Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 12/24/23
I interviewed over 60 people, asking them about their holiday traditions, crazy stories, or blurbs, and this is what they said!
Since this is a Chicago Blog, I identify if they’re not from Chicago. I don’t really like the holidays, but I love texting and hearing other people’s thoughts and funny stories.
This is my favorite blog thus far! I famously love being in the people’s business. But most importantly, it reminded me how lucky I am to have amazing people in my life!
Since this post is too long for email you must scroll all the way down and press this button or just read it on megmemesblogs.com to see everyone.
If you want to take out an ad or need advice for my advice column email memesmeg@gmail.com
Meg (me)
Nothing crazy has ever happened to me on Christmas (knock on wood). My dad makes waffles that I love. I enjoy watching movies with my family and pets.
Bird Mike
Every year, I like to spend the time around the holidays having cozy hangouts with friends mostly, like dinner parties, Friendsgiving, white elephant/secret Santa parties, or just coming over to watch a movie and chill. That’s my favorite part of this season. I didn’t exactly have the typical experience with family around the holidays. So, I much prefer building together a family of friends that fill me with the joy as I’ve always imagined it would feel like during these times. I’m very much a person that’s sentimental and pays attention to the little big things and I think this season really heightens that. During the holidays, I remember how lonely I can feel sometimes, but thankfully, I’ve felt that way less and less around this time with the love and community of my friends. I always knew what the spirit of the holidays was, I could define and say what it was, but honestly, I didn’t know what that really felt like until in my early adulthood. This moment in time means something different to everyone but I hope for all of us that we remember to keep an open heart to allow for the folks that do love you to love you and for you to love them. It could all be so simple if we let it be.
Editors note: This one is my favorite and brings me to tears everytime I read it.
Maggie W.
Christmas with my mom is pretty normal. We open presents, go to brunch at her sister’s house, yada yada. One time we played Pictionary, and my aunt Jeanie drew a penis. That’s the most exciting thing that’s happened at Christmas in the last 10 years. When I celebrate Christmas with my dad (child of divorce!), he takes us to a Vietnamese restaurant. A lot of people complain about divorce, but I think it’s great!
Alicia
That’s sweet of you to ask. For the past few years, I’ve spent time with my chosen family. This and last year, I was fortunate to spend the holidays with my partner and his family and have cozy hangs with wholesome friends, too
Harry (above 30 from New York)
Me: What do you do every year, or do you have any crazy stories?
Harry: Nothing crazy, just the classic American divorced parents situation. Going to take the train to my mom’s on Christmas Eve for dinner and then my brother will drive me to my dads where we will celebrate the day itself. I exchange gifts with my siblings, and my stepmom always makes some crazy dinner. I like that I get Monday off this year. One year, my sister got me two four lokos for Christmas.
Me: What happened when your sister got you the four lokos?
Harry: Everyone was like, wow here he is drunk again. My family doesn’t drink a lot. I’m always the mf drinking all the drinks.
Me: Have you considered you might have a problem?
Harry: No I don’t think I have a problem. Do you think I have a problem?
Me: I’m not sure. You do seem to like beer. I think it’s up to your doctor to determine that.
Harry: Yeah beer is great. My doctor thinks im fine.
Elise
I had a hunch that Santa wasn’t real, but I wanted to keep the dream alive. I begged my parents for an American Girl Doll one Christmas, but they left the gift receipt in the box. I saw it was purchased at the American Girl store in Chicago, instead of New York (which in my mind, was closer to “The North Pole”), and interrogated them about it. My dad coaxed me by saying Santa called him and told him he was super busy this year and that he asked my aunt (who lives in Chicago) to buy it for him, and he picked it up from her apartment and delivered it to us. I decided to believe him, because I wanted to continue to receive gifts from Santa. The American Girl Doll freaks me out now and it sits in a plastic bin with the top sealed in my closet.
Elise has a substack that I’ve been on in 2020 and today check it out!
Maddie (moved to Ohio)
I will say one thing about Christmakkuh. When you’re younger you really love Hanukkah because you get a present per day but as you get older people get lazier and you end up getting all your presents at Christmas. I kinda miss getting a present per day. My second remark about Christmakkuh is that being a Half-Jew is not as easy as one may think and I want to thank Seth Cohen for being our blueprint. I am declining a selfie in favor of this pic.
