CBS recently aired a segment on their Sunday morning show featuring the popularity of ugly Christmas sweater parties.  I can assure you that UglyChristmasSweaters.info will be ready for the 2010 holiday season with a large selection of ugly xmas sweaters!  Check it out…

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The Christmas season and all its activities are geared to the big day,
Dec. 25, which is Christmas Day. The word Christmas is derived from Middle
English ‘Christemasse’ and Old English ‘Cristes maesse,’ both of which means
‘Christ’s Mass.’ The day is celebrated by Christians as the day that Jesus
Christ was born, although the true date of Jesus’ birth isn’t really known.

Given the religious significance of Christmas Day, it therefore follows
that attending church is a big tradition on that day. It is seen as mandatory
for devout Christians and for others who are concerned about retaining the
sacred meaning of the day. Many people fear that the sacred aspects of Christmas
are being lost and overshadowed amid the bustle of commercial activity now
associated with the entire season.

Church services therefore take place early on Christmas morning. Attending
those services is the first official activity that many people do on Christmas
Day. Unlike the Midnight Mass and other earlier church services on Christmas
Eve, Christmas Day services do not usually include the dramatization of the
birth of Jesus. They may be more subdued with a sermon that recounts the birth
of Jesus and his purpose to save mankind. The congregation is then exalted to be
as giving as Jesus and to help out those who are in need.

Consequently, many people will take some time on Christmas Day to
volunteer in a charitable activity such as serving dinner to the poor and hungry
at a church, charitable organization or other social services center. Others
will also work with charitable organizations to distribute toys to needy
children at shelters, hospitals and other places.

As part of the religious aspect of Christmas Day, groups that sing Christmas
carols will also be out very early on Christmas morning.
Although Christmas Dinner is the most significant meal of the day, a large
breakfast will also be served in most households that will be shared by all
family members. The occasion of all family members having a meal together is a
disappearing tradition in many American households and so Christmas is seen as a
perfect time to return to the tradition. Christmas Day after all, is all about
family, sharing and togetherness.

Throughout the day, greetings of ‘Merry Christmas’ will be exchanged by
telephone calls with family, friends, acquaintances, and loved ones who are
located elsewhere in the country and overseas. It is a common occurrence for so
many people to be trying to make international calls to loved ones and friends
on Christmas Day that telephone communication systems to some countries often
are overwhelmed. The availability of technology and the Internet eases that
somewhat nowadays however, as emails and instant messaging can also be used as
other communication channels to exchange greetings on Christmas Day.

Christmas Day Dinner is undoubtedly the central activity of the day. Family and
friends gathered for dinner take pleasure in enjoying and sharing a delicious
meal and also are mindful and thankful for the opportunity to be able to share
the meal, to have each other and for the material things that make their lives
comfortable and give them happiness.

Some of those material things are then shared in absolute delight as everyone
will gather around or near to the Christmas tree after dinner to exchange and
open Christmas presents. It’s an activity that is relished and which is filled
with much laughter, happy chatter and merriment, especially by children who are
usually much delighted to get a toy that they had wished for.

After dinner and the exchange of presents, adults may have light conversations,
play games or even watch a movie. Children are often taken up with experimenting
or playing with their new toys. It has also become a tradition on Christmas Day
for members of some families, such as teenagers and young adults, to end
Christmas Day by attending the movie theater on Christmas evening or Christmas
night to see a recently released film.

We all know that Christmas is all about traditions. Of course the Christmas trees, the holiday HID Light Kits, the presents, Santa. But just because some traditions have lasted this long, doesn’t mean they should continue on. I mean some of them are plain out ridiculous and annoying to say the least. Here is a list of overzealous Christmas traditions that should be banned after this year’s celebration.

1. Radio Stations who play Christmas music all day long, all the time. I am sorry but most humans cannot stand to hear “Jingle Bell Rock” more than once a day, if even that. This is killing our ear buds one jingle at a time. Please stop and don’t continue this tradition next year.

2. Secret Santa in the workplace. Okay so how this works is easy. Everyone brings fifteen bucks and puts it into a hat. Then, everyone picks out of the hat only to receive, gee how nice, fifteen bucks. This is tradition is getting old fast and nobody is creative enough to take part in it anymore. The element of surprise is wasted.

3. Mistletoe. I have honestly never seen a nerd and a milf go at it just because a leaf told them too. This tradition is sweet but should really go out the door. It has sexual harassment written all over it, not a good idea for the office.

