The holidays are a breeding ground for alcohol-related cliches. Aunt Pat has too much egg nog and starts hitting on your boyfriend. Your mom gets into the chardonnay and cries over feeling unappreciated. The underage cousins sneak some peach schnapps and throw up under the Christmas tree.
This reality made me think: why should we have to do our holiday drinking in the presence of relatives we only see once a year? Why can’t Christmas night be a time spent drinking with friends the old-fashioned way: in a bar?
I have never …

Some family traditions include a day of board games or venturing out to catch one of the flicks that premiere on Christmas Day. Not mine though. As much as I want to see Sherlock Holmes, it’ll have to wait, because I am a homebody who lives for the one day of the year when I can watch holiday movies and feel normal. When I watch them in June, I feel wrongly judged, but hey, I think Christmas spirit should be sprinkled throughout the year.
Here are the five movies I watch …

Icy Day | Photo by Julie Chapa

Statue on Douglas | Photo by John Fugit

A recent episode of National Public Radio’s Planet Money explored the concept of multiple stores selling the same product or service being located in the same place. In New York, where the show is produced,  there’s a floral district, a jewelry district, even a chess district. (Really, there are chess stores. Who knew?)
It works because customers have heightened awareness of a product or service being available, and the stores complement each other. If you’re seeking a certain rare flower or need an awesome arrangement made, you know you can get …