Calla
Im tryna to think what we do except yell and wait for my dad to wake up around 12-1 pm so we can all open gifts. Santa was ruined for me around 7 years old when I got too nosy and searched for my xmas gifts and found all the gifts that were supposed to be from Santa under my parent’s bed.
Sophie
I don’t really do a lot for Christmas :/ my family tried to go to Florida for the holidays a lot or we’d go to Iowa or Ohio to see grandparents. I’ve gone to friends’ places the past few years and this year I’m visiting my sister, not a big fan of Christmas.
Zach
The only real tradition I have is making cookie boxes for friends (which reminds me I have a box for u). Just started a few years ago bc I was so poor I couldn’t afford real gifts for my friends so I just baked them some cookies and threw together some boxes. This year for Christmas I’m celebrating in Florida with my brother.
Namiah
Usually, my family has a bigger gathering for Thanksgiving rather than Christmas which is ironic bc we’re Palestinian and Thanksgiving is racist. Usually, during Christmas, I’ll crash a white person’s hang like Tom and Maggie’s which is always fun I love getting close with people’s families. This year i’m probably gonna chill with the fam and order Chinese food, watch old movies, and argue about the news.
Brandon from Nebreska
The winter months can be very difficult for people. The short days and long nights often give people depressed feelings. Christmas is a good time to remember that there is still love in our lives. Although people don't often come out and say it, there are always people who love you. By coming together and talking and doing fun activities together we can express the love that we don't always have the words for. We can help each other through our difficult times and remember that we aren't alone in this world.
Ryan NOLEN OF FOOTBALLHEAD FAMOUS
Christmas is a time for family. Even the family you don’t like or appreciate that much…you unfortunately have to spend time with them too. Old people normally give you coffee or popcorn though.
Mikey (moved to North Carolina)
One year my sister asked for a Kindle and my parents got her a Ken doll instead as a prank and she cried for like 20 minutes. Also, one year when I finally got a phone that you could have a custom ringtone I got yelled at by my grandpa bc I had set “Whip My Hair” by Willow as my ringtone and it kept going off. I don’t think I cried but it ruined the vibe.
Emily O. (former boss)
Okay, my craziest Christmas year my parents and I visited my sister in upstate New York, and I got annoyed with her and called her a bitch and ruined the whole trip cause I refused to apologize to her. For some reason on that trip, my family thought it was a good idea to take the train 2 hours to New York City and back on the same day so we had to leave at 5am and got there at like 7am and I was in charge of navigating everyone around the city even tho I’d never been but I guess living in Chicago qualified me. My dad’s only goal was to see the 911 Memorial monument and it took like an hour each way to get there and basically ate up the whole day.
Lili
Every year on Christmas Day my fam comes over to our house and we eat spaghetti and meatballs, when me and my lil brother were younger our parents always got us very thoughtful gifts so now I try to return the favor and buy something special for all the special people in my life. I love Christmas music so I try to listen all week long. It’s such a magical time of year and I’m so excited to celebrate. I also made my own Christmas song.
Megan (from New York)
My favorite Christmas memory was breaking my collarbone and rib because I love attention.
Kendall (from New York)
Every year I watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas like my mom would. I didn’t *get* it when I was younger but it resonates more as I get older. I love it cuz the soundtrack hits and the outfits are so cute. It’s the best!!! Honestly, I would watch it once a month but I think that would take the magic out of it.
Nikki
Every year we go to Michigan for Christmas and famously Kellyn and Lou also go to Michigan for Christmas. We always text each other and say “Let’s meet up in Michigan this year.” Every single year we never meet up. It’s been happening for the last like 4 years. I consider this a Christmas tradition.
Blaise (from Philly)
Every Christmas Eve my mom gets me and my sister a new pair of pajamas and an ornament to put on the tree. On Christmas, we wake up and get our presents and then my mom makes french toast and bacon in the oven. Then we fight and someone cries and then at night time I get Japanese food with my Jewish friends. It’s always the same every year!
Eileen
I have started going and seeing Eyes Wide Shut alone as my Christmas tradition before I go back to Connecticut.
