Happy Thanksgiving!
I love this holiday not only because of getting the whole family together, but also because the progression of the day is an event in itself.
It starts with waking up to the aroma of home cooked deliciousness being prepared, and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Barbara Streisand sang the truth, "Don't Rain on my Parade" because I wait all year for the stars to sing on floats around New York City and for the casts of Broadway hits to perform in Herald Square.
After we get the wave from Santa closing the Parade, it's time for "Who Let the Dogs Out" when the National Dog Show begins. As always, I'm rooting for the Shih-Tzu to take the grand prize! One of these years we'll train Sinatra and he'll be Best in Show. Yeah, right.
The lazy day on the couch used to continue with It's a Wonderful Life, and even though it doesn't air anymore, I'll still recognize this movie classic with the modern song of a similar name: "It's a Beautiful Life." This is where we begin to think about what we're thankful for, and the first thing on the list is: football. Some families play football today. Mine? Well, we leave that up to the professionals. Today this household is rooting for "Benny and the Jets," or just the JETS.
As we watch the game, our house begins to fill with all of our family and friends, this year totaling 35 people. The salivating starts and we think "happy Thanksgiving, hooray, hooray, hooray! Aren't you glad you're not a turkey, on this Thanksgiving day?" Sorry, vegetarians. How about a little Adam Sandler "The Thanksgiving Song?" Or what about this little ditty: "It's Thanksgiving;" mashed potatoes, ey!
Every family has traditions and while the parents in my family sing "Gimme More" as they grab seconds, the rest of us are singing "someday somebody's gonna turn around and make you want to say goodbye," to your chair, that is. So "Hold On" kids, because when you're not paying attention in this family, we steal chairs and hide them around the house. It's just some good ol' family fun.
I hope you enjoy your family fun today, and adopt our family motto when we all get together: phones off, family on. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Wedding
This past weekend was my cousin's wedding and the event, along with the year of planning leading up to it, was filled with it's own soundtrack.
Over the past year, my cousin has had her Veruca Salt moments, you know, from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: "don't care how, I want it now!" But as far as bridezillas go, she honestly wasn't that bad. In fact, the day of, as we were getting our hair and makeup done, she was relaxed and calm. We did a little sing along to "Going to the Chapel and We're Gonna Get Married," among other songs on Pandora, and she was all smiles.
During the ceremony, we learned that one of the many reasons my cousin loves her husband is because he sings to her every day. Specifically, "You are my Sunshine" and Jason Mraz's "Lucky." I give two thumbs up to their soundtrack of love and know that it will only grow over time.
Once the ceremony ended, the bride and groom were not quite done, as they still had to get through their first dance, choreographed by yours truly. Teaching two people with two left feet how to dance, and dance together, was a challenge, but the three of us rose to the occasion. Two days of dance boot camp and a month and a half of practicing paid off; they were beautiful! Michael Buble should bring them on tour to dance to "Everything" when he performs it; that lift-spin combo is a crowd-wower every time, I'm just saying.
Not only were the bride and groom impressive, but so was the maid of honor. She shocked everyone when she rapped half of her speech to the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme song! It was a great story "all about how, Stacey ended up in a wedding gown." She earned a well-deserved standing ovation and rose the bar for the rest of the family at future weddings.
And so the night went on. We did a little Hora and danced to "Hava Nagila," and partied to top hits of today and some top hits of yesteryear. The DJ was great and there was a live saxophonist and bongo drummer to bring the music to life.
However, we almost had a musical crisis at the wedding when the DJ stopped the music for us to eat dinner... right in the middle of "Shout"! If there's one rule at a wedding, it's you don't cut Shout. But thankfully, we were fully prepared for such a moment and we continued the song on our own. We got a little bit softer now, then a little bit louder now, then my sister led the crowd in responsive "hey ey ey ey's." The cousin-and-friends crew banded together and saved the day!
We continued to "Gangnam Style" the night away and just like that, a year in the making, the wedding was over. It was a gorgeous affair and one more thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Mazel Tov to my cousin and her husband!
Over the past year, my cousin has had her Veruca Salt moments, you know, from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: "don't care how, I want it now!" But as far as bridezillas go, she honestly wasn't that bad. In fact, the day of, as we were getting our hair and makeup done, she was relaxed and calm. We did a little sing along to "Going to the Chapel and We're Gonna Get Married," among other songs on Pandora, and she was all smiles.
