It's The Christmas Issue!!

Nicstalgia Gift Guide, Movie List, Looking Ahead 🎄

Dec 09, 2022

The Nicstalgia Gift Guide and The Non-Exhaustive Christmas Movie List are here!!! ✨🎄

Looking ahead, here’s what’s on the Nicstalgia agenda for the rest of the year:
• New episode with a guest who’s literally the Gen Z Me…
• New episode with a guest who wrote a book that’s like a time capsule to the 90s…
• New solo episode on predictions for 2023!!!

In the solo episode, I’ll be talking about how past fashion trends will be reinterpreted for 2023, revivals I can see happening, how the future of technology and the ecosystem for content creators will shift, and other things I spend a LOT of time thinking about. If you have any questions for me about what will shape the cultural zeitgeist in 2023, please ask them so I can answer on-air!!

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🎁 Nicstalgia Gift Guide

This is the only fun/cute/nostalgic gift guide you will ever need. I’ve been making gift guides the past few years because:
1. I prefer supporting small businesses whenever possible and friends/creators always.

2. Gifts can be so unrealistically expensive. I saw a $110 ceramic matchstick holder shaped like a dog in a gift guide this week. In this economy??? You know I LOVE kitsch, and the craftsmanship was lovely, but enough is enough.

I believe most of these you should still be able to receive by Christmas (don’t quote me) and there are still a lot of sales going on. Additionally, affiliate links are marked with an asterisk* because I am a good influence!! Feel free to get me anything from this list for Christmas!!!! 😇

🦊 The Foxy Hipster has earrings, keychains, pins, mugs, and more by Amy. 90s kids, this one’s for you. I truly need these Cynthia, The Sims, Stick Stickly, and Polly Pocket earrings in my life!!

🩲 Parade* is the internet’s favorite underwear, and for good reason!!! They also have bras, pajamas, bodysuits, and other apparel. It’s gorgeous, cozy, AND comfortable at the same time, which is my preferred winter aesthetic. The pink and green lace bralette gives me 2000s energy in the best way. Today through 12/14, get a free hoodie on all orders $95+ plus an additional 10% off with my code: nicoletremaglio!!!

🍌 Purple Banana Jewelry is pop culture jewelry handmade by Dannie Bee in Detroit. This kitschy jewelry is SO fun and serves as the best nod to niche nostalgic references. Some of my favorite earrings are the Pink Power Ranger, Chrissy Wake Up! (Stranger Things), “Big Mistake. Big! Huge!” (Pretty Woman), and Bop It!!!

💅🏼 Chillhouse* is the reason my nails always look perfect!!! Chill Tips press on nails are actually lifesavers. They have gorgeous #aesthetic designs, are super easy to apply, and have the ONLY nail glue I have ever used that doesn’t give off toxic fumes. Mine stay on for like 2 weeks!!! Use my code NICOLE10 for 10% off your order.

🧴 Vacation* is 80s nostalgia in a bottle!! The Classic Whip is sunscreen, but make it whipped cream. It is my absolute fav because it is lightweight, not sticky, has SPF 30, and as importantly, makes me feel glamorous and sexy. (Mentally, I’m an Italian sports car heiress, drinking a St. Germain Spritz, floating in a pool in 80s Miami.) If you remember my Tropical Barbie Fragrance Saga™️, I imagine the fragrance smells like that. Use my link – luxury and leisure awaits!!

🕯 Bijou Candles is where fine fragrance and pop culture meet. Alaina & Jocelyn’s glam candles are all named after different celebrities in pop culture!! They have luxe scents like Sparkling Lemonade, Velvet Rosé, and Santal Champagne. You can get individual candles, or they also come in collections. My fav sets are Golden Girls, 90s Icons (Britney, Janet, Mariah), and 70s Icons (Cher, Dolly, Stevie).

💥 Dumbgood has the best licensed pop culture merch. It truly lives up to its name. It is dumb how good this stuff is. Some of my favorite collections include: Clarissa Explains It All, Gullah Gullah Island (!!), Hey Arnold!, Mean Girls, and The Powerpuff Girls. Who doesn’t need a t-shirt with Arnold’s bedroom on it??

