Every year it happens. Although I keep trying to replace them with my favorite holiday song, Feliz Navidad, because it’s a bit kickier, two songs get stuck in my head for the entire holiday season.

Today I’m getting ready to head to my parents for the week to meet my brother’s new puppy, wish for snow even though we’re in the South, sleep in my childhood room that still looks kind of like 11th grade, drive relatives around town even though Charlotte has grown so much I keep getting lost, and to generally spend a few days surrounded by family to celebrate Christmas.

While craft and book stuff are still well in my thoughts, for a few days I’ll be offline and enjoying talking and knitting by the fire instead of checking my inbox or answering email. It’s a nice reboot at the end of the year where I embrace the tactile and face-to-face contact and try to get in as many hugs as possible.

So I leave you for a few days with best wishes for the holidays and the two songs that no holiday has been complete without since I was in junior high.


1. Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” from A Very Special Christmas

We burned up the highway in the family station wagon for years listening to this album, and this song always was put on repeat atleast once. The part we all like the best and would belt out is: “It’s Christmas time in Hollis Queens, Mom’s cooking chicken and collard greens…” After all, we are Southern.

2. “I Have a Little Dreidel”, (the Dreidel song)

When I was in 6th grade, the mother of a Jewish classmate came in to talk to us about Hannukah. She gave us little plastic dreidels. We spun them. She also taught us this song, of which I only know the chorus, but still find myself singing each winter. It’s pretty darn kicky, too, especially this jazzy version I found.