Christmas Tag 2020

Image taken from GIPHY

Christmas is now less than a week away and you know what? I have zero festive spirit behind me and it kinda sucks. SO, I thought I would have a go at being festive in the run up to Christmas and found this Christmas tag online! I’m going to nominate everyone who reads this post to give this tag a go themselves!

I think I’m not feeling festive due to a mixture of COVID, age and especially due to the loss I experienced in September. So, I would really love to get into the festive spirit now… Especially with Christmas just around the corner. I really hope you guys enjoy the tag and take part in it too!

Image taken from GIPHY

What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

This is quite an easy one and it’s hands down Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. I just fell in love with the film more so than the original one… But I do love Home Alone just the same! I just found it to be the perfect Christmas film growing up, but I also loved watching it throughout the year too. It’s usually the first Christmas film I stick on in the year and this year it was kind of different to the other times I’ve watched it. I found myself questioning a lot of what happened and it made me laugh! A couple of runner ups here are Jingle All The Way and The Grinch (the one with Jim Carrey).

Have you ever had a white Christmas?

I don’t remember to be perfectly honest with you… I know in 2017 we had snow just before Christmas which was amazing! I literally had to Google when we last had a white Christmas in Birmingham and apparently it was 2010… But I cannot remember that for the life of me. 😛

Where do you usually spend your holiday?

Mostly at home now, but me and Dane tend to change it up each year and go to each others families together Christmas Day. However I think after this year we’ll be staying at home all day. I like to be able to cook our Christmas dinner together but then we tend to have to “rush” and then go out not long after eating. It’ll be nice not to have to rush around this year.

What’s your favourite Christmas song?

Paul McCartney – “Wonderful Christmastime” and Slade – “Merry Christmas Everybody” are two that always come to mind. I do like “Last Christmas” as well BUT I overheard it so much one year that I can’t stand when I hear it now. This year, as of yet I haven’t listened to ANY Christmas songs yet and I’m happy with that… 😛

Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?

Not really to be honest with you, we like to wait until the big day to open our gifts for one another. We get breakfast, snuggle up in bed and exchange gifts. I’m quite excited for Dane to have his presents this year as I’ve really spoilt him. 🙂

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop – You can pre-order the Santa’s Reindeer Wood Ornament Garland now!

Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comic Blitzen, Rudolph (of course) and Vixie? I know there’s more but I can’t think of them… *Googles* Prancer, Dancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Dasher, Vixen, Blitzen, and Rudolph! I got five out of nine so I didn’t do toooooo badly! 😛

What holiday traditions are you looking forward to this year?

We don’t really have any to be perfectly honest with you… I think one we’ve really gotten now is the whole, breakfast in bed and opening presents together. 🙂

Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

It’s fake. I’d buy a real one but our living room isn’t big enough for it… Although I have always wanted a tiny one to keep on the table OR by the front door over December. Maybe next year. 🙂

What’s your favourite holiday food/treat/sweet?

I’m a sucker for the dinner to be honest with you. I love sweet ham over Christmas with pigs in blankets, massive Yorkshire puddings, my mom’s gravy (mines good but it will never beat hers!) and crispy AF roast potatoes. 😀 I’m cooking lamb this year. The first Christmas we did at home (2018) the meat I cooked wasn’t good and it was such a shame, so I’m giving it another go this year in the hopes it’s really yummy! 🙂

Be honest. Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts?

Giving gifts. I love being able to buy gifts for people who either won’t buy the item in question for themselves, or surprise them with something I know they would love and appreciate but don’t actually know about and such. Plus it’s always nice to buy a gift and see someone’s face light up. 🙂 I especially love when I see Dane open his gifts, as well as my mom.

Christmas 2018 – Olivia Burton fox snow globe watch from my mom.

Christmas 2013 – Cinnamon the German Market fox from Dane.

What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever received?

One that comes to mind is my Olivia Burton fox snow globe watch. My mom bought this for me in 2018 and I still love it so much. As the little crystals move around inside it’s one I always stare at during meetings at work and when I’m out and about… However, I haven’t worn it much this year due to lockdown but before COVID existed I was wearing this all the time! She even got my name etched on the band too, which is a really nice touch. I may try and get a replacement band at some point soon as the one I have at the moment is looking tired.

