Christmas is next week!  It seems like it came so fast this year, but I am mostly ready.  I still have to decide what we are eating on Christmas Eve.  I am leaning towards a traditional dinner–which is very untraditional for me–of fried turkey, macaroni and cheese and some kind of vegetable.  Of course I will bake a cake or two, decorate Christmas cookies, and maybe try Darcie’s Toffee Oatmeal Fudge Bars.  A Spiced Kettlecorn recipe over at Goop.com looks great to eat while watching holiday movies.

I FINALLY tracked down ornaments for my family; they were tough this year!  My daughter changed her ornament from a sewing machine (impossible to find) to an artist palette because she loves art.

My son wanted an ornament to represent The Sound of Music since he was in a musical theater production this year and I was able to find an ornament of the Austrian flag.  I found both of these ornaments at Bronners.com.

My husband wanted an ornament to show his love of music and DJing from his computer on Friday nights; after much searching I found vintage record ornaments on Uncommongoods.com.  These are real records re-purposed into ornaments.

And of course we couldn’t forget about Chili Dawg; adding him to our family was a major part of 2009.  Judy over at Paws & Claws makes the best pet ornaments that I have ever seen.  When she didn’t have a cockapoo ornament the color of Chili Dawg, she made one; we couldn’t be happier because it looks just like him.

The gifts are bought and wrapped.  Santa brings the big gifts, but the kids do get a few gifts from us. I am absolutely stunned that Chili Dawg has not bothered the Christmas tree other than drinking the water, but I am not going to tempt him by putting gifts under the tree.  I KNOW that will be a bad idea as he has never seen paper that he doesn’t want to rip to shreds!  So this year we are putting the gifts on top of the TV cabinet; I made it look decorative so it’s not too weird.  As you can see, the wrapping paper and bows match the silver, white and aqua color theme for this year.

Besides our kids, we just buy gifts for our nephew.  I don’t think my husband and I have exchanged gifts very much since we’ve had kids.   One reason is that providing Christmas for our kids takes all the money and the other is that my husband is so hard to shop for because he buys whatever he wants for himself all year long (mostly electronic/technology stuff).   There is nothing left to buy him!   As for me, there is ALWAYS something to buy, but I’ve learned to just treat myself when I can.  Usually I wait until this time of year because the sales are good and special merchandise is available.  Like beauty products: the L’Occitane Hand Creme Trio is a good deal (normally $10 a piece, the trio is sold for $25) as is the Lovely Lip Gloss Coffret from Nars ($49 for 8 lip gloss colors that would normally be soooo much more; Nars is not cheap).  I had to give myself these gifts of beauty; I deserve to have soft hands and shiny lips.

Ever since I got my new Funkdivagirl.com business cards, I have been looking for a cute business card holder.  I emphasize cute because plain black or brown leather are easy to find–cute ones are not.  Early one day to meet my friend for a bit of holiday shopping and lunch at Neiman Marcus, I wandered into the Kate Spade store.  I had been in there before and found nothing, but I figured with the holiday season they might have in new merchandise and I was correct.  They didn’t have the color I wanted, my signature pink, but I was able to order it online (with free shipping) and it arrived nicely wrapped; a perfect gift to me, from me.

I love this time of year.  I have plans to get my hair, eyebrows and nails done later this week and I’m excited for our pre-Christmas get-away with friends.  I plan to enjoy it all because it will be over way too soon.

© 2009 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

…….family time.  So by today I’ve blogged for 12 straight days about Christmas and it’s been great.   Now I’m in the home stretch; there is one week until my kids get out of school and I’ve got presents to wrap, cards to mail and meals to plan.  I really try to do all my shopping and most Christmas preparations before my kids get out of school so that I am able to spend time with them and just have fun.

Besides baking cookies and playing games like Clue and Monopoly, we love to watch holiday movies next to the fireplace while drinking hot cocoa.   A Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas With the Kranks, and The Santa Claus are some of our favorite movies.  But I think my absolute favorite holiday movie is Elf.  Will Ferrell is HILARIOUS as Buddy the Elf!   If you’re never seen this movie you missing a wonderful opportunity to laugh out loud.   And who doesn’t like to laugh?  Ho Ho Ho!

What is your favorite holiday movie?  How do you like to spend family time during the holidays?

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The 12 Days of Christmas by Funkidivagirl

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me….the words to the song.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Christmas cards.

