...and I'm a Celebration-aholic.
I think my problem started when I reached my late-teens. Christmas was always my favourite time of year as a kid but as my sister and I got older our family celebrations got smaller. I guess my parents thought Christmas wouldn't hold the same magic it had when we were young. It wasn't just my Mum and Dad either, to me Christmas had just become about opening presents and having a big dinner. Don't get me wrong, dinners and pressies are awesome things, but I had no enthusiasm or spirit for the holiday season anymore. Then I got my first job and I went from £20 pocket money a month to £300 wages a month... just in time for Christmas. I was still living at home rent-free at this point so I spent every penny I had on gifts for my family and friends, decorations for my bedroom and Christmas themed accessories. From that moment I was hooked. The next year I cooked my first Christmas dinner at my then-boyfriend's house whilst his parents were away celebrating in Florida. I spent hours researching recipes and made food I'd never even tried before just because it was traditional Christmas food. Now that The Boy and I rent a house we decorate bigger each year and we get anxious for December 1st when we go out and buy our tree!
Ok, so I suppose it wouldn't be too much of a problem if my addiction began and finished with Christmas but unfortunately there's more. In the weeks after Christmas I started getting Post-Chrimbo Depression. I'd get emotional taking down the Christmas decorations and it'd feel like forever until I'd be seeing them again. I had to get my fix somewhere else. That's when I stumbled upon Chinese New Year. Chinese food, decorations and fortune cookies anyone? Ok, how about Shrove Tuesday? Everybody loves pancakes right? Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday? Lets roll chocolate eggs down the stairs and make a centrepiece out of tiny, yellow plastic chicks! Halloween, April Fool's Day, Bonfire Night, Valentine's Day! Too long to wait til Christmas? Well, I know we live in the UK but we can celebrate Thanksgiving can't we? And so on. I figured out that I can be constantly planning for some sort of Holiday all year round. I love it. I live for it! Just don't get me started on Birthdays and Anniversaries!
I've just realised I've been rambling on but I wanted to add quickly that although a lot of the holidays I've mentioned are heavily commercialised, to me they are far less superficial. Everything I celebrate has an underlying meaning, for instance at Christmas, I care far more about being with family, making a meal with love and surprising them with a well thought out gift than getting gifts myself. On Valentine's The Boy and I do something romantic to celebrate our love for each other. I just love creating my own traditions and I'm sentimental to the bone. I'm addicted to having something to look forward to!
No comments:
Post a Comment