On The Third Day Of Christmas...

My husband recently educated me on an interesting concept: The Twelve Days of Christmas. He told me that we tend to build and we build towards Christmas but then the day after we take everything down. That's it. Party's over. In reality, Christmas day is actually the first day of Christmas. I had always heard the song and struggled to remember exactly what my true love gave to me on the 11th day but never put much stock into the fact that this song spoke to an actual twelve day celebration. Maybe this is an old concept to you but for me it was a complete revelation. It also gave me a bit of relief due to the fact that my grand Christmas To Do list still had some items left untouched.
So, let's see how I did, shall we?

1. Attend 'A Christmas Carol' at The Wells Theatre. (I watched Scrooged twice instead.)

2. Build a gingerbread house. (Done. FYI, if you do this with little ones, they will spend more time sucking the icing out of the bag than decorating the house.)

3. Buy some mistletoe. Make out under it. (I remember making out and I am pretty sure mistletoe was involved...and rum.)

4. Decorate the outside of my house. (There is always next year..)

5. Spend more time 'dressed up' than 'dressed down'. (Pretty sure I spent all of Christmas day in my p.j.s but overall I feel good about this one.)

6. Holiday shop at Kitsch, Etsy, and other handmade markets to support local artisans. (Thanks to my friend Ashley's pop up shop, this is a yes.)

7. Give the mailman a plate of homemade cookies. (Thank God I still have a few days of Christmas left.)

8. Send Christmas cards. (Done.)

9. FaceTime my family instead of texting them. (Done.)

10. Make edible Christmas gifts. (Cranberry Bars and Almond Toffee ingredients are laid out and ready to be made.)

11. Go iceskating. (Does watching a live Flyers game count?)

12. Attend a Christmas home tour. (I did tour my cousin Anthony's house and my friend Joe's house.)

13. Surprise someone with an unexpected gift. (Done, a few times over.)

14. Pay for the car behind me in the Starbucks drive-thru. (Ten days left.)

15. Keep a stack of dollars in my purse for the Salvation Army bell-ringers. (Done. This really came in handy, by the way.)

16. Take Christmas treats to my neighbors. (Ten days left.)

17. Keep my bird feeders full. (Done...sporadically, but done nonetheless.)

18. Read The Sorcerer's Stone (Read Grendel instead. Not sure it fed my sense of wonder but it kept my humility in check.)

19. Turn my phone off while visiting with friends and family. (I kept it face down, on mute for the most part.)

20. Spend more time as a reveler and less time as a consumer. (Shopping kept to a happy minimum.)

Overall, I think I did pretty good for as busy as this month has been. Luckily, there are a few more days to enjoy and a few more visitors to host. I hope your holidays were warm and bright, but if not, fell free to stop by for a visit. You have at least ten more days.


Merry Christmas my darlings.

Holiday Hunger

The constant activity of the past few weeks has left me in quite a state. My life is swirling around me like the thousands of snowflakes that will be sure to elude me yet again this winter. I fear that I am smack in the middle of the holidays and have no plan for the next month. Thanksgiving came and went with little thought or planning. It was still great. It could have been greater. Christmas, however, is a completely different beast. It is, by far, my favorite holiday and as such, hold the greatest of expectations. Every year I vow to achieve heights of awesomeness and every year I miss at least ten different events or holiday 'must-dos' due to poor planning. Not this year. This year, I have made a list. Those of you who know me, know that I live and die by my lists. If something is to be done, it must be on the list!
Below is my list of top twenty Christmas "Must Dos" to satisfy my hunger for a true Christmas experience.

1. Attend 'A Christmas Carol' at The Wells Theatre.
2. Build a gingerbread house.
3. Buy some mistletoe. Make out under it.
4. Decorate the outside of my house.
5. Spend more time 'dressed up' than 'dressed down'.
6. Holiday shop at Kitsch, Etsy, and other handmade markets to support local artisans.
7. Give the mailman a plate of homemade cookies.
8. Send Christmas cards.
9. FaceTime my family instead of texting them.
10. Make edible Christmas gifts.
11. Go iceskating.
12. Attend a Christmas home tour.
13. Surprise someone with an unexpected gift.
14. Pay for the car behind me in the Starbucks drive-thru.
15. Keep a stack of dollars in my purse for the Salvation Army bell-ringers.
16. Take Christmas treats to my neighbors.
17. Keep my bird feeders full.
18. Read The Sorcerer's Stone (to keep my sense of wonder intact).
19. Turn my phone off while visiting with friends and family.
20. Spend more time as a reveler and less time as a consumer.

Whether or not you have your own way of celebrating the birth of our lord, I hope that some of mine will serve as inspiration for something new or different.

Merry Christmas my darlings.