Jerry (from Wisconsin)
I never understood like in the movies they get individual boxes for each Christmas gift and then wrap that box. I’m gonna wrap the Amazon package and you’re gonna like it.
Parker (moved to New York)
We have chili after Christmas Eve church. We have never celebrated Hanukkah or Kwanzaa but I’m open to it. We used to get a real Christmas tree from a Christmas tree yard but now it’s plastic. My mother makes pajama pants for the family every year. It’s a very kind gesture but now I have too many.
Zach Shaw (famous for his persona)
I alternate the holidays between New Jersey and Ohio! One year at my family Christmas in Hoboken, my aunt brought her friend over and she drank an entire bottle of port wine. Then she gave my other aunt a lap dance, cursed everyone out, threw the bottle against the wall, and walked out. We never heard from her again. The friend that is.
Christian (from California)
My extended family comes over and we have dinner the night of Christmas Eve. For Latine people, Christmas Eve is the main event, like we don’t do shit on actual Christmas but play with toys and deal with hangovers. My dad makes a Chilean Egg Nog it’s called Cola de Mono and it is STRONG, so people get kinda yiked on that for Christmas Eve. The name in English would be “Monkey’s Tail”. This is the Cola de Mono in the photo, they call it that bc it’ll get you so drunk you’ll be swinging like a monkey.
Joyci (From New York)
Spending the holidays this year with my gay boyfriend, Noah, in Massacheusts (however you spell that!). I like his family so much that I have just decided that they’re my family now. It’s also Noah’s birthday on Christmas Eve so it’s a major holiday. We go to the diner that morning with his whole family and drink wine on the couch with the cats and smoke cigarettes out on the patio. It’s really nice because I’m Jewish and Hanukkah is not that big of a deal. I love the way a Christmas tree smells, I guess I’m taking the Christ out of Christmas. His uncle is also jewish and was excited to find out that I would be there to “Jew it up”. Last year my boss called me on Christmas and asked me to come into work and I told her I was busy with my boyfriend and his family. She thought we were dating for the two years I worked there, she never found out I was gay.
Joyci has one of my favorite blogs
Caitlin
One of my favorite traditions is that every year on the 23rd my mom and I wrap presents while watching It’s a Wonderful Life. Every year I’m back in Maryland and see both sides of my family and my parents are both one of 13 so Christmas is always a huge party that usually devolves into karaoke on Christmas Eve.
Bela (former boss)
My family gets together on Christmas Eve to celebrate. My mom has hosted Christmas every year since I was a baby, she makes Greek food and we play bingo from my great grandma’s bingo wheel for prizes. One fond memory I have as a kid of Christmas was when my entire family told me Santa and his reindeer had landed on our roof. Half of my family was outside shouting in excitement and the other half had to hold back a five-year-old crazed me because I was charging at the door to see him despite them saying it was bad luck. I remember fighting and screaming with all my might to get out that door to see him but I never did.
Imama
I guess I listen to a lot of Charlie Brown music. Sorry, that’s the only thing I can think of.
Mack
Not that weird of a tradition but when we were kids my entire family would go to Denny’s for dinner on Christmas Eve every year because my dad is almost weirdly obsessed with The Santa Clause with Tim Allen and they do that in the movie.
Dirk
The last holdover of the old country traditions of my dad's family (polish) is this tradition of oplatki (pronounced uh-PWOT-ki) where we go around breaking these thin little communion wafers with the entirety of my dad's family which is like 50 people. The younger generation of cousins all break off as big a piece as possible to get it over with and everyone gets mad at me because I break off tiny pieces.
Emily R.
Cinnamon roll Christmas morning Pizza Christmas night. What else would you like to know 😁 And Matching PJ OBVIOUSLY!
Hayden
I don’t have anything special to say about the holidays except that since I’m an adult my mom can’t make me talk to my conservative cousins anymore and that I hate it when we have to play board games because we have to spend so long explaining the rules and then the little kids ask if they can play but they can’t read the cards but get mad when you tell them they can’t play anyway.
Tom
Uhm this Christmas I’m going to AZ and it’ll be with my dad and we won’t do anything holiday related and I’m excited for that bc I don’t like Christmas.
