What Is Your Favorite Day of the Year?
You have 365 choices – what is the day you get most excited about during the year?
The one day that really gets you jazzed up!
The one day that you don’t really need that extra cup of coffee or soda to get you started in the morning!
What is your favorite day of the year?
It is kind of an interesting question. Do you go with your birthday? If so does that mean Christmas and the other holidays don’t mean as much? Do you go with Mothers Day – a day that is the same for 152 million Americans?
I picked two. For me it would be Thanksgiving – very easy choice. Since my sisters and parents are all in different states it is the one time of year that I know I can circle on the calendar that we will all be together. As my kids get a little older I think this day and this time has become even more important.
My second choice would be the Friday before Memorial Day. Yes probably most of you would say that is an odd choice – perhaps a VERY odd choice. To me that day always meant so much because I know I would be on Cape Cod enjoying the sun, beach, playing tennis and eating lobsters. To me that Friday was always the first day of summer, (even though the calendar said something different).
We asked this question a few weeks ago as an online survey, and this is how over 3,000 responded (click here for complete results)
| Total | Male | Female | ||||
| Total | 3257 | 100.0 % | 1611 | 100.0 % | 1645 | 100.0 % |
| Christmas Day | 1042 | 32.0 % | 475 | 29.5 % | 566 | 34.4 % |
| Birthday | 491 | 15.1 % | 260 | 16.1 % | 231 | 14.0 % |
| Other | 398 | 12.2 % | 237 | 14.7 % | 161 | 9.8 % |
| Thanksgiving | 287 | 8.8 % | 156 | 9.7 % | 131 | 8.0 % |
| Independence Day | 206 | 6.3 % | 130 | 8.1 % | 76 | 4.6 % |
| Wedding Anniversary | 125 | 3.8 % | 69 | 4.3 % | 56 | 3.4 % |
| New Year’s Day | 119 | 3.7 % | 65 | 4.0 % | 54 | 3.3 % |
| Halloween | 95 | 2.9 % | 30 | 1.9 % | 65 | 4.0 % |
| Child’s Birthday | 91 | 2.8 % | 24 | 1.5 % | 67 | 4.1 % |
| Easter | 84 | 2.6 % | 35 | 2.2 % | 49 | 3.0 % |
| Christmas Eve | 80 | 2.5 % | 15 | 0.9 % | 65 | 4.0 % |
| First Day of Spring | 51 | 1.6 % | 16 | 1.0 % | 35 | 2.1 % |
| First Day of Summer | 44 | 1.4 % | 27 | 1.7 % | 17 | 1.0 % |
| Memorial Day | 34 | 1.0 % | 27 | 1.7 % | 7 | 0.4 % |
| New Year’s Eve | 33 | 1.0 % | 13 | 0.8 % | 20 | 1.2 % |
| Valentine’s Day | 26 | 0.8 % | 6 | 0.4 % | 20 | 1.2 % |
| First Day of Fall | 14 | 0.4 % | 10 | 0.6 % | 4 | 0.2 % |
| Mother’s Day | 14 | 0.4 % | 0 | 0.0 % | 14 | 0.9 % |
| Labor Day | 13 | 0.4 % | 10 | 0.6 % | 3 | 0.2 % |
| St. Patrick’s Day | 10 | 0.3 % | 6 | 0.4 % | 4 | 0.2 % |
What is your favorite day of the year and why?
We look forward to hearing your thoughts.
March 16th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Tough call, but I am going with the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I usually take the day as vacation, family arrives, golf with our son and it is the start of the holiday season.
March 16th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
My favorite two days are Thanksgiving and Labor Day.
Thanksgiving because my whole family is there, and the food is AMAZING.
Labor Day because we always went to school the day after. It meant new clothes, new books, new school supplies…and to me that is the start of
the New Year, not January 1st.
My batteries always get recharged at this time, and I re-write new goals and Marketing Plans for the rest of the year. I love this time of year.
March 16th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
I also have two choices:
First is Thanksgiving, for all the reasons that Merrill stated. I have spent every Thanksgiving for 55 years with my parents, regardless of where in the world we have been living - save for one. My father was in Viet Nam for Thanksgiving and Christmas in 1969 and not being with him on Thanksgiving, was much more of a disappointment than Christmas. My parents are now in their 80’s and for the past four years I have driven up to Arkansas and brought them to Texas so we could be together for Thanksgiving.