4. A turkey dinner. Didn’t we just have Thanksgiving for heaven’s sake? Not only is there still leftovers in the fridge, but there is still turkey residue in everyone’s belly. Break out and try something new this year. And a holiday ham doesn’t count. Be creative and perhaps follow some new recipes.

5. Leaving cookies and milk for Santa. Okay, so this one is a little more geared toward children. But who wants to waste some perfectly good milk to let it spoil over night? Look out for your kids and your wallets and try to keep the milk in the fridge this year. As for the cookies, indulge yourself!

6. Cheesy Hallmark décor. Just because the new Avatar movie just came out doesn’t mean it’s fitting to put a holiday character from the movie on your tree. Who wants a space ship with tinsel on it? It’s just plain tacky and a little over the top.

7. Pet stockings. Okay, okay, if you want to get your dogs a little holiday treat, go right ahead. But do you really have to hang them a stocking. I mean really, what kind of dog appreciates this. Just give him his snacks, the tree indoors is torture enough.

8. Mall Santa Clauses. Are they really charging 20 bucks for a Polaroid of your child and a not so convincing Santa? Give it a rest, malls should call it quits on this pricey tradition.

9. Politically charged greeters. “It’s not Merry Christmas, It’s Happy Holidays, I’m not Christian!” Oh big deal. It is and always has been Merry Christmas. There are some things that just shouldn’t change and it’s not like you’re saying “God I Love You” by participating in Christmas cheer. Politically correct season’s greetings are a bore.

To bid you adieu, I’d like to say Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/christmas-traditions-that-should-be-banned-after-this-year-1614832.html

Are you throwing a Christmas party at your house this year? Never had one before? That’s okay. Just keep this list handy and all your guests will be singing “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” atop your bar stools come midnight. Here is the ultimate list when it comes to Christmas party and décor must haves.

1. You definitely need a Christmas tree.
2. Along with that you need some tinsel, a sufficient amount of holiday ornaments, and the beautiful star or angel up top to seal the deal.
3. You need candy canes, Hershey’s kisses, cookies, and nuts stashed all around your house.
4. You need at least one mistletoe hanging overhead.
5. Decorate with reds, greens, golds and silvers, that means your napkins, cups, and plates.
6. You need some sort of trinkets like small Santa Claus figurines or perhaps the complete Nativity set to fix the mood.
7. You need champagne and pumpkin and apple pies with whipped cream.
8. You definitely want to loop some classic Christmas music on your record player.
9. Wreathes, candles, and faux plants such as Pointsettas are perfect for this time of year.
10. You need to hang your holiday cards in a unique way to demonstrate the idea of togetherness.
11. You need some holiday lights on the inside and outside of your home.
12. You may think about having some holiday movies ready for all the young kids to watch in the backroom.
13. You should have a lot of blankets around for people to snuggle in.
14. It would be great if you had a fireplace to keep everyone warm and roasting chestbuts.
15. You need snow to seal the deal but this is totally out of your control.

After that, use your imagination and throw the best, most unique Christmas themed party you can think of. Happy Holidays!

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/christmas-party-musthaves-1615033.html

The idea of celebrating Jesus’ birth was done to counteract pagan holidays
celebrated in Rome during the Winter Solstice. Church leaders thought Christmas
celebrations were more likely to be popular if they coincided with the
traditional festivals and merrymaking during the Winter Solstice.

Although some Christmas celebrations are secular, the religious aspect of
Christmas remains central to celebrations. This is evident in church services
such as Midnight Mass and primarily in the many forms of the Nativity, or
Christmas Story, presented wherever people celebrate Christmas.

That story started in Nazareth in Galilee about two thousand years ago.

Mary, a young woman, was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. An angel appeared
to her one day and told her she was with child. She couldn’t understand how that
could happen because due to her circumspect nature, she had not laid in bed with
Joseph. The angel explained however, that the child would be special as he would
be the Son of God and his name was to be Jesus. Mary and Joseph then got married
soon after the angel’s appearance.. But about the time when Mary was to have the
baby, the couple had to travel far away to Bethlehem, Joseph’s birthplace, to
pay a special tax.

It was difficult for them to find a place to stay because many other
people were in Bethlehem to pay their taxes. After many rejections, one
innkeeper offered a room in his stable where they could spend the night. That’s
where Jesus, the Holy Child and Son of God was born and then wrapped in bundles
of cloth and placed in a manger for a cradle.

In the same hours that Mary was giving birth, shepherds who were in a
field that overlooked Bethlehem saw an extremely bright star over the sky in
Bethlehem. They had never seen anything like it and had feelings of curiosity
and scariness. An angel appeared and told them the ‘good news’ that the Son of
God had been born in Bethlehem.

