Christmas at Petsmart

Ever since moving, we have fallen into a standard list of places that we like visit when we have nothing else to do. One of those places is Petsmart. You get to see cute dogs, birds, and cats all under one roof without feeling sad about puppy mills. What's not to love?

One of the things I never noticed until recently was that the store appears to have a working relationship with two icons of Americana. That's right.

 Martha Stewart

 Brett Michaels

It's literally almost like the people at Petsmart put a bunch of celebrities into a goldfish bowl (they have plenty on hand, you know) and drew out two. What perfection though. They have Martha to appeal to Suzie HomeMaker (who, by the way, has a family composed of only dogs/cats so she really has to work hard at this home making thing) and Brett to appeal to people who want their dogs to join biker gangs. Check out those intimidating dogs he's petting.

Let me show you my favorite pieces from their Christmas collections:

Martha's holiday picks. They are really delightful looking, actually. Just what you might expect from Martha Stewart. I actually won't taint her image by mocking any of these items... well, except, to point out my favorite one.

A Katsack! If you have never seen one of these before, they are most famous for Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs/Ford pushing Mike Rowe) making fun of them during his 90s QVC days.

This crinkle sock, as Martha calls it, serves the same purpose and function. I have a video of myself crinkling it that I shall add later. I mean, you need to know how well it works before you rush over to petsmart.com to order it, right?

The Brett Michaels collection is incredibly bizarre and leaves much more room for commentary.

I am saddened by how blurry this image turned out. Good thing I have some choice close ups!

Here we have the collection's name sake, Brett Michaels, in all his Christmas glory. If you ever wanted to watch your dog tear this man apart, this is the toy for you. If only Martha had designed a similar Martha chew toy! I am a little concerned about the safety of having that long fake hair on the toy. Here's my prediction: recalled before Christmas. Pets have enough trouble choking on their own hair! In other news,  you can also see his delightful logo designed for this collection -- a skull with a Santa hat. Nothing screams Christmas like dead bodies.

This is a gingerbread man toy with nipple rings. Not since Christmas with the Kranks has Christmas been so heavily disrespected. Who dreamed this up? I can't even imagine the thought process. "Let's make a really edgy gingerbread man. Jeans, check. Bracelet, check. Black and red Santa scarf and hat, check... It's just not enough. I want this to be PG-13. What about nipple rings? Don't invite the kids over this Christmas!"

And the winner for weirdest item in the bunch is a costume designed for the person that wants his/her dog to wear Christmas lingerie. I really wish I could find a picture of a dog wearing this. Maybe I can get the boy to do a mock-up sketch. See thru skirt? Not a classy Christmas choice.


That's all for now..

Til next time, Christmas cats and kittens...

42 days til Christmas!

Let's give this the old college try...

So this is going to be my first Christmas season away from home. Don't get me wrong, I have lived separate from my family for years now, but this time I am 5 hours away. That's about two Lifetime Holiday made for TV movies. I think this year more than ever it is important for me to share my Christmas online in as many forms as possible. So I type this on my swanky iPad and am listening to good holiday tunes on Pandora radio... And I type it with ambitious hopes of creating something that lessens the distance between my heart and yours (even if that distance is as far away as Iowa).

I wanted to hold off on decorating this year, but then we bought a new bookshelf. This is a tall type bookshelf that actually had to be anchored into the wall.... And it left an odd strap in view. (Full disclosure, I am pretty sure that it is not anchored correctly). We needed something to cover that strap, and what would be better than a tiny Christmas tree?

Isn't it beautiful?

I think my favorite thing about this picture is how violently bright the little tree looks. In fact, you may not know that is a tree up there if I didn't tell you. I think the light reflecting off of the ceiling really adds to the effect. It's Christmas time, guys. Get your jolly on.

Scrooges might say.... It is too early to celebrate Christmas. What happened to Thanksgiving? 

Well, those people are missing the beauty of it. We can have it all. This is America, after all. We can eat turkey and wear Santa hats and exchange reasons to be thankful.

Day 9 of November and I am thankful for:

1. I hate to brag so much, but I really am working at the perfect school for me.

2. My family and friends are amazing. I get to see them all soon!!

3. I have my love!

4. I have a new, beautiful car. Living the dream!

Til next time, my elves and she-elves.

45 (short) days til Christmas!!!

It's that time of year...

when the world falls in love.

I am going to try to fall back in love with blogging about Christmas. Hopefully this will come to fruition later tonight.

But until then,

Keep in mind..

