Tag Archives: Holidays

Love & Hate – Mistletoe Moments

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I originally began working on a Love & Hate article for the winter season, but really, all people care about from this time of year is Christmas, so let’s cut to the chase, give people what they want and discuss the pros and cons of the holidays. Here are the reasons to revel in the term:

Getting Lit Up

Christmas lights still fascinate me, especially if it’s a really well done display. It has to be one of Boy Sip’s favourite elements of the season too. Light walks/drives have always been a treasured memory of my Christmases past.

Giving and Getting

The Sip Advisor likes getting gifts… but he LOVES giving treats. Sure, the pursuit of the perfect parcel can be challenging, but it’s all worth it in the end when you see the recipient’s face light up with joy.

Gift Giving

Friends and Family Discount

All the gatherings of Christmas, whether they be with family, friends or some hybrid, typically mean drinks are flowing and feasts of food are being served. The holidays can also provide opportunities to visit with folks you haven’t seen for some time, perhaps since last Christmas.

Family Fondness

Aside from scheduled gatherings, Christmas also provides an increased amount of time with Mrs. Sip and the Sipplings. Part of that is because of the break from school, along with all activities also being on pause. This offers the chance to do cookie kits, gingerbread houses, watch movies and TV, play games, and so much more.

Christmas Cheat

The winter is a perfect time to hibernate and enjoy all of the snacks the season provides. Ma Sip is a baking legend and keeps us all well-stocked with treats. I’m just thankful that the days of trying to preserve a decent body are long behind me.

Christmas Baking

Mistletoe Media

Nothing gets me in a festive mood more than watching Christmas movies and TV shows. I don’t care if I’ve seen the film or episode countless times, I’ll still enjoy it again. Introducing the Sipplings to many of my holiday favourites has always been fun, as well.

Yuletide Traditions

Christmas is the season that inspires the most family and friend traditions. The extended Sip Family has many of them, each bringing their own joys to the countdown to the big day.

As much as I love the Christmas season and agree it is the most wonderful time of the year, it does come with a few drawbacks. Here are the issues that plague the period:

Decorating

While I like seeing holiday displays, I abhor putting them together myself. For example, I went to set up Christmas lights for the first time in our new home. Problems began immediately, when I learned there was no electrical outlet on the balcony. Once I figured out a solution to that, I learned our lights from the previous year (after untangling them, of course) no longer worked. Then, I tried another set we have, but it was too small to stretch across the entire balcony rail, so more lights need to be purchased now…

Christmas Lights

Secret Santa

I hate these gift exchanges, where you almost always walk away with crap you never wanted or needed. I also dislike the whole concept of stealing presents and the chaos that causes. Mrs. Sip’s office Secret Santa can take hours to execute and I just want to wrap the meal and get back home. Bah humbug!

Busy Malls, Stores, Roads, etc.

We’ve all been there. You desperately need to make a run to pick up one last present or food item and the dread that washes over you when you realize how busy the roads and stores will be is intense. Regardless of panic, these trips have to be completed and hopefully you return with your sanity still in check.

Black Friday

First, there was Black Friday, one day of shopping deals prior to the Christmas rush. Now, there’s Black Friday weekends/weeks. Heck, the deals keep popping up earlier and earlier, it might as well be called Black Friday Month.

Black Friday

Starts in Summer

Similarly, Christmas seems to start earlier each year. It’s alarming when kids aren’t even back in the school from summer break, but ads for Christmas are already running.

Too Many Activities/Options

In most years, Mrs. Sip has had a tendency to overbook herself and the family. While it’s fun to take advantage of some of the holiday-themed events in your area, doing too much can cause irritation and exhaustion. Even on off years, when we’ve made an effort to do less, it still seems like there’s not enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Christmas Crap

While many Christmas songs are classics, some just spill my drink every time I hear them. Do They Know It’s Christmas has to be one of the most inane, insensitive tunes ever recorded, yet it gets constant air time during the holiday season. Even creator Bob Geldof called it one of the “worst songs in history”. And there are many others that ruin the season.

Christmas Music

Unexpected Gifts

I’ll never forget my first Christmas with Mrs. Sip. Many new people were added to my gift list and I was careful to get good presents for each, hoping to ingratiate myself with the folks who were closest with my love. For some reason, though, I wasn’t expecting something from Mrs. Sip’s grandma – given to me on Christmas Eve – and had to scramble on Christmas morning to find any store that was open, so I could have something prepared for her by Christmas dinner. Other times, you get something from a friend who you don’t typically exchange gifts with and are at a loss. This is why some folks keep a collection of generic gifts on hand, but I’m not sure that’s the best remedy.

$$$

The holidays can be incredibly expensive, from gifts to gatherings to events, you really do bleed money during the December sprint. You tell yourself that things will be lighter and tighter in January, but who are we kidding, things never really slow down.

