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Gather 'round the open fire for Chimneyside Chats - a monthly feature with holiday stories from our favorite artists. See what's in their stockings this year as they reminisce on Christmas memories, share their favorite recipe and more! Here's what GRLwood founder Rej Forester had to say:

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

If you’re looking for a holiday hit, this appetizer will leave your guests counting down the days until next year’s gathering!

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Christmas time is one of the most special times of year. Family, close friends, delicious treats and holiday happiness! For me, when I think back on this time of year, I’m reminded of one of my core memories that helped me discover my love of singing.

Growing up, I had attended a fine arts school, and was always a dancer. For my eighth grade December recital, I decided to make the jump from dance to singing. Singing was new and strange at first, but on this night I was not only nervous but ecstatic to perform.

For this moment – my very first live singing performance – I had written one of my first songs, titled “Christmas Without You”. As soon as I sat at my piano and started to sing, I was addicted.

From there, I played the same song at the Christmas tree lighting in my hometown of Abbotsford, British Columbia. Each time I sang it, I would fall in love all over again with singing for people. All these years later, I still get the feels at every live show.

So now, this time of year not only reminds me of the Christmas magic, but also the start of my musical journey.

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My family has always been pretty traditional around the holidays. My Christmas memories are filled with large, chaotic gatherings of aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and neighbours, always with lots of food and lots of fun. Put it this way: if you’re around my family at Christmas time, it's hard to feel lonely. Between the games of musical chairs, basketball, karaoke, bonfires, music, and dancing, there’s never a dull moment.

I couldn’t imagine spending the holidays any other way, until I got accepted to return to study with my Ashtanga Yoga teacher, Paramaguru Sharath Jois. My period of study was to be during the month of December, which meant Christmas in India; halfway around the world, oceans apart from the warmth of my family and friends and anything that felt familiar.

But it was a chance to spend time with my teacher, so off I went. I felt homesick and a pang in my heart that ached to be near my friends. I was sad to miss out on Mom and Dad’s Christmas dinner, and the annual holiday show I looked forward to playing every year with my pals. The FOMO was real.

But before I knew it, I was all wrapped up in my studies and my new life in India. December crept on, and something magical began to happen. My fellow yoga students, who too had made the pilgrimage from various places all around the globe, quickly became family, and together we found new ways to honour the holidays.

We put on a Christmas carol sing-a-long concert at a local cafe and sold Santa hats to raise funds to support a local orphanage. We visited a “snow park” to play around in man-made snow. Instead of buying gifts, I got a new tattoo to honour my grandmother. And instead of a traditional Christmas dinner, a couple dozen of us crammed into a little living room and feasted Indian style; sitting on the floor, eating with our hands and filling our bellies with various permutations of dhal and rice.

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I love the Christmas season! I’m not Captain Christmas or anything like that but I do love hot cocoa, snowflakes, gifts and good food. You won’t see me in a Santa outfit though. Another thing I love about the holiday season is all the movies, shows and specials that come out each year. I love to get together with family and friends to share in preparing meals for general togetherness or Christmas itself. When you’re making a holiday meal or festive snacks you definitely need to have something on theme playing in the background.

To prepare for Christmas and get those festive feelings flowing, I’m going to give you a recipe for some delicious shortbread cookies and my Top 10 Christmas Movies list to enjoy while you bake. Grab a friend and get started!

I chose shortbread because I consider them to be a traditional Christmas treat. The beauty of this recipe is that it’s quite simple and doesn’t take too much time to make. The recipe can easily become vegetarian or vegan by subbing out ingredients with alternative options.

1. Home Alone & Home Alone 2 - I had to put parts 1 and 2 because they are the originals and the absolute best in the franchise. I personally haven’t watched the others and won’t. The original casts made these films absolutely iconic.

2. Last Holiday - I love watching Queen Latifah on screen. She gets into your feels and your funny bone in this romantic comedy.

3. Almost Christmas - This movie has a star-studded hilarious cast that cracks me up every year. Mo’Nique steals the show for me!