Only
11
days
til
CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS 20ELEVENTEEN

Hey guys! It's time to get jolly up in this thing.

So we've thoroughly and when I say thoroughly I mean we have THOROUGHLY decked the halls at Walmart already.(This post was originally drafted in early November, when it was a wonder for us to be decked out) I am told that Christmas music was playing. Children can already take pictures with Santa in the portrait studio.

I helped unload one of our trucks tonight. Let me tell you, that is not a jolly experience. It was nothing like hot chocolate or Christmas music or putting lights on a tree. It might have been like waking up to find the Grinch had taken all of your stuff. Okay. Wait. The Whos still sing. Well... it just wasn't nice guys.

Let's take a moment to reflect on how weird the Whos look. Here's Cindy Lou.

Case closed.

Here's the case I am meaning to talk about:


I came across this big box of joy as we were unloading the truck. I want to go right out and say that I love everything about seasonally appropriate clothing for dogs. I heart it.

The things is.. I'll be a Christmas ham if there is anything in this box that represents any holiday other than Christmas.


You know what guys? After I wrote this, we put these out. And they are all green and red and white and have Santa and Christmas trees and more on them. That's not the best sentence I've ever written, but I think it does the job. If I were a good writer, I would add in a syllable rhythm to where it sounds like "It came without ribbons, it came without tags, it came without.." So on and so forth. But here's the thing(s): I am not that talented -AND- these things came with ribbons and tags and Christmas themed things. The Woo's would be singing in celebration of these holiday Christmas vestments.

There is no other holiday that these could be associated with, so why not call them Christmas clothes? I understand the whole idea of being inclusive. I get it and I respect it. I just don't understand the need to call a Christmas tree a holiday tree. No one is putting it up and thinking, "This is a perfect representation of my personal Non-Christmas holiday." Want to know why? Because people have decorations they buy for their own holidays. There are Chanukah Menorahs and I am sure Kwanza has something. I would google it, but if I lose my momentum now I'll never finish it.

The point is -- call things what they are. Pine trees with ornaments, tinsel, angels, Santa, and Baby Jesus are Christmas trees. FACT. Confirmed. Pet clothing that makes my little fat Boston terrier look like a jolly Santa Claus are Christmas pet clothing. I wonder why they don't opt for real inclusive items instead of slapping "Holiday" on the box and calling it done. If there is some way for some who celebrates Chanukah to represent that with cute pet clothing, I think that needs to happen! I genuinely hope that everyone out there enjoys whatever holiday they celebrate, and I don't want to diminish that with all of this ranting. I just think that when something clearly goes with a holiday, use the holiday name for it! This isn't a rant over "Happy holidays," which I think is a perfectly acceptable phrase.

This is not Lugs, but it could be.

JUST A THOUGHT.

Today's Official Christmas Jam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IippcraBPKA
"By the time we got to Oslo, snow was gone and we got lost. The beds were small, but we felt so young. It was just like Christmas"
When I think of Christmas as a child, I remember hiding in a bedroom with my brother waiting for our parents to go to sleep. We would talk all night almost, because were too excited to sleep. A couple of years ago, I spent the night at my Dad's for Christmas and we slept in a room with twin beds. We discussed our favorite Christmas episodes of Nicktoons. It was just like Christmas.

Today's Christmas Tip:
Try to put some thought into your gifts. That isn't to say--spend a lot of money. Not at all. Just make sure when you buy someone a gift it actually makes sense as a gift to that person. It's not out of the gift closet and could have gone to Mary-Sue but she already has a gift so I guess I'll give it to Patricia.

AND IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING
24 Days til Christmas!

Hey there, followers!

All six of you (one of which is me --- actually, turns out, two of which are Tasha).

It's only 120 days til Christmas. I am going to try to keep up a blogging schedule starting sometime.

I hope that I can be able to keep up with this blog, because (as silly as it is) thinking about Christmas really does make me happy! I hope it makes you happy too. It makes me laugh to go through and read where I am always saying that I am going to be updating my blog on such-an-such day about x-topic. Then it never rolls around.. Well, hopefully - not this year!

I just wanted Home Alone 2 this week, because it was on tv. Obviously, I am not the only one December dreaming in August. Here's the thing though - it had been a while since I have seen the Home Alone movies and I am finding myself out of my mind exhausted lately. So I ask - - What do these guys have against Kevin anyway? Did he just run into them on the streets of New York? Spoiler Alert Guys - they're the ones who attempted robbery on his house the previous movie.

Oops.

