Contributors
What gets
you in
the holiday
spirit?
MOLLY SHUSTER
Food Stylist, New York
Snow. Wooly hats and scarves.
An open fire. Roasted chestnuts.
A tree dressed in lights. Mariah
Carey’s Christmas album. And
some mistletoe, if I am lucky.
COLIN COOKE
Photographer, New York
Sitting in a comfortable chair, cat
in my lap, in front of a fire with a
wintery drink close by...
LAURA KATHLEEN MAIZE
Copy Editor, Toronto
Homemade chai lattes, ginger
cookies, and the Charlie Brown
Christmas album.
ALEXANDRA GRABLEWSKI
Photographer, New York
As soon as they start putting out
the evergreens for sale on the
streets, and the city smells like
pine, my mind goes to Christmas.
One of my favorite things about
the season are the scents–the
trees, the baking, spiced wine or
cider simmering on the stove... it
just puts me in a great mood.
JIM HENSLEY
Photographer and Writer, Oslo
When I was a kid in Miami we
would go buy a tree the weekend
after Thanksgiving. We never
found one already packed out, so
the poor man would have unpack
many trees for my indecisive
family. One year a packed in
tree... which probably came
from the hills North Carolina...
dropped a handful of snow on
our sneakers when he cut the
cord. It was the only time we
saw real snow in Miami. My
sister balled it up and threw it at
me. Now, in Norway, snow and
cold are really the first signs of
the holiday season. It’s a good
excuse for staying indoors as the
first snow falls, and then being
amazed the next morning at the
sight of a new-born world.
DANA GALLAGHER
Photographer, New York
I love Christmas time. Pulling
out Christmas decorations,
preparing for our annual
Christmas party (which now
takes place on Christmas eve.)
We always cut down our own tree
with a group of friends in upstate
NY. My daughter Imogen and I
have a kid crafting party every
holiday season for all her friends
where we make ornaments for
their parents and grandparents.
It’s December mayhem–cooking
and crafting for about a month
around our house and then come
Christmas day we just lay around
and stuff ourselves!
STURLA BAKKEN
Photographer, Oslo
Time off from work, snow,
Christmas carols, shopping
for presents and preparing
good food, all contribute to the
wonderful feeling of Christmas.
But the best part is when my
two boys and I go up in the attic
to get our old cardboard boxes
of Christmas ornaments. The
excitement is tangible, when
we check the boxes in the dark
to see if the mice have feasted
on them since last year. “No,
no mice this year either,” we
call downstairs, and then we all
decorate for Christmas
