Okay, okay, I have so many thoughts already!

Films
Wheeeeeeere do I start with films? In my childhood, the Home Alone series was the only festive movies I really remember watching. They were the first DVDs I owned and I watched them every year, and still do! I also watched Nativity, I believe, which I still really enjoy. I didn't watch a lot of other films, though - not until I was older and had met Gafyn lol. As an adult, Gafyn introduced me to The Holiday and Love Actually, which are obviously CLASSICS. Highly recommend.

As a parent, though, I have definitely discovered a few movies that I wouldn't have otherwise seen. For example, Christmas Chronicles and The Santa Claus. The biggest of all is The Grinch, which my daughter absolutely LOOOOOOVES. She was obsessed it with it last year.

In the last couple of years, I also watched Last Christmas, Red One, and Noelle which I also really enjoyed!

Songs
My favourite festive songs have always been and will always be:

All In Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
Last Christmas - Wham!

I once made a playlist with just those two songs in it and played it ON REPEAT. That's how much I enjoy them.

Books
In terms of books... I haven't actually read any Christmas/festive themed books that I would say were particularly memorable. So I would definitely be interested in other people's suggestions.

When the weather turns cold, I become very loyal to my seasonal comfort media.

Films & TV:
I have to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas every year—animated or Jim Carrey, I'm not picky; I just love the heart behind it. Home Alone is an annual tradition (and I will defend it as a near-perfect holiday film), and The Santa Clause always sneaks up on me and makes me oddly emotional. I also fully embrace the chaos of cringey Hallmark Christmas movies—predictable plots, small towns, suspiciously successful bakeries, and all.

Books:
Nothing feels more "seasonal reread" than A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It's atmospheric and somehow manages to feel both comforting and sharp every time. I also enjoy rereading the books I read when I was a child to my nieces and nephews, like The Polar Express, The Tailor of Gloucester, and The Mitten.

Music:
Once December hits, it's open season on holiday music. I love a mix of classics, slightly melancholy winter songs, and the occasional modern pop Christmas track. If it sounds like it belongs on a radio while driving at night with holiday lights around, I'm in. These are definitely on the playlist: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "All I Want for Christmas Is You," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Jingle Bell Rock," It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Winter Wonderland," "Last Christmas," "The Christmas Shoes," and "Where Are You Christmas?"

Movies
Elf will always be one of my favorite Christmas movies. I definitely quote it often enough. Of course it came out when i was .... uh older, but it's still been around for 20+ years (trying to figure out how 2003 was more than 20 years ago). But another classic too is Miracle on 34th Street. And of course got to include the only Hanukkah movie I know of, Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights. Home Alone is definitely a classic, as previously mentioned.

Books
I can't really think of too many holiday themed books? Can I just put Harry Potter? I mean there's holiday themes in some of them haha

Music
Am I going to get slaughtered if I say that I don't really listen to Christmas music? I think working retail for 5+ years and hearing the songs on repeat every day for like two months, kind of puts it off. Although I will admit, I can't not hear Jingle Bell Rock without thinking of Mean Girls And "All I want for Christmas is YOU" is naturally a classic,