During the ceremony, we learned that one of the many reasons my cousin loves her husband is because he sings to her every day. Specifically, "You are my Sunshine" and Jason Mraz's "Lucky." I give two thumbs up to their soundtrack of love and know that it will only grow over time.
Once the ceremony ended, the bride and groom were not quite done, as they still had to get through their first dance, choreographed by yours truly. Teaching two people with two left feet how to dance, and dance together, was a challenge, but the three of us rose to the occasion. Two days of dance boot camp and a month and a half of practicing paid off; they were beautiful! Michael Buble should bring them on tour to dance to "Everything" when he performs it; that lift-spin combo is a crowd-wower every time, I'm just saying.
Not only were the bride and groom impressive, but so was the maid of honor. She shocked everyone when she rapped half of her speech to the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme song! It was a great story "all about how, Stacey ended up in a wedding gown." She earned a well-deserved standing ovation and rose the bar for the rest of the family at future weddings.
And so the night went on. We did a little Hora and danced to "Hava Nagila," and partied to top hits of today and some top hits of yesteryear. The DJ was great and there was a live saxophonist and bongo drummer to bring the music to life.
However, we almost had a musical crisis at the wedding when the DJ stopped the music for us to eat dinner... right in the middle of "Shout"! If there's one rule at a wedding, it's you don't cut Shout. But thankfully, we were fully prepared for such a moment and we continued the song on our own. We got a little bit softer now, then a little bit louder now, then my sister led the crowd in responsive "hey ey ey ey's." The cousin-and-friends crew banded together and saved the day!
We continued to "Gangnam Style" the night away and just like that, a year in the making, the wedding was over. It was a gorgeous affair and one more thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Mazel Tov to my cousin and her husband!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Presidential Election
As the polls begin to close on the East Coast, we are getting closer and closer to finding out who the President of the United States will be for the next four years. That's right, folks, it's "The Final Countdown" here on election night 2012.
Having the right to vote is the ultimate freedom, the freedom to have an opinion. I, for one, do not understand the people who choose not to vote. Why don't you want to have a say in the way our country will function? Come on, people, "you gotta fight for your right to party," or to get your party elected. And if you don't vote, you don't get to complain if your candidate loses, those are the rules.
Now, I can relate to the people who are just tired of all of the campaign commercials. I am "so sick" of them myself (even though it's a love song I can make it work here) and I am going to be thrilled tomorrow when they all disappear. This has been one wild campaign ride and it is going to be a nail-biter to see who will garner the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Throughout this whole campaign season, the candidates have earned some theme songs from me:
Mitt Romney = "Sesame Street" because, well, just go ask Big Bird, he'll fill you in.
Barack Obama = "Tomorrow" from Annie, because his whole campaign was about focusing on moving forward, not dwelling on the issues outstanding from the last four years.
I won't tell you who I voted for, but I will tell you that I sent my absentee ballot in early; even though I didn't get a cool little sticker, I did my civic duty! And now I will be glued to the TV to see who will be walking around to "Hail to the Chief" for a while.
Having the right to vote is the ultimate freedom, the freedom to have an opinion. I, for one, do not understand the people who choose not to vote. Why don't you want to have a say in the way our country will function? Come on, people, "you gotta fight for your right to party," or to get your party elected. And if you don't vote, you don't get to complain if your candidate loses, those are the rules.
Now, I can relate to the people who are just tired of all of the campaign commercials. I am "so sick" of them myself (even though it's a love song I can make it work here) and I am going to be thrilled tomorrow when they all disappear. This has been one wild campaign ride and it is going to be a nail-biter to see who will garner the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Throughout this whole campaign season, the candidates have earned some theme songs from me:
Mitt Romney = "Sesame Street" because, well, just go ask Big Bird, he'll fill you in.
Barack Obama = "Tomorrow" from Annie, because his whole campaign was about focusing on moving forward, not dwelling on the issues outstanding from the last four years.
I won't tell you who I voted for, but I will tell you that I sent my absentee ballot in early; even though I didn't get a cool little sticker, I did my civic duty! And now I will be glued to the TV to see who will be walking around to "Hail to the Chief" for a while.
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