Our First Christmas!

Long term relationships gradually mean you have fewer firsts than you used to, which can be great because you have so many magical memories together, but it also means that it can be easy to fall into a routine. My boyfriend and I are definitely the routine type when we create a tradition we stick to it and it can be very hard for us to try new things. Which is what ended up making our first Christmas officially living together so magical. So, let’s go back one year! When I was probably overexcited and had piles of decorations I had picked up over the years, I couldn’t wait and it’s probably a good thing I didn’t, because I had a bit more space then I had anticipated. I knew we needed to go on a holiday trip, I knew we needed to create our own traditions that we couldn’t create before, and I had the highest of expectations.

We bought our first tree, we had a slight disagreement about the process of putting up said tree, we hung ornaments, bought new decorations, I was doing pretty well financially at the time and loaded up on as many presents as I could get my hands on, we baked cookies, and went on our first holiday trip to Stockbridge, Pennsylvania. Nothing could have made it more perfect, or so I thought. I had finally had to perfect Christmas with my guy. Christmas eve and Christmas day had their bumps as they do once you are adding everyone else into the holiday craziness, but still I will always look back on that holiday season as almost perfect.

You may ask why, I decided even though we where exceptionally happy and everything went better then I hoped why I say almost perfect. And that is because, this Christmas right now, this is perfect. Which means last year can’t be perfect too, can it? I have realized through much of my life I strove for the idea of a perfect Christmas, and now that I have achieved twice, two very different but perfect Christmases, this one slightly more exceptional then the last, I have realized there is no such thing as a perfect Christmas. The year I get married will be a perfect Christmas, the year my first child is born will be a perfect Christmas. So, none of them are perfect. But they are exactly right.

Planning the Perfect Christmas Date Night

For the last ten years of my relationship Joe, my boyfriend, and I have gone on an annual Christmas date. The first few years that meant going to which ever ice skating rink in the city had the best hours on the day we were both free and then finding any restaurant near by. We have become a bit more organized since then picking the perfect restaurant making reservations weeks in advance and alternating on rinks because we can’t agree on a favorite! Mine’s Bryant Park, his is Central Park.

The first and most important part of planning your date is picking the restaurant, there are a few key things I look for when deciding are, obviously the food, decor, location, and the potential to become a special place. When narrowing down based on food I will think of places I have eaten in the past that I really enjoyed and I will go through sites such as Open Table or Yelp and sort through reviews. Once I have narrowed that list I will google them see if there are any interior shots of their holiday decor. If they have great decor someone most likely will have taken a picture of it at some point, or since I do quite a lot of wandering looking at decorations around the city I often will remember if I saw a place decorated particularly well! From there we narrow places down based on how central it is too all the skating rinks, if you live in a place where driving and parking isn’t horrendous this step might be less important, but you also might not want to have to travel too far. The final thing I take into consideration is if I go there for other traditional events such as, a girls holiday dinner, or Christmas Eve lunch with my family. These steps helped lead Joe and I to our now traditional Christmas restaurant.

After you have picked where you are going to eat we get to the activity portion of the evening! This obviously will differ based on location and personal preference, I like to go skating, but I do realize depending where you live you might not have access to this. So, other options can be finding a theater playing a classic Christmas film, going to a holiday market, or a cozy movie night at home with snuggles and hot chocolate. But deciding on this early is a good idea because you want to make sure you make dinner reservations at the right time, so you have plenty of time to do what you choose either before or after you eat!

I hope this helped you out!

Vlogmas!

So you want to do vlogmas, but you don’t know if you can because you don’t have the time to make everyday as special as the bigger youtubers, you see fancy intros and feel overwhelmed, can you actually record and edit every single day? I understand it seems to be a bit of a undertaking and can be very daunting. At least that’s how I felt last year when I did it for the first time. I am not a seasoned vet that has been on YouTube for a bunch of years and has done 5 years of vlogmas but Ido understand the stress.

First, you don’t need an intro, most people find them annoying anyway, I always skip them so if you want to do it because you like them then go right ahead but don’t stress yourself if you don’t have the time. Second, making your days interesting, I dealt with this last year, I had to work so many days I didn’t have the time to invest into holiday fun. But, what I did do was find a way to incorporate something into my days whether it be some holiday lights a quick stroll through a holiday market or stuffing my face with chocolate while watching a holiday movie. The last thing which was what I worried about the most was filming enough then editing and uploading on time each day. I will be honest I missed a few, but I just combined a few days together which actually helped a bit with the last concern. As much as I wanted things to be perfect its a learning curve and even your most experienced youtubers have trouble sometimes. So just have fun with it, some people might not like it if you miss a day but that’s ok they will forgive you when that next post goes up. As long as it’s fun for you then its worth it! Good luck and enjoy it!

