Bear seems to like lollipops

So for one of our Christmas cookies we are making involves melting hard candy into stained glass window. The only way to get these candies in the right colors was to buy a bag of holiday lollipops. Well J decided he wanted a lollipop, apparently so did Bear:

What makes a Christmas cookie a Christmas cookie?

So J and I have been together 7 years this weekend. The actual date was Dec. 7th, but we met on a Friday so we started to reminisce tonight. One of the things that we brought up about that first night was that I invited J back to my parents and one of the things we had there was Christmas cookies. Once at my house, J was disappointed because he saw that the majority of the cookies in the box were the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kiss.

I did not know until tonight that he does not consider these cookies. I guess there was a friend of his growing up whose mom made these cookies all the time and thus he does not associate them with Christmas cookies.

So we got into the discussion of what then constitutes a Christmas cookie. He says that any butter cookie cut out or shaped like something Christmasy is a Christmas cookie. He also says that something labor intensive that is only found at Christmas time like my mom's sandbakles are Christmas cookies, but not things like the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kiss, or his mom's pignoli cookies or rainbow cookies. His argument is that it doesn't matter if they are made at Christmas, or the majority of the time that you see them, it is the Christmas season, they have to be "Christmas Cookies" to be a Christmas cookie - weak argument in my opinion.

So what do you think signifies a cookie as a Christmas cookie? What cookies are there that if you saw them at another time of year would you feel was out of place? Do you think the peanut butter cookie with the Hershey kiss is a Christmas cookie by your definition? Our waitress at the bar tonight couldn't make a clear definition of what she felt a Christmas cookie was, but she did feel that the peanut butter cookie was a Christmas cookie. The chocolate chip cookie and the oatmeal cookie - definitely not! What do you think?

Question: Where do you get a Christmas Tree in the Middle of the City?

Answer: The back patio of one of your local restaurants

I know, it was bizarre to me as well. J and I went to dinner tonight (Basi Italia) since I wasn't in the mood to cook, we hadn't eat out in awhile, and J's mom gave us a gift certificate back in July that we had been saving until Basi was serving their winter menu because we both agree it is much better. As we were about to go in I saw a sign about Christmas trees and smelled a fire burning. I walked toward their back patio, a place that in the summer is great for drinks and makes you feel like you are in your friend's back yard and their were Christmas trees, just like you'd see at the hardware store parking lot. I had just been telling my dad that I wasn't sure where we were going to get our Christmas tree this year and if we were going to cut one down. I stated that I hadn't seen any for sale and didn't even know the alternative to not cutting one down. Then there was the alternative - your one stop shop, dinner and a tree. Needless to say, we didn't buy a tree.

We aren't even sure if we are getting a tree this year. There are only 2 weekends before we go home for Christmas - this weekend in which we buy/decorate the tree and the week after to enjoy the tree. Part of me feels very attached to getting a tree. Since we have been together we only didn't get a tree once (that was the year we got engaged) and it was harder to get into the Christmas spirit. Another year we go it, put lights on it and never decorated it. Another letdown. It would be different if all our Christmas stuff wasn't over in storage and it didn't recall having to go through a process to get it or if we weren't going home for over 2 weeks and we could enjoy it. Part of me wants to save the hassle/money/time etc, but I hate the lack of Christmas. Plus, I love hanging stockings by the fireplace. I even bought special hooks this year. Maybe I will take the time to do Christmas cards instead - or maybe not?

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J wore one of his new blazers tonight. He actually wore it out of laziness. He was just wearing jeans and a sweater but thought he should dress up more for dinner. He added a blazer a walla - more dressed up. Actually he looked very cute and dressed up. I was impressed. He looked like a grown up!