The shepherds left their flocks to go to Bethlehem to find the baby. When
they reached the stable, they were filled with immense joy at seeing Jesus. They
fell to their knees and worshiped Him. They also told Mary and Joseph about the
bright star and the angel appearing to say Jesus would be the Savior of the
world.

The bright star was also seen by Wise Men in the east. The Wise Men, who
studied the stars, learned that a new and great ruler would appear whenever an
extraordinarily bright star appeared in the sky. Three of them therefore set out
to find the new ruler. They first visited King Herod in Jerusalem because they
thought the child would be born in the palace. But when they asked to see the
child who would be the new ruler, King Herod was very worried as he thought he
would be removed from the throne. King Herod told the Wise Men that when they
found the baby, they should return and tell him so that he could also worship
the baby.

The Wise Men used the star as a guide to go to Bethlehem where they found Mary,
Joseph and Baby Jesus who they worshipped and offered gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh. The Wise Men are celebrated in some Christmas
celebrations on Jan. 6, known as the Epiphany to mark the date when they found
Jesus. Later in the night the three Wise Men had a dream in which an angel told
them that King Herod wanted to kill Baby Jesus. They left Bethlehem to return to
the East but didn’t return to Jerusalem to tell King Herod where they had found
the child. Joseph also had a dream soon after the Wise Men left in which an
angel appeared and told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because Herod had
ordered that Jesus be killed. In an effort to kill Jesus after the Wise Men did
not return to inform him of the baby’s whereabouts, Herod later ordered that all
baby boys in Bethlehem should be killed. But by then Mary and Joseph had left
with Baby Jesus.

Christmas party is a must to hold for any company. A company party at grand Christmas, saying thanks to your hardworking staff, sharing delicious food and activities, and encouraging higher team spirit in the coming New Year, is but a wise way to knot every part of the company with further communication.

Casual as it is, your corporate Christmas party, traditionally filled with festive food, drink and music, can be integrated with a not so casual PowerPoint DVD presentation/album – a digital slideshow of reflection and reconciliation for the company in the past year. As a boss or manager, you are not to make a party merely to please the employees. You should make a corporate presentation to pilot them to your company culture, the core power that combines everyone in the company. Meanwhile, diligent employees want to hear your comments on the annual operation of the company, as well as compliments on their work performance, which requires you an extra presentation to explain. A compelling PowerPoint presentation, burned in DVD and played at the beginning of the party, will effectively enhance your office gathering at Christmas. With Moyea PowerPoint to DVD Burner, you can easily make a DVD slideshow for your company Christmas Party.

The next question is,

How to Make a DVD Slideshow for Your Office Christmas Party?

In a nutshell, it is how to make a PowerPoint presentation on company celebration and convert it to DVD for TV playback. You may be PowerPoint savvy to make that. Even if you have never made such a DVD slideshow for Christmas party before, you can get started quickly with these tips – 2 on PowerPoint authoring and 2 on DVD producing.

For Christmas PowerPoint presentation

It goes with the same as any other presentation creation. You create different styles of slides, choose a PowerPoint template, insert pictures, enter text, adjust transitions, arrange all the elements according to rehearsal, and etc. In addition, you can pay an extra attention to the following 2 tips:

Tip 1 Combine Christmas symbols with your company.

It is a Christmas party, and your company’s! It is necessary to weave the two into each other. For example, you can make a unique “Christmas tree” writing on each light a name and an avatar of a colleague, an Honor Tree stringing the company’s top contributors, or a Christmas Wish Tree for every department of your company. Activate the Christmas tree with funny animations, wipes in PowerPoint. You staff will be glad to watch a DVD slideshow with their act. Just free your imagination for it!

Tip 2 Add in mood music, flash or movie montage.

You don’t want the Christmas DVD a silent show? Then consider some dynamic ingredients – merry Christmas music, crisp flash or movie montage of the company. If you have a confident voice, record your own narration for the party slideshow.

For Converting Xmas PowerPoint to DVD

With Moyea PPT to DVD Converter, it becomes a one-go job to create a polish Xmas party DVD from your company PowerPoint. Refer to related tutorial on how to burn your Christmas PowerPoint onto a DVD. When using in the program, before a click on Start, you can also make advanced settings for your party DVD slideshow. Here are another 2 tips.

Tip 3 Logo the DVD slideshow with your company trademark

Take full use of the Logo feature in the converter. Add in your company trademark, adjust it to a corner, and apply it to all slides. A subtle logo is excellent to indicate the copyright of your party DVD and brand you company.