💖 Disco Dottie has the cutest stickers, made by independent photoshop artist Dottie in Pennsylvania. (Please go to the website, you will be instantly transported back to the 2000s and not regret it!!!) Putting stickers on my laptop is probably the best thing I’ve done for my mental health this year, an bubblegum bling stickers give you serotonin. It’s just science!!!

🎨 Nosta Beauty is makeup that makes you happy! It’s the nostalgia makeup brand of your dreams that creates vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics with a retro-inspired look. I truly, truly NEED this Limited Edition bundle that comes with an eyeshadow palette, CD PLAYER (!!), and PERSONALIZED CD (!!!) *faints*

📜 My Christmas List

Support Nicstalgia and our guests!! It’s a free gift that everyone loves, and you don’t have to wait for it to ship in the mail.

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☑️ Reply to this email and tell me something you’d like to see on Nicstalgia in 2023!!

🎄 The Non-Exhaustive Christmas Movie List

Not all Christmas movies are created equal, although most of them are pretty bad. I’ve watched many so that you don’t have to. If you watch one every day starting today, you will have enough to last you until Christmas.

The competitive criteria:
• There are no terrible movies here just because they have recognizable actors in them.
• Everything has over a 6.0 IMDb rating. List is sorted in order by descending rating. (Ratings are very accurate. I suggest between 6.0-6.5. 6.7 is great, and it’ll be very tough to find anything above a 7.0.)
• Only ones that I have seen or want to see have made the cut. I note whether I’ve seen it yet or not.

Murder, She Baked
⭐️ 7.4/10 🗓 2015 🕰 5 episode miniseries 📺 Peacock ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
Alison Sweeney stars as a bakery/cafe owner who is also an amateur sleuth solving murders. Each episode is rated in the high sixes, so this should be good.

On the 12th Date of Christmas
⭐️ 7.2/10 🗓 2021 🕰 1h 24m 📺 Prime but I think it’s paid? ✅ Saw it
Genuinely good, probably the best, Christmas movie with a modern theme. They are app developers who fall in love on a Christmas scavenger hunt app lol.

Christmas Getaway
⭐️ 7.0/10 🗓 2017 🕰 1h 30m 📺 Prime but I think it’s paid? ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
A travel writer takes a Christmas vacation, but finds herself double-booked with a widower, his mother, and his daughter at the holiday site.

Tis the Season to be Merry
⭐️ 7.0/10 🗓 2021 🕰 1h 24m 📺 Peacock (I think) ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
Rachael Lee Cook’s character, aptly named “Merry” (??) is looking for a fresh angle on her new book on relationships. She heads to Vermont, naturally, and finds a new perspective, Christmas cheer, and a love interest.

Catering Christmas
⭐️ 6.9/10 🗓 2022 🕰 1h 26m 📺 Hulu ✅ Saw it
Caterer gets hired for rich lady and falls in love with her globetrotting photographer nephew. Honestly this was a pretty good movie. Let him give up his career for love!!

The Spruces & The Pines
⭐️ 6.9/10 🗓 2017 🕰 1h 26m 📺 Hulu, Pluto TV, Tubi TV ✅ Saw it
Romeo & Juliet, but make it a Christmas movie about two feuding New England Christmas Tree lot families!! I enjoyed this one.

Write Before Christmas
⭐️ 6.9/10 🗓 2019 🕰 1h 24m 📺 Prime ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
Jessica gets dumped before Christmas. She sends 5 Christmas cards, affecting her BFF, brother, aunt, pop star, and past music/cello teacher, meeting her single, photographer son. Note that single son is Chad Michael Murray.

Christmas Under the Stars
⭐️ 6.7/10 🗓 2019 🕰 1h 22m 📺 Peacock (I think) ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
A Christmas-tree lot helps two people (Autumn Reeser aka. Taylor Townshend from The OC, Jesse Metcalfe aka. John Tucker and hot gardener from Desperate Housewives) rediscover their holiday spirit.

