Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

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.

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

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.

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

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.

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

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.

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

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.

Graphic created by Lucas Seidel Design

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. 

At the tail end of her marriage, Christina Ward used her music as a form of therapy. She wrote, recorded and produced seven songs that ultimately made up her latest release, Calendar.

She began her DIY journey in the midst of quarantining in 2020, when not working meant both having a lot of time on her hands and not enough money to outsource production. The album took around two years to complete, and included songs that she had never played live.

“It’s a completely different thing when it’s just you and you have all these instruments at your disposal,” Ward said. “Being able to create intricate layers and weird songs doesn’t really lend itself well to live performance, so I feel like since I’ve been recording there are a handful of songs that I just don’t play out.”

Despite having been on this DIY journey for almost three years, Ward still finds it challenging to walk the line between perfection and imperfection. She enjoys the learning process of production and the infinite possibilities of the sound that works best for her, but she admits that she feels nowhere near where she wants to be in terms of “having a professional, good-sounding record”.

There is a part of her that tells her not to release any of it; that it isn't the best she can do. The other part of her recognizes that some of her favorite records do not have that “professional” quality, but that didn’t stop her from loving it.

“There’s a line you have to walk,” she said. “This is not the best thing I’m ever going to do probably but it’s still something that I did. It’s still a snapshot of the moment or the time period that I was going through.”

It is difficult to figure out which song will best lend itself to the overall message of an album, but as Ward was creating the title track she knew that Calendar was the appropriate name for the album. Calendar questions how to find redemption in the midst of heartbreak, and touches on all the times she has felt like she’s had to start from scratch.

Much like the songs she has listened to on repeat in hopes of getting through a tough time, Ward hopes that this album evokes similar feelings.

“Whether it’s inspiration or getting through something, deciphering or gaining their own message from the song and maybe feeling less alone or inspired, I think anybody that writes hopes somebody listens to it and takes something with meaning from it,” she said.