Happy Holidays! Our showrunner Tim Palazzola joins the show with a game of Secret Celebrity Holiday Traditions. We look back at a year of interviews, and quiz the hosts on who loves mulled cider, who looks forward to Christmas cookies, whose kids get double the presents, and more!
Hello Sunshine.
Hey fam, have you ever wondered how your favorite celebrities are celebrating this holiday season? Today we're sharing some never before heard clips of our favorite celebrity guests talking about their enduring holiday traditions. And here's the thing about today's show, a lot of this is actually going to be quite a surprise for me and Danielle. Our showrunner, Tim is back to play a game we're calling secret celebrity Holiday Traditions.
It's Monday, December twenty thirty.
I'm Simone Boyce, I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to share women's stories, laugh, learn and brighten your day. On My Mind Monday is brought to you by missus Myers Clean Day inspired by the goodness of the Garden. Okay, we're just a couple days away from Christmas and Hanukkah and I'm feeling the magic of the holidays.
Are you feeling sparkly?
Oh?
Yes?
And my Christmas tree is so sparkly too. It's covered in tinsel, which is my favorite holiday accessory.
Simone.
I feel like the holidays probably have taken on a whole new meeting for you as a mom. Do your kids do Christmas lists? Are they old enough for that? They definitely have desires and wants, they're old enough for that. They basically we sit down together and we look for toys online and they tell me, oh, I want this, I want this, I want this. But this is the first year that they're actually I've seen them engaged in Christmas in a way that I haven't seen before.
So that's really energizing for me.
That's so fun.
How about you, Danielle, what does your family do to make Hanka special?
Well, we're scattered across the country in a lot of different states. My parents are in Florida, my brother's in Chicago, my grandmother's in Florida. We have some relatives in Austin and New York. So usually the first night of Hanukkah, we all get on a zoom and we'll light the minora together and like sing the prayers and laugh and joke around. When I was younger, my grandmother would throw a Hanukkah party every year, which was so much fun. We would sit around in a circle and like everyone would open gifts and there was music. But now we're all scattered, so it's a big virtual celebration.
I just went to a Hanuka party this weekend and I was playing with the drad OL's are so much fun.
I love it. I was like, why don't we get a game on Christmas? You guys have a game.
We got to get something that's not that's not interactor. Come on, I'm dying to decorate a tree next year. I'm inviting myself to your tree decoration.
Yes, absolutely sure. You don't want to come for tree takedown. I swear it's just as fun.
You know what, It's so crazy that you mentioned that I am.
I'm going to be busy that day. I'm getting a haircut. Oh so I can't sure. But next Christmas I'll decorate with you. Okay, I'm curious what you do the night before Christmas? Do you have a Christmas Eve tradition?
Well, here's the thing. I'm only like four years into motherhood, so this is all very new to me, and I'm realizing now that I've got to start implementing my own holiday traditions because otherwise my kids will be in therapy over it. So I've decided that I think what we're going to do on Christmas Eve is a game night, right, You know when we played that game with Lizzie where we were trying to get the bows out of the bowl with the spatulor Yes, I will never forget that we were all so bad at it. Yes, So there's like this silly Christmas game that we played together where you're trying to lift bows out of a bowl with a spatula and it's so hard to do. I just want to orchestrate a game night like that.
Wait, I'm sorry, Christmas game, Christmas game, you have a game?
See this is I am. I'm turning my pain into power here. You know I love well.
Today we're in for a little treat because, in addition to sharing our family traditions, we're also celebrating the holiday traditions of some of our favorite celebs.
Yes, and today is going to be very special because we have a very special guest. So, unbeknownst to us, our showrunner Tim has been secretly and mysteriously gathering the holiday traditions of our favorite celebrity guests. And apparently he's turned it in to a game for us.
What a sneaky little elf on the shelf. He's joining us in just a moment. But it is Monday, so we're gonna start with and on my mind Monday, and I came across this article that I think is perfect for today. Chancy Dunn, who writes the Well newsletter for the New York Times, reached out to all of her readers and asked the question, what are your offbeat traditions? And when I tell you her readers delivered, I have to share some highlights.
