We’re So Xmas

It's the hottest month of the year, but that doesn't mean we aren't still thinking about crisp winter mornings! You know what I'm talking about, the kinda morning where a fresh blanket of snow covers everything outside your window and all you want to do is snuggle under your blanket with a warm cup of coffee flavored with your favorite creamer. Maybe pop open your laptop and work on your Christmas bucket list for next year while your kids play on the new Xbox that you had the forethought to pre-purchase and buy them for Christmas. 

Honestly, if that sounds like you August's podcast is going to be PERFECT.

First off, we know the audio is a but rough this week, the internet Gods were not kind to us. August will be roughly 8000x better.

Anyway, it's not quite lions and tigers and bears, but Heather is sharing her house with some...shall we say interesting...critters. Hear all about that, plus her cross-country driving adventure with two dogs!

We bring it back to Christmas with news that the Hallmark Channel is actively working on improving the diversity of their movies, and are specifically on LBGTQ representation, which is great news!

Between the pandemic and everything else that is going on it's hard to believe that it's only six months until Christmas and at the same time, Christmas could be tomorrow! Time is mysterious that way these days!

In this episode we start off by talking about all the great Christmas (and other holiday) TV shows and movies that are available on Hulu that you might not have noticed. In fact, they have an entire section dedicated to them that you can check out here: https://www.hulu.com/genre/holiday-cd0399d6-66b4-42b5-b9e4-1cde90cbc36e (See, I told you it was long and scary.)

Heather takes us shopping at One Thirty First, a black-owned business that would be the perfect place for holiday shopping. Their designs are timely, powerful and unique. Honestly, they probably say it best: "OTF was designed to highlight the ideas, personalities and in some cases, the plight of those in urban communities. Through puns and pop culture references, we use our designs to help our customers express their realities."

Finally, we wrap up the episode with a feel-good story about a woman you got a mom for Christmas (with a little bit of help from an online DNA test!)

Normally we talk about Christmas on this podcast, but in light of the recent events that have swept through our country in the last few days, we felt that we had to say something, even if it had nothing to do with the holidays. If that isn't for you, please feel free to skip this episode and join us on June 25th for an episode full of holiday cheer.

If you do decide to listen, first off, neither of us has all the answers and we are in no way perfect. We welcome constructive feedback, especially from the black community that has lived experiences that we don't have. Please feel free to message us via Facebook or Twitter, our DMs are open.

As mentioned in the episode, here is a list of resources that we think can be helpful:

• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
• Ways You Can Help
• White Guyde To The Galaxy (for men) and Save the Tears: White Woman's Guide (for women)
• If you are going to a protest, here's how to do it as safely as possible
• Antiracist Allyship Starter Pack

Finally, if you are a black-owned business with a bit of holiday flair, we 100% want to talk to you, please reach out on social media or email us. 

Heather and Cliff talk about life in VR, Football at Christmas, Tom Hanks and HBO's new "adult" Christmas show!

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Heather and Chrysanthemum Cliff are finally back in the same place! Things are just a tiny bit in flux, which means they had to record in Cliff's dining room, but everything came together!

Heather and Cliff voted and came to the conclusion that any time you mention Betty White's name it should be in the form "Betty Which is doing fantastic and...". With that in mind, Betty White is doing fantastic and will be starring in a Christmas movie this holiday season on Lifetime! There aren't any details yet, but honestly, we don't care if it's just Betty White doing a Zoom meeting at this point.

In central Texas, Jacqueline Smith is getting in the holiday spirit early! She put up a delightfully pink Christmas tree on her sidewalk and stocked it with hand-made face masks to help keep her community safe!

Finally, if you are looking to spread a little bit of Christmas cheer early, Heather reminds up that helping stock a tiny pantry in your neighborhood is a great way to help out folks that need just a little bit extra right now. 

Follow Us!

http://weresoxmas.com/
https://www.facebook.com/weresoxmas
https://twitter.com/weresoxmas
https://www.instagram.com/weresoxmas/

Heather and Chrysanthemum Cliff decided to try something a little different this month and recorded their podcast via Zoom since they are still socially distanced. That means a few things:

1) If you head to facebook.com/weresoxmas or weresoxmas.com you can actually watch this podcast!

2) There might be a few things we talk about that work better on the video since you won't be able to see them.

This month we talked about what to do if we are still having to socially distance during the holidays? Christmas might be a little bit different if you can't just head over to Grandma's house like usual, but luckily Heather made found a few ways to bring everyone closer together on her latest trip to...Lowes?

Cliff is a bit worried that we might not have any new Hallmark movies to watch this holiday if they aren't able to start filming them pretty quickly. Again, Heather saves Christmas by coming up with a holiday movie that can be filmed almost entirely via Zoom!

