Monday, December 1, 2014

Christmastime is here

Turkey has been eaten, sales have been shopped (although there are still a lot of them going on because I guess Cyber Monday is a legit thing now; I seriously had never heard of it before last year), and everyone's started thinking about tinsel and twinkle lights. Some people are already complaining about the Christmas tunes being piped into all the stores and public spaces, but I actually really enjoy them. They're simple, repetitive, and familiar, and singing along with them is one of my chief pleasures this time of year.
I didn't used to like Christmas much. My parents told my brother and I that they were getting a divorce just a couple of weeks before Christmas, and that last holiday together was really freaking strained and weird. When I got older, I would feel guilty that I couldn't afford to give people nice gifts, since I was always so short on money, and a couple of years ago, my dog got very ill on Christmas and died just before New Year's. Talk about baggage.
Usually I'm one of those people who dashes into Walgreens for a last minute gift. "Here's an unwrapped bottle of cheap vodka and some air freshener refills! Merry Christmas!" For once, I'm actually kind of on the ball in terms of gift giving. I've already bought and shipped my present for my Chronically Vintage Secret Santa buddy (I trolled her Instagram for inspiration, and I'm pretty sure she's going to love it), and I know what I'm getting at least some of the people I'm shopping for.
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Just call me "Santa Baby."
Brian is a little harder to shop for, but I've got some ideas percolating. I'm still holding out hope that he'll tell me something that he wants, but I think I can still come up with something fun even if he doesn't.
Aside from shopping, I've also had a lot of fun over the past few days. Thanksgiving was at Brian's parents' house in Indiana, and I spent it cooking, drinking, and chopping wood. I mention this mostly because I wanted a good reason to share the following photos.
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Ye olde pioneer woman.
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"No TV and no beer make Homer something something." "Go crazy?" "Don't mind if I do!"
Friday was a short work day, and then Saturday I did a little more shopping and then partied down at a friend's birthday. I stayed out until 4am, which I never do, hanging out with awesome people and doing karaoke. I seriously hope I'm still that much fun when I turn 50 myself.
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Somehow, a long, ratty black wig makes me look more like a man that I do with short hair. Weird.
This week, I'm going to try to do a little Christmas decorating. I've never actually done it before, but I'm kind of excited to put up some lights, and I'm thinking about getting a nice wreath and a little Christmas tree. It always used to seem like just another expense I couldn't be bothered with, but now it feels like part of making my apartment feel like home.
What are you guys doing to get ready for Christmas? Do you enjoy the season?

5 comments:

  1. I love the axe photos, they're brilliant! Is it hard, chopping wood? We're having a woodburning stove installed next week so I am going to have to learn at some point.

    I am much more sorted in terms of presents this year, but alas, I have yet again failed to do all the crafty stuff I was planning on, and now time is running out!
    x

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    1. It takes a little pratice to figure out how to do it well (I kept overshooting and hitting the wood with the handle instead of the blade at first), but once you get the hang of it it's not that hard. I was a little sore the next day, but I don't think it would be unmanageable to do it pretty frequently.
      Crafty stuff! I would love to start doing craftier gifts, but alas, no one would want a thing that I made. I do not make things well, except for food.

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  2. Tee-hee-hee, the photos with the axe cracked me right up. There's a total Lizzie Borden vibe going on there! :D Love your super pretty pink skirt. That shade of dusty rose is my favourite colour ever (seriously).

    ♥ Jessica

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    1. I'm so in love with this skirt, I would wear it every day if I could. And if you're holding an axe, I think you're required to make at least a few crazy faces, right?

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  3. I've been working so hard to get my Christmas gift-buying done, but there still seems to be so much left to do! It's always the men that are hard to buy for in my family.

    I am totally with you on the Christmas music. Ok, actually I take it much further, but I don't think I should talk about how much I love it. I might lose friends. I hope you enjoy your decorating. There are lots of cute and cheap decorating ideas out there, and it doesn't take much to make a big difference (in my opinion). So far I just have a wreath and advent calendar up, and a Christmas embroidery picture that my mum did. We're going to get a baby live tree in a pot this weekend, so it can grow up with our baby!! I'm excited about that, since we haven't had a tree since we got our cats.

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