Tip 4 Frame the party DVD with Xmas-themed menu

Also, never forget to single out a Christmas menu for your party DVD. In the PPT to DVD burner, under the Menu tab, from the Holiday theme, choose a Christmas template as outskirt of your party DVD slideshow. Later, you and your party staff can watch the Office Christmas DVD via a remote control.

Not only does PowerPoint bring ease to your office business, but also it adds extra fun to your Christmas party with the help of PPT to DVD technology. Take Christmas party as a big chance to get closer to your staff, and give them a unique Christmas gift – a stunning DVD slideshow of your company!

Paula Cheung, technical writer and blogger for PowerPoint E-learning Center

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/extra-dvd-slideshow-makes-exclusive-office-christmas-party-1597560.html

If you’re planning a Christmas party for all your friends and family this year, you’ll want to make sure that it’s an extra special evening. The best way for you to ensure this is by taking the time to add plenty of festive Christmas decorations to your home. It will add to the Christmas cheer and your guests will really appreciate your effort. Follow my tips and you’ll be on your way to the best Christmas party in years.

1. Have more than one Christmas tree. If space doesn’t allow for two or more large trees, then compromise with several small trees placed strategically around your home. You can place presents under each and add some Christmas spirit to every room.
2. String Christmas lights around the inside of your home. Around your fireplace is a great place to start. Also around windows and doors.
3. Have lots of bright, delicious smelling candles around your home. Gingerbread and peppermint are always great. Scents can remind people of memories they haven’t thought about in years, so why not remind all of your guests of their favorite Christmas past.
4. Hang stockings along your fireplace. Make sure that each of your guests has one and make sure they’re stocked full with presents. Anything and everything from car accessories to DVDs will make your guests happy. Just make sure to personalize each gift.
5. Wrap garland around your staircase for a lush, festive look. And don’t forget to carefully place mistletoes around your home. Doorways are always a great and place to start.
6. Decorate with candy. You can hang candy from your tree, but also make sure there are plenty of colorful candy dishes overfilling with chocolaty confections throughout your home. It will be both visually appealing and absolutely delicious.

Just have fun with your decorations and you’re home will look great this year!

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/christmas-party-decorating-tips-1566622.html

Are you in the market for new Christmas decorations?  If so, where do you plan on shopping?  With the increase in popularity of online shopping, there is a good chance that you may be best off in buying your Christmas decorations from an online store. The popularity of shopping online has skyrocketed over the past 24 months.  Many people around the country now do more than 50% of their holiday shopping via the Internet.  So, why not buy your Christmas decorations online as well?  Lets take a look at just a few of the many advantages to purchasing your holiday decorations online…

Perhaps, the biggest advantage to buying your Christmas decorations online is the selection of products that you will have to choose form.  By shopping online you can literally find an unlimited number of retailers and individuals who specialize in selling Christmas decorations.  You’ll find any type of Christmas decorations you may need including Christmas trees, Christmas tree ornaments, Christmas lights, Christmas figurines, and much more. In addition to the large selection, you will also find a wide variety of affordable prices.

Whether you are shopping for Christmas decorations that are affordable or Christmas decorations that are the best out there, you can easily find what you are looking for online.  Simply do a Google search for “Christmas Decorations” or “Christmas Decorations for Sale” and you’ll find plenty of E-commerce websites selling a wide variety of Christmas decorations.

Another advantage to purchasing your Christmas decorations online is that it is much more efficient and cost effective.  You will eliminate the time you would have wasted driving to and walking around a busy mall or store.  By shopping online for your Christmas decorations you can shop at way more stores and place your order quickly from the comfort of your own home.  You will save yourself a large amount of time and money by purchasing your Christmas decorations online… Good luck and Merry Christmas!

It is an accepted fact that the Christmas tree tradition is one that was brought to the shores of America by German immigrants who continued a practice that was popular in their former homeland. Today, a Christmas tree is present in just about every home at Christmas time. It is therefore interesting to note some little-know facts about the Christmas Tree and other traditions related to Christmas.

The first interesting fact is the source of real Christmas Trees for some Americans. Trees can be bought at Christmas tree farms, local stores and other places of business in just about every town and city across the country. However, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, in 2008 Americans bought about 330,000 real Christmas trees online and had them shipped to their homes.

During the 1950s Christmas trees were not always green. It was very popular to have artificial trees with other colors such as silver, pink and aqua. The appeal in having these colored Christmas trees may have been due to the fact that they looked shiny and bright and appeared like tinsel instead of green foliage.

