It’s time to take a break from the shopping, the hot oven where all that delicious Christmas baking is taking place, and the freezing cold outside that nips at your fingers as you untangle and hang up the lights. Put your feet up and enjoy our whimsical Christmas list.
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Did you know about the world’s most expensive Christmas Tree?
Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi once laid claim to having the world’s most valuable Christmas tree. The tree sat in the hotel lobby and shone with gold leaf décor – and that’s not all. Over 180 ornaments of diamonds, pearls, emeralds and sapphires brought the value of the tree to $11 million. Needless to say, security cameras and four security guards were on duty 24/7!
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Did you know about the book of ideas for the impossible-to-shop-for person on your list?
Lonely Planet has the perfect gift for the person that has everything. It’s called Lonely Planet’s 1000 Ultimate Experiences and it’s selling on Amazon. The book tells readers the best place in the world to lie in a hammock, suggests sleeping in a Bedouin tent in Jordan, and where to find the most trendy food cultures.
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Did you know about the coldest Christmas in the United States?
Ah the 80s. So many good memories! That is, unless you were living in the continental U.S. in 1983. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on that fateful year, 125 cities broke temperature records. Harve, Montana dropped to a chilly -50°F, which is a brisk -45°C. That’s cold, even for Western Canadian standards.
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Did you know that Santa isn’t always the good guy?
It was a holiday holdup for tellers in a Tennessee bank in 2009. A man dressed as Santa strolled into SunTrust bank in Nashville, Tennessee with a red sack, but instead of dolling out presents, he pulled out a gun and cheerfully asked the tellers to hand over money so he could “pay his elves”. Nobody was hurt and one witness described bad Santa’s demeanor as “jovial, which was scary” throughout the ordeal.
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Did you know The Grinch was a hit since the late 1950s?
There are scores of movies that we watch over and over during the holiday season, but one continues to be an enduring tradition since 1957, when audiences were treated to the animated short, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In 2000, The Grinch got the big screen treatment with Ron Howard directing an all-star cast that included Jim Carrey and Taylor Momsen. The Grinch earned $55 million in its opening weekend and ranked in first place for a solid month, making it a Christmas movie with enough clout to stand beside A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’ a Wonderful Life.
Happy holidays and all the best in 2017 from AF Accounting!
On behalf of us all at AF Accounting, we wish you the best of the holiday season and an incredible 2017. Thank you for your patronage in 2016. We loved helping you grow your business and we look forward to continuing to work with our existing and prospective clients in the New Year.
