OCD mixtapes...

First things first, please note:  I say "mixtapes" for nostalgic purposes only...obviously with the reign of the digital era, they're not truly mixtapes anymore, but you get my drift. 

So anyone that's been on a roadtrip with me in excess of three hours in either direction knows that I take my mixtapes seriously.    For two reasons, I think: 1) I used to be a music major, and 2) I'm a control freak.  One time, my ex said he made a mix tape for a vacation we were going on...it consisted of a half a dozen Pink Floyd songs, a half a dozen Dave Matthews songs, and a couple of random Bob Marley songs tacked on at the end.  I nearly had a stroke over it.  Putting solid chunks of two different CDs onto one CD together does NOT a mixtape make. 

There are three main considerations when making a mix:  1) Varied tempo and style (nobody wants to listen to what  sounds like the same song over and over again when they're attempting to stay awake while driving), 2) a small number of related but unfamiliar songs mixed with older nostalgic ones, and 3) finding the right songs to evoke the right feelings for the occasion.  I'm telling you...I'm seriously OCD about the whole thing...I could spend hours.  I DID spend hours...back in the day when a mixtape was REALLY on cassette tape and you had to record it in real-time.   Oh, how mp3s have saved hours of my life!

Anyway, so all that said, we're having a holiday CD exchange at work instead of the more traditional gift exchange.  I spent WAY too much time on iTunes looking for just the right music...made extra difficult by the fact that typically they just remake the same couple dozen holiday songs every year instead of ever writing new ones.  That said, I did find a couple of new, non-traditional songs.  My official holiday playlist is as follows:

1) (It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus - Harry Connick, Jr.
2)  All My Bells Are Ringing - Lenka
3)  Someday At Christmas - Jack Johnson
4) Christmas for Cowboys  - Jars of Clay
5) Christmas - Blues Traveler
6) Frosty the Snowman - Fiona Apple
7) Winter Song - Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
8) O Holy Night - Weezer
9)  Carol of the Bells - Emmy Rossum
10) It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Sixpence None the Richer
11) The Heartache Can Wait - Brandi Carlile
12) Winterlove - Parachute
13) Maybe Next Year (X-mas Song) - Meiko
14) All That I Want - The Weepies
15) Baby, It's Cold Outside - Lady Antebellum
16) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Jack Johnson
17) Melekalikimaka - Bette Midler
18) Feels Like Christmas - Cyndi Lauper
19) Zat You Santa Claus - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
20 ) Must Be Santa - Bob Dylan

We're also making cases to hand them out in (see below).  I made mine with the MME Holiday paper, Martha Stewart Scoring Tool, Patterned and solid cardstock, American Crafts ribbon, TPC Studios holiday embellishments:

That's all for tonight!  More soon :)