Firewood is described in this way: “Fruity, green aroma of apple, clove, fir, pine needle, white birch, cedar, vetiver, and musk.” The fruit and clove mellow out the sharpness of the pine, birch and cedar, resulting in the ultimate Christmas tree scent. It’s definitely festive, but the scent profile works for anyone who likes forest type, woody aromas. This one is hard to find, but worth the effort to dig up.

New Holiday Decorations

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Last year, I took my Halloween and Christmas decorations to the next level, all because I was inspired by the talented residents in my city who decorated their homes. Every year, the city of Burbank has a Halloween decorated house contest, and because there are many Burbank residents who work in the film and TV industry, the artistry and creativity exhibited are significant. For whatever reason, I was swept up in the festive energy of Halloween last October, and I made close to a dozen excursions to various neighborhoods in Burbank to see all the decorations.

During prior years, all I did in terms of decorating my place for Halloween was to put up wooden plaques of Jack Skellington and Sally at my front door, display three plastic skeletons (cat, Dachshund dog, and a rat) on the railing around my second-floor balcony, and string up orange and purple lights on the balcony. Last year, I added a 6-foot-tall Jack Skellington, a matching Sally, and a matching Zero, all three of which hung near the front door entrance. My place really stood out because I was the only resident in my community who put up any Halloween decorations, but my friends and I really enjoyed seeing those decorations. This year, I will be adding another element which should be a lot of fun to have as part of the display.

My Halloween decorations on Halloween 2025

Then as Christmas approached last year, I was inspired to continue the Nightmare Before Christmas story theme by adding an animatronic Jack Skellington (dressed as Sandy Claws) at my front door. I also switched the decorations on a 4.5-foot tree which I always put in my den area so that the Nightmare Before Christmas theme pervaded the tree. I also created a spiral at the tip of the tree to mimic the shape of Spiral Hill. The results were truly fantastic!

My front door display for Christmas 2025

I ended up with so many Nightmare Before Christmas ornaments and decorations for the 4.5-foot tree that it ended up being a bit overloaded, so this year, the decorations will adorn a 6-foot pencil tree. The 4.5-foot tree will undergo yet another decorating facelift, and I am truly excited for what I plan to create when I put that tree up in late November of this year. I know it sounds like overkill to have THREE Christmas trees (I have a 7.5-foot cashmere tree as the main tree) in the house this year, but I am having fun with all of it. Thank goodness I have enough space in my garage to store all the items!

This was a great launching point for the Nightmare Before Christmas theme inside the house!

My Nightmare Before Christmas Holiday Tree

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I have had a 4-foot Christmas tree for many years which is an accompaniment to the 7.5-foot Christmas tree I also have. Sadly though, I have never had the same enthusiasm for the decorations on the smaller tree as I do for the ones I place on the big tree, but since I love the glow of the tree lights in the den, I always put it up during the holidays. There have been a couple of times I have considered coming up with a theme for that tree, but nothing ever sparked enough for me to take action.

Everything changed this year when I decided to have a Nightmare Before Christmas theme for my front door Halloween decorations. One of the most wonderful aspects of the film The Nightmare Before Christmas is that it honors both Halloween and Christmas. Since the film is one of my favorites, I finally got the inspiration to change the theme of my smaller tree, and I have been so happy with the results. I even added the curl onto the existing tree to mimic the spiral mountaintop in the film.

A New Christmas

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I used to love Christmas, with all its twinkly lights, wonderful-smelling trees, and presents. However, once my mom’s health began declining (brought on by a brain aneurysm in 2004 which almost killed her), my attitude towards Christmas changed dramatically. Though her cognitive abilities are markedly improved now, she doesn’t care about her personal appearance, nor does she get excited about opening up gifts which I wrap carefully for her.

Another thing which happens every year, and has occurred for the past several years, is that people leave town, and I find myself alone on Christmas Day. I remember spending the Christmas of 2011 and 2012 moping about the fact that I was alone, but then in 2013, I sort of gave up and decided to use Christmas Day as more of a personal day, to catch up on projects and cleaning, or to spend part of the day with friends who might be in town during that time. This year, I will spend the early afternoon sitting in a movie theater by myself and watching “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, and I think that is absolutely perfect.

Another Christmas tradition which I had abandoned in 2012 was getting a tree. From 1997 through 2010, I would get a 7-1/2 foot Noble Fir for the living room and decorate it along with the rest of the house. In 2011, I still bought a tree, but I put it in a different room because my cats were so rambunctious that I was concerned that they would destroy it. Then we moved in 2012, and I didn’t even make an effort to buy and decorate a tree. We had no tree in 2013 or 2014 either, and to make sure that I didn’t go hog-wild with other decorations, I got rid of a bunch of lights and other decorations at a garage sale I had earlier this year.

