Christmas Unfolding

christmastree

Little by little, Christmas is unfolding for me. Normally by mid November something within me snaps, and all I want to do is bake, drink Baileys and dedicate my evenings to watching movies I haven’t seen since my previous brain lapse.
This year, however, it’s slowly creeping in, and much of it started when I took these pictures last Saturday when my Mother had a Christmas night with her sisters.
I’m not anti-Christmas this year by any means. I’ve just been sort of, indifferent. I was trying to pinpoint why and came up with two possible reasons. Perhaps it’s because I don’t commute anymore, so I haven’t had my yearly dose of Christmas FM in the car. Or maybe it’s because everyone actually told me what they want for Christmas this year, so I ordered 95% of everything online which are now all wrapped and ready to go. Christmas shopping was way too easy this year, a real fluke. Maybe I needed to be part of a manic shopping crowd for warm Christmassy feelings to trigger. Although I think the only thing that triggers in those situations is blind rage.

Despite my inexplicable late-to-the-Christmas-party feeling, I’m finding the pace quite nice. Probably how enjoying Christmas should be; not too early, not too late. And a week to go seems just fine.
Anyway, I was never really worried that Christmas wouldn’t be enjoyable for me. It would be impossible with my Mother around. She does a wonderful job of making our house a home every day of the year, which is always neat like a shiny new pin. She ensures the house is always warm and inviting and this is especially true of Christmas time.

So if you’re feeling a little lackadaisical on Christmas cheer, these images should give you 10ccs of tinsel, STAT.

giraffesthesnowmancavaglassespianotreesparkletreeornamentgarlandponsiettasittingroomsettingcavaandstartertablesettingwreathesoceanspraycranberrypiphomeware

Told you. My Mother wins at Christmas.
In relation to the above two images – The kind people at Ocean Spray and RNN Communications recently sent me a beautiful box containing a jar of Ocean Spray Whole Cranberry Sauce*, a book of recipes and this lovely PiP Studios bowl*. I love PiP stuff, so it was a fantastic surprise. My Mother snapped up the bowl and filled it with the cranberry sauce for her festive table before I could take shots of a full jar, but y’all can use your imagination! I very much like that the product comes from a company who know cranberries better than anyone else..cranberry connoisseurs if you will.
As the world’s leading cranberry supplier, it’s nice to know what you’re putting on your turkey is the best in the business. I’ll definitely try my hand at one of the many Ocean Spray recipes before Christmas time is out, or at least a recipe in the new year for cranberry leftovers!
Ocean Spray Whole Cranberry Sauce is available at all good supermarkets and Aldi are currently stocking bags of their fresh cranberries in the fruit and vegetable aisle.

So there you have it. One week to go, and tomorrow night is my work Christmas party. Once we have our Christmas party, the celebrations are steady from then on, right up until January 2nd. Now all that’s left to do is locate my elasticated pants.

What puts you in the festive mood? I hope these images helped you on your way!

♥ ♥ ♥