So this.
One reader revealed that she takes her family to the zoo every year on Thanksgiving and apparently she and her family watched the zoo keepers rub peanut butter on the glass for the grizzly bears.
That's what they get excited about.
Wow. Another reader said every Christmas morning, her family eats fried oysters yum and takes a shot of apple brandy.
Now that's a tradition. I can get behind fried oysters and apple brandy.
I love it. Were there any others? Yeah?
One reader even invented a gift game which maybe you'll like simone. She calls it the Stinky Game, where she and her family run around the house and wrap up the worst thing they can find.
That game was created by a Toddler. I can guarantee you.
Also like what happens. Then do they wrap it? It's like white elephant. Everybody picks one and then they put it back in the house where it belongs.
Or do they keep the stinky item? I think it should go out of the person's hands and into the garbage can.
I brought this article up because Jana cites a Harvard professor, doctor Michael Norton, who researched family holidays, and he said that families who have rituals are more likely to brave the hectic travel and traffic to actually gather. Those who don't have rituals are less likely to come together.
And I loved that.
That's really fascinating.
I know, I feel like it must give people something to look forward to.
I feel like it's becomes like a glue for the family. If there's consistency and a ritual that everyone looks forward tom, that's definitely going to bring people together. It makes a lot of sense.
I always think like I can't wait to go to my Grandma's for her matso well soup, or I can't wait to light the candles for Hanukah because there's a certain hala that I'm looking forward to eating. Mine revolve around food apparently, and this is the first year of our show, so I feel like we have to start our own tradition this holiday, one that's going to connect us to all of our bright side busties for years to come.
After the break, Tim Palazola is joining us to talk celebrity holiday traditions.
Thanks to our partners at missus Myers. When it comes to cleaning, it's more fun if it smells like the garden. Missus Meyers collection of household products, Smell, grate and pack a punch against dirt and grime. Visit missus Meyers dot com.
And we are back. Y'all.
Please welcome our fabulous showrunner, Tim Palazola with a very special game of secret celebrity holiday traditions.
Welcome Tim, Ho ho ho. We made it to see you all. Thank you so much for having me on the show again. It's always so much fun.
We're so happy you're back.
Okay, So Danielle and I just shared our holiday traditions. What is your most offbeat tradition in the Palasola household.
Growing up in the Palasola household, there were a couple of things that we used to do every year that I love spending the holidays with my family. It's always so poignant because every year on Christmas Eve, we would make homemade pizza and we would load up the station wagon and we would drive around and look at all the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. So that was always really magical for me. As we got older, we loved leaning into gag gifts for each other, and there were always like dumb things that were like top of mind, like for a little bit. My mom was obsessed with bacon, so one year everyone gave her like bacon stuff, so bacon ornament or a bacon scented candle, or bacon tea towels. My dad was obsessed with the squirrel and the bird feeder, so one year we gave him a bunch of squirrel stuff. So I got him a giant squirrel blanket, a giant like squirrel picnic table. And so we're just like super super fun. I actually brought something. My brothers and I loved to give each other offbeat things. We'll have you all described them for the audience, because I know that they can't. Oh my god, but these are salt and pepper shakers. Will you describe them?
For this not anaxcorrated show? Are we even allowed to describe this?
We can do it?
Who Simone, you said your word of the year was desire.
I think you should describe these.
And I clarified it was not sexual in nature, unlike these pigs. Are they pigs or are they cows? They see their cows. My brother got me a salt and pepper shaker. They are two cows, and one cow seems to be mounting the other one from behind.
And I will say not to be outdone by my other brother who the same year gave me peggy banks of pigs.
You're kidding? Separately, they did? They They separately thought this was funny.
They separately thought this was funny. So I know you can't see them, but it is two pigs. They're actual piggybanks, and one of them is mounting the other. My mother was horrible, But this is the type of silliness, some of the offbeat stuff that I think kept our family coming together for many years around Christmas.
The Palazola Brothers sound hilarious.
It's a good good time.
