Photo credit Heather Hands

Christmas is in less than 10 days, and I am completely unprepared. Last year, I had it all planned out. I made our own Christmas cards, had them stamped and mailed in plenty of time. I decorated the house, even bought a cute rosemary tree and filled it with small ornaments, to comply with our loft's spacial challenges. I had my knitted gifts done and sent with some time to spare. A true Christmas miracle. This year, not so much. Maybe it's our recent trip to this great place - more on that later - or the fact that we are going to Quebec city to celebrate the Holidays with my family this year, making it seem like it's not really Christmas until we see snow. Maybe it's that the weather here has been quite warm and sunny, or maybe, just maybe, it's that I've been drinking bubbly and procrastinating. Either way, the last minute scramble is here, and I'm maintaining a decent amount of constant panic, balanced out by some serious excitement to be home for Christmas. Since graduating, work has rarely allowed me to travel during this time of year, and I'm feeling very lucky, thrilled to be in my favourite winter wonderland for the Holidays. So today, I'm putting Love Actually in the background, displaying my adorable snow globe on my desk, and while Graham is browsing the internet to complete his Christmas shopping, I'm getting ready for a creative marathon. Wish me luck.

We live just a few blocks from West Elm, which has proven to be extremely handy quite a few times. Hosting a party and realizing at the last minute that we are short on serving plates? I'll be back in 20. While cleaning out the storage unit we got rid of the wrong size duvet? I've got a new one, much more expensive than our old Ikea one, but oh so much more cozy. No regrets. It's also been pretty nice on really cold days, when it's obvious that Noodle needs more exercise, but I am not enjoying the walks. See, sometimes I'll go in and walk around with Noodle. Often he insists on going and I have to convince him that it's not happening. But sometimes I cave in, and even, sometimes, I instigate.  Noodle loves it because once in a blue moon I let them give him a treat, and I just love to go walk through the sales section, or just look for decor inspiration. I usually do a good job at only looking at the sales, but this time, everything was so festive and exciting that I did a systematic walk through, and left with a bag. They got me right at the entrance, when I spotted this amazing sweatshirt. How could I not. And then, the snow globes. Is there anything more festive than a snow globe? I mean, probably, actually, I'm sure there is. But I love snow globes. Right now, looking at my snow globe makes me pretty happy. 

As many households are slowly recovering from this weekend's festivities, we are back into our routine, looking forward to a few upcoming trips, trying to finalize our New Year's plans, and I'm starting to really get into the Holiday spirit. This Holiday weekend we avoided the large meals (mostly), the crowds, the shopping, and instead hung out at home like we rarely do, cooked some simple meals, played with the dogs and watched movies. It was the perfect balance of being social and staying in our pj's until late, of exercising and relaxing, and I have to say, it feels pretty great. It's hard for me to get excited for two Holidays that come so close together, especially since we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving already, so I've decided that Christmas should get all my attention. I think that it's seeing snow on the ground on Friday that did it for me. I got excited like a kid at Christmas, loudly expressing my joy to a very sleepy Graham, and putting on my warmest coat and handmade knits to go walk outside. Graham never understands how I can get so happy and enthusiastic with the snow, when I'm pretty much cold 10 months out of the year. I have to admit I'm not sure what it is, and I definitely never loved winter growing up. Maybe it's the knowledge that snow is so ephemeral here, that the mountains will soon await, with winter kept a safe distance away, or that we will soon be in winter wonderland, going home for Christmas. Either way, I'm happy, or at least was until Noodle pulled on his leash on a thin patch of ice, and I almost fell over. Insert your favourite cartoon character dancing with his legs up in the air here.