Whatโs up with Hallmark Christmas movies, and why are some Boomers so obsessed with them?
As an aging millennial who has the privilege of living with my parents while I save up to buy a house in this crazy housing market, Iโve noticed something about my parents that I had no clue about, previously: Theyโre obsessed with Hallmark Christmas movies.
U.S. retail sales fell in December for 3rd straight month
(AP Photo/John Raoux)NEW YORK โ Retail sales fell for a third straight month as a surge in virus cases kept people away from stores during the critical holiday shopping season. The U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in December from the month before. Department store chain Nordstrom, lingerie seller Victoriaโs Secret and clothing retailer Urban Outfitters all said sales fell during the holidays. The Commerce Department said shoppers cut back on spending at electronic and department stores. At clothing stores, sales rose 2.4% after dropping 16% for the year.
Scene from 'Elf' comes to life as Buddy meets dad in Boston
BOSTON โ Just like a real-life movie, the story of Buddy the Elf meeting his biological father has come to life, just in time for the holidays. Doug Henning wore a costume like the one actor Will Ferrellโs character wore in โElfโ while meeting his father face to face for the first time last week at Boston's Logan Airport. He even broke into the same awkward song from the 2003 movie โ sample lyrics: โIโm here, with my dad. Just like the movie, the father didn't know about his son. The two met on Zoom and Henning's dad was able to fly to Boston for Thanksgiving.
The dark and mysterious origins of Valentineโs Day
Valentineโs Day -- the holiday made for a Hallmark movie. Though, Chaucerโs mention of Valentineโs Day in this poem is also disputed. Slowly, but surely, Valentineโs Day started getting sweeter. (Wikipedia Commons)Shakespeare romanticized Valentineโs Day in his work and it began to really take off in Britain and in Europe. And then boom - Hallmark hit the map in 1913, and started mass producing Valentineโs Day cards.
Sunday is Friendship Day
(CNN) - Hallmark established Friendship Day in 1919 as the first Sunday in August. Psychologists speak about different levels of friendships: best friends, close friends, casual friends and acquaintances (we can have a million of the latter, Degges-White says). Don't hoard your friends: Don't be afraid to introduce your friends to each other. Be OK with disagreement: Our friends don't have to think exactly like we think. "If you're not feeding your social needs through companionship, you're going to feed those needs in other unhealthy ways."