Finally, we'd like to give a big We're So Xmas shout out to Christmas By Krebs in New Mexico. These folks usually are making Christmas decorations this time of year, but in the face of a pandemic managed to shift their production lines to make 10,000 face shields for medical professionals every day!

Heather and Chrysanthemum Cliff are both "Elf Quarantined" so following proper social distancing guidelines they are recording this podcast from their respective houses (which may or may not be festively decorated cabins deep in some winter wonderland, we'll leave that up to our dear listeners to decide!)

Heather ran across "A Bad Mom's Christmas" on Netflix and absolutely loved it! This holiday-themed sequel to "Bad Moms" stars Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn as over-burdened moms who rebel against the challenges and expectations of Christmas, only to have their MOMS show up! Check it out at https://www.netflix.com/title/80177872.

Heather also enjoyed "Blue Jay", which according to her is "the greatest thing she's ever seen". It's the perfect movie to watch during the quarantine while you wonder whether or not you should be texting your ex. Catch it on Netflix at https://www.netflix.com/watch/80117746.

Cliff is encouraging everyone to turn on their Christmas lights or put their Christmas tree back up if it helps to make their days a little bit brighter. It's all based on a Tweet sports broadcaster Lane Grindle who said, “What if we all put our Christmas lights back up? Then we could get in the car and drive around and look at them. That seems like a fair social distancing activity.” It seems like a great idea to us!

Finally, if you are missing seeing movies in the theater "Frozen 2" and "Onward" are available on Disney Plus now! And soon you will be able to watch "The Hunt", "Emma", "The Invisible Man", "Birds of Prey", "The Gentlemen", "The Way Back" and "Bloodshot" on VOD soon for about $20 each.

Chrysanthemum Cliff is all about movies this month!

If you weren't able to catch Last Christmas in the theater this holiday, it's now available for purchase (either on Bluray/DVD or digital)! This cute Christmas themed romantic comedy stars Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as a cynical 20-something that works year-round as an elf at a Christmas store. Her world view is changed when she meets Tom (Henry Golding, Crazy Rich Asians) who challenges her to look at things in a different way. Co-written by Emma Thompson and set to an incredible George Micheal soundtrack, this is definitely a Christmas movie that you'll be watching for years to come.

Chrysanthemum Cliff and Merry & Bright Brooke got a fantastic movie for Christmas from a Brooke's best friend (who also listens to the podcast, hi Jaymie!) called The Man Who Invented Christmas. It wasn't a movie they'd heard of, but it's definitely going to go into the yearly Christmas movie rotation going forward. The movie stars Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast) as Charles Dickens and shows how his creation of "A Christmas Carol" went on to define a ton of the Christmas traditions that we still celebrate today. Although the story itself is a fictional retelling of Dicken's life, the movie itself is pretty historically accurate.

Finally, if you are looking for something a little bit...offbeat...try Santa with Muscles, starring Hulk Hogan!

Heather is all about Self Care this month and, let's be honest, it's about the best gift you can give yourself! Heather tried out two different treatments, a HydraFacial and Keratin Treatment.

According to their website, a HydraFacial "...uses a unique, patented Vortex-Fusion delivery system to exfoliate, extract and hydrate skin, and, the spiral design delivers painless extractions." The end result? Heather LOVED the treatment and her skin was literally glowing days later. If...

Are you having Christmas movie withdrawals but looking for something that's not too Christmasy? Maybe something more along the lines of "Die Hard is a Christmas movie because it takes place at Christmas" and less Hallmark? Then El Camino Christmas on Netflix might be for you (Cliff gives El Camino Christmas 7 Elves on the Shelf!)

It's about "...a young man who seeks out a father he has never met and, through no fault of his own, ends up barricaded in a liquor store with five other people on Christmas Eve." It somehow slipped under people's radar even though it has a lot of star power, including Dax Shepard, Tim Allen, Kurtwood Smith, Vincent D'Onofrio and Jessica Alba. Check out the trailer on YouTube .

Love Disney and need a spectacular Valentine's gift (or maybe you need to make up for a not-so-great Christmas gift?) Then you need to check out the amazing Disney flower from Roseshire! Each set of roses comes in a beautifully designed gift box themed around your favorite Disney movie, from Snow White to the Disney Villians.

Still have your Christmas tree up? We're not judging (and by that, we mean that Cliff still has his up too.) In fact, there are MANY ways to donate it! Lots of local zoos and animal rescue organizations will take your tree to spruce up their animal enclosures, a lot of areas on the coast are using them to rebuild coastlines and marshes and one veteran in Texas is even using them to make canes for other veterans!