4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - I’ve loved this one since childhood. It’s not Christmas for me until I’ve watched this stop-motion classic.

5. Jingle All The Way - You absolutely have to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger fight Sinbad over the hottest Christmas toy of the year!

6. The Holiday Calendar - A newer Netflix movie that got me in my feels. I also love that the story centers around two artists following their dreams.

7. Christopher the Christmas Tree - Another special I’ve been watching since childhood. Hootie the Owl and Christopher the Christmas Tree go on a journey of growth and come into their own.

8. Cool Runnings - Technically not a Christmas movie, but the snow and the winter Olympics say otherwise to me. The ending will also put you in the Christmas spirit.

9. The Prince of Egypt - This isn’t really a Christmas movie either, however it did premiere in December. The soundtrack features Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, K-Ci & JoJo and Boyz II Men, need I say more? Those voices singing gospel music definitely remind me of the religious meaning and elements of the Christmas holiday.

10. Christmas With the Kranks - Ending on a funny note we have Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen trying to escape Christmas... Until they can’t. I always laugh the whole way through this movie.

Hopefully you enjoy these movies as much as I do every year. And I hope that you don’t burn your shortbread cookies! In any case, the holiday season is about spending time together and strengthening our bonds with each other. Have an amazing holiday season no matter what you celebrate and I wish you well in the new year.

It was Christmas 2011.

I was 10 years old and had just started playing the drums over that last year. All I wanted was a drum set and begged my parents for one for months! I knew after starting to play the drums that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and getting a drum kit would help me achieve that.

I woke up on Christmas morning to find a beautiful, brand-new Pearl drum set in the basement all wrapped up. It was a dream come true. I finally had what I was missing in my life. This drum kit became the set I would play on for over 10 years, until last year when I finally upgraded to a brand new C&C kit that I now use with Robot Monster.

My Pearl kit is still playable but at this point wouldn’t get me through a tour without falling apart. That kit took me from practicing as a kid in my basement to getting professional touring and recording opportunities, and I owe it all to that one Christmas gift from my parents in 2011.

I hope this Christmas many more kids get musical instruments as gifts, as it can lead them to beautiful places in life. It did for me, and I’m very fortunate. Christmas is a magical time, and that Christmas has shaped the course of my life forever.

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Hey all! Happy Holidays!!

Thanks so much to Black is the New AP Style for including me as part of Chimneyside Chats. I'd love to share both a holiday event I recommend you try as well as one my favourite go-to holiday recipes.

If you're around the Toronto, Ontario area or maybe making a special trip, I highly recommend you check out the Distillery District for a visit at the formerly-known Toronto Christmas Market, which is now named The Distillery Winter Village. It's the perfect spot to get into the holiday spirit with decorations, lights, live music, shops, tasty eats and that perfect cup of hot cocoa and/or mulled wine. It's become a yearly tradition for me to visit with my friends and family (more than once a season). If you can't make it to this stop, I highly recommend you check out some holiday markets in your area. It feels good to shop local and a fun way to get out of the house.

With that said, what would the holidays be without all of the yummy baked goods? Here is my "Simply Apple Crisp" recipe. It's not complicated but gives you all of the comfort of a foodie's dream. Throw on the Chimneyside Chats playlist and bake away.

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One year, when we couldn’t afford a Christmas tree (or Christmas for that matter), my mom decorated a large stereo cabinet with tinsel and ornaments. We would gather around it and listen to music play in place of presents. It became a sort of tradition.

We cherished the notion that we could make our own version of Christmas together, even if the surroundings were a bit bleak. That stereo cabinet was a relic from a different time in our lives; one where we had more means and more food on the table. Then it served as the Christmas tree in the center of our apartment, where my mother worked so hard to create a better life for us girls.

One very special year, my mom scrounged up every penny she had so that she could wake me up and bring me to the cabinet. To my absolute shock, there was a brand new amplifier sitting next to a seafoam green Fender. My very own. My mother still has that stereo cabinet to this day. Every time I see it, it feels like Christmas.

