Lola’s Ramblings: Merry Christmas!

Posted December 25, 2014 by Lola in Lola's Ramblings / 12 Comments

LolaRamblings

Lola’s Rambings is a feature on Lola’s Review where I talk about me. Usually these posts are everything that doesn’t fall under any standard header, like blog tours, book blitzes, cover reveals or reviews. Lola’s Ramblings posts are are personal discussions of a certain topic. Sometimes about book related topics and sometimes about non-book related topics. This feature was previously known as About Me. The banner for this feature is designed by Michelle from Limabean Design.

I hope you all have a merry christmas and enjoy this day with your family, yummy food and lots of presents!

As it was christmas I thought it was fun to write about my experiences with christmas and what I like most about christmas.

What do I like most about christmas?

  • The magic, the lights and the decorations. There is something so magical about the time around christmas. I love seeing how people decorate their houses and how shopping malls and even some streets take time to put up christmas decorations. I always loved the time around christmas and it just feels magical. As a kid we sometimes took a detour with the car to drive through streets with lots of lights and it was a wonderfull experience. It’s still one of my favourite christmas memories.
  • The presents. I am not going to lie, presents are an important part of christmas. As a kid I always loved getting presents and it was one of the reasons I looked forward to christmas. Unpacking the packages and seeing what you got is just so much fun. When I got older part of the fun was seeing the reactions from those for whom I bought presents. I love giving presents and seeing how people react to their presents. Nowadays we usually don’t do as much presents as we used to, but I still like that part. I hope when I have it a bit broader money wise we can do christmas a bit more elaborate again.
  • The Food. What’s not to like? Christmas always means yummy food, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner. When I was a kid we usually had a christmas brunch and dinner. Nowadays we usually visit my mom and her husband or my boyfriend’s parents for christmas and have dinner there. I might make some cookies or something else yummies as an extra this christmas.

Christmas now and in the past

Things have definitely changed in the way we celebrate christmas. When I was younger we used to celebrate Sinterklaas more bigger, which meant we got most presents during that event, but with christmas we still got some presents. It was more about the company and the food. When we got older and stopped celebrating Sinterklaas we did more presents with Christmas, usually there were lots of packages under the tree and it took us usually around 1 or 2 hours to open them all. It was still about food as well and family. One of the days we usually celebrated with the whole family, we usually did ‘surprises’ (a present hidden in hadnmade construction of some kind), so everyone bought a presents for someone else and everyone got at least one present.

Nowadays we usually celebrate one christmas day with my mom and her husband and the other one at my boyfriend’s parents. Not as much presents as we used to do, but it’s still fun and there’s yummy food involved ;). This year my mom and her husband will visit on New Year’s Day instead of during christmasas that worked better. Here in the Netherlands we have two christmas days, December 25th is the first dya of christmas and December 26th the second day of christmas. Today my boyfriend and I stay home and tomorrow we will visit his parents and have dinner there.

Christmas tag

And I got tagged by Cait from Paper Fury, I thought I would go ahead and add her questions to this christmas themed post as I am already talking about the subject anyway.
1. What does your Christmas Tree look like?
Uhm, we actually don’t have a christmas tree this year. I didn’t want to spend time and effort to put it up and my sister was kinda busy as well. So no tree this year. Normally we have this small fake tree with some lights and other decorations in it.

2. What are you reading in December? (Anything festive?)
I am a mood reader and usually just read whatever I am in the mood for. For some reason usually nothign festive, although if you check back to yesterday I actually reviewed a christmas themed read! The only christmas themed book I read this season though ;). At the moment I am writign this book I am in the middle of a dystopia romance beta read and at the moment this post goes live just finished a MG mythology book. Next up is a sci-fi book.

3. Are you an organised little elf or are you still shopping/preparing on Christmas Eve?
I am definitely a organized little elf ;). I buy my christmas presents as early as possible and usually have most of my shopping doen before it’s december. Although sometimes I order things online and they might arrive a little bit late.

4. How early do you start to get into the Christmas spirit?
When I was younger we started with the christmas spirit as soon as Sinterklaas was over. The weekend after Sinterklaas we usually put up the tree and decorated the house. Nowadays christmas is a little bit different with me not having a lot of money and my mom and her husband living on the other side of the country.

