I hope you all had a great Christmas! I had my first Christmas with the Inneses this weekend, and it was very relaxing. We still have one more "Christmas" to go with my family back in Pennsylvania. So right now, I'm still in the middle of Christmas-time merriment. I hope the season hasn't worn off yet for you either!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper! Gift bags are no fun at all to open!
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. I used to cry as a kid--the thought of killing a tree so that you could enjoy it for a few weeks. It made me so sad to see "dead" Christmas trees on the curb after Christmas. Mike & I tried a real tree once after we got married and it was such a mess I said never again. Artificial tree + Evergreen Candle for me!
3. When do you put up the tree? Right after Thanksgiving. I love Christmas trees!
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's... that week usually.
5. Do you like eggnog? Like it?

I *make* my own Eggnog... and everyone loves it so much they've started requesting it. I had to make it three times this December. Also, Eggnog Lattes = win.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I remember when my mother bought me an autographed copy of Interview with the Vampire. It was the 20th Anniversary edition or something like that--with the original design, and Anne Rice's name written by her own hand on page one. I loved that thing.
7. Hardest person to buy for? My big sister. She has enough money to buy whatever she wants whenever she wants so I always have no clue at Christmas.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My other sister-~
SidneySwank. All year long Mike & I will shop and say, "That's for Tina!" If I bought her everything I wanted to, I'd go broke.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yup. As kids, we'd always have to put the Nativity up before any other decorations, to emphasize what Christmas was really about. We'd each take turns putting a piece in, but fights usually broke out concerning who would get to put the baby Jesus in. In retrospect, that sort of defeats the purpose, eh?
10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? I love to mail them, but I didn't get around to it this year.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Well, one year ~
SidneySwank and I fought so much that "Santa" left us coal under our stockings. Granted, our stockings were still full, lol, but we got the message!
12. Favorite Christmas movie? Home Alone!! Every year big sis & I order a Cheese Pizza in honor of Kevin McCallister, and watch Home Alone.
13. When do you start shopping? November at the earliest.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? For white elephant parties, sure. Not to people I really love.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Buche de Noel (Yule Log) Cake!!
16. Lights on the tree? DUH.
17. Favorite Christmas song? "O Holy Night." Sometimes, when I really think about the lyrics, it makes me tear up. Especially when Michael Crawford is singing.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I travel to get home.

Though, now that I'm married, I only go home every other year.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes. Who can't?
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star. As a kid, my dad had this weird, hairy disco ball star from the 70's. I think he hated it, I think my mom hated it, but it became tradition and well, in my family, tradition is king. So they still have that thing. Mike and I have yet to find a star we like for our tree, but we've been through several.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning! Every year ~
SidneySwank and I would get up at like four or five AM, go downstairs and shake every single present and take a guess at what was inside. Then we'd empty out the stockings and look through each one. When the sun came up, we'd wake up my parents, but our oldest sister would pretend to be asleep and take 40 more minutes to come downstairs. Even to this day, it doesn't feel right to open the presents without a lot of build up and anticipation. It's half the fun, right?
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? I guess when people get hung up on the gift and not the giving. Like... it's not a money back guarantee ("We all spend $25" or something like that.) Just give from your heart if you want to, and if you don't, don't participate.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? White lights! And I have a lot of ornaments from my childhood, mixed with some newer ones: Ron Weasly, Spiderman & Doc Ock, and Boba Fett.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? For Christmas Eve we always had pierogies, tortellini, fish, anchovy spaghetti and ham. And pitzels for dessert! (My grandfather was 100% Italian, my grandma 100% Ukrainian.) Before dinner, everyone got a sheet of oplatki
[link] It's rice paper wafers, with images from the christmas story printed on them. You had to go to every person in the room and wish them a merry christmas as you broke off a piece of their oplatki, and ate it. Once everyone had greeted every one else, we could eat the meal. My family still does this--but I only get to go home every other year now.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I have a couple secret wishes that are most dear to me. But public ones? Julie & Julia the movie, a Kate Beaton Ben Franklin shirt and some new Chuck Taylor shoes. I haven't been home for Christmas yet, so I don't know if I got them or not!
The Dreamer's Official Sketchbook!This deviantART account will be used as the official sketchbook for my webcomic,
The Dreamer--a story about a teenage girl who begins dreaming about the Revolutionary War. I won't be posting the actual comic pages here, but sketches, character designs, and behind the scenes stuff will all be featured!
So... if you haven't read
The Dreamer yet, what are you waiting for?
The Dreamer WebsiteTwitterMySpaceDrunk DuckMy Etsy Shopcool people:










dreamer stamps:



a few of my favorite things:




