My Simple Holiday Kickoff: The Newtown Theater and The Miracle on 34th Street

Occasionally I write about local vendors that I like. Occasionally I write about living simplistically. Tonight, I'm doing a combo. This past weekend I spent almost entirely alone. This was by design. For the better part of Saturday and Sunday, I was able to whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

I've spent most of the past month or so convincing myself to enjoy the holiday season. The last few were rocky, and this year I feel that I'm in a good, happy place and want to commit to enjoying my time with my kids and my loved ones. So I've totally thrown myself into the season. I have watched every single Lifetime Christmas special. So many of them have Lauren Holly in it, it's scary. And don't get me started on whatever she's done to her lips. Yikes.



Anyhow, I'm committed. So I have dragged my decorations out, despite that a full box of Halloween decor is waiting in the dining room to go up to the attic. I know one should've been gone before the other moved in. But I kind of like that the dining room is gothic and Halloweenish, and the living room is all 50's kitsch Christmas.  I have absolutely realized that I prefer the 50's Christmas. I love tinsel, I would not be going too far to say I'm obsessed. If there was a tinsel dress, I'd rock it. Yes I would.



I love the big, blinky lights and the antique Christmas balls. In fact, I've started to collect them.  A few years ago, I realized that I'd misplaced my Grandmothers antique ornaments (I hope to find them when I move out). And I was bummed. No. Bummed, with a capital B. So I began to build my own collection.  I've got several from Cape Cod, Colorado and some I stumbled upon this weekend at a flea market.   I like to imagine the joy they've brought people over the years before they came to live with me. And they remind me of my Grandmother and her tree, which is a special memory to me.



I recognize that my love of old ornaments, 50's decor and tinsel is because of the simplicity that it represents. That it seemed easier back then, though I'm sure it wasn't. The women were dressed beautifully, they got dressed for their husbands in swirly pretty dresses and pearls. The husband always sat in their arm chair smiling at his kids. If they were brats, you damn well couldn't tell by his gleaming smile. There was Ralphie and that brother of his...Randy? And the FRAGILE leg lamp. Life was easy.



Regardless of if it was really easier, I like to think it was. So I enjoy it immensely and the simple side of the holiday. And because of this, I took myself to the Newtown Theater in good old Newtown, PA. It's the NATIONS oldest theater. How cool is that?! In December, they offer their annual Christmas Matinees, where they charge $1 or a canned good donation. And they play all the classics. This week was "Miracle on 34th Street", which I realized I'd never seen.



I went in, bought popcorn out of the old-fashioned machine, and got myself movie candy and an orange soda. And I sat and watched Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood change people's perceptions and melt their hearts. And I remembered what I'd forgotten for a few years...that sometimes it's just a matter of believing.