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Chili Dawg.

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..a Christmas vacation.

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..Santa Claus.

© 2009, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

…….a doll that looks like me.  Christmas: a time for showering the little people in our lives with toys and all that their hearts desire.  This can give adults with so much joy, but it can also produce gut-wretching angst when you can’t find a doll for your little brown girl that looks like her.

*Most of my posts for this series of The 12 Days of Christmas have been fun and light-hearted, but I have been meaning to talk about this subject for awhile and it is something that many people struggle with this time of the year.  Roll with it, think about it and please add your two cents in the comments.

A couple of months ago–well before the holiday season–emails were flying on the Mocha Moms listserv about Addy, an American Girl doll.   If you don’t know about American Girl dolls, let me school you as I just entered this world last year when my daughter asked for an American Girl doll for Christmas.  American Girl historical dolls are based on historical fictional book characters; each doll comes with a set of books that highlights a particular segment of American history.  So I had to check out all the dolls and surprise, surprise  there is only one African American historical doll, Addy.

And Addy is a slave.

Of course.

This is what the Mocha Moms were emailing about: why does Addy have to be a slave?  Is that the ONLY part of African American history worth telling?  Oh, and when they saw Addy’s doll, Ida Bean (although I’m sure she’s historically accurate), Lord, the emails were flying fast and furious.

To be fair, Addy is escaping slavery and her story is a courageous and compelling one; all the American Girl stories show how the characters display bravery and tenacity often in the face of the most trying times in American History.  So, they are good books and the principles of the American Girl company are sound.  Let me be clear: I like the American Girl company and support their mission and products both philosophical and financially.  They also make modern-day “Just Like You” dolls that come in several shades of brown with various hair textures, so the lack of brown dolls in general is not in question; the rift is with the historical dolls.

So again we (“we” being me, my Mocha Moms chapter and I’m certain many African American mothers everywhere) ask: is slavery the only story that we have to tell about the African diaspora in America?  It’s not that slavery isn’t a story worth telling, it’s the fact that we are limited to just one story.  There is so much more.

What about the Harlem Renaissance?  Besides great stories about the art, music and literature of that time period, that doll would have some fly clothes for sure.  And what about the ’60s or ’70s?  There is a doll now, Julie, who is sort of a hippy girl living in Berkley California; couldn’t they at least make an African American friend for Julie who wears a dashiki?   That’s what I’m talking about!

I was not opposed to the Addy doll, but my daughter was not interested in her.  So here was the dilemma: do I let her ask Santa for a white doll?  Well, that’s always the question for African American parents whether it’s American Girl, Barbie or Disney Princesses dolls; are we going to let our daughters play with dolls that don’t look like them?

Of the people I know, for most the answer is a resounding NO.  I too feel that way, but my daughter does have many of the Disney Princesses, who up until Princess Tiana (bless her!), were mostly white (Jasmine is Arabian and Mulan is Asian).  I justified buying those dolls because they were “real people.”  Her Cheetah Girls dolls are Latina, African American, mixed race and white, so they’re okay.  And I think she also has a couple of random white Barbies; I don’t know how they got in there.  So, while my daughter doesn’t exclusively own dolls of color,  that is my strong preference.

She just got the new So In Style Barbies, which I love and think were long over-due, but whew!–those dolls have been controversial and they just hit the market.   The articles in Jezebel.com,  Essence.com, and The Wall Street Journal.com show what a hot topic this is for the African American community;  liking the Barbies or not is the main thread, but that we care immensely about the images that are reflective of our daughters.

Why?  Why do I prefer for my daughter to play with dolls of color?  After all, she has a mixed race background so it shouldn’t matter, right?  Wrong.  No matter what her background, she is a brown girl and everything in the world is telling her that she is marginal.  Including the toy industry.  It is up to my husband and me to tell her that she is beautiful and worthy; one of the many ways we can do that is by providing her with playthings that reflect her image and consequently boost her self-esteem.

Back to the American Girl doll dilemma last Christmas: what doll did Santa bring?  After admittedly a few strong suggestions from me, she asked for and got Josefina, a hispanic doll.   A compromise: not African American, but still of color.  I could get with that.   Both she and I love the Josefina doll; she has a rich culture which makes for good stories and beautiful clothes.