Okay, So you said that your mom was mad at your brothers. But your mom was mad at you recently because you told the whole world on the podcast that she fed you fruity pebbles for breakfast. And I just want to say welcome to the club, because I get a call from my mom minimum once a week reciting something I said about her on the podcast.
Putting her on blasts. Well, last time we were, last time I was on the show, we popped off. We talked about whether you were a snack household or an ingredient household, and I revealed that in my house, fruity pebbles was a healthy breakfast. My mom caught and she said, I cannot believe you put me on blast. You made me sound like the worst mother in the world. And I was like, Mom, we were just kidding. She goes, I know, but you couldn't have let them know that we at least had one vegetable on the house and I said, yes, covered in cheese and butter every chanswer. Now I'm doubling dumb.
No.
She was a great spirit about it, but she said, you forgot the most important thing about breakfast cereal. My favorite cereal was Lucky Charms. So I just wanted to give Debbie pala Zola a shout out for Lucky Charms being her favorite cereal.
Okay, well, I guess I'm the Daughter of the Year because my mom never gets mad at me for things that I say on the show.
So maybe you're not sharing enough.
Yeah, twenty twenty five, we're going to start pulling it out of you.
Don't try to bring me down with you.
Okay, Tim, The reason why you're here is because you've secretly been recording on the side with our celebrity guests and gathering their holiday traditions. And you turned it into a game too, which is so fun. So how do we play Secret Celebrity Holiday Traditions?
Okay, here we go. So after our interviews, I've been staying on with our guests and I've been asking them a couple questions. One of them is what are your favorite holiday traditions? So here's how Secret Celebrity Holiday Traditions works. I'm going to give you a clue from what the celeb said about their holiday tradition, and then I'm going to give you three celeb options. You're going to have to guess who it is.
Okay, I think we're ready to play.
I want everyone to know that, Simone and I have no idea what anybody said.
So this is on the spot, Tim, who's up first?
All right, up first? This celeb told us that her husband is Jewish, so she loves spoiling their children with double the presence. Name that secret celeb? Was it Connie Chung, Regina King or Michelle Kwan?
This is one hundred percent Connie Chung. Connie Chung, You're off to a good start.
It is Connie Chung. And here's what she had to say about her favorite holiday tradition.
Since my husband is Jewish and I didn't convert, I used to always celebrate Christmas. We do both, and it was great for our son, who would get presents, you know, for every night of Hanukah and then get presence on a Christmas Eve.
Yep.
Everybody needs a Maury or a mentor.
Everyone needs a Moury or a mentor. I remember watching the two of you interview, Connie. What our listeners didn't hear is that? Do you want to tell them that? That's?
Oh my god. Yeah, she kind of had a bone to pick with you.
She had a major bone to pick with me. I was we were all recording remotely, and I happened to be wearing a shirt that had like a little fray around the collar, and she would put her glasses on and lean in to look at the screen, and she couldn't get past the fact that my shirt had a little freight in it. And Danielle, I don't know if you remember coming to my defense.
Well, it was a Buck Mason T shirt and it was a very nice, somewhat expensive T shirt that laid very and listen, you can't see Tim, but he has the kind of shoulders that a T shirt dreams of. Okay, a T shirt lays perfectly on Tim Pallizola's shoulders. I had a girlfriend in college who like that was one of her criteria for meeting a man, was like, the T shirt had to lay nice. It lays nice. So Connie really had a phone to.
Pick with you.
It was sort of like a grandfather who gets mad at Rip Jean's exactly.
But we have a little never before heard clip after the interview and after I asked her about her holiday tradition, this is what she had to say to me, Thank you so much. It's such a joy to have. You have no idea what an honor. It is for you to thank you.
Solled can I get you a new T shirt for Christmas?
Is ruthless?
Honestly, Tim, I think you should take her up on her offer.
Who doesn't want a T shirt from Connie?
Could you imagine if I was anywhere and I was like, oh my god, someone goes, oh, I love your shirt, and I'm like, yeah, it's from conn Could you even read in?
Okay, who's up next to him?
