Happy Holidays from the Culture Works team! This holiday season may look different than most, however it is still a great time to take a break from work and spend time with family (in-person or virtually!) Now is time time to prioritize connecting with loved ones, and staying present in the moment. 

If we’ve learned anything from 2020, it’s that life can change so quickly, so we need to appreciate all of the gifts we’ve been given. During this holiday season, take time to appreciate the little things, and remain in the present moment with family, friends, and your loved ones. 

In the spirit of the holidays, we’ve asked our team at Culture Works to share a few of their holiday traditions, both new and old! Here are a few ways our team celebrate the holiday’s:

Kristi:

“We love having our family elf, Mickey, come visit and surprise us every morning with funny Shenanigans. We also love watching Christmas movies and cuddling on the couch with our favorite holiday drinks.”

Jim:

“We have a big family dinner, then walk around our neighborhood which puts out street luminaries on Christmas Eve.  We end the evening with the Christmas classic Diehard.”

Melisa:

“We visit Christmas Card Lane in Rancho Penasquitos (North County San Diego) – we walk and see all the pretty lights in a vastly decorated neighborhood! Also, my family watches National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation- always a good laugh from Chevy Chase and his wacky family!”

Jenn:

“Every year we make gingerbread houses that my son will leave out for Santa instead of cookies so that Santa can share it with the elves. Each year we try to get creative with them. This year is a football field instead of a house!”

Erica:

“I grew up with all my cousins and we would always spend Christmas Eve together and watch holiday movies. This year, I will spend the night at my cousin’s house, with her three kiddos and start a new tradition of waking up “mom and dad” with Nerf guns that I’ve purchased for all of us. My cousin doesn’t know this yet, so should be fun (for me)!”

Jennifer:

“My family and I typically go to Disneyland every year for Christmas, sadly this year we were not able to do that so we have been finding other ways to sprinkle in Christmas magic. We have seen a fun light display at Candy Cane Lane (North San Diego county) and this year we hiked up to see a beautifully lit Christmas tree that can be seen all throughout our community! And of course, we watch all the Christmas movies to include, ELF, The Grinch, and Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas to name a few! We also always make Gingerbread Houses and Christmas Cookies for Santa!”

Kimberly:

“My Mom makes our Christmas cookies passed down from my Grandmother who is no longer with us and brings her spirit alive during the Christmas season.   Since dating my husband we celebrate the holiday season with a nice dinner out and a show, and take photos every Christmas in front of the Grinch tree in front of the Old Globe theatre!  This year celebrating Christmas with my son, who just had his 1st birthday, we are excited to take him to walk around Garrison street in our neighborhood area and show him the light show in Point Loma!”

Claudia:

“We head down to Standlee’s in Chula Vista around Thanksgiving time and stock up on candy making supplies. I like to bake Linzer and snowball cookies, French macarons, and English toffee. My husband is famous for his chocolate pecan turtles made with caramel from scratch (the “right” way lol), peanut butter chocolate covered balls, and his absolutely amazing chocolate fudge. Our friends and family anxiously await the holiday goods from the Parker household! IT warms my heart that he’s passed the candy-making tradition down to Dorian, his mini-me, who now lives in Portland with her husband.”

Michelle:

“Our tradition is to play football on the holiday. The entire family and usually neighbors go outside and play a few games of touch football! It gets us moving and grooving!”

Stephenie:

“Growing up, we always decorated the tree as a family, unwrapping each ornament and the memories tied to it.

There was one ornament that was treasured more than others: the gingerbread cookie sheet. It was a tiny little replica of a baking sheet with six little decorated gingerbread men. Whoever in the family was the first to discover the gingerbread cookie sheet as we decorated the tree was awarded the coveted prize of the first Christmas cookie of the year. No small prize, I assure you; those Christmas cookies were good.”

Howie:

“The holidays have always been a time for the whole family to be together.  There is always one night when we drive around searching for the most over-decorated houses, talk about how high their electricity bill must be and how long it will take to disassemble.  Holiday movies start with The Wizard of Oz near thanksgiving and culminate with The Grinch (any version), Elf, and sometimes but definitely not every year, It’s a Wonderful Life.  Lastly, eating and music-festive foods and listening to rock n roll Christmas songs by Chuck Berry, John Lennon, Tom Petty, The Beach Boys, The Ramones,  James Brown’s Funky Soul Christmas Album including ‘Santa Claus go Straight to the Ghetto” and my favorite “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses.”