Second is my anniversary - October 16th. I figure that everybody has a birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, etc to celebrate, but anniversaries are unique, and I have now celebrated 25 of them. Several years have been spent on long weekends in Carmel or at Esalen in Big Sur. Talk about heaven. Our anniversary also prompts me to remember that we got married the night before the University of Arkansas beat Texas 42-11, when Texas was #1 in the country. That sounds more like a guy reason.
March 16th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I love our Summer Bash that Bill and I host. It is our gift to our friends and family. We get to hang out at our home and have over 150 happy people show up. Everyone looks forward to it. I am already getting calls now when is your summer bash so they can mark their calendar. No one wants to miss this bash. We are going our on sixth bash this year. Live band, fireworks and everyone brings a side dish/recipe so much fun. From horseshoe, bocce, basketball, volleyball, swimming and dancing of course my favorite. This year it will be when our teenagers go on a camping trip so we do not have to worry about teenagers being at the party. If you have teenagers you know what I mean. This year after last year party, we are only having children under 12 attend. We will invite our children to the party when they past this wonderful teenage years. The boyz will be so surprised. HA HA!! We do love them!! We still need to protect them too!!
March 16th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Like you, I love thanksgiving as well. I just did a series of focus groups on the winter holiday season. one of the respondent summed it up brilliantly - she loved Thanksgiving because it brings the whole family together over a meal with no other agenda than to enjoy each other’s company. For the pure pleasure of being together.
Another favorite day for me is a rather random and unpredictable one. There is always one day, in mid fall, when the leaves have all turned but still color the sky, when a great college football game comes on the radio and I do my last yard work of the season. The air is perfectly crisp and the experience is otherworldly. That is the perfect day for me.
March 16th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I really like Thanksgiving - great family holiday, football and of course, the food. It also is accompanied by a long weekend that involves two nights in NYC, enjoying theater, food and sights with my wife and kids - a tradition that has been going on for a bunch of years. It also signals the start of the big holiday season which always lifts my spirits.
March 16th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Opening day of baseball. This means I can start looking forward to going to Dodger Stadium with some of my best friends and watch our National past time. It means for the next 6 months I will be spending a little more time reading and enjoying the sports section. Opening day reminds me that I have to double check my planned business trips to see if the local team will have a homestand while I am in town and if I can squeeze in a game while I am there. Opening day means that on my drive home instead of listening to news of the day, I get to hear Vin Scully’s play by play. Opening day is the start of yet another great adventure novel and sopa opera wrapped up in one package. I can’t wait for April 1st (Mets and Cards)
March 16th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Hi Merrill and thank you,
This was the most appropriate time for your posting as this happens to be my favorite time and day of the year, coming up on March 21st, 2007. The Persian New Year, as with many other cultures, coincides with the spring solstice and is called Sal Tahvil or the Sa’at-e Tahvil (New Year’s Eve), which is the official time for the Spring Equinox. Every year the equinox occurs at a different point in time, so the date, although accurately measured (to the date and time 7:07:26pm EST 2007) is different each year, but close to March 20th, at this time we kiss and forgive each other, and the elders, parents and family give children Eidy. Eidy is money that is placed in a Koran book.
Thank you again for your insight, your wisdom and sharing and research.
Regards, Fee
March 20th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I’m with Ed on the Opening Day of the Baseball Season. That’s when life begins again.
My other favorite day is the first Friday in June: Opening Day of the Texas Scottish Festival and Highland Games a three-day festival of music, ale, scotch, haggis, culture and friendship that has become a ritual in our family. I live in St Louis now, but we’ll be making the trip back to the Lone Star State for this one.
March 20th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Merrill, I wish I could be more creative but iI vote for Thanksgiving and Opening day of the BB season.
Thanksgiving, for some reason has a very calming effect on me. I focus on all of the good that has gone on in my life and try to reflect on those who are responsible for all of those positive things.
Opening Day , just signals 6 months of fun coming up in my life. While I am committed to the Mets, I enjoy the sounds and sights associated with a good major league game. For the most pasrt it’s a day game and whatever the weather it’s a day to be at the ballpark.
sharing it with lifelong friends and new acquaintances.
Joe