The Elf Experience: A holiday bucket list of festive tasks to recreate from the movie “Elf”

As the impending doom of semester finals hovers over your mind, the thrill of Christmas cheer usually felt around this time of year may seem lacking. If you’re anything like me, it’s probably time to turn off the Scrooge-like attitude about studying and turn to everyone’s ultimate holiday inspiration — Buddy the Elf — for a day of festive fun. 

There’s no way I could be as iconic as Buddy wearing Lululemon leggings and a sweater — I had to embrace my elf-ness to the fullest. Amazon has head-to-toe Buddy the Elf costumes ranging from $50-90, but if that doesn’t fit in your high school student budget, there are plenty of ways to piece together something just as festive. 

My Hallmark strap-on elf shoes, a Buddy the Elf T-shirt from Target and a red and green elf hat complete with pointed ears (found in my family’s Christmas decor storage) earned me a lot of chuckles and stares from passersby, and even some compliments on my “cute” shoes and “Ho-ho-ho’s.” 

Seven-year-old me would watch my TV screen in awe as Buddy crushed up candy after candy for his magical spaghetti concoction with the four elf food groups. But as I drizzled maple syrup over my refrigerated pasta from the night before, I couldn’t help but gag. There was no holding back, and no other way I could possibly kick off my day in full Buddy-style. I hand-crushed the M&Ms, mini marshmallows and chocolate Pop-Tart completely covered in both maple and chocolate syrup for a slimy, multi-colored mess. 

The flavor wasn’t as awful as I was expecting, it was more-so the texture that took some bravery to overcome — slippery brown noodles with soggy bites of Pop-Tart, crunchy M&M’s and squishy marshmallows didn’t necessarily have me going in for more. 

Hyped up on a sugar rush and ready to throw my dignity out the window, I was on my merry way to Crown Center for the real fun to begin. Here I recreated Buddy’s iconic escalator splits scene, sprawling my legs up the Halls escalator, which left my quads in aching pain every time I stood up. Not to mention the slight embarrassment of dodging between holiday shoppers and kids waiting to meet Santa. 

I then marched over to the Westin Hotel at Crown Center in search of a revolving door for all my spinning desires. After working up the courage to ask the security guard for permission to act like a fool in the valet parking area, to which he responded “I don’t care,” I used all my upper body strength to spin around and around until I was just dizzy enough to walk on the sidewalk without falling into the street.

Though I couldn’t find a crosswalk to jump line-to-line on like Buddy does in New York City, I figured at this point in the adventure I could jump anyway — lines or no lines. This turned out to be the most humiliating activity of them all, as a line of stopped cars watched me awkwardly leapfrog, elf shoes slipping off and elf hat blowing away in the wind. I received a few friendly or maybe not-so-friendly honks from drivers, but I’m hoping the moment added some joy to their day. 

You may have just missed National Answer-the-Phone-Like-Buddy-the-Elf Day on Dec. 18, but who says you can’t chime, “Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?” every time you answer a phone call any day? When my sister gave me a call, I cheerfully picked up and asked, as she responded with silence and hung up before I could say, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

To watch a vlog of Lyda’s day as Buddy the Elf, check out https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ZASKilpSLMavfJfMwuQAA