Christmas

Amy Grant, a veteran of Christian pop music, has released four Christmas albums in her nearly 40-year career. But she says her latest holiday album, Tennessee Christmas, takes a slightly different approach. "I just feel like I've done the sort of musically cinematic approach to Christmas. But what I feel now, in my mid-50s, is how much sadness there is," she says.

Most restaurants close their doors for Christmas day, but one is leaving their's wide open: Shish Restaurant in southeast London.

On Dec. 25, they will be serving free, three-course meals to the homeless and elderly.

The idea came after an emotional encounter between two of the managers and an elderly woman.

Think you're stressed out during the holidays? Try being one of Santa's helpers.

Turns out being surrounded by children, tinsel and merriment isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Humorist David Sedaris wrote about the downside of holiday joy in a collection of fanciful stories based on his experiences called the Santaland Diaries. Once again, here's Sedaris reading from his essay as a somewhat-flawed Macy's department store elf named Crumpet.

Click the play button to hear this holiday tradition.

It's hard to imagine a time when red and green weren't synonymous with Christmas, but they haven't always been the holiday's go-to colors. Arielle Eckstut, co-author of Secret Language of Color, attributes the palette's rise to two things: holly and Coca-Cola.