Al
My family has piled traditions on top of traditions. On Christmas Eve the dog gets a piece of salami, my brother and I trade off finding the other the worst Christmas movie we can, and so forth. We used to go to church on Xmas Eve too though which was agony. The roads were always really icy and I always thought we were going to die on the way there or back. When I was a kid I usually made it through the service by folding the service bulletin into a paper airplane and silently acting out a disaster movie. When I got a little older I would stare at the back of my hot neighbor’s head and think about how I was going to hell. Now that I’ve successfully brainwashed my parents into never going to church again I kind of miss it on Christmas Eve. The lights always shined brighter in starker contrast when you had to endure the horrors of Episcopalianism or Lutheranism or whatever it was that we were.
Maggie M.
Hmmm, we don’t do a lot of our Christmas traditions anymore bc I am a child of divorce and an adult woman, but when I was a kid my brothers and I used to wake up at like 6am and sit at the top of the stairs and wait for our parents to wake up, and we weren’t allowed to come down to open presents until my dad put on Nat King Cole’s Joy to the World. That was a cute one. One Christmas I did fireball shots with my dad and then my brothers and family friends bullied my high school ex-boyfriend because he came to pick me up in pajama pants. I also want to say for your loyal readers that I think we’ve lost the true meaning of the holidays by getting wrapped up in consumerism and greed… but if they are going to put their money anywhere it should be toward the meg memes substack <3
Joe
My sisters and I do this thing every Christmas Eve called the “Pajama Race.” Basically, whoever goes upstairs and changes into their pajamas first gets to choose what Christmas movie we watch. It was really cute for a while but now we’re all in our 20s rushing through the house to put on flannel pajama pants the quickest. Regardless of who wins, we almost always watch It’s A Wonderful Life.
Luke
My favorite thing about Christmas is seeing my extended family and older cousins! Gifts are cool and fun but I really love the sense of community my family has. Endless memories of playing GameCube at my Grandpa's house and always getting destroyed in Smash Bros. A few years ago I finally beat them consistently, felt like a real Rocky/ underdog tale.
Chris
It was Christmas 2021, my grandfather’s last year on this earth. He was looking rough. He was basically deaf and always wore a black T-shirt that was covered in dandruff. He called out for his wife Woodis, and we looked over and he had the emptiest look on his face. Woodis walks over and says “Oh lord he shit himself” so my uncle starts rolling his wheelchair outside and he left a tiny little speckled trail of shit behind him. That was the last time I saw him. 100% true story 😂
(Editor’s Note I think this story might be fake)
Micah
I’m Jewish so every year on Christmas my family goes to the theaters to see a movie and then we go get Chinese food because it’s the only thing open. This has become a pretty common Jewish-American tradition. One year we went and saw Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked and im trying to watch that again this year. I need to figure out which chipmunk was getting the best head.
Johana (My roommate)
Christmas 2014 I was gifted a 3-month-old puppy, who I named Denver. We bonded instantly and he’s to this day the best gift I’ve ever received. I had the best time training him, playing with him and getting to see him grow into a beautiful sweet crazy little dog. It’s so sad when I can’t be with him on Christmas but he’ll always be my Christmas pup. I LOVE YOU DENVER!!
Jake
We’re going to do a bourbon tasting this year.
Andres
Last year my dad got really drunk at Christmas and he started yelling at people so I wrestled him as comedic relief for the family.
Brandon
This just reminded me of this one Christmas as a kid. (some back story) I never really got along with my family, lots of arguments with my cousins and uncles and always found peace being alone during the holidays. So this one year I really had it, tired of my family’s antics I swear to never deal with them again for as long as Christmas goes on. Then the next morning I woke up in confusion because my family and I had planned this vacation for months no one was to be found did they leave me or have they disappeared forever??? So accepting my family was gone I took on the chores of the house quite well and also enjoyed my alone time until my house was broken into by two scary-looking men. All alone I had to take action so I was able to outsmart them using set of traps and weapons. I was eventually saved by my neighbor, reunited with my family and spent Christmas with the ones I love.
Kellyn
My family recently started doing a white elephant but everyone goes to Binny’s and buys a fun/new/weird bottle of liquor under $25 for their gift and then after the exchange we all try whichever one we end up getting.
