2024 Pick - Hanging Out
2023 Pick - Graceful Ghost
Rituals are sacred.
2024
It happened again. And I'm filled with gratitude. I love this holiday. Pretty much hit it on the nose.
My favorite new ornament this year was a hippo made of beads that we picked up in Africa. Collection is looking strong.
Layer in the tradition of watching Christmas Vacation to night cap the best day of the year. And also purchased a very cool Christmas Vacation ornament.
This year we purchased two trees, because why not.
Important to also flag how fun Thanksgiving is too. This will be year two of Thanksgiving as a date for Julia and I. Full of cooking, jazz, wine, and joy. The next blog post will be a full breakdown of the menu, and you're welcome in advance for the Kale Gratin flag.
Turn this "best day of the year" into "best two days of the year".
Tune in for some hot wins on the jazz front here.
2023
day after Thanksgiving.
cuddle in bed for a solid hour.
take blu on a walk to the coffee shop, get lattes.
i stay home and do all the yard work (joy)
julia hits the grocery store to fill the fridge (joy)
we eat thanksgiving leftovers for lunch, ham wins
go get christmas lights and christmas tree together
set up christmas lights before sunset, walking the roof, stoke levels high
lights work! great success!
line up jazz albums. and red wine
put the lights on the christmas tree
pull out the ornaments box
slowly pick ornaments one by one, reflecting on some connection that ornament has in your life.
light a candle.
::
I collect too many god damn things. Magazines, records, cassettes, art, cactus, brochures from national parks, big rocks, small rocks, basketball cards, hats. I suppose that's why I love thrift stores. I'm casting a wide net.
Ornaments are my favorite of all my collections. Ornaments are loaded with good stories. And the collection builds very slowly. And each ornament carries a slightly more significant weight with each year.
Like my "New Home 2020" ornament that Julias grandma bought us. That ornament will be more and more meaningful every year for the rest of my life. And there are many others that hold significance like that. Some heavy, some funny, many warm.
And you only get to live with this collection for a few weeks each year.
It's part of the magic touch of the holidays.