Love & Hate: Mistletoe Moments

Mistletoe Moments

  • 1.5 oz Empress Gin
  • Splash of Lemon Juice
  • Dash of Cranberry Sauce
  • Dash of Simple Syrup
  • Dash of Aromatic Bitters
  • Garnish with a Lemon Peel

What are elements you love and hate about Christmas and the season that surrounds it? I hope everyone out there has a safe and fun holiday season, full of time with all the things you love and not the things you hate!

Sip Trips #229: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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The end of 2023 was as busy as the rest of the calendar, even with Mrs. Sip not booking us up as fervently as she usually does. Still, we got out to a bunch of places and met up with a number of our people. Here’s how we closed the year:

The month began with news that our Beer Box program was coming to an end after two years “due to challenges within the marketplace.” I’ve enjoyed the subscription service, as it saved me from going to the liquor store and provided a greater variety of beers. Some cons were breweries sending out non-unique offerings or duplicates and sometimes dealing with receiving/scheduling a delivery was frustrating. That said, I will miss this program.

Beer

As for activities, December opened with Mrs. Sip’s office Christmas party at Stefanos Restaurant. The Greek eatery offered guests appetizer platters, a main (I chose the Chicken Souvlaki) and dessert. For drinks, I had a Long Island Iced Tea, Caesar and Okanagan Springs Pale Ale. My only complaint with the meal was that much more tzatziki needed to be provided from the get go, as we kept having to ask for more.

The next night, the Sip Family attended an Abbotsford Canucks game, which featured their annual Teddy Bear Toss. Tickets through my work union were only $25 each and included a $15 concessions voucher per person. We used our combined $60 in vouchers to feast on chicken strips, fries, pizza, beer, ice cream, and gummy bears. To say the Sipplings were pleased would be an understatement. Girl Sip even won the union raffle prize of a stick signed by the entire team. Even after the game, the team offered hot chocolate and popcorn to fans.

After a Christmas train outing at Bear Creek Park, we had dinner at the Central City Boston Pizza. I ate the Grilled Chicken Clubhouse, paired with a Boston-sized Blue Moon. This was the first use of the Sippling’s newest Kid’s Meal cards, which offer five meals each for only $5.

Kids Meals

On a shopping excursion to the U.S., Mrs. Sip and I, along with Girl Sip, stopped for dinner at the Birch Bay Bob’s Burgers. I tried the Bacon Burger with Warm Potato Salad as my selected side. I also munched on Mrs. Sip’s Coleslaw and Girl Sip’s JoJos wedge fries. To wash it all down, I went with the Kulshan Bastard Kat IPA.

Next up, was our Vancouver Canucks Road Game Viewing Party, hosted by SportsBar Live at Rogers Arena. This is a perk of our ticket membership, offering members and their guests two appetizers and a meal and beverage each. We split the Honey Garlic Wings and 1/2 Nachos, while I selected the Cheeseburger for my main. To drink, I started with a pint of Super Flux Colour and Shape IPA, followed by a SportsBar Caesar. Of course, Canucks alumni and the team mascot, Fin, were on hand signing autographs and chatting with those in attendance. The event was capped with our family keeping up our good luck of late, as Girl Sip won a $25 gift card and Mrs. Sip took home a signed Thatcher Demko jersey.

Prior to watching a performance of Elf: The Musical at The Stanley Theatre, Mrs. Sip and I had dinner at the nearby Cactus Club. I ordered my typical Chicken Tenders with Fries and Ugly Wheat Ale. Mrs. Sip got a Mistletoe Mojito that had really neat popping cranberry pearls which we both enjoyed consuming.

Prizes

Just prior to Christmas, we met up with visiting friends at 3 Dogs Brewing in White Rock. Over the course of our evening out, I had servings of the Lava Dog Red Ale and Good Boy Hazy Pale Ale. I also helped Mrs. Sip a little with her Feliz Navidog Porter.

As for the big day, Christmas was very generous to me, as usual, both in gifts and time spent with family. Some notable booze-related items I received included a bottle of Don Papa Rum, along with a World Traveler Cocktail Gift Set, with pre-mixed bottles to make some of the globe’s most interesting cocktails, simply by adding alcohol.

For Christmas dinner, I produced my annual cocktail menu, featuring five original recipes: Miracle on 34th Street (Spiced Rum, Peach Schnapps, Grapefruit Soda), The Greatest Gift (Vodka, Mountain Dew: Fruitquake, Orange Bitters), Skipping Christmas (Mango Chamoy Tequila, Cran-Tropical Juice, Club Soda), The Polar Express (Chocolate Whiskey, Cream Soda, Chocolate Bitters), and A Christmas Memory (Gin, Lemonade, Lingonberry Juice).

Christmas

Our final outing of the year was to a Vancouver Canucks game. Prior to puck drop, we had a meal at the Earl’s Test Kitchen. I really enjoyed Mrs. Sip’s appetizer selection of the Yuzu Calimari, while my spread of the Pulled Chicken Clubhouse with Caesar Salad was quite tasty. The banquet was completed with a pint of Rhino Hazy Pale Ale.

