It’s Christmas Day. We’ve collected a simple mobility workout, the top 10 highest rated Christmas movies of all time, an iconic reading from David Sedaris, and Judy the Elf’s famous Hot Chocolate from The Santa Clause (it took her 1,200 years to get it right).
If you are just looking for some background noise today, check out Classic 40s/50s/60s Music, Frame TV Ski Town or Snoopy’s Cozy Campfire (forwarded this email? Join 523k readers who get a little better every day.
TAKE A BREAK
1,200-Year-Old Hot Chocolate
Binging with Babish pursues the perfect hot cocoa from The Santa Clause, testing American, French, Italian, and Viennese methods with varying cocoa powders and chocolates. The Italian version becomes pudding. The Viennese uses egg yolks. It would appear the answer lies in "shaken, not stirred” for hot liquids.
Spend Your Money on Happiness
Psychologists call it the 'hedonic treadmill.' Research reveals smarter spending: purchase time, not things. Hiring cleaning services, ordering takeout, or choosing direct flights reduces time famine and stress. The catch? This works with disposable income. Those with spare cash should prioritize experiences and reclaimed time over material goods.
David Sedaris’ “SantaLand Diaries”
David Sedaris, 33, arrives in New York hoping to write for soap operas and sip cocktails with stars. After failing a UPS interview, he applies to be a Macy's Christmas elf. Despite pitying people dressed as street-corner tacos, he becomes one himself—filling out forms, taking personality tests, submitting urine. Congratulations: you're an elf.
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TODAY’S LIFE ADVICE
Easy Holiday Mobility Workout
While strength matters, Jeff Cavaliere emphasizes mobility and flexibility are more critical as you age. We lose 7% strength per decade, but lose flexibility faster—many can't even stand from crossed legs or touch hands behind their back. Ground-based movements rebuild what you're losing:
Deep squat with flat hands and heels down
Side-to-side and forward/backward squat walks
Reverse crab position with open shoulders
Saw movement for shoulder extension
Bear crawl push-backs for hamstring flexibility
Flexibility without stability increases injury risk—combine both for functional movement and gym performance.
Margot Robbie’s Cocktail Recipes
Margot Robbie, icon and apparently a former bartender, makes cocktails inspired by her favorite films. The list includes Bloody Mary for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Dark and Stormy for Wuthering Heights, Dry Martini for The Thin Man, Singapore Sling for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and of course, a White Russian for ‘The Big Lebowski
CHRISTMAS MOVIES
IMDb’s Top 10
Every family has their favorite Christmas movie that is appointment viewing this time of year, but here’s the top ranked, according to IMDb.
10 - Love Actually (2003)
Click the link to find out where each one is streaming (listed under the teaser on IMDb). We also love The Holdovers (2023), so here’s some underrated Christmas movies that didn’t make the top 10.
Fun Links
Nate Bargatze’s Christmas Special [Video]
Conan O’Brien as department Santa [Video]
Doctor talks all 85 Home Alone injuries [Blog]
Christmas in DisneyLand, 1962 [Archives]
20 Recipes from Christmas leftovers [List]
The Grinch reads his famous book [Video]
Christmas cartoons from 1998 [Video]
Best SNL Christmas skits [Videos]