AN EARLY WHITE CHRISTMAS

Maybe it was the October snowstorm or perhaps it was the underwhelming, belated Halloween, but the two best holidays have snuck up on me out of nowhere! To recapture the holiday spirit it is important to keep traditions alive, be it red cabbage at the Thanksgiving table or the annual viewing of White Christmas. Some families swear by a Christmas Story or It's a Wonderful Life, others partake in the hilarity that is Christmas Vacation, but for the Talbot family the holiday requires a little song and dance from the Yuletide crooner himself, Mr. Bing Crosby. As luck would have it, the tradition came early this year, just in time to bump me back into the spirit of the season.

Yesterday, me and the folks spent the evening at the theater (can anyone read "the theater" without a pretentious British accent?).  Although a bit premature, the local playhouse put on a fabulous production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, including the prerequisite fake snow and group singalong.  A few numbers were missing, others added, but all in all the play was a festive way to spend a Thursday evening (Thanks Dad!).  Of course I will have to watch the cinematic gem in it's original format closer to the big day; nobody can beat out Bing and I was so sad to see both "Mandy" and "Choreography" not make the set list.  Here's to the start of a wonderful holiday season!