Well - here's to sugarplum dreams and sugar cookies shaped like trees.

120 Days til
CHRISTMAS

Oops.

I took a long winter's nap and forgot about my blog.

Rest assured that my rest is over. I'll try to have quality material every day til Christmas!

Til then, please enjoy X-Entertainment's 2010 Christmas Season. It really is the best Christmas blog on Internet.

Update coming tonight! If I can make it through the icey streets of Knoxville back home from work. If I am stuck at Walmart, I'll update on location, ha!

I hope you're all having a HO-HO-Holly Jolly Christmas Season!

8 days til Christmas!

Today's Christmas Jam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjYUzpdKMZs

Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone singing Baby It's Cold Outside. If you can get over the age gap that seems to be between the two, it's one of the most lovely versions of the song. Zooey's voice is something heavenly.

Christmas Tip comes tonight!

Living with a Non-Live Tree

I have always been a big fan of live Christmas trees. Ever since I was a tot, there has been nothing but needle dropping, pine smelling trees in my house during the Holiday season (and often a bit beyond). If you are a follower of my blog, you will remember that last year I inquired the fire marshall to find out if I could have a live tree in my apartment if it was still "in-the-ball." Apparently that is the only way you are allowed to have a tree in an apartment .... otherwise you are putting lives at risk if your tree dries out and sets on fire. But honestly, I am a Christmas expert. My trees do not go unmaintained and unloved. They don't want for water or safety. That's why.. last year... I might have broken a rule or two.

However, this year.. the boy and I decided to "downgrade" to a fake tree (because he has this concern about being evicted or killing people with our tree, I mean, how ridiculous is that?). But the trouble with that had been that no fake tree could satisfy my standards. We had looked at Target and a couple of other places... but then on a late night trip to Walmart to purchase items to bake cupcakes, I wandered back into the Christmas section - drawn by its bright lights and blaring jolly music. I perused the trees, finding nothing but the averagely fake tree... then, I came across this: Box W.

It may be a bit on the thin side, but it has something that really caught my eye and made it twinkle.... LIFELIKE NEEDLES. Not those ones that look like little pieces of green paper, or those oddly long ones. These had attention to detail on every branch.

The experience of putting the lights the tree has been pretty standard, although I had to use a lot more colored lights than usual to try to offset how many white lights are built into the thing. I also had to painstakingly go through and spread out every branch.. only to every day find more to spread out. But overall, it makes me feel as magical as a real tree would and its:

1. Cheaper in the long run
2. More environmentally friendly
3. Less cleanup

However, I will be getting real trees again if I ever have a house instead of an apartment.

Here's the tree basically "right out of the box" after being set up vs "spreading the branches" and adding lights + an awesome topper.




I think it has actually turned out pretty beautiful! I am more impressed with it the more I look at it.








34 days til Christmas!

Today's Official Christmas Jam:
The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song

Today's Christmas Tip:
Don't look down on a fake tree. It doesn't make you a holiday sellout. They can be just as pretty as the real thing... but I suggest everyone experience a real tree once in their life. Some of my favorite holiday memories are going out with my parents to go get a tree from one our local nurseries (and I still get to go this year with them for theirs!). My dad gets as serious about them as the dad in A Christmas Story. Come to think... if that movie were made now, I would think they based the character on my dad.

I'm making this update while wearing polar bear pajamas.

I don't like to make such bold statements, but I think I have the right as a Christmas expert to say that..

Cracker Barrel is the official (un-official) Christmas restaurant. They were starting to celebrate with me back in September, and boy, they bring the heat. When you walk in there you are assaulted with the holiday spirit (maybe assaulted isn't an attractive word here). There is tree, after tree packed full of ornaments. As adamant followers of my blog would know, I have written about Cracker Barrel before ( Here ). Today, I am not upset with them.

I had just been there a couple of weeks ago with the fam, and I made an epic discovery. --- the cutest thing in the history of all mankind. Perhaps in the history of time or the history of history.

Bare witness:


And now, having seen it... Be jealous in knowing that, thanks to my amazing boyfriend, I own this penguin. He was just one of my many sweet gifts. It felt like Christmas...

I love this lil' guy. I'm going to play him for all purposes: feeling down, feeling great, feeling Christmasy, not feeling Christmasy, celebrating, mourning. I'll be shocked if Derick doesn't "accidentally" break him before Thanksgiving.

So, head on over to Cracker Barrel and purchase your own while they last.

Super exciting updates coming this week! Get pumped!

OH and if you didn't know,

47 days til Christmas!

