The DVR who stole Christmas

I’m a total rule follower, and I have been for my whole life. I drive the speed limit. I cross at crosswalks. I don’t remove those tags on mattresses. But you know that unspoken rule that says it’s unacceptable to listen to Christmas music or watch holiday movies until after Thanksgiving (or, at the very least, Halloween)? On that one, I’m a regular James Dean.

Most years, I start getting in the holiday spirit sometime around the middle of May, and the holly jolly-ness lasts well into February. I realize this sounds completely bonkers to most people, but there’s something about jingle bells and Christmas trees that’s guaranteed to lift my mood and calm my stress, no matter the time of year. It’s for this very reason that I keep our DVR stocked with a half dozen Christmas movies at all times (thank goodness I have a husband who’s willing to deal with 30 percent of our recording space being sucked up by silly, out-of-season movies I’ve seen a million times). I record most of the movies during the actual holiday season and then hold onto them until they’re on TV again. But our DVR had different plans this year. A few weeks ago, I returned home from a weekend out of town to find each and every Christmas movie wiped away completely. The DVR stole my Christmas — and only a month and a half before I could replace it.

Needless to say, I was pretty bummed. Sure, I have a bunch of the classic Christmas movies on DVD, but those made-for-TV movies are irreplaceable. I spent the next few days feeling pretty glum about the whole situation. Until, that is, I came upon this:

A fully decked holiday window display in downtown Kansas City — in the middle of October! Is that amazing or what? What is it if not hard proof that the holidays are rapidly approaching? Woo hoo! And if that’s not enough to convince you, I snapped the opening photo of the Christmas movies just three days ago at Target. I knew I loved that store for a reason.

So with a renewed sense of holiday spirit, I thought it would be fun to bring you a list of my favorite holiday movies that you’ve probably never seen (and yes, I know it’s early):

1. Snow Globe: A girl travels into a snow globe and befriends Christmassy folks who wear primary colored mittens and scarves. Oh yeah, and she has a super cute apartment that I love to see all decorated.

2. Snow 2: Way better than Snow because, you know, the first one was so predictable.

3. I’ll Be Home for Christmas: If you grew up in the ’90s, you know J.T.T. is totally rad. And that makes this movie rad by default.

4. Holiday in Handcuffs: Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez. Seriously, can you ever go wrong with ’90s TV icons?

5. A Holiday to Remember: ABC Family has been playing this one for years. It’s a good one for Southern accents, repeated lines (count the number of times you hear “rented tuxedo”) and lots of leggings.

6. The Christmas List: Did you know Tom Cruise was married before Nicole Kidman? This movie stars his first wife, Mimi Rogers. She sells perfume, makes Christmas wishes and falls in love. Yep, it’s a winner.

7. Christmas with the Kranks: For my family, this movie has surpassed classics The Christmas Story and Miracle on 34th Street for most total watches. My mom, little brother, sister and I think it’s the funniest Christmas movie on the planet (particularly when we’re extremely tired and watching it for the second time in one weekend). My older brother watched it a few years ago and said it was terrible. Humph. Perhaps the enjoyment factor is positively correlated to the number of views.

So there you have it, seven holiday classics that you should add to your DVR queue ASAP. All I ask is that you watch them with an open mind. Or maybe when you’re super sleepy. Yes, everything is better when the sleepy factor hits.

Do you have any super cheesy holiday favorites that you can’t go the season without? Do you start the celebrating early or wait until December rolls around? Can’t wait to hear about it!

XO,
Katrina