All right? This celeb described herself as a foodie and said that around the holidays, she loves foods like tamales and pisole. Name that secret celeb? Was it cheekyse Mikaela J. Rodriguez or Camilla Alvis McConaughey.
I'm going Cheeky's real click Cheeky's. I know, Camila Alvis McConaughey is Brazilian. I'm gonna go with Cheeky's too. All right, let's see who it is.
My favorite holiday traditions, Oh my goodness, so definitely I love especially around Christmas. I like thea malas. I'm Mexican, so I love damalas and bosole. My favorite thing is I'm a foodie, so I love to eat, and of course spending time with family and watching movies and being in our pgs.
Oh it's my favorite.
Yep, you're right. It was singer and TV personality Cheeky's.
She's like a warm hug. I loved her.
She really is a warm hug. She was so nice. I mean, when you all talked with Cheeky's, I was just blown away by how like for someone to have stepped up to be a matriarch after her mother passed away was just so incredible. This is a little bit of an Asida. But years ago, I worked for a company that did talk shows and her mom, Jenny, was someone that we were in talks with to have her own talk show, and then she passed away. So I'm so sad. But I think Cheekey's used to be in a couple of those meetings, and I remember because I remember a little girl and she would be there on like a little notebook. So it's my fun fact about Cheeky's.
Okay, Tim, who's up next?
All right? This celeb said that she loved picking out the tree, but admitted that she was lazy when it came to decorating it. Name that secret celeb was it Eve tig nataro or Jessica Bile.
I'm going Eve for sure.
I'm going tog nataro.
Ooh okay, finally we got a little bit of tension. Let's see who it is.
Some of my favorite holiday traditions are definitely buying the tree, like going to pick the tree, especially now with my son is so sweet. I don't need to decorate. I just want the tree. I let my husband decorate because I'm lazy. And then when everybody's off and you can be in pajamas and watch Christmas movies.
Elf is not Christmas until I watch Elf.
Danielle, you nailed it. You were right. It's Eve Nice.
I knew it because here's the thing Jessica Bile in my mind from we get to feel these people's energy from their interviews. Jessica Bile is definitely doing all the things. She is decorating the tree, She's spearheading it like she is.
She's doing all the things for Eve.
I knew based on how she decorated her office that she cared about the aesthetic, but she wasn't gonna put all the time, and she's gonna let someone else do that.
I would happily decorate her tree if I could spend time with her.
Tim, if you were straight, I would have thought that was sexual.
He has some salt and pepper cows to put.
Love a good holiday euphemism.
So okay, Tim, who do we got next?
All right? Next up, we had a handful of celebs talk about decorating Christmas cookies, but one in particular had an affinity for the Christmas shaped ones. Name that celeb? Was it Melissa joan Hart, Jenny Garth or Jewel.
I'm gonna go with Jenny Garth.
I'm going Melissa joon Hart.
All right, let's see who it is.
I love baking sugar cookies, like you know, the cutout kind, and I seeing them and then putting all the sprinkles on them, and like making the snowman and the star and the tree. Those are fun. The trees are so fun to decorate.
Simone points to you. It was it was Jenny Garth.
Simone.
We're one and one, one and one right now? How do we win? This is the question? Off a day.
Yeah, one salt pepper shaker.
Oh my god, I want the bank.
Oh my god, I love that she talked. There were a handful of celeb that talked about making cookies. That was something we did in my family a lot. Simoni, are you a cookie making family?
Yes?
My oven has been repaired, so I planned to be. I aspire to be. Over the next couple of weeks, we have been watching Great British Baking Show and to my surprise and delight, my four year old son is obsessed with it. So now we have a show that we can watch together and they have the Christmas edition, which is so fun. So I'm feeling creatively inspired by Great British Bakers.
Oh, I love that. I also ask Jenny how she made the holidays Mary and Brightside take a listen.
I feel like just really being present with my family, and they're so present with me. It's like the one that week, and I usually always try to take them somewhere fun for a little getaway before they have to go back to school or whatever, back to work.
That's the real magic of the holidays is just being present. Yeah, that's what it's all about. I'm having so much fun. This next one has to do with a holiday sent Yeah.