Today's Official Christmas Jam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gKzXlqsOeE
This is a really sweet little Sufjan Stevens Christmas jam and cartoon. Makes me miss my Grandmothers. If you have any that you can call still, make sure you do. I know I wish I had more often and I'd trade about a million presents for one more 'happy birthday' sung over the phone.

Today's Christmas Tip:
Try not to be a jerk. Nobody likes a jerk. (certainly not Santa) Sounds pretty simple, but it is shockingly hard not to be a jerk these days.

-and- nobody likes a stinky house: buy Glade Christmas candles. They smell amazing and are adorable too:
http://www.glade.com/WinterCollection/ScentDefault.aspx?id=98

Oh, and...

As a Birthday present, my boyfriend let me set up my mini-Christmas tree. He doesn't understand why my obsession with the holiday season starts so early, but he does understand how difficult it would be to try to fight my Jolly-compulsions.
















This display features my newest ornaments: Top Hat Bobble-Headed Dog, Angel Boston, Santa Boston, and Jekyll Island Turtle. :)

Happy Christmas Birthday

It's my birthday today! As my present to myself, I am fulfilling my dream to remember to make a post every other day. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

So, what will I wittily banter about in regards to Christmas today? I want to draw more attention to the Partridge and the Pear (a restaurant in Pigeon Forge, TN I referenced last post). When first walking in, I had a moment where I felt that perhaps we did not belong in the restaurant. It is decorated very tastefully and arranged in a way that makes you understand you are in a fine dining establishment. It's certainly no Ruby Tuesday with a Christmas theme, so when we arrived in casual clothes with no reservation, I was a little nervous.

However, most of the people in the restaurant were tourists and dressed as such. Even without a call ahead, we were seated within 10 minutes. Our waiting time was in a side room that featured Christmas theme art upon the walls and large, comfy couches. And on top of all of this.. a beautiful brick fireplace (what Christmas cottage would be without one?).

As you walk through the resturant, each room has a different theme to the decorations. We sat in least Christmas-y of them all (sadly enough). I gazed with childlike wonder into each passing room as we approached our destination. One boasted blue walls and beautifully done hand-painted snow. Our room, however, was designed after the namesake of the resturant. As far as either of us can recall, each table had a pear centerpiece and the partridges were in cages hanging from the ceiling. It was a very green and pastel colored room. I would have enjoyed a more brightly, overtly Christmas room.

The menu goes along with the fine dining atmosphere - boasting unique (and somewhat pricey) flavor combinations that somehow all screamed "holiday." However, walking in I knew what I wanted -- Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. We're talking turkey and cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes, here. However, I was shocked to find no such meal on the menu. I had already decided on an alternative - "Rainbow Trout - a Smoky Mountain favorite, locally-sourced whole trout baked in a pecan crust & finished with an orange-cranberry beurre blanc."

I was excited about trying something new, but when our incredibly friendly and wonderful waitress Amanda (if you go there, you must ask for her) took our orders she told us that the nightly special was "The Traditional." Which is, of course, what my Christmas heart had been yearning for. It didn't take much thought for me to revert to my original game plan (though I would love to try the trout another time). I was not disappointed! We were given ridiculously fresh, delicious, and heaping portions of everything. Oh -- and did I mention that when we were waiting on our food we were served cranberry biscuits with homemade pear butter?

I'm not a food critic, but I do know Christmas. And this Christmas themed restaurant gets..

out of 5 trees.




Oh, and p.s.

49 days til Christmas!

(also, fun fact: this is the 50th blog post :> )

Today's Official Christmas Jam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=981-rAfPtKo


Today's Christmas Tip:
"Oh! You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why...."Sometimes, you may be faced with unfortunate situations. People or circumstances might come up to bring down your Holiday (and general good) spirit. Don't let them beat you. Just be the best person you can be. That's all you can control. Santa (or God or Karma or whatever you believe in*) will be the one dishing out the consequences.


*like maybe a Tpain**
**but not really, please don't hold this as evidence in the court of law

Back... with a Vengeance!

A vengeance?

That's not very Jolly....

Let's try... Back... with a mighty ho-ho-ho!

So, starting this exact moment... the first of November, I am officially declaring it Christmas blog season. Now, you might think to yourself.." wait a second, you normally start this blog in early September. That's why it's special. It's untimely for a long time." I know, I know. This year, I am trying a new approach to the blogosphere in hopes that I won't get all blogged out before we are even Mid-December.

