Presents and cards are here, my world is filled with cheer and you

This Christmas

And as I look around, Your eyes outshine the town, they do

Winter greetings. I trust you had a wonderful Holiday season. Today is December 25th, a lazy day at home. We woke to the snow quietly falling, the first white Christmas in years. Magical.

I love Solstice season. The days are short and the bitter wind that blows makes it hard to believe that warmer days are on the horizon. An Arctic Outflow will bear down on our coast tomorrow bringing wind chills of up to 20 (celsius) below zero. We’re not used to such cold living by the usually mild Pacific Ocean.

December 20th was sissy’s Christmas, a tradition my sister and I have had for 20 years. Usually we celebrate in person, go for dinner then walk downtown to see the lights sipping on a Starbucks Holiday Drink and exchange gifts. This year was a virtual celebration as she is currently in Texas. She gifted me a lovely dress in a swiss dot fabric as well as a set of spa headbands and some Witch ornaments. We had a cocktail, shared our life updates and played a Christmas movie trivia game.

The first days of Yule was spent in the mountains snowshoeing in the forest. The Wintery landscape, evergreens blanketed in white and the crunching of the snow underfoot. What a wonderful time of year.

My family celebrates on Christmas Eve and my oldest sister hosts are her home. We’re a rowdy Colombian/Uruguayan family so there’s always a lot of laughter, our annual game of White Elephant (a gift exchange) and Secret Santa. So much food, wonderful conversation, photos ops and music. My sister Jaqueline was my Secret Santa and got me the DVD of The Man Who Invented Christmas, a custom made Christmas-movie-watching blanket, bath bombs and a face mask for a little spa sesh.

And we’re back to Christmas Day. The snow fell and my husband and I had a quiet day at home. My stocking was packed with bath goodies: LUSH Bathbombs, essential oils, epsom salts and chocolate to last the rest of the year (well, at least a couple of weeks lol).

My sister-in-law so kindly stopped in with Christmas greetings and a homemade Turkey Pot Pie to heat and serve. What a treat! We’ve just enjoyed it for dinner and it was delicious.

I very much enjoy the festive season and all the busy-ness and decor but something about it coming to an end is beautiful too, it’s what gives the new year light. The time after the Holiday is always a time for contemplation, putting behind regrets and forging new goals for the coming year.

Wishing you a warm festive season, with love and joy.

Thank you for joining me today. If you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog and join me over on Instagram @ BellWitchManor

If you feel so inclined to buy me a hot chocolate so that I can continue to create content like this, you can do so here.

Jennifer