'Twas the night before... and please tell me we're not still running errands

HALLIE EPHRON: It's the day before Christmas so why am I in a store? I've been to the market a gazillion times in the last week and yet, inevitably, there's something I forgot. It's usually something boring yet essential. Like eggs. Or heavy cream. Or butter.

In our non-religious household we celebrate with a mishmash of traditions on Christmas eve. No tree, though my grandkids will hopefully create paper-and-sequin ornaments for the potted Norfolk Pine that I've nurtured since it was a sprout and now stands four feet tall in the corner of my dining room. Brisket and potato latkes for dinner. Banana cream pie for dessert (a new tradition).

And after dinner, this year trying something new, charades that our 5-year-old Frances Louise can play with the answers children's book titles (Mr. Brown Can Moo, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom...) 
At some point someone will read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and I'll try, unsuccessfully, to get people to listen to "A Child's Christmas in Wales." We'll listen to "The Nutcracker." And... then I'll probably have to send someone to the 7-Eleven for something I forgot to buy for breakfast.

In the morning, there will always be a Christmas card for me, drawn by my husband. Here's one from a few years back...

Do you manage NOT to have to go to the stores at the last minute? And what's your night-before-Christmas tradition?

RHYS BOWEN: Luckily we have a couple of stores that stay open on Christmas day, so if someone knocks over the carton of eggs, we can replace them.

I try to be organized. I have three big soups made, half a ham for emergencies, hopefully enough mince pies and sausage rolls for between meals. Christmas Eve is low key for us. Both daughter Jane and son Dominic are with in-laws, so it's just daughter Anne, newly arrived from LA with her little dog and us. I have to sing with my church choir at 9 p.m. vigil mass, then we may play a competitive game of Boggle or Scrabble before bed.

On Christmas Day Jane's family arrives for brunch. We open gifts, Dominic and Meredith meet us to go on a walk, then it's tea, more presents and a big turkey dinner, after which we play something... reverse charades is a new favorite, but Taboo also fun! This year we are without Clare's family from Phoenix, so it's a manageable number that won't require a second dinner table.

I like to think I'm super organized but one year we were thrown a curve ball when the power went out on Christmas morning. We ended up with Chinese take out at our festive dinner table! Now I think I'm better about rolling with the punches... and sorry, too many metaphors in that sentence! Happy Holidays to everyone.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: What is reverse charades, Rhys? And we are having a very quiet holiday..the kids are all in California, so we will have champagne and beef tenderloin and I will gripe that we never have a tree and Jonathan will say we're Jewish and I will say a tree is a tree. That is our tradition!  And I will try not to open any presents on Christmas Eve. We always tried to get mom to let us when were were kids, and she never would. Now I see why.  And maybe we will go see Vice. (And Hallie, now I am trying figure out how to act out Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.. will there be enough room? LOVE that book!)  

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: My last minute item might BE my tree - as of writing this on Friday, I still don't have one, and there's really no time to get to one of the local lots before Sunday. Check with me in the comments to see if I've got it up by Christmas Eve! Maybe I can claim I'm renewing the 19th century German and Austrian tradition, where the tree is erected and decorated in secret on the night before Christmas and the children first see it in the morning.

Our Christmas eve tradition consists of either Chinese take out or a simple crock pot meal, watching DIE HARD, and attending either the 5pm service (with the Christmas pageant) or the 10pm service (with the Portland Brass Ensemble playing.) Other less-hallowed traditions include everyone asking me where the wrapping supplies are, worrying whether the goose is defrosting fast enough, and staying up much later than I want to in order to... meet Santa when he arrives. In a house full of young adults who stay up later than I do, Santa may arrive very early in the morning instead.

There are always, always last minute ingredients to buy. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be stopping in at the local Hanneford on the way to church. For some reason, no matter how much butter I buy, it's never enough.

LUCY BURDETTE: I think we're having crabcakes and shrimp for Christmas eve--that will definitely be a day-of purchase. Then we ride our bikes to the 7 pm service of lessons and carols. This year I know my friend Erik is singing O Holy Night--he's got a beautiful tenor voice and I am so looking forward to that! Christmas day we are flying to California to see the kids and grandkids. I'm planning nothing because with 2 kids under 3 years old, it would likely all fly out the window anyway!

Wishing you all a wonderful season...

JENN McKINLAY: I am always at the store on Xmas Eve! It’s a curse I can’t seem to break. Probably, because I usually spend the day baking before we go to church and I always forget that one random ingredient. Sometimes it’s molasses for a last minute shoefly pie or whatever crazy idea has leapt into my head. This year, because our family lost a beloved member I have not even bought one present. Hub and I are donning our battle gear as I write! Pray for us - we’re going to the mall (gasp)! 

Happy Holidays, everyone. Peace be with you.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Fingers crossed I don't have to go to the store on Christmas Eve! I did part of my my food shopping on Saturday and picked up a few more things yesterday. 

For years, we've gone to a big get-together at my in-laws on Christmas Eve, starting at five or six and usually not getting home until close to midnight. This year, the party is starting early, at two, in deference to the little ones. So I am really, really hoping that we may get to enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve at home after that.