Alongside that there is also one of the presents I received from Dane when we had our first Christmas together – this little fox plushie. I don’t think we’ve been to another Birmingham German Market together since 2013, but whilst we were there we walked past a stand that sold plushies. I saw this cute little fox and Dane bought it for me straight away. I still own this plush to this day and it’s now in my plushie cupboard, where he belongs! It just always reminds me of Dane and how excited I was for Christmas with him. For a very long time I’d hated Christmas, but when he came into my life he really made me feel better about this time of year. P.S. We called my little fox Cinnamon. 🙂

What’s your dream place to visit for the holiday season?

Japan, for sure! I would love to go to see how festive it would be, have a KFC for Christmas dinner and if possible stay somewhere like a private onsen where we could spend the evening in and out of the hot bath, eat yummy food and just relax together and exchange presents. It might be something I suggest to Dane in the future for sure. 🙂 I’d only want to go for a week, maybe ten days at a push so we can enjoy the festive period together.

Are you a pro present wrapper or do you fail miserably?

I’m in-between. Before I met Dane I used to fail miserably as I never really concentrated or had as much to wrap as previous. I feel especially since we moved in together I spend a bit more time on my wrapping and whilst I’m not a pro, I’m definitely better! I’ve watched how my dad and one of my friends wrap their presents and they’re definite pros! They take their time, make lots of folds and more and their gifts look to good to open. 🙂

1995 – My parents bought me the Pocahontas Braided Beauty doll for Christmas when I was five. Image taken from Amazon.

What’s your most memorable Christmas memory?

Mmm… I don’t know to be perfectly honest. There’s a couple that stand out but I always love to share this one…

When I was five Pocahontas came out and I fell in love with that film (still one of my favourites!) and my parents made sure to buy me plenty of Pocahontas presents that Christmas. I received a cute red jumper/sweater with Pocahontas on, that I LIVED in for as long as I can remember. They also bought me the Pocahontas braided beauty doll which I LOVED! It came with Pocahontas doll as well a a braiding tool that looked like Meeko. I loved Meeko and my parents knew that, but I imagine there weren’t any specific Meeko toys and this was close enough. PLUS I had long hair growing up, that my mom would braid for me, so I imagine she saw this when shopping in Toys R Us and bought it because it was all the things I loved. 🙂 It was clearly a thought out gift for me as a kid. 🙂

What made you realise the truth about Christmas?

I remember I had written a letter for Father Christmas as a kid, as well as drew some pictures of Rudolph and Father Christmas. I knew it was my dad when I woke up the next day to read, “Well done!”, “Great picture!” and “Merry Christmas” on each picture and the letter I wrote. I know my dad’s writing and it was the same. It was from then on I knew who was really delivering my Christmas presents and who they were from. I’d had my suspicions for a while and I’m pretty sure the year before I’d seen my dad putting presents in my room as I turned in my sleep and was half awake.

What makes the holidays special for you?

Being with people I love and making them smile. Obviously yummy food and being merry is always good too, BUT it is definitely about making people happy and being around the people who make you happy. I’m sad that I can’t see my parents properly over Christmas. They’ll be driving over to my house next week to drop off gifts and have a chat from the front door to their car at the end of the drive. This year has been hard for my family due to our loss in September and I especially feel for my mom this year. I just wish I could give her a hug and a kiss when exchanging gifts and more. I know the time will come where we can ALL make up for lost time… But it’s just really hard this year.

So, there we have it! The Christmas Tag! It’s kind of started getting me into the Christmas spirit this afternoon whilst answering the tag questions and to be honest with you guys, I hope I get more and more festive as the time goes on.

This evening I’m actually going to host a mini “German Market at home” for me and Dane. I’m making hot dogs (not the nasty shit in the jars!), fries and instead of hot chocolate, I’m going to serve chocolate cake with Bailey’s!

I’m super excited for it and I just hope it goes down well. 🙂

How are you all feeling about Christmas this year? Especially with COVID. Me and Dane will be staying at home throughout the festive period, including New Year to stay safe at home. I hope my readers will be doing the same…

Please let me know what you are most excited about this year in the comments. 🙂

Until next time guys, please stay safe during these times and see you soon.