• Where are you from?
  • Italy, currently living in Paris.
• What are some of your holiday traditions?
  • My mum is from the south of Italy and she loves to cook for all the family. She never changes the menu as for her mum before her: at Christmas Eve dinner we have fish soup and fish dishes. After dinner, we play card games ( il Mercante in Fiera, for example) until midnight when we all go to the church. Then, back home we open the gifts and go to bed. The day after(the 25/12) we normally have lasagna and steaks and cakes and on the 26/12 some soups or cappelletti in brodo. Food is very important in Italy especially at Christmas and involves all the family and different generations.
• Who do you celebrate with?
  • With my family on the 24/25 and with my husband’s family on the 26.
• Do you celebrate at your home or somewhere else?
  • Always at home. We proposed to go to a restaurant one year that my mum broke an arm but -as all the Italian mums- she refused 😊 and of course, cooked for 25 people.
• What is your favorite part about the holidays?
  • Knowing that we are not living in the same place nor the same country, the best thing is to cook together, set the table and decorate the house where we grow up listening to Mariah Carey Christmas songs in the loop.
• Is there any place you’d like to visit for the holidays?
  • Yes, maybe Santa’s house. Or a country where the weather is warm like Australia.
• Do you have any special holiday memories you would like to share for the blog?
  • I guess when I was very little and my and my sister poured sequins and fake snow all around the house telling our little brother that Santa was there and we left him and the renderers some food for the travel. When we were a bit older I remember the “caccia al regalo” meaning that all the 3of we had to find the gifts our parents bought and hide someplace in our house ( we never found a gift of course) 

• Where are you from?
  • We are Delaware Residents since April 2018 – Having raised our three children in New Jersey for the 20 years prior and having spent my youth in NY – With several years in Utah and Illinois in between.
• What are some of your holiday traditions and who do you celebrate them with?
  • We celebrate Christmas with our families and friends.  When our children were growing up and at home, we would celebrate on Christmas Day + Eve at our home in NJ and with Family in NY. As our children married we moved our Christmas Eve + Day Celebration to the days before the 24th + 25th of December to allow for them to spend time with their spouse’s families.
• Do you celebrate at your home or somewhere else?
  • We would all gather in NJ and the festivities would culminate around gift exchanges and brunch the morning of Christmas Eve. Then midday we would all disperse and go to the other family-related activities on Christmas Eve + Day. Often times my wife and I would travel to NY to visit my Sister and My Wifes Family – Generally staying over – Sometimes in NYC. Actually, a very fun way to spend Christmas – Even though it was is quite a logistical nightmare LOL. Now that the children have been working and living overseas we have spent the years between 2012 in Brussels and now 2020 in London – With a few of the middle years in between in the USA and Abroad depending on who was currently where! LOL
• What is your favorite part about the holidays? Do you have any special holiday memories you would like to share for the blog?
  • One tradition which we had (give credit to my wife – LOL) and one which may be more widely known than I am aware was: When the children were young all of the presents from Santa were not wrapped. No Wrapping Paper.  The Elves made the toys and Santa delivered them to our house and placed them under the tree. LOL – Hiding the presents until late Christmas Eve and then putting them under the tree was always a challenge. Surprisingly THE KIDS KNEW — Whose Gift was for Who — LOL I also played Santa at many school functions. I did need padding.
  • A favorite Christmas Holiday was in 2012 when we all spent the weeks prior to Christmas through New Years’ in Belgium + France + Germany. Traveling to the Christmas Markets – Touring the towns in the Netherlands and Belgium. visiting Paris and spending time in the Munich Countryside and TollWoods for New Years. Probably the best New Years’ Eve – Ever!! Another – But not with the whole family, unfortunately – But still Very Memorable – Was Venice + Verona + Bologna + Ferrara on New Years’. Standing in the Town Center CourtYard watching the fireworks from the castle was amazing.
• Is there any place you’d like to visit for the holidays?
  • We would all like to go to Salzburg + Vienna + Strasbourg.

🔺 Amanda: @amandapuck, @marianosmarket

• Where are you from?
  • New Jersey
• What are some of your holiday traditions?
  • For Christmas, we traditionally bake ham as the focal point of our meal. Followed by some of our favorite homemade Christmas cookies, Cranberry bread, cream puffs, and chocolate pudding. With my extended family in Long Island, because there are so many of us, we usually do a “Yankee Trader” between all of us. This is usually the highlight of the night and gets a lot of laughs as it’s a little bit different from your typical “Secret Santa” in that with the “Yankee Trader” if you don’t like the surprise gift someone got for you, you can trade it off with someone else. When we do this, we typically try to stay within a certain budget and you can buy either a serious gift or a gag gift. 
• Who do you celebrate with?
  • Christmas morning I celebrate and exchange gifts with my immediate family, followed by a 2-hour drive to my Aunt & Uncle’s house in Island Park, Long Island where I celebrate and have Christmas dinner with my cousins, second cousins, and extended family. Typically we usually have anywhere from 20-25 people. 
• Do you celebrate at your home or somewhere else?
  • I celebrate at my Aunt & Uncle’s house in Island Park, Long Island on Christmas Day. Christmas Eve, I attend Midnight mass with my family at our local Catholic church. On Christmas morning, we have a traditional Irish breakfast followed by an exchange of gifts with my immediate family members.
• What is your favorite part about the holidays?
  • For me my favorite part about the holidays would be a few things, I love everything from all the lights and decorations, to be able to slow down and spend time with my friends and family, and of course the presents!
• Is there any place you’d like to visit for the holidays?
  • Yes, I would like to be able to visit my brother out in Colorado, as I was last there back in 2015 for New Years’. I rang in the New Year in Aspen, Colorado, and did some skiing as well which was a lot of fun!
• Do you have any special holiday memories you would like to share for the blog?
  • Yes, my most precious memories of Christmas time was when my mother was still alive and we would have Christmas Eve at my childhood home growing up every year with all of my extended family over for dinner and to exchange gifts. In the years prior to that, when my Grandmother was still alive she would host Christmas at her house.  As a child, my family and I would attend mass with my Grandparents Christmas morning and have breakfast at their house followed by dinner with my extended family and we would all exchange gifts. Now, in more recent years, my Aunt has taken over the tradition and hosts Christmas at her house, my brother usually visits from Colorado with his family. We always get together with my Father’s side of the family on New Year’s Day to exchange gifts.

🔺 Lorna: Lorna Hsieh, @travelwithlorna_