This Christmas she asked for another American Girl doll and again I subtly steered her towards dolls of color, either Kaya, a Native American Indian or Sonali, a modern-day doll who is the friend of a white doll, Chrissa.  I’m not sure of Sonali’s heritage, but she’s brown-skinned.  I’ll take it.

It is true that the toy industry has come a long way from when I was little when dolls of color were few and came in one very dark shade of brown, but they still have a long way to go.  As evidenced by the throngs of African American parents I see in the American Girl Store and the Princess Tiana dolls flying off the shelves, we are responding to the increase in diversity.  We have money and will spend it if given the chance.   Just give us the chance.

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The 12 Days of Christmas by Funkidivagirl

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me….the words to the song.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Christmas cards.

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Chili Dawg.

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..a Christmas vacation.

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..Santa Claus.

© 2009 – 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

……churros.  Usually a treat that you only get at a fair, right?  Well, they are surprisingly easy to make at home.  A few years ago I discovered this recipe in Martha Stewart Living magazine and made it one Christmas for my family and they loved it.   No, churros aren’t a traditional holiday treat, but they are so yummy when paired with hot chocolate and a roaring fire on a cold winter night.

Most of the ingredients you probably have on hand already in your pantry, but you might not have the tools.  Be sure to get a pastry bag with a large star tip and a deep-fry thermometer before you begin.

CHURROS

(a recipe by Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients

Makes 20

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 5 to 6 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

1. Stir together cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl; set aside. Bring milk, butter, and salt to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, and cook, stirring, until mixture forms a ball and pulls away from sides of pan, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, and let cool 3 minutes. Add eggs, and stir until batter is smooth. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large open-star tip (such as an Ateco #828).
2. Heat 4 to 5 inches oil in a large Dutch oven until it registers 330 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer. Holding pastry bag a few inches above the oil, squeeze out batter, snipping off 4-inch lengths with a knife or kitchen shears. Fry 6 to 8 churros at a time, turning once, until deep golden brown all over, about 5 minutes; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

Photo credit: Martha Stewart Living

Martha, of course, eats her churros with homemade hot chocolate, but I have found that both Ghirardelli Premium Hot Cocoa and Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolate are delicious and rich.  I have the Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolate Pot and now making hot chocolate is a breeze; you just pour the milk in the pot (no water! sacrilege!), heat it in the microwave, add the chocolate, insert the wand and “froth to perfection” as they say in the directions.  Then I top it with marshmallows and whipped cream.  A dusting of cinnamon or a cinnamon stick adds a little spice and decorative flair.  Enjoy!

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The 12 Days of Christmas by Funkidivagirl

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me….the words to the song.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Christmas cards.

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Chili Dawg.

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..a Christmas vacation.

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..Santa Claus.

© 2009, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

……pajamas.  Several years ago when my son was small we started the tradition of buying new pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve.  Really, it was born out of vanity because I wanted everyone to look cute on Christmas morning for photos.  Everyone in my family loves this tradition and looks forward to their new pajamas, which we aren’t allowed to wear until Christmas Eve.   I think that it would be so cute if we all had matching pajamas from The Company Store, but I just don’t plan far enough in advance.  You would think ordering pajamas mid-November would be enough time, but no, they are all sold out by then.   And I just can’t get my head around planning for Christmas in early October.

But this year we managed to match gender at least, the boys have the same pajamas as do my daughter and I.   The girls were easy; PJ Savage has several styles for big people and little people.   We got cupcake flannel pajamas at Nordstrom;  bam-boom, in and out, easy peasy.  The boys?….not so much.  We went to Belk, (which has a great men’s department at Phipps Plaza; I can’t vouch for any other Belk) and there was a sea of pajamas–so many choices that they couldn’t decide.   And it didn’t help that there was a flat screen TV showing a football game.  It took forever to get out there, but finally they decided on a Ralph Lauren thermal top and cotton pajama bottoms.

We broke tradition this year and put the pajamas on last week to take our Christmas photo, but afterwards they went back in the drawers until Christmas Eve.   Usually we put them on late night, after everyone leaves our house, but I think that I will have a pajama party this year and ask everyone coming over to wear pajamas.  That sounds like fun!

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The 12 Days of Christmas by Funkidivagirl

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me….the words to the song.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Christmas cards.

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Chili Dawg.

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..a Christmas vacation.

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..Santa Claus.

© 2009, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.