The NYSOM Girls are a diverse crew, and we each have our own ways of celebrating the holidays. Half of us celebrate Hanukkah in addition to Christmas, and we're all looking forward to 2014 (one of us is getting married!). In recognition of our various Christmas states of mind, here are the yuletide traditions we each hold most dear. Sending you and yours the happiest and warmest wishes during this most special time of year, with love from the NYSOM Girls!
Photo: Christine Murphy.
Christine, Co-Founder and COO:
"Perhaps in spite of how crunched time becomes during the holiday season rush, I am always (sometimes ruinously) compelled to write holiday cards to family and friends; I've been known to pull all-nighters to get the cards out in time. In high school I was charged with penning the family holiday letter, and had a bad habit of granting undue space to my personal update (three paragraphs for me, one for every other member of the family). In college, I would guest-write, but finally hung up my hat once I graduated. In the transition to adulthood, in addition to paying my own taxes I also started sending my own cards. This year I ordered the exquisite letterpress Smock holiday cards from the NYSOM Marketplace and sealed them with a special message, in case anyone questioned my loyalties."
Photo: Elyssa Spitzer.
Silda, Co-Founder and CEO:
"I fill my Christmas tree with tiny bells because, as we know, every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings. (And Bedford Falls in "It's a Wonderful Life" is rumored to be based upon New York's own Seneca Falls.)"
Photo: Audra Herman.
Audra, Marketplace Director:
"My sons and I gather and laugh it up at the ornaments given to us in childhood — my parents gave me this one after skiing at Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks."
A family recipe: date bars with powdered sugar. Photo: Miranda Lanzillotti.
Miranda, Content Marketing Director:
"My great grandmother's date bars have been a fixture at Christmas for my entire life. They are the perfect combination of savory, sinful and sweet, and can be paired with a cup of coffee at breakfast or a scoop of ice cream after dinner — or as a snack at any time of day. Besides being absolutely delicious, they have a way of bringing together my large extended family. We live all across the globe, and it's comforting to know that my aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins are enjoying Gaga's Date Bars over the holidays."
Photo: Sophie Hays.
Sophie, Assistant Editor:
"Every Christmas morning, my brothers and I would wake up to find our stockings in our beds, filled with enough intricate gifts (and oranges for good luck) to keep us occupied until it became a decent hour to wake up our parents to begin tackling the tree. Genius move on 'Santa's' part — my parents always got a little extra sleep!"
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