“Santa Come Down The Chimney. Half past 3. With Lotsa Nice Little Presents For My Baby & Me.”

Merry Christmas baby, ya sure do treat me nice.

#20 of 31 Things I Love About Christmas: Spending it with my girlfriend/fiancé/wife.

Christmas takes on a new meaning, when you have someone special to share it with. 6 Christmases so far, and I hope many many more.

Sara & I have been inseparable since September 13, 2006. After the initial few months passed and whatta beautiful thing we had together became more and more clear, it dawned on me suddenly that I would now have a girl to spend and enjoy Christmas with. I now had someone to buy a card and gifts for and someone to share in the joy of my favorite holiday of the year.

Earliest Christmas memory of us is the first time we went “Truckin’ Up To Buff-a-lo” (ah, that never gets old). We went to Walden Galleria Mall in Buffalo, which was dripping in NY snow and full on Christmas bombast and glory. It was such a huge mall with so much Christmas cheer and so many things to buy. I got a Rolling Stones CD wallet on clearance at FYE…no wonder, the zipper didn’t zip all the way and a Buffalo Sabres hat (sadly I realized after the fact it was one of those new age hats which has a brim that is meant to be kept straight…it wasn’t a total loss because I later had it signed by Scotty Bowman, legendary Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. We later grabbed dinner at Friendly’s (almost certain it was the 2760 Union Road, Cheektowaga, NY location, got the Honey BBQ Chicken SuperMelt Sandwich) I can remember walking hand in hand through the mall, at this, my favorite time of the year, thinking to myself, wow, this feels wonderful.

5 years and a wedding later, I still often think to myself, wow this feels wonderful

OK. I lied. This really isn’t my earliest Christmas related memory. This is a little known fact about our relationship. My first Christmas memory is that of Friday November 10, 2006. The night of our first nice dinner out at Angee’s in Olean, NY. I got the chicken French, might have been chicken Marsala. Anyways we took a stroll around Olean Center Mall and Kmart enjoying all the sights and sounds of Christmas, looking at decorations and taking in all the commercial sentiments that Christmas has to offer. We also went to Family Video and got movies to watch later. I suddenly fell ill. Might have been a headache, might have been nerves from being with such a pretty lady, might have been cheap chicken but within a minute of leaving Sara’s room for the night, I puked violently in a broom closet. Additionally, I dropped the ring upon acceptance of my proposal and had to repeat the vows because the priest didn’t think I was loud enough (it’s a rare event anyone ever asks me to speak louder)

Now then, back to warm Christmas memories and treasured moments.

2006: We spent shared our 1^st Christmas at the mall (logic seems to dictate it was Friday 12/22/06 and that it would have been Greece Ridge or Marketplace…go figure that detail to escape me…my money is on Marketplace) We then made into Webster where after an unsuccessful attempt to get into Applebee’s, we went into Pizza Hut. We gave each other our gifts in the car. She got me an ornament, a handmade blanket and picture snow globe. I got 3 three charms for her watchband. On the back of her Christmas card I wrote the lyrics to, little did I know at the time, but what would become the song we shared our 1^st dance to at our wedding, “I Cross My Heart” by George Strait.

2007: Tue 12/18 – Thurs 12/20: I can still remember the drive up to Niagara Falls. Jammed on Dave Matthews Band (Live Trax 10 and Live At Piedmont). This trip was magic, our first real vacation of sorts together. We rolled into the Marriott Courtside around 3pm. Hotel was amazing, great in house restaurant and the hotel featured free shuttle service to Clifton Hill and the casinos. It was here my impatience bit me in the eye. I need to exchange American money for Canuck money. $100US = $85 CDN. Now I didn’t quite understand the exchange rate and failed to figure in the slice the hotel kept for themselves as a service fee. Imagine my surprise when Sara got $97 back for $100 at Hard Rock Café later that night. Additionally, our hotel vending machine took $2 tokens only, it was $20 for parking for two nights and it cost $5 for 10 minutes of internet access.

Dinner at the Hard Rock Café was grand though for $15 that French Dip should have told me jokes and given the traffic report. We wandered down to the gift shop downstairs, because I had a scratch off ticket that entitled me to “great Hard Rock merchandise.” It was a pen. Then I had a coupon that entitled me to a free collectible with a $15 purchase. The nice man had the decency to tell me that the free collectible was another pen.

Oh Casino Niagara, how I adore thee. I put $5 in a Price Is Right slot machine. I don’t know what I did, but I ended up with $2.50. Onward to video poker, I played the $2.50 and got nothing. I put in another $5; I was down to $1. Hit a Royal Flush. I won $250; I printed my ticket and got out of there fast.

