This is Halloween, This is Halloween!!

Well for someone who writes about holidays and traditions there is really only one holiday my blog could possibly be about and that is Halloween.

I'm sure all of you have new Halloween plans this year, being in college; however, I figured this week it would be interesting to find out what my friends normally do on Halloween and compare their traditions to mine. This was the first holiday I actually had overlap with my friends' traditions.

I'm going to start with the days leading up to Halloween. In my house, sometime during the month of October my family carves pumpkins, something my dad particularly excels at. This year I was not home to do so since I'm at college. So, when my mom came to visit earlier this month, she brought a care package from my father. There really is no way to explain it so I'll just let you take a look.

In my home town, along with another friend's, we do something called "being booed." This is when you make a sign that says "you've been booed" and leave it with instructions of what to do and a treat for the family. The instructions say to make a copy of the flyer, put it on your door, and then put the copy as well as some kind of treat on a friend or neighbors door. The idea is to create a long train of houses that have been booed. It is a great way to build the neighborhood spirit and keep your friends guessing who booed them.

Picture From: Melissa

This next tradition is a bit more malicious and is probably not one you have heard of unless you are from Eastern PA, New Jersey, or Michigan. We actually celebrate the night before Halloween, which we call Mischief Night. On Mischief Night kids, mostly teens, go out and cause trouble. It mostly consists of putting toilet paper on houses and bushes or egging houses; however, it can sometimes escalate. Before I started talking to people from not Eastern PA and New Jersey I assumed it practiced all over the country, but as you can see below it certainly is not.

Photo From: Policy Map

While I have never toilet papered or egged houses my family does a sort of our own mischief night sometime the week before Halloween. My brother and I always try to scare one of my good friends and one of his friends, they are sisters, who live down the street from us. We always buy something in an attempt to scare them and they do the same to us. The decorations range from creepy posters and gel "blood" prints on their glass door, to hanging skeletons, to noise making props. Normally the one to get scared is the daughter slightly older to me either on her way out in the morning or night when she forgets it is there.  

Eventually October 31st arrives, my friends here and I have all gone trick-or-treating at some point. Personally, this will be the first year I have ever not gone trick-or-treating and it feels kind of weird. Every year I dress up and in the more recent years my best friend comes over and we go around my neighborhood to get our free candy. One house near meets up a "haunted garage" where a few houses worth of neighbors set up a table with food and drinks to keep themselves entertained. Then the trick-or-treaters walk into the garage and get candy from each couple. However there is also a treat to this stop. They have lots of decorations set up and at least one of the apparent mannequins is actually one of the husbands. My brother, friend, and I know this and always approach very paranoid. Normally, getting the candy is no big deal; however, once we go to leave there is someone, the "mannequin," following us and we set off running.

Left to Right: Maleficent, Jafar, Queen of Hearts

Normally, my friends and I get a significant amount of candy to make us happy for the night. However, one of my friends here told me how she always takes a pillowcase to gather candy and refuses to stop until it is completely filled. I also use a pillowcase, but normally just keep going until it gets late so people stop answering their doors or the bag gets too heavy to carry on. When I was younger, and even to some extent today, as soon as my brother and I got home we dumped our candy on the dinning room table my dad and mom would go through all the candy and make sure it wasn't tampered with and then put it in large bowls we would eat from for weeks.

Then just like that, Halloween is over and we wait until the next year. I'm just going to end with a quick few notes on what my friends told me they do that I had never heard of. For example, my one friend's cousins have a Halloween "fairy" that they can trade candy in for a toy. Another friend hates Halloween because she believes October is cursed and then celebrates the next day when November starts. Finally a few friends joked, I hope, about sacrificing people and talked about satanic rituals, demonic possessions, and minor vandalism.

On that note, have a great Halloween and stay safe!

Please share your family traditions for Halloween and even your favorite costumes you have worn over the years in the comments.

Happy Birthday to You... and Many More!!!

So this week there are no holidays; however, earlier this week was my 18th and half birthday! No, I don't do anything for half birthdays, but I figured it would be interesting to see what other people do to celebrate their birthdays.

Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed with the results. All anyone seemed to want to talk about was cake. That is it, except for my one smart alack friend who talked about how every year on his birthday he adds one to his previous year- meaning on his birthday this year, he is currently 18, he will tell everyone he is, 19- which he will be. He was just being annoying and saying he literally turns a year older each year, like EVERYONE else. One other friend didn't mention cake either, since her birthday falls on Memorial Day, see my last post, and therefore everyone always forgets about it. Her one redeeming factor is the fact that there are always great Memorial Day sales.

