It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

A fun Christmas meme from Lynette's blog:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Definitely wrapping paper! Gift bags are nice in a pinch, but I really like using fun wrapping paper and ribbon. Lots and lots of ribbon...

2. Real tree or artificial?
Real! I love the smell and I how beautiful they are. Fake trees just aren't the same.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually I put it up the week after Thanksgiving, but I was a bit later this year.

4. When do you take the tree down?
In years previous, I've always been away and my roommates have always been the kind of people who take it down on the 26th. I'm planning on taking it down after New Year's this year.

5. Do you like Eggnog?
Heck freaking no! Disgusting!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
A Teddy bear I got when I was about 5 that I was inseparable from for most of my childhood.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
No, I don't really have anywhere to put one.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My dad. He's impossible because he'll never tell you what he wants and if it's something you know he wants, he usually buys it for himself.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
Probably my little sister. Teenage girls are not terribly difficult to shop for :)

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail. I have a strong aversion to e-vites and e-cards. Slightly tacky.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
When I was little, my dad used to try and buy me clothing, but he really didn't have much little girl fashion sense. He's a lot better now and wisely sticks to accessories. He gave me one of the most beautiful purses I own a couple years ago.

12. Favorite Christmas movie?
I love White Christmas, A Christmas Story (You'll shoot your eye out!), and Miracle on 34th Street (the newer one).

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Yes, but I do it very rarely and only with small stocking stuffer-like gifts. Sometimes a gift is nice, but I just have no need for it.

14. What is your favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
My grandma's Christmas fudge.

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear! I love, love, love the beautiful, pure look of all white lights. I really like those pearly white ones they have nowadays.

16. Favorite Christmas song?
Religious: Still, Still, Still or O Holy Night. Secular: Let it Snow.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Travel. Absolutely none of my family lives in CO.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph, Dasher, and... that all I've got folks.

19. Open presents Christmas morning or evening?
All of them on Christmas Eve. I always taunted the other children at school about how I got to open all of my presents before they did. Mwahahaha!

20. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
People can forget all about what they're celebrating. I was talking to the Christmas tree guy who told me a story about one of his customers. The guy's Christmas tree flew out of the back of his pick-up truck and the people behind them pulled over and stuffed the tree into their trunk and just drove off. Crazy!

21. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I love all of my ornaments, but some of them have special meaning. This year my cousin gave me a set of hand carved olive wood ornaments that she got in Jerusalem. They are so beautiful and my favorites this year!

22. Favorite thing for Christmas dinner?
We always have a big German celebration, but I don't really like most German food, so I stick to the Havarti cheese and wheat bread most Christmases. This year I'm making Candy Cane Pie, so that'll be lovely.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Gilbert Blythe... or maybe Christian Bale. Yes, either of them will do quite nicely :)

24. Who will you tag for this meme?
Anyone who wants to be tagged