Wednesday saw a nice breakfast at the hotel and chatted with a guy in the lobby who commented on my Sabres hat and gave me a card promoting his book that he wrote about all the hockey legends that came out of Cambridge, ON. Took the shuttle to Clifton Hill, where after some light convincing I went on the Niagara Falls Sky Wheel, which I gotta say was incredible, great view. Spent some time on Clifton Hill, the weather was cold and misty, less than ideal wandering the town weather. Had lunch at a slightly shady Burger King, where one could order poutine. Must be a Canadian thing eh?

Back to the Casino. Threw away $5 in a KISS slot machine and it was back to video poker. I played either $5 or $10. I hit 5 of a kind with four deuces. Won $100 and cashed out. Back to the hotel to get ready for our private tour of the Niagara Falls Festival of Lights (Okay, it wasn’t private on purpose, we were the only two on the bus). We did see the lights…and what lights they were as well as the ungodly beautiful illumination of the Falls, an indoor greenhouse, Souvenir City, a glass blowing studio and the Skylon Tower. All of it was amazing but seeing all of Niagara Falls from atop that Skylon Tower was breathtaking had it not been so cold I could have stayed up there for hours and came back for dinner around 9:30.

Thursday started with breakfast and a pilgrimage to Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium for pictures. The place looked horrible from up close but I was in complete awe, too bad I never saw the Sabres actually play there. We pressed onward to Walden Galleria Mall for Christmas presents and lunch, after a slight 3 hour detour that saw us wander just shy of the PA border, we headed back for Rochester, and took my sister with us so they could get their nails done and all three of us had dinner at TGI Fridays in Greece Ridge Mall.

2008: Friday December 19. We braved a mini blizzard on the way to Buffalo to watch my beloved Sabres destroy the LA Kings 5-0 thanks to Derek Roy, Drew Stafford, Clarke MacArthur, Adam Mair and Matt Ellis. Kings had to pull their goalie, Jason Labarbera, after the 3rd goal. Ryan Miller, earned his 10th shutout of his career and 3rd of that season, which tied him for 5th all-time among Sabres goalies with the late great Roger Crozier. Miller has since increased that number to 22, second only to Domink Hasek’s 55. Not to mention the pregame dinner at Pearl Street was quite a time as well. Christmas together + a glorious Sabres victory. Merry Christmas to all.

2009 & 2010: Since our move to North Carolina our Christmas usually consists of starting on our journey in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve. Stopping for breakfast at Sheetz in usually in Bealeton VA (though we have been known to stop in Winchester, Warrenton and Fredericksburg on occasion) and we go for an encore at the Sheetz in Lewisburg PA, just outside of Bucknell University. Sara, the great navigator, has our trips and feeding times spaced out sensibly and we can usually make it home in about 10 hours or so. AOnly to visit our families for a little bit and head right back the next day or so. These car rides revolve around a lot Christmas music (on the way back it’s a lot of DMB, OAR, KISS, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney & Springsteen), conversations, memories, laughing, and history lessons (even when she doesn’t ask for them). The car ride, in some odd way, is one of the things I look forward to the most. Just us and the road. I guess you have to be very much in love or very much insane to look forward to these long journeys.

As for what she has gotten me the past 2 years. All I have gotten were 2 lousy pieces of paper each the past 2 years! In 2009 it was 2 tickets to see George Strait, Reba McEntire and Lee Ann Womack in Greensboro NC on January 23. In 2010 it was 2 tickets to see Sir Paul McCartney in Charlotte on July 28. Those shows were like Christmas morning...just a lot louder. Seeing McCartney was like an out of body experience I still can't quite believed it actually happened. I have an 8X10 picture from the concert hanging on the kitchen wall as a reminder it wasn't a dream. She always seems to know what to get me.

I loved Christmas before we met. Loved it even more after we met. To all our Christmases: Past, present and future. I love you Sara. A lot.

“Well Way Up North Where The Air Gets Cold, There’s A Tale About Christmas That You’ve All Been Told.”

Yea. I even get nostalgic about trips to the grocery store.

#25 of the 31 Things I Love About Christmas: The Trip To Wegmans

Yea. I get warm and fuzzy about grocery store excursions. Usually, December 23 we would set out on our massive Christmas shopping trip. Depending on whether or not we had off from school would decide when we went. If we had off the 23^rd we would go in the morning…on the other hand sometimes we would wait til after dinner so to avoid the crazies. If the 23^rd was a Friday, then we would most certainly go at night.