An important ceremony related to the Christmas tree that gains national attention during the Christmas season is the lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House. This tradition can be credited to President Calvin Coolidge who lit the first decorated Christmas tree outside at the White House in 1923.

The lighting of the National Christmas Tree has also been used to convey some symbolic meaning not related to Christmas. It was not lighted until Dec. 22 in 1963 because of a national mourning period of 30 days for the assassination of President Kennedy. Speaking of Presidents, while Teddy Roosevelt was President he gave an order that banned the Christmas tree from the White House, not for the assassination of President McKinley in 1901, which caused him to become president, but for reasons related to the environment.

Christmas has been celebrated in the United States since the 1600s although it wasn’t always very popular. It took more than two centuries into the mid-late 1860s for Christmas to become a popular holiday season all across America. So maybe the rest of the country owes the holiday of Christmas Day to the state of Alabama, which in 1836 became the first state to declare Dec. 25 a legal holiday. It is interesting to note that on Christmas Day of 1789 Congress was in session. And to show how far ahead of the game Alabama was, it wasn’t until June 26, 1870 that the federal government declared Christmas as a federal holiday.

For many people, much time and effort is put into selecting the perfect Christmas tree.  Therefore, similar consideration should be given to giving the tree the best possible care. Proper care will protect against the disappointment of needles turning brown or branches breaking before the season is over. Safety is also an important reason to take proper care of your Christmas tree because a drying Christmas tree also presents a grave danger as a fire hazard. The average Christmas tree should last for about five to six weeks if the proper care is given to it.

After selecting a Christmas tree and getting it home, the first thing that should be done is to make a fresh cut and place it into a stand with water. A Christmas tree shouldn’t be mounted dry and the water in its stand should be replenished regularly. A fresh cut is made by cutting about an inch off the bottom in a slight diagonal shape to help the absorption of water. If a fresh cut isn’t going to be made immediately after getting the tree home, it should be placed in a container with water and left to stand in a shaded area that is away from the wind. If a fresh cut isn’t made and the Christmas tree is left exposed to air, the vessels for transporting water can become blocked. If this happens, another fresh cut can correct the problem and the tree would need to be immediately put in a container with water.

Your Christmas tree should be secure in its stand and it should be placed away from sources of heat such as furnaces, fireplaces and air vents, all of which may dry it out. Decoration of the tree should also begin after it has been mounted in its stand. Several decoration precautions should be taken to lessen or avoid the Christmas tree being a fire hazard.

Ornaments that have an open flame or candles should never be used for decoration. Christmas tree lights should be checked to make sure the bulbs are working properly, the connections are intact and that no part of the cord is damaged. If there appears to be any exposed wiring or bulbs that are not working or which are working intermittently, that string of Christmas tree lights shouldn’t be used.

According to the National Christmas Tree Association, the average Christmas tree may absorb up to one gallon of water each day. It is therefore important to check the water everyday and replenish it accordingly. To make sure your Christmas tree gets enough water, the Association recommends that one quart of water is required for each inch of the diameter of the tree’s trunk.

When Christmas is over and your wonderfully decorated Christmas tree has provided much joy, it is important to remove it before it dries out. Options to discard your Christmas will likely depend on the services offered by your municipality. Some municipalities will pick up Christmas trees on particular days, with a cut-off date. Some towns may require that residents take their trees to specific locations, while in others Christmas trees will be picked up with the garbage, again up to a certain date. But Christmas trees should never be burned in the fireplace as it can cause the build up of creosote, a colorless, oily substance.  There’s also the choice that you can continue to get a different use from your Christmas tree by cutting it to pieces yourself and be environmentally sensitive by using it for mulch.

It’s only fitting that since Santa Claus has the magnificent capability to visit homes around the world in a single night that more than one place would claim to be his home. It’s common belief that Santa hails from the wintry North Pole, but folks in Finland will also tell you that Santa calls that country his home. To prove it, the Finns will even invite you to visit Santa in his workshop before Christmas or during the year and talk with Santa Claus as he and his elves busy themselves for their end-of-year Christmas expedition around the globe.

The popularity in America today of the images and legend of Santa Claus can be traced to the poem, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ that was written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822.  In that poem, Moore described St. Nicholas as a jolly fellow who flew from house to house in a sleigh pulled by reindeers and waited for children to go to bed on Christmas Eve before he came down the chimney to deliver Christmas presents for them.

Following the distribution of that poem, the popular magazine Harper’s Weekly published cartoons by Thomas Nast between 1863 and 1886 that depicted Santa as a cheerful fellow with a large round belly and long white beard who wore a bright red suit that was trimmed with white fur. In those cartoons, Santa also held a sack, which was filled with toys for boys and girls, over his shoulder. The cartoons also showed Santa reading letters from good boys and girls, working in his workshop with his elves, checking his list to make sure he had all the required toys and even showed his wife, Mrs. Claus.

