Happy Boxing Day! And a Christmas Recap

Hello my dears!

I hope that everyone had a marvelous Christmas...or if you don't observe Christmas, a fabulous couple of days off. 

I can hardly believe that it's Boxing Day.  Christmas arrived like a hurricane, with Mr. MF and I desperately trying to hold on and get everything done before the day dawned.  We had a wonderful Christmas at Chez MF, celebrating with family who were kind enough to drive down to be with us, and Facetiming with those who were elsewhere.

I will get around to posting some pictures of the festivities later this week (once I've gathered them all from the various cameras on which they reside), but as I'm thinking of it, let's have a quick "Christmas lessons learned" post on the past few weeks.

Lesson #1:  You can never have enough ribbon, and the ribbon you do have won't be enough.  The standard ribbon roll is deceiving and often only has enough to cover one big package and maybe a small package. I had to make an emergency ribbon run this year because I ran out halfway through wrapping.  My mother and aunt told me that they went all out at Costco and bought ribbon and packs of gift tags, splitting their loot, and still have plenty left over.  I think that sound brilliant.  "To do" list? Checked!

Lesson #2:  Save the gift boxes you get for next year.  This year I did 95% of all my shopping online, and most of the gifts I bought didn't come with a gift box.  To add insult to injury, the stores where I did shop in person were saavy enough to charge for gift boxes.  Outrageous!  I'm saving all my gift boxes from this year for next Christmas. 

Lesson #3:  As always, Nigella Lawson rocks. Using her Nigella Christmas cookbook, I prepared a wide assortment of recipes for the various holiday parties I hosted over the weekend and into Christmas eve.  The following were huge hits:  Chocolate Chip Chili, Spoonbread, Steamed Chocolate Pudding, and the delectable Poinsettia cocktail.

Lesson #4:  Remember where you put your light timers.   Mr. MF and I love using light timers so that we don't have to mess with unplugging the Christmas lights on our trees.  We program the timers for a 4:30pm "on" and a 9:30pm "off" and we're set for the season.  The exterior tree has a manual timer that gets packed away with the Christmas decorations every year, but the indoor tree's digital timer is often used at other times of the year when we're going on holiday.  Which is why it's important to remember where you put your timers so that you don't have to constantly plug and unplug your tree's lights, gnashing your teeth in frustration because you know that the light timer is somewhere...only to find it right in front of your face on Christmas night.

Lesson #5:  Here are the stores that came through for me big-time for gifts this Christmas season:  One King's Lane; Stella and Dot; Amazon; Lands End; Old Navy; and Ikea (for children's toys).

Lesson #6:  Be sure to plan out time for the little Christmas activities you'd like to do, otherwise they may not get done.  I didn't get around to doing the following things, despite my best intentions: making a homemade handprint ornament with Bebe (will be doing that this weekend!); having a Christmas movie night with Mr. MF; throwing a low-key holiday lunch for family and friends; making homemade stocking stuffers (homemade chutneys, jams, infused spirits); making sugar cookies to handout as party favors to friends; going to a performance of the Nutcracker ballet; and doing an "ooooh-cruise" where you drive around neighborhoods and admire the festive holiday decorations.

What did you do this Christmas season that you will (or won't) repeat for Christmas 2013?

xoxo,

MF