So, let's move onto the delicious cake. There are lots of different cakes my friends have on their birthdays. A few friends said their go to birthday cake is ice cream cake. My one friend, who worked at an ice cream store, would always make the cake for her birthday party, so we would have something personalized to eat after a round of birthday laser tag. Another friend, said she always has to have sprinkles on her cake to make it a birthday cake. The final friend I asked said she always has a cookie cake. Apparently her dad complains every year because he feels like a cookie cake is not cake and he is being deprived of a true birthday cake.

Picture By: CJ Sorg

Well, all this talk about cake made me think about my cake tradition. In my house on every birthday we don't have a normal cake, we have the infamous "Glatzer Family Birthday Cake." This cake consists of levels of chocolate pudding and graham crackers. To make the cake you have to use cook and serve pudding, no instant pudding, whole milk, and normal graham crackers for the cake to be successful. Since my mom normally makes the cake, she has tried changing some of these ingredients and it never works, as there is only one way to make the real "Glatzer Family Birthday Cake." The "recipe" came from my grandmother and it truly is as simple as it sounds: cook the pudding and put a layer of it in on top of a base of gram crackers in a glass container, followed by graham cracker, alternating until you get to the top layer of pudding, which is normally about 4 layers up, then pop it in the fridge and enjoy when it is cooled. Any extra pudding is eaten off the spoon by whoever's birthday it is. Normally, the cake is made the night before so it has time to set.

When it is time to eat the cake it is topped with the one and only chocolate whipped cream. The person whose birthday it is has their piece served on the "Glatzer Family Birthday Plate" which my mom made when we were younger at a pottery painting place, similar to 2000 degrees downtown. The plate is speckled green with a cake in the center and it says "Glatzer Family Birthday Plate." Any other meal we eat throughout the day is served on the birthday plate also. Sometimes we will go out for a birthday dinner, which a lot of my friends also mentioned doing in addition to eating cake, in that case the birthday plate just isn't used for dinner.

Since I'm on the topic of my birthday celebration, there are two other traditions we have in my house. My mom always puts up decorations in our house, with the standard number representing our age on the back of the front door and often streamers going down the stairs or banners hanging from the molding. The decorations are never exactly the same but a nice touch.

Photo By: Alaine Ashton

 For my mom's birthday, we try our best to do the same but never manage the same decorations she does for the rest of us. She also manages to put balloons in our rooms and then the rest of the family, including the dog if we can wake her up, walks into the birthday person's room and sings happy birthday to wake them up.

A simple tradition but one none the less I know will come every year and I look forward to it.

So, what do you do for you birthday and of course what kind of cake do you eat? Share in the comments!

A Monday to Honor our Veterans

Memorial Day is a day to go to the shore, grill some good food, spend time with family and friends, spend time in the finally open pool and unofficially start the summer- at least from where I'm from. After our three-day weekend every May to celebrate Memorial Day my classmates would always reflect on their weekend festivities, which normally included one of the aforementioned activities, with a desire to go back to them and just start summer already. Where I'm from, summer tends to start the second or third week of June, so once Memorial Day hits, all anyone can think of is that final bell ringing allowing them to start their summer.

It's almost summer...

My family doesn't do a picnic; instead we go to my town's annual Memorial Day parade. We have been going to the parade since I was born and every year we sit in the exact same spot- more on that in just a minute. The parade begins at 11AM, so logically we get there by 8AM or 9AM at the absolute latest. It's always an argument as to what time to leave in the morning so we get our seats and don't have to sit around too long. We always settle on just sitting around, which is fine by me. So once we arrive in my town's borough we park next to the Continental Tavern, a local restaurant and get our folding lawn chairs out to claim our territory in front of the restaurant on the sidewalk, right on the curb, slightly from the corner. 

Where we sit. Photo by the Continental Tavern

As soon as we set up, we all sit down for a while and watch the passerby. Whenever people ask what time the parade starts my dad replies, "What parade?" and my mom laughs and says 11AM  we are just crazy and are here 3 hours early. Soon after my mom, brother, and I walk down to WAWA, not Sheetz, to grab some breakfast. We take my dad's order, normally sausage and cheese on a croissant, since he stays back to guard our stuff. If it's one of the years we bring my dog she sometimes stays with him and other times goes on a stroll with us. Depending on how much time we have we take a walk down the canal or just around town before getting the food at WAWA and heading back to keep my dad company. By the time we get back the parade appears to be going backwards as lots of people drive by us to get to the starting point down the road. Whenever we see families we know with kids in the marching band drive by we yell their names and they wave back, honking their horns, as they go to join the rest of the ensemble.

Slowly more and more people begin to set up shop down the main road of the town that the parade will go down. There is always one man who walks down the road selling red poppies to support the troops. We know it's almost parade time when the family who always sits next to us sets up their blanket and the cops arrive to start directing traffic at the intersection. At this point we make sure we don't need to quickly run across the street to Starbucks to "borrow" their bathroom before the parade begins.