A Christmas Star
⭐️ 6.6/10 🗓 2021 🕰 1h 24m 📺 Prime ✅ Saw it
A workaholic astronomer goes to a small town (obviously) because she's obsessed with seeing this meteor shower. Unique concept, but falls a little flat. Is she REALLY going to give up love so that she can get a comet named after her??? Get a grip, Madeline.

Ice Sculpture Christmas
⭐️ 6.6/10 🗓 2015 🕰 1h 23m 📺 Peacock ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
Callie's passions for cooking and ice sculpting are met with romance and Christmas spirit. I feel like there are a lot of movies about cooking, so I’m interested to see the ice sculpture aspect.

One Winter Weekend
⭐️ 6.6/10 🗓 2018 🕰 1h 24m 📺 Peacock ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
A recently dumped travel writer goes on a ski getaway with her best friend and they find themselves double booked with two eligible men. When they are snowed in, love ensues, as it always does.

No Sleep 'Til Christmas
⭐️ 6.5/10 🗓 2018 🕰 1h 25m 📺 Prime, Freeform ✅ Saw it
This movie is truly unhinged and I'm obsessed with it. Two insomniacs can *only* fall asleep next to one another, which literally makes no sense. (Just go with it.) The woman literally shares a residence with Zane from Younger and she sleeps with some guy who she hit with her car??? Anyway, this is probably the only Christmas movie I either genuinely or ironically thought was funny.

Last Holiday
⭐️ 6.5/10 🗓 2006 🕰 1h 51m 📺 Prime ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
Queen Latifah is a woman balls out in Europe when she finds out she only has weeks to live. I guess it’s set at Christmastime which is what makes it a Christmas movie?? I just love Queen Latifah. LL Cool J also stars.

The Holiday Fix Up
⭐️ 6.5/10 🗓 2021 🕰 1h 30m 📺 Hulu ❎ Haven’t seen it yet
She (Jana Kramer) is an interior designer. He's a contractor. She's the one who got away. He's the one who broke her heart. How will it end???

Your Christmas or Mine?
⭐️ 6.4/10 🗓 2022 🕰 1h 34m 📺 Prime ✅ Saw it
Boyfriend and girlfriend going home for Christmas want to surprise each other so they get on each other’s trains and end up at the other’s family’s house for Christmas. I thought this one was going to be better than it was, tbh. Also they have only been dating for two months!!!

Mistletoe & Menorahs
⭐️ 6.4/10 🗓 2019 🕰 1h 25m 📺 Hulu ✅ Saw it
Jewish guy (Jake Epstein!!!) and Christian girl need to learn about each other's holidays. I would say this is really as much of, if not more of, a Hanukkah movie than a Christmas movie. The acting is not good, although I’d seen Jake play the captivating Craig Manning on Degrassi for enough years to throw him a bone.

Angels and Ornaments
⭐️ 6.4/10 🗓 2014 🕰 1h 24m 📺 Peacock ✅ Saw it in my peripheral vision but didn’t pay attention to it bc I was on my laptop typing this
Three (!!!) suitors pursue a hopeless romantic (Terri Schuester from Glee lol) after she makes a wish to find true love before Christmas.

💿 Hey Mr. DJ, put a [playlist] on

Playlist of the week:
The Longest Christmas Playlist Ever is the playlist of the week – AGAIN!!!! (For the second and last time lol don’t worry.) Please know that very few stones were unturned, as this playlist features 800+ of the best and worst of every genre.

I tried to find every bubblegum pop song possible: Hilary Duff, Cheetah Girls, Willa Ford, Debbie Gibson, Girls Aloud, Lindsay Lohan, *NSYNC, BSB, 98º, Hanson, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Aly & AJ, Leighton Meester, Ashley Tisdale. It’s all there.

Love the podcast? Please rate and subscribe on Spotify. 2022 Wrapped may already be over, but it’s really never too early to make Nicstalgia one of your top podcasts of 2023. As a reminder from last week – if Nicstalgia was in your Spotify Wrapped, please send me a screenshot so I can make you a custom Nicstalgia collage. TY & LYSM!!

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