Friday, August 20, 2010
Sorry, I know it’s a bit early for festive-themed blog posts but this week my Five for Friday is all about wanting December to roll around in a hurry. Here’s why:
1) Because I love Christmas in general and all the magic that goes with it. The scrumptious food, the coffee with amaretto and cream, the homemade mince pies and mulled wine. The sparkly lights, the wicked music, roaring log fires, perfectly wrapped presents, shopping trips, snow and festive films like The Hogfather, Santa Claus The Movie and Miracle on 34th Street. Christmas rocks.
2) This year, for the first year since I moved out of mum’s place at the age of 20, I get to celebrate Christmas in my own home. I’ve always travelled back to the shire for Christmas, to spend it with mum or dad or both (but not at the same time, that’s divorce for you). So that means living out of a bag for a few days and loading my car with presents and having to make a long drive on Christmas Eve as I’m a couple of hours away from the shire. There have been two Christmases not spent in the shire, but abroad, in Morrocco a few years back, which was horrific and the Maldives last year, which was nice but it rained and I was terribly homesick. This year, Christmas is at my house so I don’t need to pack a bag, can wake up on Christmas Day in my very own bed and open presents under my very own tree, watch TV and fall asleep on my very own sofa having eaten a festive lunch at my very own dining table. That said, it means I’ll have my very own huge heap of washing up to contend with too!
3) This is also the first Christmas that I’ll have spent with my beloved. Last year, our first Christmas, was spent thousands of miles away from each other with only Skype and text messaging for comfort. He was in Dorset with his family and I was on a tiny island in the Maldives with mine. Don’t get me wrong, the Maldives is gorgeous and the resort was amazing but when you’re crazy in love with someone, the only place you want to be is in their arms, be it on a sandy beach in the middle of the Indian Ocean or sat on a bench outside MacDonalds in Milton Keynes.
4) The fact that I spotted Christmas wrapping paper in the garden centre the other week and have seen festive party menus lying around in pubs and restaurants means the countdown to Christmas has begun, and therefore to my wedding day. I’m getting married in early December and can’t wait so every signal, like “book your Christmas party now” advertisments, the leaves falling off the trees, colder weather ad darker nights will all be signs that my wedding day is drawing nearer and I can open a new chapter in my life with a new surname. I wouldn’t usually wish time away like this but if we could fast forward to November right now, I’d be very happy.
5) What follows most weddings is a honeymoon and I can’t wait for mine. After the organisational mission required to make an actual wedding happen, me and my beloved will be looking forward to a much needed week in Hawaii, soaking up some sunshine, spotting whales and turtles, tackling hikes along the volcanic seascape and sipping on cocktails under the palm trees. And then, even better than that, all refreshed and raring to go, we’ll be spending our final week in New York, a place we both love and where we shared our first holiday together. And, even better, NYC at Christmas time is going to be magical… I keep thinking about the scene in Elf where he and his new girlfriend look at the tree outside the Rockefeller Center and I want me and Rich to do that too.
Picture of the Christmas tree outside New York’s Rockefeller Center, by Huron Tours & Travel via Flickr under Creative Commons licence
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