The tradition of Santa Claus was brought to America however by Dutch colonists who settled in New York City, which was called New Amsterdam at the time. The real St. Nicholas is said to be a minor saint from the 4th Century with a reputation for generosity and kindness that gave rise to legends of many miracles that he performed for the poor and unhappy. One of the stories about the legend of St. Nicholas is that he saved three poor girls who were sisters from being sold into a life of slavery or prostitution by their father. According to the legend, Santa Claus provided the girls with a dowry so that they could get married.

The legend of St. Nicholas led to hundreds of people being devoted to him and consequently thousands of European churches became dedicated to him. After the Reformation period however, widespread practice and worship of St. Nicholas disappeared in European countries that were Protestant, except in Holland where the legend of St. Nicholas continued. St. Nicholas was known as Sint Nikolaas but that was later corrupted to Sinter Klaas.

Dutch colonists took this tradition of Sinter Klaas to New York City where it was adopted using the Englist name of Santa Claus. Over time, the Dutch legend of the kindly saint was combined with old Nordic folktales about a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good ones with presents to give rise to the stories that now exist about Santa Claus.

The red and white-trimmed suit of Santa Claus is believed to be the colors that the original St. Nicholas wore because red and white were the colors of the robes worn by traditional bishops. It is also believed that the Coca Cola Co. played a role in what is regarded as the popular look of Santa Claus today through paintings by artist Haddon Sundblom that were placed in some of the company’s advertisement between 1931 and 1964.

Christmas is a time to be with family and friends; therefore, it is one of the busiest times of the year to travel. People travel to different regions of the U.S. and to international destinations to share Christmas dinners, exchange gifts, and recall fond memories they have of the season. Even on Christmas Day, the highways are busy as relatives and friends travel between towns and states to spend the day together.

The massive and rapid shift away from an agrarian society to one of commerce with the development of cities and suburbs caused family members to move farther and farther away from each other.  The effect is that for many families it is necessary to travel by land, air or rail to be together for the holidays.

Travel during Christmas and the holiday is not limited to visiting relatives and friends. Many people travel for entertainment, including families who are interested in seeing interesting sights at Christmas and enjoying world-renowned entertainment that are in faraway places from where they live. Travel to a destination that is far away, within or outside a country, may only be done once by a family and that alone creates a special memory.

Within the United States, it is popular for families and groups of friends to visit New York City to see the general sights of the city and to shop at Christmas. Some of these sights are known throughout the country and are celebrated each Christmas. The annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is an example. The lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center has been a tradition since the time of the Great Depression. The first tree was placed at the site in 1931 but it wasn’t decorated with any Christmas ornaments. In recent years, more than 25,000 Christmas lights and other ornaments have been placed on the tree.

Also in New York City, it is very popular for tourists to travel at Christmas to see the spectacular Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall with the signature high-kicking Rockettes. The show is a favorite of both adults and children as it is very festive, lively and filled with the spirit of Christmas.

Many people travel during Christmas time to international destinations to escape the cold of a ‘White Christmas.’ For those who do not like the cold but like to be out and about at Christmas, the alternative is to go somewhere with a more tropical climate. Travel to destinations in the Caribbean, where Christmas is robustly celebrated, is popular during the Christmas season.

One of the intriguing places to travel during the Christmas season is to a place where Santa can be observed. There is such a place in Finland at a village where Santa Claus has his workshop. Travel to see and possibly talk to Santa Claus is a delightful adventure for children. But such a trip has to be made before Christmas Eve when Santa, his elves and reindeers embark on a trip themselves to every home in the world.

Wherever you are traveling to this Holiday season have a safe and fun Christmas vacation!

Favorite foods enjoyed by Americans for any given holiday, season or special occasion will likely include some ethnic dish, given the many ethnic groups that reside in the country. Despite this variety of melting pot cuisine, there are some similarities in dishes that will be a part of most meals during celebrations such as Christmas.

Christmas in the United States comes almost one month after another big holiday, Thanksgiving, in which the traditional meal must consist of a turkey as the main dish. This dish also carries over into Christmas, as roast turkey is one of the main dishes that may be served for Christmas dinner. But unlike Thanksgiving, which is solely devoted to turkey meat, Christmas dinners may also include other birds or poultry.  These include roast goose or duck. Roasted ham may also be served. Cranberry sauce, vegetables, pumpkin pie and a plum pudding or fruity Christmas pudding for dessert tops off traditional Christmas dinners. Mince pies and pastry that is filled with a mixture of chopped, dried fruit may also be added to the menu.

