This week we spoke to our lovely HC sisters at BC, Kelsey and Meghan, about all things Christmas and New Year!
What’s your favourite Christmas tradition (at home and/or at college)?
K: Every Christmas Eve, my family makes homemade pizza. It is a weird tradition, but it totally makes sense. Growing up, my mom’s brother’s birthday was Christmas Eve. They would go out for pizza in their little California town to make his birthday special, so we have continued the pizza tradition across the country in Connecticut! I also still leave cookies out for “Santa,” usually gingerbread cookies. Basically, I know my dad would be sad if the cookies stopped coming his way!
M: I would say that my favorite Christmas tradition always comes on Christmas morning. My sister and I dress up in ridiculous footie pjs as we open presents. Then my mom and grandma make a delicious brunch and we just lounge on the couch all day with family watching movies and eating leftovers from the big Christmas Eve dinner we hosted the night before.
Do you prefer Christmas or Thanksgiving?
K: Hmm, that is a really hard question. I think I prefer Thanksgiving food, but I enjoy the holiday of Christmas more. It is just more festive! It is more relaxing, too, because our semester at BC is over and we can just focus on our family, our friends, and ourselves.
M: I agree with Kelsey. I love Thanksgiving food and the fact that is the first time I get to go home during the first semester but all the festivities around Christmas are the best. Between decorating, making Christmas cookies, watching Christmas movies and Christmas shopping I am one joyful person!
What’s been your favourite present that you have given or received?
K: Last year, my parents got me tickets to a Taylor Swift concert in California – that was a pretty awesome gift! I love giving gifts, so it is hard to choose just one. But I gave all my friends little mason jars filled with manicure stuff last year and I thought those were super cute!!
M: This is probably super cheesy but every year my sister and I make personalized calendars for my parents with all their important dates and their favorite family photos throughout the months and they love it! For the best present I have received, I think it still was the Barbie Dream House when I was four, it was all I asked Santa for and he must have gotten my 15 letters!
What is Christmas shopping like in Boston? And do you have Boxing Day Sales?
K: Christmas shopping is AMAZING in Boston, mainly just for the holiday decoration in the stores and the Christmas carols blasting through the speakers. I love going to Newbury Street (our amazing shopping area in the city) and just walking around and taking it all in. We don’t celebrate Boxing Day, so we don’t have any sales associated with that. I think the day after Christmas might be a big sale day… I’m not positive though as I have never gone shopping on the 26th!
M: I agree that Christmas shopping is really good in Boston (although nothing compared to European Christmas markets). I love going to Newbury Street or Faneuil Hall for Christmas shopping because they have unique finds for everyone. I am not sure if we have Boxing Day Sales, but the day after Christmas is always a great day to stock up on Christmas decorations and wrapping paper for next year.
Does everyone at BC go home for Christmas?
K: Everybody definitely goes home. We get a good 3-4 weeks off and all of the dorms close down. Basically, you aren’t allowed to stay on campus!
What’s your favourite Christmas film?
K: I LOVE LOVE LOVE the movie Elf. However, I am also a sucker for classic Christmas movies, my favorite being White Christmas.
M: This is a really hard question but I would have to say Elf or How The Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carey. For a classic Christmas movie I love Miracle on 34th Street.
What’s top of your Wish List this Christmas?
K: I’ve been admiring a pair of amazing Kate Spade gold heels for about 2 years now, so I am hoping Santa will be extra nice and bring them this year.
M: This year I sort of went big and asked for a vacation, but a family vacation. I am the type of person that likes experiences as gifts, and after a hard year I think there is no better way to reward yourself then some days of R&R on a beach in a warm climate.
Tell us about ‘Classy Christmas’ and ‘Ugly Sweater’!
K: During December (and even November this year), college kids don the ugliest sweaters they can find for ‘Ugly Sweater Parties.’ They are the same kind of parties that happen all year round on campus, but with an added element on fun. I actually have no idea where the whole concept came from, but I love it! And Classy Christmas parties are where girls dress up in nice dresses and guys put on their holiday dress. Think Harry Potter Yule Ball, but not as magical!
M: When I think Classy Christmas I think something along the lines of Great Gatsby with fancy cocktails, dresses that sparkle and ruby red lips! Ugly Sweaters is a great theme to revolve a holiday party around. You wear a holiday sweater, usually found at a thrift store, that is decked out in cheesy holiday pictures with glitter and pom poms; basically the less likely you are to wear it everyday the better.
What’s your favourite thing about the run-up to Christmas?
K: I love all the Christmas TV specials – Michael Bublé, Kelly Clarkson, Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting, etc. I also love listening to a different Christmas album everyday… today is the new Kelly Clarkson Christmas music. Finally, I just really enjoy the decorations. I make a point to get out and about just to see holiday lights!
M: Christmas cookie baking by far! There are recipes I deem as “Christmas cookies” and I only pull them out this time of year.
Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer by heart? (No cheating!)
K: (singing to myself) You know Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph!
M: Also singing to myself in my head; Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Doner, Blitzen and Rudolph!
Tell us about New Year’s Eve in Boston (or at home). Are there any big events you like to go to?
K: I’ve actually never spent New Year’s Eve in Boston and I don’t really know about the big NYE events in the Boston area. At home, I usually just get together with my friends. We hang out, make classy cocktails and watch the ball drop. I did spend NYE in New York one time, but not in the traditional Times Square way. I stayed with my older brothers and we cooked a huge dinner. It was actually a ton of fun! We had some wine, watched all the New Year’s festivities on TV and just relaxed. Kind of the opposite of what people think of when they hear New Year’s Eve in New York City!
M: I also have never spent New Year’s Eve in Boston. New Year’s Eve is actually one of my least favorite holidays but as long as I make plans with my family and friends I am happy.
Do you like to make New Year’s resolutions? And if so, have you ever kept one going for the whole year?
K: I always think that I will make a New Year’s resolution and I do have the best intentions, but I just never end up thinking of a reasonable goal. A few years ago, I told myself I was going to take at least 1 picture a day, to just document life because I thought it would be cool to have all those images to look at later on in life. Did I follow through with that? Nope, didn’t even take one!
M: I sort of set big goals and I do not really think about keeping them, but then looking back on the year I realize that I have kept my resolution and/or met my goal!