Jessica Simpson

They'll Be Home for Christmas

UPDATED 12/13/2004 at 01:00 AM EST • Originally published 12/13/2004 at 01:00 AM EST

Note to flying reindeer and anyone else anxious to know the Christmas Eve coordinates of singer Jessica Simpson and husband Nick Lachey: They'll be setting up a tree and unwrapping gifts at home in Calabasas, Calif. So announced the couple Nov. 30 at the annual Christmas tree-lighting extravaganza at Manhattan's Rockefeller Plaza. "I think we're going to have a California Christmas," said Simpson, 24, who has been shooting the movie version of The Dukes of Hazzard in Louisiana while her husband remained in L.A. developing his own show for FOX. "We're going to start our own tradition, stay at home, have family out there," said Lachey, 31, who gave Simpson a warm kiss on the cheek after she performed.

In other words the couple emphasized once again that they're humming along after recent rumors of marital discord. "[Being apart often] is the way it's been since we started to date. I've been on tour. She's been on tour. We're very familiar with how to make it work," says Lachey. Adds Simpson: "When we're apart, we talk all through the day, not just before we go to bed." And long professional separations are now verboten. Says Simpson: "We have a two-week rule."