So this morning, I got up very early, bundled myself up, and went out into the cold for my Day 5 of 25 Days of Christmas activities. Why did I go out into the cold, cold world? To see the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas Parade!
When I got into the car, the temperature read 39 degrees. In Atlanta, it was 39 degrees! Add in the fierce winds and the temp had to be much lower. Well I braved the cold as I made my way to Midtown for the parade activities.
I had on MULTIPLE layers and it still
did not keep the fierce wind from freezing me!
The parade was amazing! It lasted about an hour and half and I was smiling the entire time. This definitely got me into the Christmas spirit. I won't bore you with more talking, here are some pictures!
For today's activity for 25 Days of Christmas, I decided to give myself a break and watch a movie! And if you read my list from last year, then you know that I selected "Love Actually." This movie will NEVER get old to me. I even find myself watching it during non-Christmas times.
As an homage to the movie, I will list my top ten reasons why it will always be my favorite Christmas movie:
1) The wedding scene with the surprise choir and orchestra.
Ok, what girl wouldn't love that happening at her wedding. That took lots of planning and coordination. I remember when planning my wedding, I wondered if I could pull that off. Since we eloped, that did not happen. Lol.
2) The romance between the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) and Natalie (Martine McCutcheon).
The reason why I love this romance is that the Prime Minister could have dated some supermodel in the movie, but he fell in love with a real girl. Although people in the movie constantly referred to her as big boned, I thought Martine McCutcheon was absolutely gorgeous. No wonder the PM couldn't keep his mind off of her.
3) Love Christmas is all around
"I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes. Christmas is all around me and so the feeling grows."
OK, who doesn't love an old rockstar trying to revive his career? And when you have one who gives us so many wonderful one liners, it is movie magic. I actually came upon the full music video and it is HILARIOUS!
4) The ever awkward sex stand-ins, (Just) Judy and John.
Why let the fact that you are sex stand-ins for a movie interfere with perfectly mundane conversation about the weather? Every scene with them, I wondered if it could possibly get more awkward...then it did. Lol
5) The scene where Sarah (Laura Linney) does her happy dance in the stairway when Carl comes over.
You cannot tell me that you have not done this before. Every girl out there has had that moment when a crush has taken notice and your happy feelings just can't be contained inside. I literally wanted to do the happy dance with her by this point in the movie because I was so rooting for her and Carl.
6) The Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) doing his sexy dance through his house and getting caught.
I have always thought Hug Grant was a hottie. I have watched EVERY movie that he has made. He exceeded the sexy and cute factor with his little booty wiggle. Again, this is a scene where you know it has happened to you, except it was probably your mom.
7) When Mark tells Juliet his true feelings.
Ok, I know it was so skeevie of this dude to hit on his best friend's wife. I did not applaud that. However, the way that he told her his feelings was so sweet that you couldn't help but feel sorry for him. What girl wouldn't love a guy to do this for her.
8) The scene with Mr. Bean and the gift wrapping.
Once I was in a department store and someone was wrapping up a gift and I had to laugh out loud because it reminded me of this Mr. Bean scene so much. Just when you think the "gift wrapping" is done, he starts doing something else! I was cringing inside from the panic that the guy's wife would show up and catch him.
9) The final musical number of "All I Want For Christmas."
Little known fact about me: I get teary-eyed or cry every time I hear Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas." This is the epitome of the Christmas season and having a Hubby who I long distance dated for so long, I know the longing of just wanting to be with that special person on Christmas. See, I am tearing up just watching this clip.
10) All of the scenes of people greeting each other in the airports.
The beginning and ending sequences of "Love Actually" to me are the most poignant parts of the movie. It shows the happiness that people feel when they meet a loved one at the airport. As a frequent flyer, I always long for someone to give me a hug after a long day of travel. Knowing that someone you love is waiting right outside of the terminal for you is so sweet.
Well that is all. I actually wrote this as I was writing this blog post and so I did not give it the full attention that it deserves. No worries, I will watch it again...and again...and again....
The theme of Day 3 should be blow your diet and kick some butt. Lol. For this activity of 25 Days of Christmas, Hubby and I played our favorite holiday game - Christmasopoly! So far, I am the reigning champion of this game, but Hubby wanted a chance to defeat me.
Hubby and our dog, Bella, selecting the day 3 activity.
She was too large to pick up. Lol.
Before we started playing, though, we needed to get our snacks ready. Since we were both craving something sweet, I decided to make some cupcakes. Within an hour, I had over 45 cupcakes created! Yeah, I went a little overboard, but they are small, so doesn't count as much for calories, right?
Not even all of them! Funfetti cupcakes with vanilla whipped
icing and vanilla cupcakes with milk chocolate icing.
Drooling...
After all cupcakes were ready, we sat down to play the game. Christmasopoly is the Christmas version of Monopoly (as you probably guessed). Instead of houses and hotels, there are presents and Christmas trees. It is super cute and really fun.
