This year I’m very happy to be spending the holidays in one of the greatest cities on Earth: New York City.  The hustle and bustle of the city is wonderfully contagious and the city as a whole seems to buzz with energy and the end of year means we are that much closer to my premiere!  I, probably like many of you, look forward to the holidays not only for the Spirit of the Season (See #5), but also because of the traditions I’ve developed over the years.  For this blog post, I thought I’d share five of my favorite:

1. Christmas Eve Seven Fish Italian Feast.  In honor of my family’s heritage, my family would cook and eat an Italian Feast on Christmas Eve that comprised of seven different fish dishes: Fried, Satueed, and Stuffed Calamari, Clams, Lobster Tails, Mussels, and Herring.  I can’t say that the Herring was my favorite, but it was in honor of my Pappy and since he loved Pickled Herring it seemed to always make an appearance on Christmas Eve.

2. One Present on Christmas Eve.   I’m not sure when it started, but for as long as I can remember, we were allowed to open a single present on Christmas eve.  I remember agonizing over which one to select because the suspense of the presents always killed me.   Without fail, I always managed to pick the sweater with reindeer on it as my one and only gift to open, ultimately making the wait until Christmas day to open presents that much more painful.

3. Midnight Mass.   This is probably the best Mass of the whole year – everyone is dressed for the holidays celebrating the birth of Jesus with candles lighting the Church.  Not to mention the Christmas songs.   If anyone didn’t already know, O Holy Night is by far my favorite.

4.  Find the Pickle.  At first glance, this may appear to have nothing to do with the Holidays, but I promise it does.  One of my fondest childhood memories was waking up to playing the pickle game on Christmas morning.  My mom would hide a pickle ornament on the tree and the first person to find the ornament on Christmas was awarded a very special prize.   One year when I was pretty young, the prize was a cool Brio train set that my brother got instead of me.  He found the pickle within 2 seconds.  I had no chance.

5. Spirit of the Season.   As a singer, I tend not to consume a lot of alcohol.  I’ve always enjoyed a good glass of white wine (I know, I’m a lightweight), but haven’t experimented too much with spirits.  What I do consume (and some would argue by the truckload) is espresso.  After peer pressure, I succumbed to trying an Eggnog Espresso with brandy.   My mind was blown.  I gotta say, I haven’t experienced the same level of quality of life enhancement since the introduction of Smart Phone Boarding passes.  For anyone seeking an instant boost of happiness (and alertness), I recommend without reservation.

What Holiday Traditions do all of you have?  Any like “Find the Pickle?”   And, most importantly, are there any other Holiday drinks out there that I should give a try for my new tradition?