My dream Christmas Eve  would be spent watching Love Actually with a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fire, then reading "A Child's Christmas in Wales" last thing before I go to bed.

All this, of course, is assuming I'm not still wrapping!! Or cooking! Wishing you all a wonderful holiday!

HALLIE EPHRON:

What are you day-before traditions? Cooking or Chinese food. Love Actually or Die Hard? Goose (really, Julia?!?) or ham? Wrapping or UNwrapping??

JAN BROGAN -   So this, the day after Thanksgiving, there are really only two things to talk about:  What to do with leftovers  - which we did yesterday, and Black Friday Christmas shopping.

Let me begin by saying, I am the world's worst shopper.  I am also the world's worst planner. This has always made Christmas difficult.  I could never get it together to start shopping today. Basically, I developed a holiday system that goes like this:  

1. No matter what the date, pretend Christmas is months away
2. When daughter complains it's getting late, allow her to do all the Christmas decorating.
3. Mean to send cards, but put it off so long that it becomes beside the point.  If someone I haven't heard from in years from sends me one, rush to store and buy one single Christmas card to send in reply.
4. Ritualize Christmas tree shopping so that it is always done on daughter's birthday. This way she either reminds me or offers to do it herself.
5. Agree to make Christmas candies at the very last moment at daughter's urging.
6.  Wait until the week before Christmas to start shopping. Thus run out of time before running out of money.
7. Recover from the materialism of Christmas by cooking a lot on Christmas day. For some reason it seems the perfect balm.


The system is not for everyone,  but it works for me.  But as you may imagine, this system does not allow for Black Friday shopping.  

So my question for you all is twofold: 

Have you every gone Christmas shopping on Black Friday and if so, why and was it worth it?
 Or do you have an alternate holiday system you'd like to share? 

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh Jan, your system would make me so anxious! What a lucky thing to have such a daughter to take over:). We are often traveling to see family or going to Key West or somewhere around the holidays, so that my preparations have contracted. One thing I can count on to help with the shopping list is the annual RJ Julia Booksellers member sale in November. I love this bookstore and love this sale, so a lot of presents are taken care of then! And I do collect stocking stuffers all year.

Black Friday shopping? Never! Hate those frantic crowds...

JAN: Yes, Lucy, I am extremely lucky to have such a daughter, for many reasons. Not least of which - besides her love Christmas and willingness to carry much of the burden, she is insanely organized all year round. (still trying to figure out how that happened.) 

HALLIE EPHRON: Shopping, sigh. Did you have to bring that up (she said, after returning from four trips to the grocery store and still needing to go back for another pint of heavy cream for Thanksgiving)?

Black Friday. I have never, will never ever shop it. First of all, I hate crowds. If I have to go to the mall, ever, I go on a Monday morning when the place opens. And I'm home no more than an hour later. 

Plus our Christmas exchange is very modest -- mostly stocking stuffers which I try to pick up through the year, though this year I have almost nothing in reserve. My husband told me what he wants and sent me the link. It's purchased. And like Jan, I make candy.

My son in law, whose family does exchange gifts, has a great system. He waits until Christmas eve and then heads out at dinner time to blitz it. It's like that old game show Beat the Clock -- what happens happens.

JAN: He sounds sounds like my kind of guy.

RHYS BOWEN: Life is much smoother since I discovered online shopping. Not only is it painless but they ship the presents to the right address. But I do send cards, around 100, since I like keeping in touch with friends around the world, and I love decorating. I have to confess that we finally got a fake tree. It looks wonderful but I miss the smell of fresh greenery. 

I also usually collect stocking stuffers all year but this year I have nothing! And it really bugs me when people want gift cards as presents. Nothing beats unwrapping a strangely shaped package, does it?

And John is one of those who can't get into the holiday spirit until about December 23. Then he asks "What does everyone want for Christmas?" and by then it's too late to buy it at a good price online.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Here's my 9-step system.

1. Buy Christmas cards. 
2. Plan to mail them.
3. It's too late.
4. NO! They can be New Years cards, all the better.
5. Missed that deadline, too.
6. Look on bright side, now I have cards for next year.
7. Put cards in safe place.
8. Forget where safe place is.
9. See number one. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: You mean it's Christmas already??? I'm not ready! I'm never ready! And I never never never ever shop on Black Friday. I can't think of many things I would less rather do. I don't go in department stores very often under ordinary circumstances--they make me feel overwhelmed by STUFF--so I can't imagine doing it on that day. I like to shop online or in my small local stores, and we don't usually buy big gifts.

The Christmas cards are the tradition in our house.  I think Rick and I have made our own cards every year since we've been married. (There was the year I'd had dental surgery and, totally snockered on Vicodin, hand-stamped a gilded pear--from a handmade woodblock--on a hundred cards...) Then we started doing photo cards, and not the family grouping, but really beautiful photos. The last couple of years we've moved the photo card tradition to digital and are using Paperless Post.  I still buy a few paper cards to send to friends who don't have email.

Who knows what we'll do this year?  Maybe take up Hank's system?  

JAN: Hank, except for actually buying the cards, I totally endorse this system. 
Anyone else willing to share the holiday system that works for her/him?  And whether it includes  Black Friday shopping?