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Photo courtesy of Kristy Belcher

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

Typically during the holidays my family makes the traditional American spreads. We usually Google recipes and get ideas on Instagram, so it felt cheating to share recipes we usually make. 

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I simply love Christmas! To me, it’s truly the best time of the year. There’s something extra special about singing carols, seeing the bright lights and coming together with friends and family that give me an overall sense of good cheer.

As a performer, it brings me great joy to sing in concert during the Christmas holiday. A few years ago, I was privileged to present a program of Christmas classics at the White House. What an awesome experience! It was a thrill for me to perform some of my most favorite music during my most favorite season in such a historical landmark. It is a cherished memory that will stay with me always.

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Gather 'round the open fire for Chimneyside Chats - a monthly feature with holiday stories from our favorite artists. See what's in their stockings this year as they reminisce on Christmas memories, share their favorite recipe and more! Here's what singer/songwriter Benjamin Dakota Rogers had to say: 

Since I was a little kid, one of my favorite family traditions has been that on Christmas Eve we exchange fun Christmas pajamas and sit around eating cookies, cheese, cured meats and drinking eggnog.

A pretty common winter activity, and a favorite of mine, is tobogganing! Going out and finding a big hill to race down. Bringing a thermos of hot chocolate and some leftover Christmas cookies is quintessential holiday fun. That and bird watching from the window in my kitchen; we always put out seeds and I love seeing all the different birds flit around the yard.

One of my most memorable gifts has been little vintage lead cowboy figures. I had seen them at an antique market over the summer and wished I made the purchase. I looked online and couldn't find anything similar. Somehow my little brother found a whole set for sale last year on Etsy of all places and gave them to me. I was so surprised and since they have become some of my prized possessions, they sit on the desk in my recording studio constantly squared off with each other.

"Bleak Midwinter" is for me one of the most beautiful Christmas songs ever written. I love the lonesome haunting melody; it feels like a cold winter night to me in a very nostalgic way. I think my favorite version is by a Canadian band called The O'Pears - the harmonies are just so pretty.

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Gather 'round the open fire for Chimneyside Chats - a monthly feature with holiday stories from our favorite artists. See what's in their stockings this year as they reminisce on Christmas memories, share their favorite recipe and more! Here's what singer/songwriter Ruby Greenberg had to say: 

Growing up, it was typical for us kids in the family to get lots of opportunities to play music. My brother and I were enrolled in piano lessons, music classes, and performed often in the community and in school alongside our classmates. The holidays, however, were a very special time because my entire family gathered together to sing. My mom would sit at the piano and play chords, and all of us would sing Christmas songs. We'd squeeze three people onto the piano bench, I'd flip the pages of the songbook and we'd fight over which songs to skip and which to tackle. 

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Gather 'round the open fire for Chimneyside Chats - a monthly feature with holiday stories from our favorite artists. See what's in their stockings this year as they reminisce on Christmas memories, share their favorite recipe and more! Here's what Starpainter frontman Joel Stretch had to say: 

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Gather 'round the open fire for Chimneyside Chats - a monthly feature with holiday stories from our favorite artists. See what's in their stockings this year as they reminisce on Christmas memories, share their favorite recipe and more! Here's what Zadkiel lead vocalist Dan Heathcote had to say: 

My favourite Christmas film is probably Scrooged starring Bill Murray. It was made in 1988, and I remember growing up with it on television during that time. It's kind of an MTV hell thing that ends up being heaven on Earth.

Scrooged is an adaptation from the original A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and is set in corporate America during the Reagan era of Wall Street-esque’s 'Greed is Good'. Except that capitalist greed isn't good for us all (or the planet), even if it seems that presents are the only meaning of Christmas to most kids and some adults nowadays. Santa's sleigh is weighted down with an overabundance of trash and high-end products. I like Christmas and the spirit of peace to all on Earth is something we should aspire to all the time, not just towards the end of each year. Anyway, enough evangelising; I'm not religious but I'm not a rich capitalist either, nor would I want to be!

