WHAT I'VE BEEN WATCHING: CHRISTMAS MOVIES

Happy Christmas week! I have some updates on Christmas movies!! Right now we are in it with the Netflix/Hallmark Christmas movies- light-hearted, slightly cheesy rom-coms that we all know and love! I've been watching them while wrapping presents and working on my Christmas puzzle. From my "What I Want to Watch on Netflix: Christmas Movies" post, I checked off both Champagne Problems and A Merry Little Ex-Mas. Both were cute- A Merry Little Ex-Mas definitely has the cheesy moments but I loved getting to see Alicia Silverstone back on the screen! Minka Kelly was also great, she's always so ethereal. I would've liked a little more drama or oomph for the ending of Champagne Problems, however I have no regrets and I liked a lot of the supporting characters. I have similar feelings about A Cowboy Christmas Romance. I think both were just a bit anticlimactic for my liking! 

A pleasant surprise in the mix was Christmas at the Chalet. I started this one on a whim and it's been my favorite one so far! I also had no clue Teri Hatcher was in it until I started watching. She was great- the storyline is really cute and I loved her character! The energy she has in the movie is so bubbly and fun, I was entertained the whole time. Definitely a feel good worth watching. I started A Sprinkle of Christmas because I love any cooking/baking themes but I couldn't really get into this one. 

Switching gears to Amazon, I randomly started A Cinderella Christmas which was so cute! The OG A Cinderella Story is a forever fave but I had zero expectations on what to expect here, definitely a pleasant surprised. I really think that the leading characters can really make or break a film- Emma Rigby's character, Angie, was lovely and really carried the movie IMO. Very charming, sweet and wholesome! 

I think that covers everything I've watched so far... I'm excited to dive into some of the "Classics" next! Every year I also love re-watching all of my faves like Christmas With the Kranks, This Christmas, The Family Stone, etc. 

Wishing you a wonderful week and a Merry Christmas!! - xx. 

WHAT I WANT TO WATCH ON NETFLIX: CHRISTMAS MOVIES

Every year I wait too long to start watching Christmas movies, I usually end up watching more after Christmas than before. I always have big ambitions to tackle both my favorites + new ones, however time seems to slip away. This year I'm pushing myself to start early and we're kicking things off with all new (to me) movies. I perused Netflix and found these starting picks- a few are new 2025 releases and some older additions that look promising!

From the new and trending, my three picks are: Jingle Bell Heist, Champagne Problems and A Merry Little Ex-Mas. I've already heard positive feedback on Jingle Bell Heist which looks cute. I like that the storyline is a bit different than a lot of the Netflix/Hallmark rom-coms, I'm excited to watch! Champagne Problems and A Merry Little Ex-Mas I was pretty much sold on when I saw Alicia Silverstone and Minka Kelly. Alicia will always be my fave!! 

I watched a few different trailers of older movies I've never seen and both A Lot Like Christmas and The Noel Diary made the list. A Lot Like Christmas is giving classic Netflix Hallmark, The Noel Diary is a bit more dramatic. I typically go for lighthearted and fun on Netflix, however the more heartfelt movies usually end up on my favorites list. I like a little bit of sentimentality thrown in there too! 

NETLIX CHRISTMAS MOVIE WATCH LIST

+ Jingle Bell Heist
+ Champagne Problems
+ A Merry Little Ex-Mas
+ A Lot Like Christmas
+ The Noel Diary

Let me know your favorite Christmas movies so I can watch them too!

NEW NETFLIX CHRISTMAS MOVIE RELEASES

Now that it's mid-November and we're in the heart of the holiday season, I'm ready to start binge-watching all things holiday. I live for the cheesy, Hallmark-esque movies that come out on Netflix every year! Cute, lighthearted cheesy romance is always welcome in my book during the holidays. This year Netflix has released some really cute ones I've added to my list + can't wait to watch. I also noticed that some of the new releases are actual Hallmark movies, too! I don't have the Hallmark channel so I'm excited to be able to watch some of those too. Here's what's on my list so far:

2024 NETFLIX CHRISTMAS MOVIE RELEASES

+ Meet Me Next Christmas

+ Our Little Secret 

+ Hot Frosty 

+ Fall Into Winter 

+ A Paris Christmas Waltz 

+ Christmas Island 

+ Christmas in Notting Hill 

+ A Heidelberg Holiday 

These are the top movies on my list so far... I also saw a new season of The Great British Baking Show: Holidays is out too which I always love to watch. For the movies, I'm the most excited for Our Little Secret which comes out at the end of this month! I will always be a LiLo fan and I love that she has another Christmas movie out this year. Ezra's also making an appearance too so I have high hopes! 

