LAST week, I began sharing my plans to make this holiday season a “purpose-filled” one with gifts and gestures. Let me continue this week with my thoughts on this year’s holiday get-togethers.
The thing I will truly miss this holiday season is gathering with the special people in my life. I have always looked forward to the catch-up especially with my friends’ kids, the new food we try, and the tons of reminiscing. I have realized the true purpose of these gatherings is in us showing gratitude for how we continue to be there for one another after so many decades. That said, I wanted to make sure we all remember this year’s get-togethers as extra-special despite this pandemic.
Below are my recommended tips for virtual get-togethers:
1. INITIATE. Your first gift to your family and friends is to initiate organizing the virtual get-together despite your busy schedule. List down the groups of family and friends you are planning get-togethers with. Since this is virtual, widen your scope to special people you would usually not be able to spend Christmas with due to location. Given the virtual possibility today, your Christmas might even be more meaningful this year by touching base with them.
2. PICK A THEME. This is where your reminiscing starts. Look through past photos and yearbooks. Remember any special name or motto your group might have had. From there, try to make a special virtual background for your get-together. Last weekend, I met up with my high school barkada from Poveda via Zoom. We were supposed to all meet up in New York this coming January. We have not been together as a group since our college days, so the trip was really a much-awaited one. I wanted to at least make our Zoom call a memorable one.
Our barkada name is Amies Pour Jamais, which means “Friends Forever” in French. I found our old studio photos from high school and made a Canva Virtual Background for the call. We had fun remembering when we took the photos plus other fond memories. I also made a Spotify playlist with 1990s songs for a simple game of “Name That Tune.” Before we ended, I found a YouTube karaoke version of our theme song, “Umagang Kay Ganda” (A Very Beautiful Morning), which left us close to tears as we remembered all we have been through together, and proclaimed how we value having each other for all the years to come.
3. PICK A FEAST. Even if you are celebrating in your own homes, it is a good idea to order the same dishes to feel the togetherness. The good thing now is you can actually order different types of food from one group. I found three practical options:
Central Delivery (www.centraldelivery.ph), where you can order your favorites from Popeyes, Kuya J, Landers Central, Da Gianni, Dough & Co., Isla Sugbu Seafood City.
The Moment Group (www.momentfood.com), for a feast from 8 Cuts, Bank Bar, Din Tai Fung, Manam, Mecha Uma, Mess Hall, Mo Cookies, Ooma, Phat Pho, Shawa Wama.
The Party Kitchen (www.thepartykitchen.ph), where you can choose from Oriental, Pinoy Fiesta, Party Kitchen Bestsellers, Wild Western feast packages.
4. MAKE IT FUN. You can never go wrong with simple games. Here are a few ideas from ahaslides.com and party.lovetoknow.com/holiday-party-themes: Ice Breakers—share a hilarious Christmas memory; Alternative Christmas lyrics—offer the first part of a Christmas carol lyric and get everyone to come up with a better ending; Christmas Karaoke—you can create a room on Sync Video, a free, no-sign up service that lets you precisely sync videos so that every attendant of your virtual Christmas party can watch them at the same time; or Watch2Gether—to watch and sing-along to various karaoke videos together; and Virtual Cocktail Hour—from which you can send out three to four mixed cocktail drink recipes to your guests, along with an ingredients list.
Greeting everyone an Advanced Happy “Purpose-Filled” Christmas!