Picking the Perfect Present!

I have a bit of an obsession with finding people the perfect gift. I think I have been fairly good at it when I can afford to be. Not to say that you have to have a lot of money to buy the perfect present, but sometimes I have found the right thing at the wrong time financially.

When picking a present I think about who I am buying for, and try to be very particular about things they like and don’t like. For example, I have one friend who gets very into her TV shows and we have shows that we specifically watch together or ones that she has been obsessed with since I met her in elementary school. I know that if I go out and buy her a Sunnydale school hoodie, the school from Buffy, she will love it, (and she did, I got it for her last year). But, I have other friends that get into shows, but are not into merch for those shows. So, with them I have to think well what are their interests right now, one year my friend Julie was really into nails, so I got her an at home gel nail kit, my friend Lina is obsessed with robots so I got her robot that you can build and program yourself.

The difficult people however are the ones that buy themselves whatever they need, my boyfriend can be this way. So, I will try to take note of the things that he wants so that come December anything he hasn’t remembered to buy go straight on the list. Another thing I have done is keep note of things they have been into in the past, for example Joe used to be into video games, he still has the consoles but he never plays, but I knew there were games he had that broke or he wanted but never got, so I got those for his stocking last year and he loved it. He doesn’t play them much, but the joy he had when he opened them made it worth it!

I start making my Christmas list very early this gives me a head start because sometimes I may think I have a great gift for one person and then change my mind on it, but realize it actually might be perfect for someone else, I have done this so many times!

I hope this was helpful! Good luck shopping!

Packing For A Very Merry Vacation

I have gotten into the habit of planning a Christmas trip during December, I love getting the opportunity to explore other places and see their holiday decorations. Last year Joe and I went to Stockbridge, MA, it is the town that Norman Rockwell did most of his work, and is so different from New York City, it was relaxing, beautiful, and exactly what we needed. This year we are going to Orlando for a full on Hogwarts/Disney Christmas! The one thing I have learned from traveling this time of year is that I can find myself missing some of my home decor. So, I like to pack a few little things with me to make the hotel room feel a little more festive. A few fair lights, a candle, and some small unbreakable touches that won’t get crushed in flight or on the road.

Obviously, you want to pack all your regular essentials, toothbrush, contact cases and so on. But, the most important thing it checking the weather right before you leave. I know this sounds obvious, but I have assumed it will be cold or hot just because its winter or its the Caribbean and gotten there just to find I was wrong and unprepared. It also helps to google what the weather is like during that time of year, since we are going to Florida this year I looked this up and many threads I have found on the subject have said that weather fluctuates from coats to shorts in a matter of hours, meaning I have to be prepared for everything. Since, it’s winter time in most of the world checking the weather is key!

Speaking of clothes, I always have to throw in as many Christmas themed items as possible! Christmas sweaters, t-shirts, socks, pajamas, whatever I can find and that fits in with the weather I am heading towards! But, I also always pack a dress and some dress shoes to wear out for a festive holiday dinner, I tend to stick with something red or green to keep in with the spirit!

If you are the type who either likes to be super organized or has a really hard time remembering what you need to pack you might want to check out the app PackPoint, it will definitely hep you out by giving suggestions of things to add and let’s you add in anything specific to you. I hope these tips are helpful! And I hope you have a very merry trip!

Happy Blogmas! Tips.

Today marks the first day of blogmas, as well as the first one I have partaken in! I have had so much fun preparing for this day, delving into decorating, baking, and Holiday trips! I am so excited to participate this year. But, I also learned a lot! I kind of wish I had started my blog earlier, because I had so much difficultly starting out, but sitting down and writing out 25 blog ideas and then being able to write 5 drafts in a day, made me realize this is the kind of planning I need to be doing all year.

If you are thinking of doing blogmas, I want to tell you coming up with 25 ideas for 25 days, writing out each blog and adding media in the form of edited videos and photographs, it takes a lot of time. You could write one every day starting from December 1st to the 25th, if you do then you are a trooper and I commend you on the ability. But, if you are like me and would find that impossible, my main piece of advice would be to start getting your blog topics figured out in mid-October and start writing your drafts in early November. This year I had 11 drafts written by November 10th. With photos and additional media going through the editing process.

If you have any upcoming events during the month of December that you want to write about remember to leave those spots open, as well as sometime to write it. I knew the majority of my posts wold be in reference to decorating, traditions, baking, and activities which made it easy to prepare for those as I tend to stick to traditions. So, all of these are things I would be able to write up in advance and just make modifications later on to include additional details specific to my new experiences this year.

I am so excited to finally be getting these posts up and start this journey with you! I have had so much fun with it so far. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you have an amazing Holiday season and Happy blogmas!