Yes, up. Next, this's favorite holiday tradition had to do with the scent exactly, specifically the scent of muld cider. Name that celeb was it Jojo, Fortune, Fimestir or Helle Barry?
This is hard mold cider.
I'm gonna go with Fortune.
I feel like is mold Southern.
It's Southern, it's European, it's New York.
I do think it's Fortune, but I'll go Jojo, just to make this fun.
Okay, we got some tension, all right, Let's see who it was.
My favorite holiday traditions are mould cider. I love that smell so much, in a candle form, in a drinkable form. If you want to spike it, I certainly wouldn't judge you.
So yeah. I love that.
My family would cut down a Christmas tree every year. But maybe since I'll be home for the holidays in Massachusetts, maybe we'll do that this year. I think that's such a nice thing to have a real live tree.
Jojo. It was Jojo.
Guys, I have a backache.
My back hurts from carrying this team.
Cuche touche. You are in the lead. It was an accidental lead, Jojo.
I've just love seeing her explode back onto the scene recently.
I'm so thrilled for her. She deserves every bit of this.
Well, I feel like this.
Throughout the year of recording with people, Simon and I have gotten to live out some of our like teenage fantasies and is that the right word for it. Maybe that sounds wrong, some of our teenage dreams, and Jojo was a part of that for us.
We were both such big fans of hers.
I was going to say, that was the first time I saw the two of you really really like super fanned out.
We fan girl over her.
Yeah, whenever, Yeah, he was so incredible, And she's in Mulan Rouge in Broadway. I would spike some old cider, walk around New York and go see Mulan Rouge.
I got to see Mulon Rouge, but I thought I was going to get to see Jojo in it.
The one night I went to go see it, there was an understudy. It was still amazing, but I thought I was going to get to see her. That's a bad trait of.
All things, right, all right, we have one more? Okay ready? Yes, lastly, this celeb said her family was meat people and loved smoked ham that had been hanging in the window. All right, name that secret celeb. Was it Jada de Larentis, Leanne Morgan or restauranteur Ozma Khan.
Okay, you did a really good job putting these people together, because like, those are the three who it might be? I'm going Jada, I feel like Italians hang meat in the window.
It's like an old Italian tradition.
Is that a euphemism?
Right?
It's like to go to the to the butcher and stuff.
Yeah, all right, so you say, Jada, Simone, who say you?
I agree? I agree.
I think it's a European thing to hang meat in a window and eat it.
All right, let's see who it was.
My favorite holiday traditions are buying a country ham at Christmas that has hung in a smokehales, which sounds gross, for several days, and then we eat on it all Christmas because we're mate paper.
That was comedian Leanne Morgan. Oh my god, she was so funny. I love her growing up in the South, as I know, Simone, I know you spent some time in the South. Like hearing that accent, hearing her tell her story that to me felt like a hug. That interview. I loved her. She was so incredible. She had us laughing. So many of our guests had us laughing all year long. But I also asked Leanne Morgan how she disconnected for the holidays. She had me in stitches. Take a listen to what she said.
I disconnect and unwine at the holidays by getting in the band with a bagele watching TV shows.
Honey, maybe murder.
You know, nothing like a little Christmas murder, not being like a little Christmas murder mystery DOCU Siries serial Killer. Nothing like Leanne Morgan laying in bed watching a Christmas murder mystery.
You know what's so funny about this. I'm going to Costa Rica and my dad and I go on an annual trip, so I'm meeting him there and I said, Dad, we have to buy the same book so that we have something to talk about at dinner, because we're going to run out of things to say. And he was like, okay, that's a good idea. I'm thinking like a Costa Rica murder. And I was like, why why while we're there, why what's with all the holiday murder. It's the same with Leanne. She is so funny. All Right, we've got to take a quick break, but we'll be right back.
And we're back.
Well, I'm apparently going to disconnect with a book about Costa Rica murder. What are you guys going to disconnect with?