The parade is about to begin so the roads are shut down and people swamp the road where they are allowed to stand and getting ready to welcome in the parade. A couple of years the parade began with a flyover of military jets and everyone was cheering. Every other year a cop car leads the parade. Throughout the parade we see local government members, a variety of organizations, our high school's marching band, firefighters, and the most important people of the day- the veterans. 

Photo By: Tim Oller

My favorite part of this parade is the fact that when the veterans do pass us everyone watching stands up and applauds them, to thank them for their service. Once they pass we sit back down and enjoy the rest of the parade until more veterans pass by and then everyone is right back on their feet, no matter how hot out it is. I think it's great how people realize the real reason we have off on Memorial Day is to remember those soldiers we lost and honor the veterans and current soldiers, rather than just going to the beach or pool. However, people should definitely enjoy their unofficial start to summer, just without forgetting about the real meaning behind the day. 

So what do you do to celebrate Memorial Day and honor our troops Please share in the comments.

3...2...1...Happy New Year!!!

Midnight approaches, friends and family gather, the ball begins to drop, the countdown begins, midnight strikes, and the new year has begun. But how do people really celebrate?

My family has a rather simple, uneventful, but still entertaining tradition. Most years, we go to our family friend's house and meet the other families that make up the "Iffers" a group of four interfaith families. All of the parents took classes together when they were deciding what religion to raise their children and have remained friends since, so all of the kids know each other and are only a few years apart. Each family brings an appetizer or dessert and the host family supplies the main dinner, normally Italian food. One of the families is always assigned dessert since they often get there late. However, they always make it in time for dinner.

After we eat, the kids head down to the basement and switch between Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest's pre-show and whatever review of the year we can find to make fun of. We all take turns watching from the couch and fighting over the chiropractor chair the family has in the basement, which flips 180 degrees around. While silly, it is something fun we do to keep ourselves entertained. At some point during the night we often play a round of pool or some other game to keep ourselves busy.

Eventually we go upstairs and watch the end of Dick Clark's show with the parents, take pictures, put on hats and get noisemakers, and then countdown as we watch the ball drop. After the ball drops, we all run outside and watch our friend's dad shoot off fireworks in the cul-de-sac. A few times we ran inside as it felt like the ashes were going to fall on us while still on fire. After the fireworks my family heads home for the night. We don't have any traditions for New Year's Day.

Photo By: Swallowtail Garden Seeds

Since my tradition is rather simple in comparison to past posts I decided to ask a few friends' what they do and got an interesting mix of responses.

One of my friends told me about her two traditions she has had throughout the years. When she was younger she would always go to her dad's house, in the middle of no where, and bang on pots and pans at midnight while her neighbor shot a shotgun into the air to make a loud noise to ring the new year in. Since high school began, where she met her best friend, she has always gone to her friends house and done a three movie marathon. They take a break at midnight to watch the ball drop and drink sparkling grape juice. Then, they finish the last movie and go to bed.

I had a few other friends who simply hung out with friends and family, played games, watched movies, and drank sparkling grape juice.

Photo By: Michael Bentley

Another one of my friends is a new year's baby, so he said he gets to celebrate his birthday on New Year's. At midnight, his family eats cake and then they go to bed.

Speaking of food, my aunt and uncle eat black eyed peas and ham for good luck.

I found out that Carlisle, PA, my friend's hometown, lowers a small car from a crane in the town square. After the car is lowered at midnight there is music and fireworks. Her family also puts paraffin in lanterns, makes a wish, and lets them float away every year.

Photo By: Nick Bramhall

In Pittsburgh, my friend goes with her family for pizza and then into the city for First Night in Pittsburgh. This includes fireworks starting at 6pm over the river and more fireworks when the ball drops.

My roommate told me about the traditions that she knows in Japan, which include eating soba noodles on New Year's Eve to have a long life, eating lots of delicious food on New Year's Day, visiting temples, and watching fireworks.

Interestingly, when I asked my friends what they do for the New Year's I didn't just get traditions for the secular New Year that occurs December 31st-January 1st. My Jewish friend said she eats apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year-see my earlier post about the holiday. However, she also included that last secular New Year she knitted while watching Food Network and Pitbull's New Year Revolution.

Photo By: slgckgc

My other friend told me about her Chinese New Year's tradition where she eats lots of good Chinese food, calls her family in Taiwan to wish them good health, and gives and receives money within her family. Plus when she attended a Chinese school they would have a New Year's party that was a blast.

I thought it was interesting to see how everyone I talked to about New Years had different traditions but they all revolved around being with family or friends and counting down to the moment the new year began. It seems like everyone enjoys welcoming in the new year as it symbolizes a new start but no one has an crazy traditions.

Please share any traditions you have! I hope to hear at least one unique one!

Christmas from the Jew's Perspective

On Christmas I eat Chinese food and go to the movies.