Meet Me Next Christmas has been all the rage on TikTok and for good reason- hi, Christina Milian!! I use to love her back in the day. Hot Frosty also looks cute with Lacey Chabert- her Christmas movies are some of my favorites. I was hoping for another Vanessa Hudgens feature too but I haven't seen anything new with her this year. I'll keep you posted on which ones are worth watching! 

What's on your holiday watch list this year?

CHRISTMAS MOVIES I'M WATCHING THIS WEEK

Happy Christmas week, friends!! I'm feeling both excited for the week and a little sad that it's almost over. I never feel like there's enough time to fully enjoy the season-- it comes and goes so fast. I'm still fully committed to accomplishing my to-do list for the week which includes watching as many Christmas movies as possible! So far I'm off to a slow start with only A Castle for Christmas under my belt, however we still have plenty of time to binge watch all week long (and after!). Anyone else enjoy watching Christmas movies through the New Year? It's one of my favorite things! 

I've watched most of my top picks from the new Netflix releases so I'm moving on to the oldies + favorites. JJ and I are *hopefully* going to have a wrapping party sometime this week where we can watch a few together. He has never seen The Holiday and I haven't watched it yet this year so I think that's at the top of the list. I was also excited to find both Just Friends on Netflix and Die Hard on Amazon. I haven't seen either of those in a long time so I'm adding them to the list! Although a little unconventional, they're definitely Christmas movies in my book. 

A few of my favorites like This Christmas and The Family Stone aren't available online which means I probably need to buy them. For now, I'm narrowing it down to these unless I can catch others on tv. 

CHRISTMAS MOVIES I'M WATCHING THIS WEEK

+ The Holiday
+ Christmas With the Kranks
+ The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star
+ Just Friends
+ Home Alone
+ Die Hard

What all are you planning to watch this week? My sister told me I need to watch Emily in Paris because the new season comes out... I think it's holidayish? I also need to watch the Christmas episodes of The Great British Baking Show. I would love to watch it all but I'm trying to keep my list realistic for now. Wouldn't it be great to spend the entire week binge watching everything? Maybe one day, lol! Let me know if I'm missing any of your must-watch movies! 

MOST ANTICIPATED 2021 NETFLIX CHRISTMAS MOVIE RELEASES

Along with new The Great British Baking Show: Holidays episodes, I can't wait for this year's Christmas movie releases on Netflix! Watching Christmas movies is always at the top of my holiday bucket list. I originally planned to share a list with all of my Netflix Christmas favorites, however I quickly realized there are still A LOT that I haven't seen yet. I will have to start binge watching everything for that one! Until then, here are my top picks from this year's new releases. Now that Thanksgiving is coming up, it's the perfect time to start marathoning! Do you usually jump into the holidays before or after Thanksgiving? I don't know if I'll get my decorating started before but I'm ready for it now! 

MOST ANTICIPATED 2021 NETFLIX CHRISTMAS MOVIE RELEASES

+ The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star - Very happy that they decided to continue The Princess Switch movies this year. I love all of the Christmas movies with Vanessa Hudgens and the first two in this series were cute. If you haven't watched any of them, imagine the Netflix Christmas version of The Parent Trap. It's a cute story with friendship + romance thrown in.

+ Love Hard - I had no idea Nina Dobrev joined the Netflix gang until seeing the preview for Love Hard. Her character keeps striking out with the online dating game only to finally find someone who she thinks is the perfect guy. She decides to surprise visit him for the holidays only to get catfished yet again! Before leaving town, she learns THE guy in the online dating profile really exists and lives in the same town as catfishing guy. Catfishing guy then agrees to hook the two of them up (duh!) in what I am confident will be the perfect holiday rom-com we all want! 

+ A Castle for Christmas - This one is the most "Netflixy Christmas" movie out of the bunch. From watching the preview, it is The Holiday meets Scotland. Brooke Shield's character is a successful author whose latest book release flops and receives immense criticism. Naturally, she runs off to Scotland to escape for the Christmas holiday and meets an ill-tempered man. It's a classic "enemies to lovers" theme which we love! I'm already expecting ALL of the cheesiness but I'm here for it! PSA-- The Holiday is also still on Netflix! 

+ A Boy Called Christmas - Alright, I have to give Netflix major props on A Boy Called Christmas. This one looks SO GOOD and will be a great pick to watch with family. It follows a young boy, his pet mouse and Blitzen the reindeer on an adventure to find his father. The trailer for this one blew me away--it has that pure, magical feeling of Christmas to it and definitely looks like it's worth a watch. 

What's your favorite Christmas movie of all time?? LMK so I can watch it too!