Summoning My Inner Holiday Cheerleader

Christmas is not my favorite holiday. It's commercialized, people in the malls are even more douchey than usual, blah, blah, blah. The truth is, no matter how much I don't want to like Christmas, it's hard to maintain a crappy attitude when you have a 5-year old and a 14-year old who love all things Christmas and are charming and sweet about the whole thing. Therefore, I suppose it can be said that I am warming up to this particular holiday.

Sometime next week, I will devote an entire 6-hour block (when the kiddos are at school) to gift wrapping. Although the cold front will be but a memory, I will head out for a quick run, throw on some comfy yoga pants (after a shower, indeed), and cram as many marshmallows as humanly possible into my coffee. However, the most important step in the gift-wrapping process is my video playlist. My Christmas video playlist consists of films that may not focus on Christmas, but it's at least mentionted, and the movies themselves make me feel pretty darned good. Here goes.

1. It's a Wonderful Life--Duh, right? I mean, this movie is genius, pure genius. I love a sweet remake of a classic anyway, but what makes this movie extra special for me can be summed up in two words--James Stewart. When you combine him with Frank Capra, you get magic. And yes, "...whenever a bell rings, an angel gets his wings." Just bear in mind that whenever someone rolls his/her eyes at the contents of my blog, an angel's wings catch fire. I'm just sayin'.

2. The Family Man--One of Nicolas Cage's finest films, definitely underrated. One of the things I love about this story is that Jack Campbell's life-assuming-he-went-to-London isn't really bad. I mean, there isn't anything wrong with it. He is simply shown an alternative to that life. Don Cheadle plays a great angel.

3. Serendipity--There are so many things I love about this movie, I don't know where to begin. John Corbett's hair doesn't make the list. Anyway, the plot is clever. And Christmas shopping at Bloomingdales? They could have done worse. Even Molly Shannon didn't ruin the movie.

4. Love Actually--I don't even have to give an explanation, do I? I mean, even the soundtrack is exquisite.

5. A Charlie Brown Christmas--This is seriously one of the best Christmas movies ever made. Ever. Seriously. It doesn't contain any of that Oh-Santa-is-in-trouble-and-we-can't-have-Christmas-without-him! crap. Instead, it shows the true meaning of Christmas through a grody little tree. I love the fact that Charlie Brown chooses a tree because, well, it needs someone to give it a chance; it is fan-bloody-tastic. After the other kids laugh Charlie Brown out of the scene, Linus gives them the score. I.Love.It.

At the end of the day, I hope that all of you are hanging in there and enjoying the holidays. Some things are beyond our control, so I hope you find solace to cope in those areas, or at least aren't stressing too much about them. May your health be excellent and your heart full of love.