Tia Mowry-Hardrict was in New York this week to attend the world premiere of her husband Cory Hardrict’s latest film “American Sniper,” which was directed by Clint Eastwood.  

Both Tia and Cory also attended the New York premiere of Ava DuVernay’s “Selma.” We spoke with Tia at Jazz At Lincoln Center about the holidays and so much more. Read our exclusive interview below:

 

Q:  So what are you most excited for this holiday season?

 

Tia:  I’m excited to cook.  This is the first time I’m going to be cooking Christmas dinner for my family and I’m just incredibly excited.  My mother, she’s from the Bahamas, so pigeon peas and rice, it’s a huge cultural dish for the Bahamians.  So she’s going to teach me how to do that, and then collard greens, it’s huge in the African American community.  And so, she’s going to teach me how to do collard greens, it’s a recipe that she’s been doing for years.  So, I just can’t wait to cook with my mother.  But I’m going to be doing all the cooking.  She’s just going to be assisting.  She’s going to be my sous chef, whereas usually it’s the other way around.  So, I’m ready to take on that responsibility.   I have a three year old son, I’m creating a family for myself, so it’s time for me to take the reigns.

 

Q: How do you do your holiday shopping?

 

Tia:  What works best for me because I’m a working mom and I’m extremely busy, is online shopping, but I do have a tip.  The tip is always buy something that you’ve worn before.  So, say if you’re a huge fan of 7 jeans or J Brand jeans, you know how they fit, and you know the size of them.  Do that instead of buying something you’ve never worn before cause sometimes the sizes can be kind of off … when you online shop. So I would definitely have to say, just go with brands that you’re familiar with, that you’ve seen in the store, that you absolutely love.  But online shopping is a huge plus for me.

 

Q:  And, do you have some favorite holiday songs you’d like to share?

 

Tia: Oh my gosh.  You know, I would go even further, I would say holiday albums … I absolutely love Celine Dion’s Christmas album.  She has one of the best albums out there.  Her voice is so angelic anyway, so for her to come out with a Christmas album, it was just awesome.  Whenever I decorate the Christmas tree, I always play that.  Also, a lot of people don’t know about this, but Boys II Men has an amazing Christmas album … and then one of my favorite songs is “Let It Snow.” That album is amazing and I’ve been listening to it for years … I wish they would come out with another one already … I feel like this is the year of throwbacks.  D’Angelo just came out with an album fifteen years later! I was like hell yeah! The braids are coming back, it’s like the nineties, everybody’s coming back.  So it’s cool.

 

Q:  What do you do to give back over the holidays?

 

Tia: I always like to support homeless shelters.  What I’ve just done recently is I donated a coat. There’s this organization where you can give your coat to a family that needs a coat or a child who needs a coat … Because of course it gets cold at this time.  So, to be able to do that is just amazing and great.

 

Q:  Do you have any updates on your show?

 

Tia:  Well “Instant Mom,” we just finished our second year, we got picked up for a third. So we’re going to be going back in February.  I have a good break … I’ll end up finding something to do.  My sister and I, we just scored a book deal that will be coming out, it’s a book series called “Twintuition.”  That will be coming out April 2015. We’re so excited about that. And it’s cool because we’re kind of doing our own thing but … we’ve come together for a book, that’s something so different that we haven’t done before. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

-$haina_Moskowitz