Tag: holidays

Episodes

Merry Christmas Happy Tuesday

themuglytruth
Santas and Jack
Part Kris’ Santa and Snowman collection with Jack Skellington playing the part of Elf on a Shelf

Happy Tuesday everyone! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Today Kym and Kris talk about personal Christmas traditions, and also announce THE WINNER OF OUR CONTEST!

The winner is FERN ROUINTREE! Check out our photos from our last blog to see the contents, and here’s latest addition to the box:

The TMT mug!
We got the coffee and we get THE MUG! We like the mug! The gift box is almost complete! Just waiting on the TMT coaster.

Today we dive into our personal traditions at Christmas time. There’s the annual ornament purchase:

A glass Santa, the London callbox, the Ron and Harry ornaments and one of the peacock ornaments from last year.
Hayley’s 2018 ornament choice

As well as what to get as stocking stuffers (and when we open them), Christmas Eve pajamas, special feasts, the songs, the movies, and the activities, like making snowflakes to hang around the house, and collecting our favorite Christmas icons (Kris gets a new Santa every year, and Kym is partial to Tomtes).

Snowflakes
It’s snowing in Kris’ household! There’s flakes (of glitter) EVERYWHERE!! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
ITOMTE
Kym’s FAVORITE! A classic Swedish gnome called Tomte.
Santa & Snowman Collection
Part Kris’ Santa and Snowman collection, including her latest tin Santa drummer (bottom right corner).

But one of our favorite traditions both of our families celebrate is to look at Christmas lights in Orange County. There are neighborhoods all over Orange County that go absolutely over the top, but two in our area are Olwyn Dr. in Tustin, CA (Olwyn Dr. and Redhill Ave.), and the historic section of Orange, CA (the Old Towne Orange Holiday Decoration Contest  held by the Old Town Orange Preservation Association).

In Orange, this year’s theme was the Stories and Songs of the Season. Awards are given for various categories, including Most Beautiful, Best Use of Lights, Most Whimsical, etc. And while it’s something residents throughout historic Orange participate in, it seems that one of the awards (Best Block) consistently goes to Pine St. (and deservedly so). Parking and walking (or driving very slowly) is something both our households look forward to participating in every year. If you’re interested in leaving the driving to someone else, you can ride on the trolley to see the lights in style.

Some of the families in both neighborhoods even offer up candy canes, hot cocoa, and bags of popcorn to go with the music, lights, and lots and lots of happy people oohing and aahing all over the place. If you’re in the area definitely check out these neighborhoods.

Some highlights from Pine Street:

Old Orange Decorations 5
One of the more fantastic homes (even without decorations) on Pine Street in historic Orange, CA
Old Orange Decorations 7
ITOMTE! Kym’s FAVORITE!!
Old Orange Decorations 1
The theme on Pine Street in historic Orange, CA was Stories and Songs of the Season, and this family chose “Elf”
IMG_1654
One of the many award-winning home decorations on Pine Street in the historic area of Orange, CA. This family always decorates with bears, and they had Winnie the Pooh to tie in with the theme.

Old Orange CA Decorations 8

Old Orange Decorations 3
One of the many award-winning home decorations on Pine Street in the historic area of Orange, CA. This celebrates the song “Winter Wonderland”.
Old Orange Decorations 2
One of the many award-winning home decorations on Pine Street in the historic area of Orange, CA. This family did a bang up job with their “Home Alone” theme.
Old Orange Decorations 1
This place. Unbelievably cool. Amazingly so. Don’t know what their theme was. Doesn’t matter. Winner winner chicken dinner you get the trophy because SPECTACULAR.
Old Orange Decorations 4
The lovely gentlemen still participated with decorations (he and his wife lovingly decorated with the rest of Pine Street in historic Orange, CA every year), even with a broken heart. 

Check out our MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY TUESDAY episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2018 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2018. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com
Episodes

Black Friday Hangover

themuglytruth
Kris and Kym in Old Orange, CA
Just sitting here behind the store keeping the thieves away. And drinking coffee of course. Always drinking coffee. Photo by Kimberly Sickel, @riverdeer at 500px

Happy Tuesday! In today’s episode of The Mugly Truth, Kris and Kym talk about the lengths people will go to to save a buck buying stuff the day after being so grateful for all the stuff they already have. Yep, it’s the episode about the day after Thanksgiving in America: a strange retail phenomenon called Black Friday where people sleep in tents and stand in line for hours in front of stores waiting for them to open at unnatural hours, and employees who run for their lives (literally) after unlocking the doors to let those insa…erm…hearty people inside.

First of all, let’s take a moment to shout out to REI who not only closes on Thanksgiving, but also does not open for the madness on Black Friday. WOOT REI!

Gifts at the ready
Shopping for Christmas can be fun and lovely, even on Black Friday if you’re a savvy shopper, or lucky. Or maybe totally insane. But go ahead, you go. We’ll be over here drinking coffee. 

So, some might enjoy the excitement of finding that perfect gift at deeply discounted prices – let’s face it, the deals are definitely amazing – and there ARE people all over the country who shop on Black Friday as a fun adventure and treat others respectfully while they shop.

But damn, there are also a small number of people who will drive over you in the parking lot to steal that newly acquired toy from your almost-dead hand.

Think we’re kidding? Go to blackfridaydeathcount.com (yep it’s a thing) to find out just how volatile the need to get more stuff for less money can get. Unfortunately, there are too many news reports riddled with videos of people brawling for a flat screen television…

…the…

…day…

…after…

…THANKSGIVING!

Mob stampeding, fist fights, grabbing, kicking, stealing and even shooting or stabbing, the day after we celebrate our national day of thankfulness. If it wasn’t so disgusting we’d be laughing our asses off at the irony of it all.

Kym was a BF shopper back in the day (when it was a bit more relaxed), because the woman has no problem waking up at 5 a.m. regardless of not needing to get up that early (seriously, what the heck Kym. What. The. Heckfire?!?), and enjoyed the thrill of the hunt! But as the years progressed, and the need for Rent-A-Fences and corraling shoppers grew, Kym decided it’s not as fun as it used to be.  Kris NEVER liked Black Friday shopping, avoids going outside at all costs the day after Thanksgiving and prefers shopping in cyberspace (if at all) on Black Friday. See, it involves pajamas, coffee, couch, pillows, and quiet…sweet, serene, empty, madness-free quiet. Brick and mortar stores are better saved for Grey Saturday or Ecru Sunday, or Taupe Tuesday as far as she’s concerned.

Kym talks (a little too informed, Kris thinks) about the current state of theft schemes nasty crooks are up to lately, which segues into a discussion about assho…not nice people who follow delivery trucks around and steal packages off people’s doorsteps. The best part is they’re usually too stupid to realize (or care) their mugs (not the coffee kind) are on video surveillance. Well, we guess if they were thinky folk they might actually have jobs. (Yes, you’re right. Thinky is not a word.)

Of course, we wrap up the episode talking about the best way to deter those jer…not nice people. Hint: it involves exploding boxes of…well, you’ll just have to listen to find out.

Cyber shopping
Cyber shopping keeps you out of the Black Friday crowds, but then you have to deal with doorstep thieves.

Check out our Black Friday Hangover episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2018 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2018. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com
Location photo by Kimberly Sickel, @riverdeer at 500px