Everyone has their traditions, whether it be for the holiday’s, an anniversary, or just any special time of year. For me Christmas traditions are my absolute favorite! In recent years some of these have altered a bit, this is because as you start to bring new more people into your life and your family begins to grow you have to find a way to include everyone, and that can mean somethings will change. For example, when I was young we had this tradition that my family and I would go out to the city to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center and out to dinner, then we would come back home add a few more decorations to the tree (my mom always had so many there were always more you could add, and we’d leave some space for the 24th), we would play holiday music, eat cookies and a little before heading to bed we would all be allowed to open one present. What ever we opened would be played with for a little, until we were rushed to our room and my sister and I would pretend to sleep and then sneak to the window to look for Santa. These traditions altered a bit once my sister and I outgrew Santa and then, more when my parents divorced. That meant, we still went skating and to dinner with my dad on Christmas eve and would open one present or all our presents depending on the agreement for that year if we were to spend the night at his house or my moms and we still had our traditional Christmas breakfast, Mass, but added in an all day feast with my mom Christmas day.
Now, that I am older my traditions have been added to and altered once again with annual gift exchanges and over eating with my friends, and including the new part of my family that has come along with my longterm boyfriend. These days my Christmas is filled with more holiday joy then I have experienced in my life. It is nothing like what I had as a child but that’s ok I now have so many people and activities throughout the month of December I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Since I have detailed my past traditions, I am sure you are just dying for the current details.. maybe. But, I’m gonna give them to you either way! These days I try to make plans with my friends leading up to the holidays but that doesn’t always work out. This part of the celebration will include ordering in WAY too much food either for delivery or at a restaurant, putting on a Christmas movie, and exchanging gifts. My extended family usually has a brunch early in the month, which I unfortunately will be missing this year. And Joe’s family extended family has a day of fun, food, and Secret Santa. And that brings us to Christmas eve which starts ridiculously early because that’s how my dad rolls. We gather at my dad’s or my sister’s and exchange gifts and have a small bite to eat just to hold us over. Then it’s off to a rink for skating Rockefeller is a bit pricy these days so we just kinda go where ever we feel like it that year. Followed by an enormous lunch in an Italian restaurant. After this we part ways, and Joe and I head to his family for Christmas eve night. This includes another large meal, followed by family time, and gifts. After this we head home. Joe and I exchange our gifts while a holiday film plays in the background and whether or not we got to sneak in a nap that day will determine if we fall asleep on the couch.
Then it’s Christmas Day! Which almost every year Joe and I have been together he has worked. So, I head off to my mom’s alone for morning mass which we usually over sleep for and end up in the Spanish mass which none of us speak and we sit there trying to figure out what is going on. After mass, we go back to my mom’s and start cooking, my sister takes on the role of bartender and usually concocts some form of holiday mimosa while my mom and I prepare appetizers. From there its a cycle of cooking, eating, napping, on repeat, until dessert when no more food can possibly be eaten. And Christmas is over…
Well not really, see Joe and I realized early on in our relationship that the holiday itself is pretty hectic and we don’t get to spend much time celebrating it just the two of us. So, we have an annual Christmas date sometime before New Years eve, once this happens Christmas comes to a close until we repeat it all next year!