For drinks at Christmas dinner, a bottle of champagne is very popular, as well as wines. But the everyday beverage of beer (Schlitz or Spotted Cow) is a must for many people to make a meal truly enjoyable.

Before Christmas Day and the big dinner arrives, there’s also another type of food that Americans enjoy in large quantities during the Christmas season. The consumption and sales of candies, gingerbread and other cookies and holiday treats increases rapidly during the holidays. Similar to how department stores seek to attract shoppers to buy items for Christmas gifts, candy manufacturers also put out special boxes and types of candies for Christmas and the holiday season.

A survey done in 2004 by the National Confectioners Association found that many adults derived much pleasure at Christmas from giving and receiving candies and other treats. In their responses the survey participants said that giving decadent boxes of chocolate to friends and family, placing candy canes on the Christmas tree and hiding candy treats in Christmas stockings were favorite ways to give and receive candies, cookies and treats during the holidays.

Sweet treats remain popular at Christmas despite a constant message about dieting that is present in everyday life in the media, in billboards and from some food manufacturers. At Christmas time, people feel free to enjoy the festive season without constraints. But they also know that they can enjoy candies and cookies that are health conscious by eating ones that are targeted to the low-carb dieter by having ingredients that are sugar-free and fat-free or both.

Cookies that are enjoyed at Christmas are often home-baked ones and usually include gingerbread items.  The tradition of gingerbread cookies at Christmas is also believed to have originated in Germany and brought to America by German immigrants.

German bakeries began baking very fancy gingerbread houses with icing as edible snow and other decorations after the Grimm Brothers published their children’s story, Hansel and Gretel. That story had a description of a house that was made of bread, a roof of cake and windows of barley. The popularity of the creations by German bakeries gave rise to cookie cutters that were made in a variety of shapes, enabling small gingerbread cookies of various shapes to be baked at home. Some of these cookies that had the shapes of little people and animals were used to decorate Christmas trees.

More than one hundred years ago from today, German homes in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania would have cookies that were up to one foot high in the front of windows of their houses as decorative items during winter. The cookies were often giant gingerbread men and women that had colorful rows of buttons and big smiles. Passersby were often cheered and intrigued by the sight and brought the idea to their homes on a smaller scale.

Being able to enjoy special dishes, candies, cookies and other goodies during Christmas and the holidays adds a sweet flavor to the season and also helps to create warm and cherished memories.

In Finland, Christmas Eve is the traditional time to set up the Christmas tree and it’s also traditional to visit the sauna and for families to listen to a broadcast of the national ‘Peace of Christmas’ on the radio. Christmas Dinner generally consists of a main dish of boiled codfish that is snowy and fluffy in appearance, served with cream sauce and boiled potatoes. Christmas dinner is rounded out with roast suckling pig or roasted fresh ham and vegetables. Among peasants, there is a tradition to tie a sheaf of grain, with nuts and seeds, to a pole that is put in a garden for birds. Many peasants will wait until after the birds have eaten before having their Christmas Dinner. And Santa Claus is expected to visit homes in person with his Christmas elves to give out Christmas gifts.

Christmas in France is called Noel, from the phrase ‘les bonnes nouvelles,’ or ‘the good news,’ which refers to the gospel. On Christmas Eve, cathedrals and churches are beautifully lit and filled with the sounds of Christmas carols, ringing church bells and carillons. The tradition among children is to put their shoes by the fireplace for Pere Noel or le petit Jesus to fill them with gifts. In the north of France however, children receive gifts on Dec. 6, St. Nicholas Day, instead of Christmas. Most French homes will have a Nativity scene or crèche on display during the season. In Southern France, some people will burn a log in their home from Christmas Eve until New Years Day, which comes out of a farming tradition of using the log for good luck in the coming harvest. The French also make a traditional cake called the buche de Noel, or Christmas Log, which is shaped like a Yule log and is part of a late supper called le reveillon held after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. The main dish for this meal generally consists of poultry, ham, salads, cake, fruit and wine but varies according to region. The main course in Burgundy is turkey with chestnuts and in Paris it’s oysters, foie gras and the buche de Noel cake. The wines generally served are Champagne, Muscadet, Sauterne and Anjou. An annual tradition of puppet shows, particularly in Paris and Lyons, is popular during Christmas time. In Paris, it’s also popular for big department stores to have grand, animated window displays.

