merry & bright
You know, it truly does feel like fun coming back to this corner and creating now that I’ve gotten my last post out of the way. [For those of you who haven’t read-go take a read for some major life updates]. Now that all that is out the way, I feel so much lighter and I finally catch my self imagining up ideas about what I want to do here.
But enough about that. Today is Christmas! And while I truly didn’t plan for a Christmas Day post, I couldn't let the holidays roll around without sharing these festive photos. I’ll keep this one short since it is in fact a holiday [and where I want you to be is spending undivided time with whomever you get to share this day with].
While I didn’t venture back to the East Coast for Thanksgiving, this time around I took 2 weeks to come back home and spend some well overdue time with the family. Every year, we celebrate Christmas at my parents’ house. Want to know the best part about this? The majority of food stays here! Now, if you know me or have been dropping by this corner of the internet for some time, you know that my family is from the Caribbean [Guyana, to be specific]. And so, with that comes all the BEST food. [Honestly, it would take another blog post to explain all the delicious dishes. So, for now, take my word for it ;)].
On Christmas Day, from the early morning, the house starts to smell of spices and warm aromas as the cooking commences. Make no mistake though, a lot of work and preparation has already happened behind the scenes on Christmas Eve. I’ll be honest, I don’t get very involved in the kitchen-we never did growing up as kids, but the feeling of a bustling kitchen always brings up feelings of nostalgia for the holidays. [One of the things I’m excited about when moving back to New York is to be close to Mom & Dad. I can’t wait to spend weekends learning the recipes of all the favorite meals I grew up eating so that I can make them myself. Just in case you’re wondering, no there is no recipe book. That’s just not quite how things work around here, so I’m going to have loads of learning to do].
By early afternoon my family will start to trickle over. And by family I mean my entire family, grandparents-on both sides, aunts, uncles, cousins- some way younger, some older, family friends...you name it we’ve got it. [When my family immigrated to American in the 80’s, everyone planted in New York and have been here ever since]. Inevitably, someone is always running late, so the entire family has to wait on them to begin the meal. [At this point, since it happens every year, it’s quite comical to me. Almost like “who will it be this time?” By this point, I’ve learned to have a light midday snack ;)] Once everyone is here, then we eat. We eat [take a break and eat again], catch up, listen to music, dance, catch up some more, laugh [loads of laughing], raise a glass, and just have a grand time. It may seem overwhelming or even chaotic from the outside, but I couldn’t love this tradition anymore. It’s nothing exotic or fancy, but it’s exactly what I want. Just time to be around my tribe.
What are your holiday traditions? Whatever you may be doing to celebrate [or not], I hope you feel how I feel this Christmas Day- merry & bright!
Happy Holidays!
This post was in collaboration with ModCloth. All styling and content are my own. Thank you for supporting leave a little sparkle.