This is one of the first years I'm not traveling for Christmas. I always visit my family, so this year I'm actually really excited to stay in my own house, take long walks, go exploring. Yeah, step away from the phone, step away from the early morning emails. I think that'll be really nice and relaxing.
Here's the real test. Are you putting an email away message on?
I don't think I'll do that, but you've inspired me. Your facial expression has inspiring me to do that.
You got to it's the only way.
It's the only way to check out.
I haven't done it in five years. I'm doing it this year.
I love that.
I love that for you, Simone, are you.
I don't like them. I don't like do not disturb messages because I don't I take you. I'd rather just let the emails come in and I'll get them. I'll get to them when I get to them. But I hate whenever I email someone and then I get the bounce back. I'm like, oh great, Well, what am I going to do now.
You know. It's so inconvenient, but at.
Least it gives you the heads up to know that you're not going to expect a response until a certain time, because I'm I'll be the reverse. If I don't get a bounce back, I'm like, why did that person respond to me? I'm like, oh, well, you were out for two weeks. Yeah, then I have two weeks of anxiety of why this person didn't respond to me.
Maybe you've convinced me.
Maybe I will slap on a little out of office message. Tim, Thank you so much for bringing a little holiday magic to the bright Side and making today's show Mary and Brightside.
Oh thanks so much for having me think. In the new year, I'll start recording other secret stuff and we can play this again.
That's so fun. Please do Okay. I want to leave you guys with my number one conversation tip for holiday dinners. If you don't know what to ask, especially the relatives where you don't really know how to make conversation with them. Aunt Sally, what was the rose and thorn of the year? Rose and thorn?
Oh good, it's simple.
You get to know. It starts conversation. It's a good one.
That's great. Oh, I love that.
So may I ask you what was your rose and thorn of the year.
I think you're our guest today, Tim, I will I will say a real highlight for me has been joining this team and getting to work with you all every day.
This has been a true rose for me. This is so fun. I never thought I'd be doing something like this with my career and this has just been a true gift. A thorn for me was recently my shower backed up and I had to call the plumber out and they had to dig up my front yard. So that was a thorn for me.
In the butt. Yeah, Simon, how about you?
My rose?
This year has been the bright Side Besties. I am overwhelmed with gratitude as we close out this year. Thank you so much for listening to us and engaging with us, and thanks to everyone who came out to hang out with us in person at our very first live recording. It's always been a dream to work on a show that people want to engage with, so thank you for making that dream come true bright Side Besties. And I will say that my thorn is waiting for part two of Wickets.
Yeah, that's a good one.
Yes, Yeah, how about you, Danielle?
How will we wait? I was googling in the movie in part one when we were going to get part two.
The thorn of my year was I really wanted to move out of my apartment. My one bedroom apartment in LA was starting to close in on.
Me, and I got so close to moving out.
I found a new place and they wouldn't give me a two year lease and I was like, I can't move.
It's too much tumult to move for one year. Sure, yeah, okay.
My rose for the year was this sounds so corny, but both of yours were also corny. My rose for the year was hearing all of these women's stories. My whole life has been sort of just book ended and uplifted by reading women's stories, and I got to hear them in real time on the podcast. I feel like I've learned so much from all of these professors and therapists and experts and actors that we've gotten to talk to. I definitely feel like I'm more interesting in conversation now because I just have so much I'm.
Quoting everyone else. None of it is original thoughts, but so much to share, you know.
I can't begin to echo that because there are so many times I'm like, oh, well, we just had so and so on the podcast and she said such and such.
Like I'm constantly talking about my hippocampus and how it's bubbly and fluffy because of this podcast.
So yeah, every time I exercise I think about that too.
Yeah, yeah, yeahh Well, we want to wish all of you are bright Side besties the very very best holiday season. I hope it's filled with a lot of love, a lot of connection with the ones that you love, and a lot of magic too.
It was so so great to be here and happy holidays.
We are not done for the year, so don't forget to tune in tomorrow for our encore conversation with the wildly talented singer songwriter Jule I'm the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok oh, and feel free to tag us at Simone Voice and at Danielle Robe.
Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
See you tomorrow, folks, keep looking on the bright side,