Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Christmas Time

I can't help it...I love Christmas.  I think part of it is just that I have really good memories of Christmases throughout my childhood.  Traditions are big in my family.  Starting on Thanksgiving, with Miracle on 34th Street and ending on Christmas Eve with White Christmas, my family probably watches a Christmas movie every single night.  Of course they save the best for when I come home, like It's a Wonderful Life and Muppets' Christmas Carol.  We always do one present on Christmas Eve, which is always pajamas.  Then my older sister and younger brother get up before dawn to gaze at the Christmas tree in all its glory and start the coffee and tea for the old people (aka those of us who loathe early mornings, even on Christmas...so me and my parents).  They wake me first so we can have some sibling bonding time before the parents are up.  After that, the goal every year is to frighten my parents awake.  I think we've managed to actually scare them once in our lives.  Maybe.  They are usually awake before we even think of waking them.

Since I'm the only one not living in the same town as the rest of my family (not even the same state actually), it can be a little harder these days to keep the Christmas spirit alive.  I'm sure some people must think I'm nuts for Christmas, but I try to keep it in perspective by telling them that I'm the grinch in my family.  But I always get a tree.  I don't hold to the steadfast rule, mandated by my sister, that only Christmas music in allowed from Thanksgiving until New Year's Day.   But I do like to listen to Bing more often then not during this season.  This year, my fella and I made our own advent calendar.  It's not perfect but it was fun to make and more fun to open the boxes every other day (we alternate days so we don't have to have a calendar for each of us) and see what he's put inside.

The long green ornaments are vintage!

I love the round light bulbs


Our little advent calendar made of small matchboxes

With buttons for the knobs

As we do a day, we turn the box around for the number to show

From the back

Spanish Remnants

My boyfriend recently returned from a month-long trip to Barcelona where he was working on a film.  He returned with many treasures for me, all of which are remarkable in their own way.  Of course he didn't get anything for his mum.  Fearing the potential-mother-in-law grudge I knew might befall me, I told him he had better give her the bottle of wine from Spain he had brought back with him.   A little while later he went out to lunch with his mum and he informed me that she asked him if he'd found a girl he liked better than me in Spain...
Now, we keep the wine.

These are real flowers that have been dipped in some kind of resin

Made with a beautiful purple wood 

Yes, I love owls.  But who doesn't really?

I love copper, even if it leaves my finger green!

Lovely silver ring

My one request was for a shawl...

...and he got me two!

The big surprise was this beautiful leather purse