Alexis
My New Year’s Eve tradition is always singing something super cringy at midnight with everyone I love with me. My favorite New Year’s Eve was 2019 to 2020 I was living at a frat house at the time and we ended up just celebrating together with my like 8 roommates!! We had a huge house party of like 100 people and at midnight we all sang some Eye of the Tiger. Totally cute.
Snow (IN FOOTBALLHEAD)
We basically just have a big family party every year. My dad gets super crossed and puts on movies only he wants to watch. I remember one time he put on this movie called Rat Race (extremely low key 🔥🔥). Smash Mouth comes out at the end of the movie and sings all-star on stage and I want Footballhead to get in our bag like that.
Alexandra
My favorite Christmas was a couple years ago when I was visiting from college. My family and I had not had too many Christmases all together, so I was never really into having traditional rituals. We tried going to a Chinese restaurant but it was completely full and crowded so we just went into some gas station nearby. This was a particularly beautiful gas station because it’s Arkansas, they have nothing better to do than make a gas station beautiful. They had an entire (empty) restaurant set up in the back, no food was being served so we just sat there with our chips and sandwiches. This was actually perfect because my brother hates crowds, it was actually for once a stress-free outing because it was like we had an entire venue rented out and access to an array of snacks. Afterward, we went to go see the Dick Cheney movie, which was awesome, especially because some people there really needed to see that movie, I overheard someone said “Well damn” they had “no idea he sucked so bad.” I like going to the movies on Christmas and I like the emptiness of places Christmas brings. I like the idea of not having to put on a show like there’s some normal way to have Christmas. I would like to make every year be the least traditional Christmas anyone could have, which ends up being my ideal Christmas.
Kevvy
My past couple Christmas Eves I haven’t done much. Usually, I keep to myself while the apartment is quiet and my roommates are gone. I try to spend time with the cat. This Christmas Eve I’ll be with my partner’s family, so it’ll be nice for something new. Christmas Day is spent with my immediate family. There’s food and drinks but it’s generally low-key. I have friends coming from out of town this year who I don’t get to see often—one from NYC and two from the UK. They’ll be staying with me and I’m extremely excited to be able to have them around and get the gang back together. Happy holidays to all the wonderful readers of the Meg Memes blog!
Haley
My holidays are boring hahaha we used to do a huge Christmas Eve party (which idek if we're doing this year lol) and we would do Secret Santa but it was always just my family screaming at each other until we figured out who got us what LOL. Christmas day I spend with immediate family and we just chill all day, open gifts, and eat so much good food lol. My dad loves to do this thing where he makes us wait to open gifts and then takes his sweet time making coffee and pooping for some reason before joining us he does this every single year I stg.
Andrea
Don’t have a super big family in the states, but everyone goes to my parent's house for Christmas. A few years ago we started doing games for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so my sister and I put those together for our celebration. Different years have involved stuff like giant Jenga, charades tournaments, scavenger hunts, Family Feud, etc. I think this year my sister and I are making everyone do stupid TikTok challenges.
Gabby (moved to New York)
We only celebrate xmas eve and we do a huge party w all our relatives within the vicinity and there’s always karaoke bc its in our blood (we’re Filipino). Xmas day is kinda snooze fest.
Lena
I have 6 moms so the holidays can be a busy time for me! I love Christmas but I don’t believe in Jesus or God and every time the Peanuts song “Christmas Time Is Here” comes on I have a seasonal cry. It’s happy and sad all at the same time. Basically, you can say my life flashes before my eyes every Christmas, it’s Santa’s little special gift.
Robby (IN FOOTBALLHEAD)
Every year on Xmas Eve my family goes to mass at the Catholic church in BloNo (Editor’s Note that means Bloomington Normal) where I grew up. Good excuse to get dummy high for an hour. Our usual tradition was that and afterward going to Famous Daves (closed as of a few years ago). Now we just have food delivered. Xmas day is pretty standard with dinner at my Nanas that night.