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Gather 'round the open fire for Chimneyside Chats - a monthly feature with holiday stories from our favorite artists. See what's in their stockings this year as they reminisce on Christmas memories, share their favorite recipe and more! Here's what Two Late To The Party's Adam Corkett had to say: 

Growing up in Canada as a practicing Catholic, Christmas was always fairly routine; going to church, spending the next morning with family opening gifts and a turkey dinner afterwards. Though I moved a lot as a kid, our traditions were always the same and even the people I shared it with were always the same.

In the 2000s I had the opportunity to travel and live in Southeast Asia as a tour guide for a small travel company from Canada, and since I wasn’t going to be able to go home I was kind of lost on what to do for Christmas. It should be no big surprise that the Christmas season in Thailand is very different from Canada. As a predominantly Buddhist country, December is essentially just another month in the year and if it weren’t for the odd Christmas lights or picture of Santa, you would have no idea it was Christmas at all. At the time I was living in Northern Thailand, in the city of Chiang Mai, studying Thai and as the season changed I was starting to miss my family and was looking for something to distract me from thoughts of home. Figuring it wasn’t too far away I decided to head to Laos for Christmas and New Years.

I did very little planning for this trip and didn’t know it at the time but it would be a long boat ride over two days to get me to my destination of Luang Prabang in Laos. After arriving at the border crossing I met up with a random group of German tourists who were headed in the same direction on the same boat. We were setting out Christmas Eve and would be spending the night in a small village halfway to Luang Probang. At this point I was definitely getting homesick; I never spent Christmas away from my family and I had never experienced being alone. Fortunately for me, this wonderful group of Germans were kind enough to include me in their Christmas tradition, which was celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve.

From out of nowhere people were pulling out chocolates, passing around German schnapps and music was being played (both Christmas and traditional Bob Marley tunes). Christmas morning we got back in our boat, a bit worse for wear but still in a festive mood. We kept the good times rolling as we enjoyed a Christmas morning cruising the Mekong river. I don’t remember feeling homesick in the end, just the feeling of being included and cared for even though I couldn’t remember the names of those wonderful people.

In the end, this turned out to be one of my favorite Christmases, and allowed me to step outside of what I had always known and thought of Christmas. It showed me you can find the most special Christmas memories in the most unusual places and it's not where you are but who you are with that really matters.

Two Late To The Party finds it's never too late to find the true meaning of Christmas

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Ever since I was a kid in Connecticut, the holidays were always a special time to decorate the house with my DIY arts and crafts projects and of course decorate the tree. I was always the "unusual" kid and was obsessed with spiders, Disney villains, bugs and pretty much anything creepy. My holiday shopping would always start the day after Halloween and I would always buy creepy accessories to put in the tree and had a stuffed tarantula toy I would bring downstairs on Christmas morning.

Years later, I'm happy to say I'm still the same "unusual" kid who likes creepy holiday decorations and will never outgrow DIY arts and crafts projects to decorate the house. Every Los Angeles Christmas, I like to decorate my Tim Burton-style looking tree with crystals, jewelry and of course, lights! Christmas wouldn't be complete without pictures with Santa so I take my guinea pigs, Gucci and Gizmo, to get their picture taken on Santa's lap every year and love sending the pictures to my family.

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

Gather 'round the open fire for Chimneyside Chats - a monthly feature with holiday stories from our favorite artists. See what's in their stockings this year as they reminisce on Christmas memories, share their favorite recipe and more! Here's what songwriter Catherine MacLellan had to say:

Christmas 2020 was a lonely season. So many of us were unable to gather with their friends and family and felt disconnected. I was missing many people that would normally gather around my kitchen table for feasts and laughter. Longing for the ones we love is such a part of Christmas culture for me - “White Christmas”, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” - the list goes on! That was the sentiment I was touching upon when I wrote “Calling You Home (for the Holidays)” - being separated from our loved ones, and hoping they might make it home.

My Christmas wish last year was that friends and family who live far away would move back to my home province of Prince Edward Island. My wish has come true and this Christmas I’ll be sitting around the table toasting in person with my favourite people, singing songs and recounting the strangeness of the last couple of years.