I may not have been blogging these last few months, but I have been Christmas-ing it up. I've already broken out my favorite pop-Christmas cd's in the car and am blasting them (partly to feel the magic of the season, but also because it was an incredibly hot fall and the music made me feel 'cooler'). AND my rival turned boyfriend of Festivus Countdown Fame, D_rek, took me to the Christmas Place (the self proclaimed largest Christmas store in the South East).

On top of all the wonderful things we saw there, what I liked most was seeing how many other people were fascinated with the idea of Christmas in September. People were excitedly buying presents, customizing ornaments, etc. Kids were aglow with that smile that says Santa has been spotted by NORAD in their home-city. What is great though - this place is open all year. People come in like that all year. Somehow, I felt less alone in my lunacy.

We also went to the very lovely companion restaurant to the shop, The Patridge & Pear . Review coming soon! (Did I mention the Christmas Place has its own Hotel too? I may have blogged about it 'visiting' it last year. I still have not been fortunate enough to stay there.).

I would include all of the pictures, but I think I will spread them out as I talk about different parts of Christmas. Expect an update every other day or so in November and (in theory and hope) every day of December.

Til then,

Be good. Me and Santa are watching you.


ONLY
53 days til Christmas!







Today's Official Christmas Jam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Yxq4QEkUE

(Semi-Related: Did I mention that during the summer I bought a Regis Philbin Christmas Album? Priceless. Blog update on that one soon too!)

Today's Christmas Tip:
Don't let your Holiday Spirit end on December 26th. Be kind and gracious to your fellow man every day.... and every day can be Christmas (but no one is going to be giving you gifts every day or anything).

Test post from androblog

68 days til Christmas! Great content coming sooner than you can say Jingle Bells.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

Christmas in.. August?

It's hard to feel the Christmas in the air when every day we're being met with 90+ degree weather, but it's there even when we can't feel or see it. We're baking like gingerbread cookies.

It's back to school time, which means pretty soon most students from kindergarten to college are going to be starting their own Christmas countdown of sorts. If you're anything like me, when you get your planner the first thing you do is mark all of your off days and the last day of school/finals. Coincidentally, this happens in the fall semester to land you right into Christmas break.

So, maybe I'm not so unconventional to start thinking of Jolly olde' Saint Nick when my candy canes would surely melt in the sun. I'm just a girl with 365 sugarplum dreams.

This summer, I found out where I will be working when I retire from teaching (how prepared of me to plan to retire before I even start):

Saint's Christmas Shoppe on Jekyll Island, Georgia. I purchased from here a wonderful little sea turtle ornament complete with lights and a little Santa hat. The woman working the counter was a delightful old lady who recited to us how many days it was til Christmas. It was the 4th of July.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not... the only one.


130
days
til Christmas!

Did you know?

139 days til Christmas!

Time to start planning out how you're going to spend your season.

Can't you just smell the cinnamon and pine (separately, together that's kind of an unpleasant mixture) already?

Like many Christmas wishes..

mine for creating the best blog entry ever was never fulfilled. But that doesn't mean that this isn't a great Christmas blog (just like Christmas isn't ruined over a few absent gifts).

I hope you have had a magical (adjective of the month - get some use out of it. It's nearly January) Christmas season. Let's keep the post-season jolly.

ONLY
365
days
til
Christmas 2010.

Cheers!

So, here's the situation.

I'm really busy. Like crazy busy. But I have a renewed commitment to this blog where I want to keep a count-down all the way up til Christmas. So this is kind of a place marker. It's where all of my funny content would have been if my soul was not being drained out of my body.

This is what Santa would look like

if something sucked his soul out.

So, just to keep you informed:

15 days until Christmas! (I didn't even have the heart to format it in the tradition style.. how sad..)

In this Christmas post, I remind you of the meaning of Christmas

And I'm not talking about baby Jesus. I mean, baby Jesus is the reason for the season. He's the foundation of Christmas [it is Christ-mas, after all]. For sake of seasonal appropriateness, let's pretend we're building a gingerbread house. Jesus is the cardboard/plate that you're standing the house on. Without Jesus, you're just making a tasty mess you probably won't be able to clean off of your kitchen table without some effort.

The gingerbread pieces are the people around you that you care about. Pretend you live inside of a gingerhouse for some reason (I think that makes you a little gingerbread-person). You're in there, chilling out, catching what ever is on your gumdrop tv. It's cold outside, but you don't notice because there are walls that keep the wind from coming in. Life is cold half of the time; your friends, family, etc... that's what keeps you warm.