I hope everyone else was able to enjoy the holiday season in whatever way you prefer to do so. 2024 promises to be another great year, with our January already being highlighted by Mrs. Sip’s 40th birthday and a family escape to Disneyland!

Love & Hate: Holidays/Observances

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There are some days that mark the calendar that we greatly look forward to. Others, we’d rather not come to pass and perhaps even disappear entirely. The Sip Advisor is going to look at these occasions, some of which I’m a fan of and others I loathe. Let’s start with days to love:

Christmas

Christmas reminds me of the sentiment about pizza: even bad pizza is still pizza. For example, our COVID Christmases have somehow turned out to be good, despite restrictions and a general lack of holiday cheer. As a kid, Christmas is everything. Once Boxing Day hits, preparation for the next Christmas – and the presents that come with it – move into full gear. As an adult, there is still a lot of fun to be had with a series of days off and when you become a parent, you get to live the season through the kids’ experience. It can be a hectic and stressful time, but worth it all.

Halloween

Great as a kid, perhaps even better as an adult. When you’re young, with candy on the line, you would walk for miles to get your hands on the sweet stuff. To quote Garfield: Candy! Candy! CANDY!!! Adult Halloween parties are fantastic or at least an excuse to continue the Halloween extracurriculars when you can no longer justify trick-or-treating. Now, as a parent, I’ve come to greatly enjoy the night out with the Sipplings, although that is probably bolstered by my love of drinking outside and having a stroller to hold my wares.

halloween

Easter

Four days off for the rebirth of Jesus? Um, yes please. We’ve used the break to go to Vegas, Seattle, Disneyland, Portland (for back-to-back Beer and Wine Festivals) and other getaways. Plus, who can turn down all the chocolate eggs, jelly beans and other sweets that come with the holiday? Even that fake grass that’s used to fill out Easter baskets has become an item of fondness for many. My only complaint about Easter would be there’s not a lot of obvious viewing choices connected with the holiday, which is different than Christmas and Halloween.

So, those are the holidays the Sip Advisor particularly loves. Not let’s see the other side of the ledger and the days I hate:

New Year’s Eve

Every year, there’s this pressing need to have an epic plan for the occasion and it never goes off accordingly. Events get cancelled, people get lame and bail, etc. Among our NYE duds was when Mrs. Sip and I got engaged at Christmas and planned to announce it to a group of friends on New Year’s. Thanks to it being a mid week December 31st and there being a light snowfall, our guest list dwindled down to three people. We still gave our good news, but it felt anticlimactic. I will say, we’ve had some good New Year’s Eves, but they often consist of taking things easier, staying at home or going for a meal.

New Year's Eve

Valentine’s Day

Mrs. Sip and I actually prefer to celebrate Valentine’s Day before or after the actual date. Why pay double for things like flowers and chocolates? I prefer to get the same items for their regular price, or in the case of chocolate, at a discounted price, as stores try to move the items after February 14th. And hell, you really shouldn’t need a specific day to show that special person in your life just how important they are to you. That’s a year-round commitment. Lastly, there’s the folks who find Valentine’s Day to be a real downer because of relationship issues. All-in-all, V-Day is meh.

Daylight Saving Time

It’s absolutely ridiculous that we still go through this changing of clocks twice each year. Many professionals have debunked the whole reasoning behind its beginnings and point to how unnecessary the whole ordeal is. It’s even worse as parents of young kids, when you have no clue how the change will affect them and for how long. Will they wake up an hour earlier than usual, which means you’ll lose sleep as well? The stress of what will happen just isn’t worth it. Let’s just agree to finally kibosh the whole thing.

Before wrapping this post up, here are some quick thoughts of mine on other holidays and observances (in chronological order):

Lunar New Year: I will never turn down a good Chinese meal.

Groundhog Day: What a ridiculous thing to highlight on any calendar.

Family Day: This was an awesome addition to the calendar when we were childless. Now it just means I have to spend time with the fam!

Family Day

St. Patrick’s Day: Green beers and banishing snakes… what’s there to complain about?

Cinqo de Mayo: Tacos and margaritas… what’s there to complain about?

Mother’s Day/Father’s Day: After fours years as one, parents deserve all the praise they can get.

Labour Day: I’m split here. It signifies the end of summer, but also inspires you to have one last big bash before the season is out.

Thanksgiving: A perfect excuse to eat and drink to excess.

Love & Hate: Bah Humbug!

Bah Humbug

  • 1 oz White Rum
  • 1 oz Peach Schnapps
  • 1 oz Orange Liqueur
  • Top with Orange Juice
  • Splash of Lemon-Lime Soda
  • Garnish with a Lime Wheel

Agree or disagree with my holiday assessments? Think I’m just a bitter man, who needs to take a chill pill? Let me know in the comments below. Just remember, I’m always right and that’s a position I’m not willing to budge from!