Every December since 2005, famed Nashville pianist Jen Gunderman (and by ‘famed’ I mean she just played with Brandi Carlile on SNL) and her friends have played the entire Charlie Brown Christmas album in concert. It’s one of my favorite holiday events, and I was lucky enough to get to go with some of my […]

Fun

December 20, 2022

‘Cause There’s No Place Like Humiliation for the Holidays

I used to live in fear of the moment our fourth and final child would declare he no longer believed in Santa Claus. For my husband and me, it would mean an end to over a decade of Christmas Eve milk and cookies, present hiding, and late night stocking-stuffing. A major chapter in parenting would […]

Fun, Humor

December 12, 2018

The Shelf on the Elf: A New Christmas Tradition

The Shelf on the Elf

I think I will always remember 2018 for the arguing. People found a LOT to argue about this year, didn’t they? We argued about big topics like racism, immigration, gun control, politics, and sexual harassment. And we argued about little things, like whether Justin is still in love with Selena, Target’s Fall 2018 fashion choices, […]

Fun, Humor

November 5, 2018

Let’s Argue About Celebrating Christmas Before Thanksgiving! On Second Thought, Let’s Not.

Christmas Before Thanksgiving

  I have to admit something to you — I am a Nutcracker Nerd. I have been since I was a kid in Gainesville, Georgia. Watching our city ballet’s Nutcracker performance was an annual tradition for the whole town and certainly the main reason my friends and I were all enrolled in ballet classes from […]

Nashville Guide, Travel

December 5, 2017

Nashville’s Nutcracker is a Holiday Must-See

I had never heard of Swedish Spritz until I met my husband. His mother is a renowned cook and baker and the Swedish Spritz cookies she made each Christmas were one of his favorite childhood memories– Since my husband’s love language is FOOD (Oh hush, it’s totally a love language, I don’t care what Gary […]

Desserts, Food, Holidays, Kid Favorites

January 26, 2016

A Swedish Spritz for All Seasons

With two small children in the house, Christmas is a major time for milestones. A few nights ago, Dennis and I finally got around to wrapping all of the presents, after we’d gotten the kids in bed. The next morning, the children tumbled down the stairs to the Christmas tree, eager to inspect all of […]

Live

December 22, 2011

The Devil Made Him Do It. Seriously.

One of our annual Christmas traditions is attending our city ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker.” Ordinarily, Punky and I go with friends, but this year I decided that Bruiser was finally old enough for his first Nutcracker performance — and so last night, my husband, son, daughter and I all went to see the ballet […]

Live

December 19, 2011

Nutcracked