I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed Christmas. If you don’t celebrate I hope you still had some great days. I was planning on publishing a post one Christmas Day but ran out of time to finish it. So here are some snippets before I dive into all my Christmas 2023.
When this post is published I am already off to see my parents and celebrate my Christmas. In Germany the main day for celebrations is Christmas Eve. Fortunately the husband always agrees to celebrate it with my family. And so we do this again.
I feel after my last post I need to give a quick update that I did find some Christmas spirit in the end. But first of thank you to all my wonderful friends online. Every single comment and thought was very helpful and I appreciate it so much that you took the time to cheer me up and have helpful words. It did make me feel all warm and fuzzy and loved. So thank you. You truly spread some Christmas magic.
When the husband came home that night I was able to share my feelings with him as I had previously formed the words to said feelings. Otherwise I would have probably just mentioned I had a rough day. This way he could comfort me. The next day he even thought about surprising me with a Christmas tree (he opted to come home instead because he was beat after work and wasn’t totally sure I would like him bringing a tree home).
All those things combined your well wishes and shared stories and my lovely husband sparked some motivation to get a hold of the Christmas spirit.
And so the next day I did tackle the last task on my to-do list (a home project (installing some shelves) I had wanted to surprise the husband with). Once that was done I felt so accomplished that I started baking cookies and wrapping all the presents. And then on Friday I went out to get a (tiny) Christmas tree.
On Saturday I decorated the tree but decided to not get any more decorations this year. We are doing minimal this year. Feels right – not overwhelming but still christmassy.
On Christmas Eve we went to my parents country home where we celebrated Christmas with my parents and my sister and her boyfriend. It was a wonderful few days. With chatting, playing and of course lots of eating.
Traditional lunch on Christmas Day: Stuffed roasted geese with dumplings/potatoes, red cabbage and kale
I have been spoiled with a bunch of presents. I decided to log it all down here because I might need to remember.
Here is a list in no specific order:
- From my friend: a mug from Design Letters with a T, a pack of fancy tea, a bunch of Christmas candy
- From my friend: a handmade pear vanilla jelly and a chamomile scented eraser
- My Secret Santa Gift Swap present: a blue musselin in scarf
- From my bookclub book swap: The dictionary of lost words by Pip Williams
- Two puzzles (from my parents and the husband)
- A new kindle and a new kindle case
- A Christmas book for my collection
- Nail polish
- A dinner with my sister and her boyfriend
- A mood diary
- A handmade paper star from my godchild
- Lots of candy
- Paint brush from Taiwan
- Candles with stars and a box of chocolates
- Money
- hand knitted wristlets
- candles with stars
Now we are back and my cherished time the “in between the years” is in full swing. After I did my first puzzle the last 24 hours the next days will be spend reflecting on 2023 and making plans for 2024. And of course I still need to find my word for 2024. I have a contender but I am not sure it is yet the perfect word.
How was your Christmas? What did you have to eat? Did you spend it at home and hosted family or did you go some place? What is the favorite thing you unwrapped?
16 comments
Yay! I am so happy you found the Christmas spirit. You deserve it!
Thank you. And double thank you. Your card arrived perfectly times on Christmas Eve.
I absolutely love your Christmas tree.
We had a lovely year; usually someone in our family seems to get sick over the holiday, but this year everyone stayed well. That was the best gift of all.
My favourite “actual” gift was probably a leakproof insulated water bottle.
We ate SO much incredible food. Turkey with all the fixings, a seafood casserole, homemade pizza, and lovely desserts. It tasted amazing, but I’m also ready to get back to “normal” food and more regular exercise.
Best Christmas present definitely when no one is sick and everyone feeling well. I am happy you had that.
Our tree is tiny this year but I really love it. And it will continue to live on the balcony afterwards.
I love all the foods over the holiday but I am looking forward to all the cookies and chocolate being eaten. Sugar and my health/migraine don’t do well together but I love love love sweets.
Oh I am so very glad to hear this, Tobia! It sounds like a lovely Christmas.
I did not have a word of the year in 2023, but I feel like one has been making itself apparent to me for 2024. We’ll see how it plays out!
Thank you Suzanne.
I am excited for you to have a word of the year. Specially when it just shows up.
I’m so glad that you had a nice Christmas! Your little tree is so adorable! It made me smile so much to see that photo – it might be even more cheerful than a big tree with its cute little round shape! Your presents sound lovely, and all the food sounds delicious. I had a very nice Christmas with family, food, and treats.
I adore our small tree too. It just felt right this year and less overwhelming.
So happy to hear your Christmas was great too.
I’m happy to hear that your spirits were lifted and you enjoyed your Christmas. Your tree is adorable and I love the minimalistic decorations. My children went overboard and gave me a large set of new pots and pans, very expensive ones. With the amount of cooking I do, they won’t be wasted. Have a very Happy New Year!
Thank you Tina. Sounds like you got a present you will be using daily to create magic and spread love. Happy New Year to you too.
I am glad you had a nice Christmas in the end. I just came back from my Germany trip and playing catch up once again so reading your Christmas turned around was really good. My son caught the flu and was sick. So most of our trip was spend in the house. It was good to celebrate with family and to catch up with some friends. With all the rain and dark skies in Germany this time of year it would not be too surprising if the mood gets influenced by that a bit.
Oh I am sorry your sun caught the flew. You had so many things planned to explore, no? Hope it still was a great trip.
Yes, the weather is a bit dire right now. I don’t mind the rain if it has a few less degree and turned into snow though.
Yay! I’m glad you had such a nice Christmas. Presents are fun, aren’t they? I think my favorite present was the basket of books my husband gave me.
I don’t have a word for 2024 but I have a phrase: “Every Day Counts.” I can’t wait to see what your word is!
Oh a basket full of books sounds fun. Will you share what they were?
I love your phrase and look forward seeing how you make it come to life.
Oh, I am so glad the Christmas spirit did show up in the end… and you had a lovely time with your family. I love your gift list (it’s always nice to exchange little gifts with people) and look at all this yummy food.
Our Christmas was a little different this year as we spent it with Jon’s Mom in Southern California, but I enjoyed the time we had.
I am glad you had a great time for Christmas even though it was new and different.
Yes, I was glad I did find some Christmas spirit. Better late than never I guess.