And where would this trip start you ask? Anyone from the Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse area knows all holiday trips called for a visit with Uncle Danny.

That’s right. Wegmans (Ridge-Culver location).

*Warning: This entry is gonna be a bit of a train wreck, grammatically and in terms of sentence structure, which is generally how I talk anyways. Imagine if you asked me what we got on these trips. These would be my answer

The Toys R Us of grocery stores. I can still see the soft pink/orange glow of "Wegmans: Food Pharmacy" on the brown awning, the parking lot lights shining bright, the glow of Ridge Culver Plaza across the street on our left, carts all over the parking lot and the gray/black slush of the parking lot. The snow falling softly in the night. Sometimes my sister would accompany us on these excursions (often a magazine of some sort would serve as reward for our efforts).

Didn’t really pick up much in the bread department, if anything we would grab rolls for the sausage. Yea, you read that right, sausage for Christmas (much more on that later). Onto the fruits and vegetables for tangerines, oranges and maybe apples, all essential items for salad. Gotta make sure to pick up the anise. Plus lemons for the baccala and limes to be cut in wedges for the drinks that no one ever made, despite our little bar of sorts that was trotted out for each holiday and gathering, always set up on the counter to the right of the kitchen sink.

And potatoes. Can’t have Christmas without potatoes. Usually these would be little salt potatoes, or they would be chopped and mixed with a French onion mix (Lipton) or Hidden Valley Ranch powder. Then it was onto the Diamond Mixed Nuts. Sometimes we would buy it by the pound, other times we would get the pre-packaged bags. Grab the chestnuts as well, usually roasted them in the oven…never actually tried them. Usually could bypass the meat section. Lap around the outside for milk and egg nog. Really can’t have Christmas without egg nog.

Then it was onto a brief looksee at the Christmas cookies. Always Archway, especially the Cashew nougats and gingerbread men. As well as the generic holiday shapes cookies with sprinkles on them, and any other cookies that seemed like a good idea. Swing by the chips and pretzels to grab some snack type stuff if needed. Then onto the pop section (we don’t sell soda in NY, we do have plenty of pop though) Coke or Pepsi…whatever is on sale, I’m not picky, root beer of some kind, Ginger ale (Schweppes or Seagram's) regular, grape and raspberry…trow ‘em all in the cart..they don’t like it they don’t gotta drink). It should be noted that pre-2000 we hardly ever bought 2-liters. We bought all our pop by the glass bottle at Aman’s Farm Market in Irondequoit, right next to Eastridge HS. It was bottled by Fizz, a local company. Once they stopped carrying them, we joined the century and bought it plastic.

Anyone remember the Pepsi Holiday Spice? Holy Cow. Heaven in a can. I still got a empty bottle I use as holiday décor, right next to two different empty boxes of Christmas Cap N’ Crunch. I hope each year they bring it back. Nothing yet, but for the closest thing possible, throw back some Pepsi (I don’t know if Coca Cola would have the same effect) and have a bite of gingerbread cookie and you’ll have a good idea of the goodness this stuff was.

Then it was on through the various aisles for any additional items like salad dressing, croutons, ketchup/mustard/relish (dill only…sweet relish is horrid) for the sausage, pickle spears (because who doesn’t like pickles?) and other very random items that may be needed.

By this point we generally had everything we need and god knows we had a lot of things we didn’t need. And a shopping cart stuffed to the gills, kinda embarrassing by the time we got done. Then occasionally it was onto the Dollar Store and/or Tops (Friendly Markets) for paper plates, cups, silverware and anything we couldn’t get at Wegmans or were cheaper elsewhere, to be completely honest.

Then to (this sometimes we waited til the day of Christmas eve to go) Rubino’s or Palermo’s. Uffa! Che bella negoz’!

It was here we would pick up our Italian treats. And what treats. Maria Sant’!

Well, they weren’t all treats in the traditional sense, more like necessities as far as we were concerned. Soppressata, salami, pepperoni, provolone, olives and any other Italian cookies that jumped into our basket, we would also pick up the rolls needed for the Christmas sausage. Don’t judge. The headliner at our Christmas and New Year’s Eve dinner was homemade Italian sausage and grandpa’s baccala. Again, more on that later.

These shopping trips were a bonding experience of sorts and usually a lot of fun. Wegmans would be decorated in full bombastic glory and it was generally a happy feeling. Christmas time again and here we are shopping for the holidays. Then to haul all the stuff into the house, which no one ever felt like doing. Upon completion we would realize we may have forgotten an item or two and it would be back to the store tomorrow.