Joyful, joyful 🎄

Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah, friends!

Christmastime is so...emotional, isn't it? It draws out the feelings that you tuck away the rest of the year, in ways that only Christmas can do. On one hand, cities are beautifully decked out in twinkling lights, you finally have an opportunity to spend quality time with those you love the most, people are more generous and courteous than usual, and it's appropriate to watch cheesy holiday movies for 30 days in a row. On the other hand, you (or at least, I) tend to dream up the perfect holiday season, mostly reflective of childhood memories, and are slightly bummed out when every day isn't straight out of a Hallmark movie. Also, more people drive through the middle of parking lots during the holiday season, and it drives me cray-cray.

If I'm being honest, I wasn't in the Christmas spirit this year, considering my side of the family is a little scattered these days and Charlie Brown had to work the Cavs game on Christmas Day. Fortunately, the holidays were able to make a delicious mulled wine out of my sour grapes.

For starters, we were able to host our McElhatten side for Christmas Eve lunch/dinner in our new home, and I truly loved every moment spent with my family. As for today, I learned that watching Christmas movies in your PJs while drinking unlimited Candy Cane tea and cuddled up with your puppies isn't a terrible way to spend the day after all.

Here's the huge holiday lesson I'm learning, courtesy of my poor husband who has had to remind my whiny ass a few times: The Christmas season is what you make of it, plain and simple.

For some, that means donning a Santa hat and jingling all the way to the mall in search for the perfect gifts, and for others that means realizing that the perfect gift is time well spent with your loved ones. For some, that means a table jam-packed with dozens of family members, and for others it means a quaint party of nine (or an entire day to yourself.) For some that means mailing out holiday cards on December 1st, and for others it means waiting until January (they're coming, I promise!)

I'm also realizing that as a kid, Christmas comes to you - parties are planned by your relatives, cards are sent by so-and-so's mom, and gifts are delivered by Santa. As an adult, it's really up to you to make the most of the 30ish days between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day...as well as the rest of the year.

The magic of Christmas is still there as an adult, and I'm going to work harder at making memories, not just waiting around for them to happen.

#Christmas #holidays #happiness #optimism