Just kidding. (Yes I know it's only October, but I am going to talk about Christmas since this is our first cold week and, as I mentioned in a previous post, this is one of my favorite traditions.)

While the stereotype that Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas and go to the movies is certainly true, I know many Jews that do just this, I am not one of the ones that follow this tradition. A major reason for this is my interfaith family, which was explained in one of my earlier posts.

Before I talk about what I actually do on Christmas, I want to talk about my family's tradition that takes places the Sunday before Christmas, or two Sundays before Christmas if Christmas is on a Monday or Tuesday. This tradition is our annual Holiday party. This year will be our 23rd annual holiday party.

As the party approaches, my family begins to send out the many invites, decorate the house, set up chairs, get the caroling books, put out the name tags, and buy the drinks and ice. The food will come when all of our guests arrive and bring a dessert or appetizer. If you were to walk into our house around the holidays it would be clear that it is an interfaith household. We decorate with stockings, Santas, ornament Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Hanukkah ornaments, dreidels, and lots of menorahs.

As the day finally arrives, we start the morning by filling the ice buckets with drinks, locking my dog in a room upstairs, hanging the silly signs my dad makes- such as directions for the coat room- and finishing any last minute set up details. At 2:00 PM, the guests start to arrive, my uncle is almost always the first one to arrive.

The First to Arrive

We tend to invite over 200 people, in my not-so-large house, and the party is an open house until 5:00 PM. The most crowded time tends to be 3:00 PM-4:00 PM, where my dad plays Christmas carols on the piano, along with a few Jewish highlights, and my mom leads the singing. I have memories of skipping around the house singing the 12 days of Christmas to get everyone involved.

Caroling

During the caroling, anyone who wants one gets a book with lyrics and bells to ring. As soon as one song ends, people begin to yell the number of the next song they want to hear and my dad starts playing the next song. Eventually, the caroling is over and some people leave, others just get there, and some stay past 5:00 PM.

Song book

Over the years, we have had some unique experiences at the party. Such as the year it snowed, a lot, and we thought nobody would show up but it ended up being packed since other events got cancelled. One year it happened to be Hanukkah, so we lit all of the Menorahs. We have over 10 menorahs, so on the eighth night, which it happened to be, the house gets very warm and bright.

Our Menorahs

My favorite one of these unique experiences had to be the day the party fell on the Eagles vs. Giants game. The game began during the caroling hour, so my cousins, all huge Eagles' fans, and some of our friends snuck down to the basement to watch the game. After the caroling, my mom asked me where everybody went because she could see the front door from where she had stood and knew people had not left. I told her to go look in the basement. To her surprise, she found close to fifty people filling my basement and the stairs, all to see the game. I had been downstairs earlier and knew any surface you could possibly sit on was filled, people were standing downstairs, the steps had people two deep, and my adult cousins were yelling at the kids who were Giants' fans. It was great. To top it all off, after the party my one cousins, the biggest Eagle fan of them all, stayed and helped us move in our brand new flat screen TV; he was a bit annoyed he had to watch the game on a small TV. I will never forget that entertaining year of the Holiday Party.

The Food

Eventually, everyone leaves and we put the food away and throw out all the trash. Although sad, we know the party will resume a year later and we will see at least our family over the next few days for the Christmas festivities.

On that note, what do I actually do on Christmas? Christmas Eve we always go to my cousins' house. We meet an uncle, aunt, and more cousins there. When we were younger, and even still now, my cousins and I used NORAD to track Santa and we would update everyone so people knew when to leave. One year there was a short power outage and we started freaking out thinking that Santa was almost there and was telling us to leave. Now, all my cousins know Santa isn't real, but we still track him for traditions sake. However, we have increased our tracking capability from the website, to a phone number, and most recently to an app. At the Christmas Eve party, we eat lots of food, cookies, and always have shrimp as an appetizer. We also take a family picture by the Christmas tree. Once we leave, my family has, a few times, gone to our local farm's drive through light show or just drove home and looked for Rudolf's glowing nose on the way.

Standard Christmas Eve Pictures

On Christmas Day, my family, even though we are Jewish, does gifts at our stockings- we don't have a tree. The gifts tend to be something small or something my parents decided to wait to give us at Christmas instead of Hanukkah. In our family, we do not get "twice the gifts," as some people assume all interfaith families do. It used to be that we would then go to a brunch at the Sheraton, where my parents got married. However, more recently we have been going to my other cousin's house for a big family lunch/dinner. This is a chance to see some of the same family as Christmas Eve and some others who had other plans the night before.

While not the traditional religious traditions of Christmas or the stereotypical Jewish Christmas, I love the traditions my family has leading up to Christmas and on Christmas. These traditions are some of the ones I look forward to most every year.

I'm sure many of you have unique Christmas traditions please share them in the comments!