Christmas in Italy is called ‘Il Natale,’ or ‘the birthday.’ Christmas season starts eight days before Christmas, a period called the Novena, and runs for three weeks. During the Novena, children dress as shepherds and go from house to house saying Christmas poems, singing and playing pipes. They often receive money to buy gifts during this activity. The Nativity scene, called the Presepio, has miniature figures, carved in great detail out of clay or plaster, of the Holy Family in the stable and is the center of Christmas for families. Families say prayers and children recite poems around the Presepio. Christmas Eve dinner, called cenone, is a traditional dish of roasted, baked or fried eel.  In some regions, various types of fish is prepared for this dinner, as well as pork, sausage in a pig’s leg or turkey stuffed with chestnuts. Christmas sweets are called panettone and traditionally have nuts and almonds. On Christmas Eve, children set out their shoes for a kind, old woman or ugly witch called La Befana, who rides on a broomstick down chimneys, to fill them with gifts of toys or candies. If they were bad, their shoes will be filled with coal. Some children wait until Jan. 6, the Epiphany, to receive gifts.

Norway is where the tradition of the Yule log started and which gave rise to log-shaped cakes, cheese and other desserts during the holidays. Norwegians today often go into the forest to cut their own Christmas trees, which is secretly decorated on Christmas Eve to surprise children. After the Christmas tree is revealed, Norwegians engage in ‘circling the Christmas tree,’ a tradition in which everyone joins hands forming a ring around the tree. They then walk around the Christmas tree singing carols. Gifts are distributed after this ritual is finished.

As you can see, each European country has unique Christmas traditions.

It’s only fitting, perhaps, that along with the magic of Santa Claus at Christmas, holiday and Christmas lights also came about through the work of a wizard – the Wizard of Menlo Park in New Jersey – as Thomas Edison was called. It was Edison who first developed and demonstrated an incandescent electric light bulb in 1879 that had commercial potential, an event that led the way for the mass use of electricity and lights on Christmas tree as used today.

Before the discovery and use of electricity, candles were used to light Christmas trees. That practice evolved into having glass covers with candles inside them or metal lanterns that had small wicks. These were hung like ornaments on Christmas trees. But even after Edison invented the incandescent electric light bulb, it took many years before the large-scale manufacture of Christmas tree lights were available commercially.

It is said that the idea of Christmas lights came from one of Edison’s assistants, Edward Johnson. In 1882, Johnson had Christmas tree bulbs made just for him. He displayed these electric bulbs on his Christmas tree at his home on Fifth Avenue in New York City and it drew widespread attention.

But Christmas tree lights underwent many changes and improvement before General Electric Co. introduced Christmas lights on a commercial scale. As an example, among the earlier lights used on Christmas trees were night-lights that were strung together to make light strings. After the commercial introduction of Christmas lights, sales and wide-scale use of them soared.

Decorative mini-lights to be used for Christmas tree lighting were introduced in the 1970s. Since then, they have continued to be popular and are the dominant types of Christmas tree lights in the marketplace. Before that, icicle lights were introduced as decoration for rooflines. Those decorative lights are the most popular ones used for outdoor landscape lighting during the holidays. Outdoor decorative lighting has evolved from Christmas tree lighting to also become a popular way to use colorful lighting during the holidays to create spectacular scenes.

Another development in decorative lighting at Christmas time is the use of candles. Real candles can be used, but electric candles became more popular and safer because they present less threat of a fire hazard. Today that threat has also decreased with the development of flameless battery candles. The battery operation also makes their use more flexible because they can be placed in areas where there aren’t electrical outlets. Candles are usually displayed at several windows of a house during the holidays. They produce an appealing look especially if there are at least two sets of three windows each other where they can be placed.

Battery-operated candles can also be used during Christmas and the holidays for other activities such as caroling, church services, school activities and for other holiday arrangements around the home.

As Christmas lights have become a mandatory feature of the holidays, they are continually being used in new ways that differ considerably from their early beginnings. Outdoor lighting is now just as common as indoor lighting and that is an area in which a change in the use of holiday lighting can be seen. Along with icicle lights that illuminate rooflines and frames of houses, there are also lights that are placed in shrubs. Holiday lighting also comes in the shape of trees and other ornaments that can be placed on lawn to enhance the visual appeal during the holidays.

Many lawns are landscaped by lighting during Christmas and the holiday season with lighted figurines and various other items associated with the season. In some communities, entire blocks of streets will have such elaborate holiday lawn lighting that they attract passersby and even tourists – residents from elsewhere – who are captivated by the spectacular visual displays of the landscaped holiday lighting.