Welcome to another year of Blogmas, a.k.a. Ditsy December! I have already done an Introduction-style post yesterday here for the third year (?!) of this series, so I'm sure you all know the deal of what's gonna be going on for the next month but with this being the first 'official' post for this year I figured I'd say 'Hello' again! As is the norm with ever year of #DitsyDecember, I'm kicking things off with 'The Christmas TAG'. I wasn't completely sure at first whether I would be doing another version this time round, as having done two editions before, I didn't know if I could find a new set of questions which I'm yet to answer but - you know what - I did. I came across Becky (from 'The Little Blog Of Beauty') and her post here and loved the questions and so without further ado let's get straight on and answer them myself, eh?
- What time of year do you start your Christmas shopping? Generally, I try and start my Christmas shopping in November at the latest. Sometimes I may buy a few bits 'b' bobs in October - but I don't think I've ever started anytime before then. Basically, I always attempt to be as organised as possible and I think I tend to do pretty well - I've never had to do the whole last-minute, running round on Christmas Eve thing - just yet...
- Do you have any festive recipes for food or drink that you limit solely to the Christmas season to share? Food-wise at Christmas, I think the main 'recipes' which I always associate with this season alone are both the Christmas Pudding which me and my Mum make every single year - without fail - and the sausage rolls which my Mum rustles up on Christmas Eve and really are all kinds of amazing. Obviously, there's the other classic Christmas foods that you typically only have during the festive period (mince pies, Christmas Cake, chocolate - you know), but those are the two which are religiously homemade and it really wouldn't be Christmas without them. The recipes are kinda top secret though...
- Tell me how Christmas goes down in your house? Typically, Christmas begins for me super, super early. When I was a kid I always used to get up pretty darn early in the morning and while I may now be a little bit older, the same tradition remains. I just get excited, you know? I open my stocking presents that 'Santa' leaves on the end of my bed and then when my parents are ready to get up we all go downstairs and put on the Christmas music, open presents and then have breakfast (normally some form of pastry - cause it's Christmas!). My Mum usually starts the dinner and we get ready. Depending on the pans for that year, people may come and go or come for dinner and after we've eaten it's basically a whole afternoon of relaxing, perhaps opening more presents and spending more time together. I love watching the Top of the Pops Christmas Special every year and afterwards basically any Christmas Special or Film that's on, or perhaps a DVD or two. Later on, we'll have a Pic 'n' Mix-type tea which is always ideal seeing as we'll have over-stuffed ourselves a little at Lunch and then the evening is usually spent watching whatever Christmas TV is on - the soaps, Christmas specials etc. - and again, chill out.
- Do you have any Christmas traditions? I think I may have already skimmed over some of our 'traditions' or may touch on them later on, but I guess most of the aspects of Christmas for me are considered 'traditions'. My personal family Christmas has always stayed pretty similar over the years and the whole format of the day (and even the day before and the day after) remains rather familiar in certain ways and I think that's one of my favourite things about Christmas in general. We have certain things that we do every year without fail and I also do things myself religiously every year - and I guess now, fore the past three years, Blogmas has been one of them...
- Do you have a favourite festive coffee? I think the festive menus that food and drink places release this time of year has to be one of my favourite parts of the whole season. Starbucks and Costa always go above and beyond with their festive flavours and while some may change over the years, there's one which forever seems to make an appearance in the menus of both - the Gingerbread Latte. This seems to be favourite among many people and is probably the flavour which most associate with the season and I love it. Super Christmassey and really warming for the cooler weather too. Mmmhmm...
- Do you have a favourite Christmas song? I think this is a question I may well have answered before, but I like a lot of the classic Christmas tunes. Mariah, Wizzard, Slade, The Pogues/Kirsty McColl - you name it - I'll probably be singing along to it once the Christmas season is upon us.
- What do you do on Christmas Eve? We've never really done anything super special on Christmas Eve, but usually I like to try and spend some time relaxing, getting ready for the Big Day and I always like to have a little pamper night in the evening too. In-between all of that I love watching the odd Christmas film or TV special if I can, perhaps with some snacks and a hot chocolate or doing some last-minute preparations if I need to. Last year I spent some of the day at work for the first time and this year I think will be the same, but I'm still very much looking forward to when I finish at midday and can get on with the usual routine!
- What's your Christmas wrapping strategy? I want to do a proper Christmas Wrapping blog post sometime this month - so keep your eyes peeled for that - but for now, I think one of my main strategies is to simply do as much of your wrapping in bulk, as I always find that once I get started, I get properly into it and it gets done much quicker and easier. Put on Elf, wrap some presents - done.
- What's your dream gift this year? I feel like as the years go by, it gets harder for me to think of things to put on my Christmas list, as I buy a lot of the stuff I want myself nowadays and in terms of things I lust after - that list just keeps growing by the day - making it pretty hard to narrow down. I think in general, anything beauty-related is always a good way to go, but without sounding too cheesy, the main thing for me is the thought that's behind a gift.
- Describe your Christmas tree. How tall? Real or artificial? How is it decorated? Years ago, my family used to have a pretty small Christmas tree that was so small we had to prop it up on a metal box that my Dad welded at his work to make it have a little more height. A good few years ago now though, we finally upgraded to a 'proper' tree that actually fills the height of the room and a whole host of things to decorate it with. We've always had an artificial tree as find them a heck of a lot easier. We've kept a few older decorations that are probably older than me and have more of a sentimental value, but a lot of them are the same ones that we had when we first bought the new tree. We go for a very classic red and gold theme also conveniently matches in with the colour scheme of our living room very well too.
- Do you decorate just your tree or other areas of your house too? I think most of the Christmassey-ness tends to be coming from the tree in the living room as that tends to be the main focus, but I do like to add a few bits 'n' bobs here and there aswell. I've always put up paper chains pretty much solidly for the last however many years and it remains a tradition that I do every time Christmas comes round. There's a few decorations hidden at the bottom of the box that go in and around various other places in the house and I sometimes like to add a touch of festive flavour to my bedroom too.
- What do you wear on Christmas Day? Every Christmas (both the actual day itself and around the season in general) I like to try and dress up a little more. I like to try and incorporate the standard tones of the season - red, gold, greens etc. - and I love to add a touch of sparkle in there too, just for something a little extra special. However, I think one of the main things I also try to go for is comfort. Always gotta be comfortable at all times when you're going full-on with the festive food, yanno?
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