See all of that icing holding the gingerbread house together? That's the meaning of Christmas. That's love. Sticky, messy love. That's why we come together in the first place. Aside from those awkward situations, that's that makes us get presents for people. Even when Ralphie's aunt got him ridiculous pink bunny pajamas - she did it because she loved him. She also did it, perhaps, because she secretly wanted him to grow up questioning his manhood. That's another story entirely.

And the candy decorations? Well those, my friends, those are the presents, the tree, the blinky-lights, and all other holiday-inspired activities. It would still be a beautiful gingerbread house (Christmas) without them, but boy... it's pretty magical with them.

AND AS ALWAYS.. to conclude.


ONLY

17 days
until
CHRISTMAS!

The Christmas Gang

Here at Walmart, we're looking to supply all of your Christmas needs.

You want to warm your feet with the insides of a reindeer or a snow monster [which seems somehow inappropriate]?









We've got that.


You looking for a gangster puppy dog doll?













For some, ungodly reason... we've got that.

If you're looking to start a holly, jolly gang? We can help you out with that too. For some reason that I cannot really fathom other than that hypothesis.. we are selling Christmas bandannas this year. And they come in three different styles. Possibly so that a city can have up to three competing gangs (a more seasonally appropriate version of The Warriors )












I have a bunch of funny words I could say about these, but I think I'll go back in and add them later. Feeling a little sleepy.

ONLY
21 days
til
CHRISTMAS

The countdown has not been forgotten!

This is a blog entry that is promising a new blog entry tonight. It will be:
a. holly
b. jolly
c. heart-warming
d. all of the above

But just in case you can't count or do simple math...

ONLY
22 Days
TIL
CHRISTMAS!

I find myself eclipsed in my own shadow

When I started this blog last year (you know, before I started posting cute pictures of animals instead of content), I was on point. I was so witty. I don't know if it was because I was working with better material or what... but hats off to me. I was pretty amazing at this. After today (and this post), I am raising the bar as high as my Christmas Raccoon or my very first post about Billy-Bear's 4 Kids.

But right now, I am settling for mediocre funny. Don't look for gems here. I'm still mining them. You're looking at those cheap crystals they put in the watches that come from the claw machines. They sparkle a little, but we all know you only spent 25 cents on it.

So. Here's the topic I am tackling today with a little luster: Holiday Themed Soda. Now, we all know (or at least us soda historians do) that Pepsi Holiday Spice was the first soda to throw down the jolly gauntlet years ago. After Pepsi decided to discontinue that wonderful product, there was a real void left in the season.

That void was filled with Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash. It was a conservative drink at first - showing up mysteriously in November. Its packaging didn't look particularly Christmasy. But then it followed with hip advertising, letting us know what it was doing here. I can't find the words to say how much I really love this drink. It's something special and it was something unique on the market. It's done really well for itself - managing to make a return every Christmas season. This success has opened up the market for the holiday soda. On your local grocer's shelves this year you will find 7-up Pomegranate and Canada Dry Cranberry Ginger Ale.

Pomegranate tells me three times on its "NATURAL" derived from "NATURALLY" derived "NATURAL" ingredients. It must be pretty natural. Tastes that way too. It's pretty subtle, I think. You can definitely taste the 7-up under there. Very unlike our hero, C-Splash, which is dominated by its fruit namesake. I don't know if I find anything Christmasy about it, however. I mean... Oceanspray has already unofficially officially proclaimed cranberries to be the fruit of the holidays. Who does Pomegranate think it is?

Speaking of Cranberries... let's not forget Canada Dry. It, too, is a vary subtle drink. It's just barely not normal ginger ale. I really expected more from it. But then again.. they did just keep their normal bottle. I wouldn't be shocked if it is a normal bottle of Ginger Ale with dye added and the label changed. I think in a blind taste test I wouldn't be able to pick it out from the normal. Maybe I am not a ginger ale connoisseur. I'm not a connoisseur of much of anything other than coffee and Christmas. Now a Christmas coffee review.. that's a subject I can get behind.

So ladies and gentlemen.. there you have it. Cranberry Splash is still the number one soda of the holidays, but not the number one drink. I think that title has to go to Eggnog, which is unfair... because it is also the number one reason for heart failure in the Holidays and number one drinkable pudding of the the Holidays. I wanted to buy eggnog, but it is shockingly expensive. A quart from Mayfield? $3.98. I won't even drink half of the damn thing. If I did, I wouldn't make it to Christmas...

SPEAKING OF

32
days
until
CHRISTMAS