The Chicks on the Case are signing off for the holidays to spend time with family and friends, read books and eat cookies. We’ll be back in 2018 with fun posts, some new special guests — and some new book releases! Until then, we wish each of you the very best of the season and much happiness in the New Year. In the meantime, here’s a little holiday quiz to get you in the spirit. Share your answers in the comments below!

1. When it comes to the Christmas tree:

1. Only green
2. White, pink, silver — I want glamour
3. Only a live tree will do
4. What tree?

2. When it comes to outdoor decorations:

1. Multi-color lights on the house
2. Tasteful white lights outlining the house and windows
3. Just a wreath on the door
4. Lights, figurines and inflatables — a Griswold Christmas

3. When wrapping holiday gifts:

1. Hand-crafted paper, curled ribbon and invisible tape
2. Store-bought paper and maybe a bow
3. Gift bags for everybody!
4. They can open the Amazon box themselves, right?

4. As for my gift shopping:

1. I shop all year long, buying the perfect gift when I see it
2. I hit the Black Friday sales and do battle for the last door buster
3. I buy everything online and have it shipped to my door —or theirs
4. Which stores are open after 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve?

5. On listening to holiday music:

1. 24/7 from Thanksgiving onward
2. Only at parties or in the car
3. I think there’s a choir at church on Christmas Eve
4. Bah humbug!

6. If Santa’s really kept an eye on me this year:

1. I’ll get one small gift
2. Santa will be carrying a sleighful of loot down the chimney
3. I’ll get a lump of coal
4. Santa will be begging for an invite to my holiday party!

 

Cynthia Kuhn

1. When it comes to the Christmas tree: Live tree, usually an explosion of mismatched ornaments and colors, but we just moved a few months ago and can’t find the box, so this year it’s just a tree with lights.  2. When it comes to outdoor decorations: I dream of a tasteful wreath on the door but we’ve got a bunch of different lights plus one inflatable rotating polar bear (have been hoping that thing would break for years but it just keeps going, argh).  3. When wrapping holiday gifts: Line up those gift bags! They keep me sane. We’ve been using the same ones forever. #yay4recycling 4. As for my gift shopping: If it’s not available online, you’re probably not getting it.  5. On listening to holiday music: The old holiday playlists go into heavy rotation during Christmas week (especially during gift-wrapping and Christmas-cookie-baking). 6. If Santa’s really kept an eye on me this year: He’ll let me take a day off. Please? Just one would be great.

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Lisa Q. Mathews

1. When it comes to the Christmas tree: Only green AND only a live tree will do. (It’s kind of a rule in NH, since we have trees to spare). Other absolute musts: super pine-y smell, rotund shape, pitch optional.  2. When it comes to outdoor decorations: I love white (in Ireland they call them fairy lights), but we currently have a single line of retro, multi-colored bulbs strung along the roof of our pine-y house. (My husband puts them up, so I don’t argue.)  3. When wrapping holiday gifts: I recycle pretty Christmas wrap and store it all year, just like my mom did. But she was a champion department-store wrapper, back when there was such a thing. Me…not so much. But I have ribbon and little cards that go back to my nana’s day. 4. As for my gift shopping: Which stores are open after 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve? (Hint: almost all of them. Go for it—it’s fun! People who shop this way are never stressed (or else they thrive on it, like me). Everyone is in a good mood and it’s mostly guys (they rarely cut in line). 5. On listening to holiday music: I keep a whole bag of festive Christmas CDs in my car. I also listen to a station that plays classics starting right after Halloween. But only in the car, by myself, because my husband is NOT a fan. 6. If Santa’s really kept an eye on me this year: I’ll get a lump of coal. (Wait, I’m the only one? LIARS.) I haven’t been bad, exactly. Just a little less productive than I could have been.

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 Ellen Byron

1. When it comes to the Christmas tree: only green. A fake tree we’ve had for what, twenty years? It sheds its plastic needles and some of the pre-installed lights are out, but my husband’s a whiz at maneuvering it so you’d never know. 2. When it comes to outdoor decorations: White, because I like to pretend I have class. We were going to pass on our usual tableau of tree and reindeer, but our neighbors begged us to put it up.  3. When wrapping holiday gifts: it’s all about beat-up gift bags and wrapping paper I’ve re-used for years. Some of it’s literally disintegrating, so guess who’s going to Michael’s with a coupon tomorrow? 4. As for my gift shopping: it’s a combo of A,C, and D. The one thing I NEVER do is hit a Black Friday sale. That’s the eighth rung of hell in my book. On listening to holiday music: I have a CD collection I used to play from Thanksgiving on, but now I just listen to the all-Christmas radio station in the car. #oldandtired. 5. If Santa’s really kept an eye on me this year: he’ll give our kid four years of college tuition and save us from penury.

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Vickie Fee

1. When it comes to the Christmas tree: This year it’s “What tree? 2. When it comes to outdoor decorations: Just a wreath on the front door. Haha – not even that. We didn’t even put up a tree, remember? 3. When wrapping holiday gifts: A combo of store-bought wrap, gift bags and Amazon boxes. (No hand-crafted paper goes without saying). 4. As for my gift shopping: I buy almost everything online. Although I have been known to make the Christmas Eve dash for that present I forgot or that didn’t get delivered in time. 5. On listening to holiday music: 24/7 from Thanksgiving onward! My husband’s a patient man. 6. If Santa’s really kept an eye on me this year: A sleighful of loot down the chimney. (A girl can dream)!

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Kellye Garrett

1. When it comes to the Christmas tree: What tree? If I do feel an urge to see a tree, I’ll visit my mom’s house. 2. When it comes to outdoor decorations: Just a wreath on the door. I live in an apartment building. So although my building is decorated, I can take no credit.  3. When wrapping holiday gifts: Store bought wrapping paper. However, I make sure my wrapping paper has a theme (This year’s is red.) I also will use multiple bows, thankyouverymuch. And I l did make a point to go to Staples just to get invisible tape.  4. As for my gift shopping: I’m also #TeamOnline. I bought 99.99999% of my gifts on Amazon and Target, who’s giving Amazon a run for their money with free two-day shipping this holiday season. 5. On listening to holiday music: Only at parties or in the car. I should add an asterisk to say also only at work. I work for the company that owns iHeartRadio so we play one of our Christmas stations in the office.  6. If Santa’s really kept an eye on me this year: Santa will be begging for an invite to my holiday party! I was on my best behavior all year. I swear.

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Marla Cooper

When it comes to the Christmas tree: I have a fake green tree that has served us well, but this question has left me dreaming of a fake silver or pink tree! When it comes to outdoor decorations: Just a wreath on the door. (Literally the least I could do!) When wrapping holiday gifts: Beautiful paper I bought the year before at the Container Store’s half-off after-Christmas sale. As for my gift shopping: This year, after being sick for two weeks of prime shopping time, I have to admit Amazon saved the day! On listening to holiday music: Mostly Bah Humbug, although I do have a playlist of Christmas music I love. If Santa’s really kept an eye on me this year: I’ll take the sleigh-full of loot, a la Santa Baby (the Eartha Kitt version, of course).

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Readers, now it’s your turn:  how do you handle the cheers and chores of the holidays?