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!