5. Do you make any Christmas crafts? Decorations? Send physical Christmas cards?
None of them. I used to send physical christmas cards sometimes to people on school usually. But most often my mom send out cards to people she knew and just added my sister and my name to the cards. My mom made all the christmas cards herself for two years. Thsi year the only christma scard with ym name on it, is the one my sister send to my grandma.

6. What’s the menu for Christmas Day?!
Leftover peanut butter pasta from the day before. On the second day of christmas, 26 December for those of who you who don’t live in the Netherlands and only have oen christmas day, we go to my boyfriend’s parents and I am pretty sure we have a full blown christmas dinner.

7. What makes it FEEL like Christmas for you? (Weather, specific tradition, food, smell, person, etc.?)
A combination of the magic feel outside, the christmas food in the supermarkets and the special christmas dinner. Okay so mostly the food. I like food.

8. Do you have relatives coming? Excited? Nervous?
All the relatives and family interactions are usually one of the thigns I don’t like about christmas. beign about peopel drains me and while it’s fun to see them again, it can be exhausting as well. The second day of christmas we go to my boyfriend his parents. I am a bit excited about that as it means yummy food and presents.

9. What famous Christmas character do you most identify with? (Scrooge, Elf, Tiny Tim, the Grinch, Santa, etc.)
I don’t really watch a lot of movies and not sure who those characters are and who I indentify most with, so I can’t answer this question.

10. If you were to start a new Christmas tradition, what would it be?
Not sure.

What do you like most about christmas? And has the way you celebrate christmas changed from when you were younger?

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12 responses to “Lola’s Ramblings: Merry Christmas!

  1. When I was younger, I used to like the presents more when it came to Christmas time. I remember waiting by the bright Xmas tree, anticipating the opening of gifts. Now that I’m older and don’t really look for much material things, I am mostly looking forward to the food now. Like, how can anyone else not want FOOD?! We usually have like 12-15 dishes on the table, ranging from fruits, to pasta, to all kinds of meat and it’s just awesome. Nothing much has changed as Filipinos celebrate Christmas very traditionally. I just have more appreciation for food now πŸ˜‰
    Faye M. recently posted…[GIVEAWAY] Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from The Social Potato! + 2015 ResolutionsMy Profile

    • I agree the food is now almost as important or even mroe then the presents. Today’s christmas dinner was yummy, with two desserts! Yum!
      I like the idea of having 12-15 different dishes, although I cna imagine if you want to smaple them all, you’re very full at the end or have to eat very slowly.

    • I spend a lot of time snuggling with the herd babes, playing games, messing up my cauliflower mash for lunch and having the day before’s leftovers as dinner, yeah it was a fun day :).

  2. Yaaay! Glad you did this one! πŸ™‚ I AM HERE FOR CHRISTMAS FOOD TOO. That’s the only reason I show up, honestly. hehe. Ohh, 2 days of christmas?! I agree with that thinking. We do everything on the 25th, but honestly, we’re still eating all the leftover food on the 26th. Aaand….beyond that. I think we made too much food this year. Not complaining. I made cheesecake and there was plenty of leftovers for me to covet and stash. (Seriously, with a mega-massive family, hiding food is the only way sometimes. lol)
    MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
    Cait @ Paper Fury recently posted…Writing WishlistMy Profile

    • lol at eating leftover food for that long, but as long as the good is food that’s good ;). We got some leftovers with us for tomorrow’s dinner as we had way too much food at my boyfriend’s parents for dinner today.
      Oh I love Cheesecake, haven’t had a good cheesecake in a while!

  3. What a fun holiday post – I rally enjoyed your tag answers πŸ™‚ I agree, there’s something magical about Christmas and I just love decorating. I love getting presents, but you’re right – the best part is watching others open their gifts. Especially the kids πŸ™‚ MERRY (LATE) CHRISTMAS!
    Berls @ Fantasy is More Fun recently posted…Sunday Post | 68th EditionMy Profile

    • I never celebrated christmas with kids, so I can’t really relate to that, but seeing others open their presents is just so fun!
      Glad to hear you enjoyed my tag answers, I thought it was nice to include them in this post instead of making a seperate post for it.

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