![\"A](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4470-e1766607690133.jpg\")
<\/a>A decoration at the Rodeo Drive Tree Lighting. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
In this past month, I\u2019ve gone out with friends a lot, including to parties and to see special plays, musicals, and dance shows. But my usually-reclusive bae came out with me a few times, including to even one soiree! That makes not just me<\/em> happy–he appears to put a little smile on the faces of everyone who sees him!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But we mainly celebrate the season in the most plebeian of ways\u2014by watching as many Hallmark Christmas movies as possible! A bit nutty of us, I know.<\/p>\n A tiny tree that I drew on a holiday poster at a theatre. No worries about vandalism, though–they asked us to do that! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Mr. X is the one who actually began that tradition for us. After several years of just moping around, dreading Christmas because of the sadness it had come to represent due to my mother leaving this level of life on that date, he decided the gooniness of those movies was just the distraction we needed. And he was correct!<\/p>\n He really doesn\u2019t want to watch them anymore, but guess what? I<\/em> do! I like a silly tradition. But at least this year, when the stories start off awful, I let us abandon them, and move on, which I never did before.<\/p>\n Half the fun is rating<\/em> them! There were few \u201cA\u201ds this year, but the ones that\u00a0did<\/em> rate that highest mark were actually sort-of wonderful. (As many of you may already know, my little mother was an English teacher, and when she loved an essay, she gave it an \u201cA++ Adorable!\u201d I\u2019m still looking to give that one out myself.)<\/p>\n Here are our faves this season, (even if some of them are actually from years past):<\/p>\n And a long time after I drew MY little tree, this one appeared in a TV movie! Just sayin’. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Christmas By Starlight<\/em>\u2014The absolute best one! I gave it an A+++! The two stars, Paul Campbell and Kimberley Sustad, even wrote this very amusing and heartwarming story! (But, alas, they are married to other people in real life.)<\/p>\n Northern Lights of Christmas<\/em>\u2014I pretty much predicted what the ending would be from the get-go, but I wasn\u2019t sure exactly how we would get there, so that made it interesting. And, outside of the usual cannot-possibly-get-all-of-that-done-in-just-a-few-days scenario, the rest was actually believable.<\/p>\n \u2019Twas the Date Before Christmas<\/em>\u2014I loved this very different one, with two attractive and believable leads.<\/p>\n Oy to the World<\/em>\u2014This one got an A on just the clever title alone! The story, obvi, includes a synagogue and a church. Of course. Very cute. Being Jewish myself, the girl\u2019s family kept cracking me up. And the guy, Jake Epstein, is a Broadway musical star, so his few tunes here are particularly good.<\/p>\n Mr. X and my famous Christmas Fireplace sweater that we trade off wearing during the holidays. Can you guess how that fireplace keeps going? Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Christmas on My Mind<\/em>\u2014This is yet another silly amnesia tale, but it\u2019s still cute. And I liked that the two significant others of the leads are attractive themselves, and not the usual buffoons.<\/p>\n My Southern Family Christmas<\/em>\u2014I liked it more than Mr. X did, most likely because it’s very different from\u00a0the norm. It stars a very plump young woman, and has just a hint of romance, which is actually a sort-of believable one. And it\u2019s a story of finding her bio dad, which I\u2019ve never seen in a Hallmark movie before. So, I give it credit for all of that.<\/p>\n There is one that I gave a \u201cD\u201d to.\u00a0I actually wanted to give up on\u00a0it early on, but Mr. X found it moderately entertaining, so we finished it. It\u2019s The Mistletoe Inn<\/em>, and not only is the story<\/em> the stupidest, with the ending being easily figured-out in the first few minutes, but the lead actress, Alicia Witt, is just awful. She\u2019s completely devoid of charm, and has zero chemistry with the cute guy lead, David Alpay. We should have seen her falling for him all along, not just when she realizes who he is. And she speaks in such a weird baby-ish manner; her voice is like the proverbial nails on a chalkboard to me. So I suggest you avoid that one at all costs.<\/p>\n But I have to stop that not-kind-for-the-holiday talk now, and tell you that I believe that Hallmark, and some of the other channels, like UP and even the CW, will run the movies until the new year begins. So you still have your chance to catch-up with us a bit. I suggest putting your PJs on right now, and staying in bed or on the couch, watching these movies, for the rest of the holiday! (If only, right?)<\/p>\n Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Even though Mr. X and I don\u2019t exchange presents anymore, nor do I with my pals because of my Christmas loss sadness, (although a few very kind friends still gave me some fabulous ones this year,) there is one easy gift I always ask of you guys, my readers. And you don\u2019t even have to leave the very device you\u2019re reading this on to do it!<\/p>\n So, have you guessed what it is? It’s that I\u2019m hoping that if you don\u2019t already follow me on my social platforms, that you\u2019ll do so now. I hope that will also be somewhat of a\u00a0gift for you<\/em> because then you won\u2019t have to go looking for my new columns every day\u2014they\u2019ll all come right to you! How\u2019s that for a win-win, which we can all use right about now?<\/p>\n Okay, here\u2019s all the info you need to follow me:<\/p>\n X, the former Twitter: @MajorCelebrity<\/strong><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n \u2028FacebookFan Page: It\u2019s Not About Me TV<\/strong>
\n Instagram: majorcelebrity
\nYouTube Channel: www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCF7mwI2jwcB2xB9dBCBxLZg<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n