I went to see the Nutcracker last week — and it was truly magical. Have you seen it before? The older I get, the more I love it. My favorite performance this time was “The Chinese Dance.” The bright red costumes, music and choreography were simply divine. You can listen to Tchaikovsky’s music here.

We gave our daughters their own Nutcrackers last Christmas, and we like to turn on a CD of the Nutcracker music and let them dance. (Makes all those hours of ballet lessons worth it.) If you’ve never seen it, I hope you’ll be able to experience it in a live performance.