This year, I was completely torn. I put wreaths up on the front door and the back door, but didn’t put any lights up on our patio. Almost daily, I would toy with the idea of running to a tree lot and buying a tree. But here’s the thing: it’s not exactly fun to think about picking out a tree by yourself, loading it up onto the roof of your car, lugging it up a flight of stairs to your house, pulling out all the lights and other decorations from the garage, and decorating the entire damned thing yourself. The cat factor also really bothered me, because I didn’t exactly relish the thought of coming home to broken ornaments or chewed up light cords. I thought that if I could test the cats’ behavior with a smaller tree, that I might buy a tree, but that it wouldn’t happen until next year.

Then I found myself in a Rite Aid on December 20th, and saw a 4 foot artificial Noble Fir for sale for $10. That was my chance to finally get a tree. Ten bucks was cheap enough for me to take the plunge without feeling like I had made a huge commitment. I purchased the tree, and as soon as I got home, I decorated it. My cats looked at it with great curiosity, but they didn’t bat at the ornaments or chew at the tree (well, Shima chewed a bit on the tree, but I’m watching her!). I have enjoyed the tree so immensely that I have decided to get a 7-1/2 foot Noble Fir next year, and I will also put up the artificial 4 foot tree. I am even considering putting lights out on the patio next year.

In many respects, Christmas is just another day for me, but it doesn’t mean that I have to avoid enjoying the decorations which the holiday brings. My Christmas gift to myself is a nice little movie date which I am sure I will enjoy as well.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas As A Grownup Sucks

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I will freely admit that I adopt a bit of a Grinch attitude during the holidays, but that doesn’t mean I am unpleasant to others. It simply means that I no longer look forward to putting up a tree and stockings, mostly because my mother is never there to enjoy it (she has limited mobility and cannot walk up all the stairs where I live), and also because my rascally cats would readily destroy a decorated tree in no time flat. I have even balked at the idea of putting lights up on the patio, because our electrical outlet is so temperamental that we would only be able to enjoy a few minutes of light before the circuit would shut it all down.

grinch03While I enjoy giving gifts, I cannot stand the whole ordeal of shopping and also have the worst time trying to figure out what everyone wants. What I look forward to during the holidays is seeing my friends, having them come over to eat and share in some good laughs. I get so much enjoyment out of feeding my friends, but I have yet to determine how this quirk developed. Perhaps it has something to do with my love of food, or my desire to nurture. I only hope my friends enjoy the experience as much as I do.

It’s not like I sit around and grumble, but I swear that my rescue kitty Shima could be Max while I could observe all the holiday activities with a touch of disdain. Though I appreciate the climactic scene in “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” in which the Grinch’s heart grew, I am not too keen on signing up for cardiac enlargement!

Probably the most significant element which makes Christmas special for me is having a significant other to share it with. The last time I was truly able to share the holiday with someone was eight years ago, so it has been a LONG time since I experienced such a thing. Even in my last relationship we spent Christmas apart because he went back home to be with his family every year. A new definition of Christmas will remain in place until someone comes along to truly share the holiday with me.

Off-Season Maintenance

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I know it can be difficult to maintain clean eating during the holidays, especially with no upcoming bodybuilding shows to prep for.  I am a big believer in truly enjoying the holidays guilt-free, which means having a couple of pieces of fudge if you are so inclined, or having champagne to ring in the new year.  However, if the rest of your meals are kept clean, you should be able to survive this time of year without experiencing a catastrophic spread of the waistline.

One trick which helps is to consume a small amount of lean protein when you have a carb cheat, and eat it before the cheat.  This will slow down digestion so that the carbs aren’t stored as readily.  Another trick is to drink a glass of water before you indulge in a decadent treat.  This will help to fill you up so you consume less food afterward.  When you are aware that you will be at a function in which tempting foods will be around, make sure your meals beforehand are kept clean and that you you eat every 2-1/2 to 3 hours to ensure that you won’t be ravenous come party time.  One of the worst things you can do is skip meals beforehand in hopes that the caloric deficit will balance out the overindulgence later.  All this does is squash your metabolism and increase your chance of overeating.

On the other side of the coin I have seen competitors rein it in so tightly that they make themselves miserable by avoiding holiday treats of any kind.  This can be psychologically very dangerous because they manage to punish themselves, thus solidifying an emotional relationship with food.  I have actually seen people cry after eating something because they felt so guilty about ingesting it.  This is fodder for eating disorders.  The holidays come but once a year, so it is far better to enjoy a few little holiday treats and balance it out with healthy eating.  Happy Holidays and Happy Eating!