Christmas Picks of the Week

Movie: Home Alone Directed by Chris Columbus

The 1990 instant Christmas classic Home Alone was a staple of many of our young holiday seasons, and continues to be today, thanks to TV networks who believe in showing the same movies over and over again once December hits (I'm looking at you, TBS). Written by the late and great John Hughes, Home Alone gives us a slapstick comedy about a young boy named Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) who is accidentally left, well, home alone when his family takes off for a holiday vacation to France. Kevin must learn to fend for himself, and also protect his home from two bumbling burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern). This is the movie that launched little Culkin into superstardom and taught us the proper way to converse with delivery people ("Keep the change, ya filthy animal!").

Music: Kristin Chenoweth A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas Sony

I'll admit it; I don't own many Christmas CDs, with the constant barrage of Christmas music that you can find on the radio at any time after Thanksgiving. However, Kristin Chenoweth's A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas is a sweet collection of Christmas songs that provide a nice middle ground between the excessively upbeat Mariah Carey favorite of the holiday season and the old, crusty Christmas classics. Chenoweth has a beautiful voice that lends itself well to Christmas tunes such as "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Silver Bells." If you're at all a fan of Chenoweth, I'd recommend this album.

Book: How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss Random House

Young siblings and cousins will no doubt have this Dr. Seuss Christmas classic in tow at family dinners across America, creating a perfect opportunity to reconnect with your inner child by reading it out loud to them. The grouchy Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small, hates Whoville's Christmas celebrations and decides to steal all of the presents to keep Christmas from coming. To his surprise, Christmas comes anyway, and he learns that the true meaning of the holiday has nothing to do with gifts. If you have to resort to cheating and just watching the movie, make sure it's the original cartoon version, none of that bad Jim Carrey remake nonsense (unless you're looking to make fun of a very young Jenny from Gossip Girl, of course).