Lou
Every year the biggest thing kind of is just all the cousins we get in the basement and we just play video games and last Christmas I brought Rock Band down. We all played Rock Band. Sometimes we play Call of Duty Zombies that's a big one. I don't drink anymore but usually, about 9 o'clock hits me and cousin Nick are pretty wasted and there's a bathroom in my grandma's basement and we would go in the shower and shotgun beers in there and pretty much just keep doing that. Until we passed out and last year actually my grandpa he always gives me clothes like he's trying to get rid of when I'm there and he gave me like a six-pack of white Kirkland shirts, and I just passed them out to all my cousins and my sister and my stepbrother we were in the basement. We were all really drunk and we did an improv set because we just look like an improv team so we just did it. For nobody in my grandma's basement and then we played beer pong, but she doesn't have any plastic cups so we just we use glass cups in the ball doesn't stay and it just fucking bounced around and we play a lot of euchre. That's kind of the shit we always do.
Ian
My stories are for friends, not profit!
Malcolm
I usually spend the holidays working but I dont have to this year which is nice. Sometimes i get really sad when Christmas rolls around and I dont know why exactly, it’s nice to see my family and friends but there’s something sad about a year ending even if it’s a stupid one like 2023. I got to see some good shows and eat some good food this year and I got to work on meg memes fest which was pretty cool, and im looking forward to more shows and more food and whatever Chicago has to offer in 2024. Happy holidays Meg Nation!
(Editor’s Note I heard a rumor there was going to be a Meg and Malcolm fest again this year with maybe someone on this blog performing)
Andy
When I was a kid I asked one of “Santa’s helpers” if Rudolph was real and he said no. Then I asked him if the Poler Express was real and he said yes. So there’s the facts straight from the source.
Meghan
Santa came to my kindergarten class and said that he doesn’t like it when we put out many small cookies he prefers just one big one.
Ruby (left the midwest for LA)
Every year around Christmas time I visit my extended family in a town of 30,000 people called Rome, Georgia. We always get takeout from this place called Pick-O-Deli but this year we went and ate in the restaurant. It’s decorated like a fucking Homegoods but it has the absolute best cafeteria-style southern food. They had this handwritten sign up at the food window that told us to put our phones away for some reason. It’s a charming place. People are haters on the south for no fucking reason. If there were Pick-O-Deli’s everywhere I think public opinion about the south would be permanently shifted.
Michael
In 2010 my grandma threw out the turkey because she dropped the thermometer cap in it & thought it was a bullet. So we got Chinese food instead & now every Thanksgiving we get Chinese food.
Sophie Pec
I now teach ski lessons on the holidays! It’s nice to not be forced to make plans. But for dinner, Tori and I have had a tradition since we moved to steamboat where we make tamales and invite anyone to stop by for one.
Connor Soup
I like Christmas a lot cause it’s very cozy and makes me feel like a kid in a good way. I love putting up decorations on the tree and seeing presents under the tree and all that stuff it’s very sweet. My mom’s a great cook so we do a Swedish Christmas with like Swedish sausage and meatballs and mashed potatoes that I think about year-round. We also always watch a movie on Christmas Eve last year we watched The Fabelmans and this year I think we’re gonna watch The Holdovers (my dad wanted to watch Killers of the Flower Moon but i told him that would fuck up the vibe) I hope all of the subscribers of the meg meme substack have a wonderful holiday xoxo
Kathy
Every year my family gets together and we watch holiday movies, have an annual bake off, and play lots of Minecraft lol. My mom makes tamales and red pozole, so I’m always looking forward to Christmas dinner. In Mexico, Christmas isn’t celebrated in the same way it is here, instead their main holiday is Three Kings Day. So growing up we always celebrated on Christmas Eve versus Christmas Day, we’d stay up until midnight Christmas Eve and open presents. Versus the traditional sleep while Santa delivers gifts for you to wake up to on Christmas Day. So usually at midnight on the 24th we’re opening presents then singing karaoke till we get tired.
Matt
I’ve always enjoyed the coziness of being with friends and family during the holiday season, but recently my favorite tradition has been watching Goodfellas with my brother. Something about listening to Joe Pesci yell and guys stabbing eachother and railing lines of coke has become very comforting. I don’t know what that says about me
Adrian
Im Mexican and we do Mexican things during Christmas, which mostly means we eat Mexican food or culturally appropriate Puerto Rican food. i love the vibes of Christmas. Probably the most vibey of all holidays. The inventor of Christmas went crazy with it. It seems like nowadays there aren’t any wise men, let alone three. i think if I were alive during the birth of Christ, I would have been one of the wise men, and i would have brought a gaming pc for him and 1v1’d him in Fortnite
:)
legendary meg