So last night as we were playing, the live version of The Wiz came on TV. So I was singing along to the songs, dancing in my seat, and whooping my Hubby's butt in the game.
The final results: I am STILL the reigning champ of Christmasopoly! Lol. I will play him a few more times this season to see if he can beat me.
When I was 14, my mom gave birth to my little sister, Catherine. With her arrival came a new Christmas tradition, selecting a Hallmark keepsake ornament. That first Christmas, the new baby ornament was front and center as we rejoiced in our bundle of joy. Each year after we would make a special trip to Hallmark to select our ornaments. They had to relate to something that happened to us that year that we wanted to commemorate. By the time I left for college, we had a tree full of ornaments. As we grew up, though, this tradition was lost as us kids became "too cool" for Christmas.
When I started this 25 Days of Christmas idea, I knew that I wanted to revive that tradition. I wanted my Hubby and I to select a representation of our years together to display on the Christmas tree. My dream is to one day have so many memories that we need multiple trees to display them all. So on the second day of Christmas, we jumped in the car and went to get our keepsake ornaments.
Hubby selecting the next activity
with our cat, Midnight.
Our lovely model, Midnight
Clearly, he was happy to be selecting our ornaments.
Hubby selected an ornament that represented
his favorite Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story."
I selected this cute little pet shop (that
has adoptable pets, of course.)
YAAAAAASSSSS! It is December 1, ya'll! Let's get our Christmas on! Time for the 25 Days of Christmas activities!
The first thing I like to do is set up our Christmas tree and decorate the house for a month of happiness. Being able to end every evening with the lights low, a glass of wine, and the Christmas tree sparkling, is my idea of perfection.
I won't bore you with the details of decorating a tree because I am sure you know how to do that, but I will share some pictures of my tree and some simple decorations that I have done around my house.
Hubby was able to pick out the first activity from
the Advent calendar before he headed to work. Ain't
he just so handsome!
He grabbed Rasbee to help him with the task.
As you can tell, he was bored with it. Lol.
Our completed tree. Isn't it cute!
One of the wreaths that I put on the wall.
I love anything sparkly!
I found this super cute chapel at a local thrift store and
I just had to get it and add to my Christmas decor.
I decorated our breakfast bar! I have a collection of bells
that I have collected from every state or country that I
have visited. Not Christmas exactly, but special to me.
A mother/daughter ornament that my mom gave
me from her collection. I think we got this in 2000.
Hubby selected this last year. Have no idea why. Lol!
Another donated mother/daughter ornament from
my mom that we got in 1998.
Our tree would not be complete without
something with a dog. A thrift store find from 2001.
Another dog thrift store find from 1999.
The ornament that I selected last year that
commemorated our first Christmas together!
We picked this out this year when we took
our yearly vacation to Portland, ME.
I think this was a great start to my 25 Days of Christmas activities. Remember to check out my activities from 2014 if you are needing some ideas to do with your friends or family. Stay tuned for more great things to come.
Last year, I started a tradition called my "25 Days of Christmas." I planned activities for every day leading to Christmas Day. I went into it thinking that it would get me out of the house and get my Christmas cheer going. I also wanted to fill my first Christmas at home with Hubby with new traditions that we could carry on for years to come.
My Advent calendar from last year.
Well, I was not expecting how much fun it would be and how interested you, my readers, would be about it. I have inspired others to do their own Christmas list and to make traditions with their families, which I love. I want to point out, though, that even if you are single without a family, these activities can be done alone. No point in you missing the Christmas cheer and it will get you out to meet others.
Last year, I scoured the internet for adult-friendly Christmas activities and truthfully did not find many. There were plenty of Advent calendar activities that focused on getting small children involved. Since I don't have kids, I needed to find or create experiences that would entertain us over the age of 21. I think I succeeded last year and I have some more great things planned this year. I did throw in a few kid-at-heart activities because sometimes you need to let your inner child out.
You will notice a difference in my activities this year. I will be doing most alone. My Hubby now works the graveyard shift, so I feel bad waking him up to do my activities. He will be joining in when he can, but this year, I can show how much fun Christmas can be while doing some solo things. I do have my teenage sister, Catherine, coming to visit for Christmas, so you can expect some great activities with her, though.
Hubby and I from our Christmas photo last year!
I am so excited to get started tomorrow! I have tried to hold out on decorating my house, but the day after Thanksgiving, I could not hold out any longer! I put up my new, fancy advent calendar, planned my activities, put up some decorations and have started Christmas shopping!
My Christmas wall with my Advent calendar, 2014 Christmas
photo, and our paintings that we did last year.
We don't have a mantle, so I created a Christmas
stocking wall with removable hooks.
I hope you enjoy the next 25 days as much as I do. Please feel free to reach out to me with additional ideas or suggestions for Christmas activities. While I do plan my calendar for the entire 25 days, there is always room for some changes and I fully expect there to be some moving around of activities.
