Simona’s Cosy Christmas Corner – Traditions

As you already know, we have some different Christmas traditions in Switzerland. Last year I wrote a little something about our Santa Claus: http://simonascornerofdreams.blogspot.ch/search?q=samichlaus&x=0&y=0

We have the “Christkind” bringing the presents and we also celebrate on Christmas Eve.

This post is not dedicated to our general traditions, but it’s about my own special things I do around Christmas.

A Saturday or Sunday in December is for sure dedicated to baking cookies, I usually bake “Mailänderli” and “Brunsli”, part of this whole tradition is to give them a Christmas shape like a star, a Christmas tree or a bell. If you want to know more about the cookies, read the post here:

I always try to get all presents early enough, but I wait wrapping them until December 23 or 24. Don’t ask me why, it’s just the way I do it. Wrapping them is really important to me, I take a lot of time and watch a Christmas movie. Sometimes I also listen to Christmas songs.

Watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas songs is definitely part of it. I always create my own Christmas cards and write to my close friends. That’s usually when I listen to the songs.

Advent calendars are also a great tradition. Although in the past few years, I actually haven’t had one. I like the ones with chocolate in and the beauty calendars sound great as well.

I love candles and I guess you could call them a tradition as well. They just create this festive atmosphere. Scented candles are wonderful. Talking about a festive ambiance, I just adore decorating the house for Christmas, you can be so creative.

Many people put the Christmas tree up really early, we don’t. We wait until a few days before the 24^th, usually the weekend before. My mum and I then decorate it with a Christmas movie or some music on.

We like to have fun with Christmas songs, playing around, singing and even changing some lyrics. We do that a lot while preparing Christmas Eve dinner.

We don’t have many Christmas markets in the area, but they are just great for a day or evening out. Strolling through the stands and drinking mulled wine, just perfect!

Another thing I love doing is hanging out in my Christmas pjs and just being lazy.

What are some of your Christmas traditions?!

A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas by Darcie Boleyn – Book Spotlight

In my writing, themes such as the importance of family and friends and the modern family unit often emerge. I’m a hopeless romantic; I believe in true love, and that it’s worth fighting for. I also adore Christmas and hope to spend it in New York one year. I went out to Manhattan in late October 2009 and my husband proposed to me in Times Square, so New York has a special place in my heart.

A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas is about two friends, Lucie and Dale, who’ve always been there for each other. This year, Lucie has been asked to be a bridesmaid at her friend Petra’s Christmas wedding in New York. She asks Dale to go with her because they do everything together and because she can’t imagine going without him.

I wrote the story in the summer, as often happens with Christmas books. My family find the whole process quite amusing, as while the sun is shining outside the window (on those days when we get sunshine, of course) and others are jetting off on exotic holidays, I’m hidden away in my study humming along to Christmas tunes and yearning for a mince pie.

My inspiration for the story started as a seed of an idea that bloomed into a novel. I love festive stories, especially A Christmas Carol, and one day I started thinking about a character who might, in some ways, be a modern female version of Ebenezer Scrooge - but not as miserable or miserly. I thought, what if there were a few ghosts of Christmas past haunting her; a few events that she couldn’t quite get over? Then I added a very positive spirit of Christmas present - to help her learn to love the festive season - in the hunky form of Dale.

But will he be the spirit of Christmas future?

You’ll have to read A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas to find out!

Here’s the Blurb:

Warm your heart with this perfectly festive romance…

Lucie Quigley hates Christmas. It’s the time of year when everything goes wrong in her life. So this year, when she’s asked to be a bridesmaid at her friend Petra’s Manhattan wedding, she jumps at the invitation to escape the festivities.

Dale Treharne has been best friends with Lucie for as long as he can remember. He’s used to looking out for his oldest friend and when she asks him to be her plus one, he can’t seem to find a reason to refuse. Instead, he sees it as a way to help Lucie get through what is, for her, the most miserable time of the year.

In New York, as the snow starts to fall, Lucie and Dale start to realise that their feelings run deeper than just friendship. But can they overcome their pasts, and make it a very merry Manhattan Christmas?

DARCIE BOLEYN - Author bio

Darcie Boleyn has a huge heart and is a real softy. She never fails to cry at books and movies, whether the ending is happy or not. Darcie is in possession of an overactive imagination that often keeps her awake at night. Her childhood dream was to become a Jedi but she hasn’t yet found suitable transport to take her to a galaxy far, far away. She also has reservations about how she’d look in a gold bikini, as she rather enjoys red wine, cheese and loves anything with ginger or cherries in it – especially chocolate. Darcie fell in love in New York, got married in the snow, rescues uncoordinated greyhounds and can usually be found reading or typing away on her laptop. 

Author Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/darcieboleyn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/public/Darcie-Boleyn

Blog: https://darcieboleyn.wordpress.com 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcieboleynauthor

BUY LINKS: 

CANELO: http://www.canelo.co/books/very-merry-manhattan-christmas/

AMAZON: http://lrd.to/A-Very-Merry-Manhattan-Christmas    

Simona's Cosy Corner of Christmas - Guest post by Ninnie

When Simona tweeted out about dong a Christmas feature I just had to sign up! Christmas is one of my favourite times of year! It takes me a while to get into it, I don’t really go all in until after my birthday at the end of November but once I’m there it’s game on! I go all out, I get my Christmas mug down, my Christmas jumper out, my Christmas onsie on and this year I even managed to find myself a Christmas dress for Christmas Day covered in candy canes, gingerbread men and snowflakes! I cannot tell you how excited I am to wear that!

But, anyway, that is enough about my addiction to Christmas themed stuff…

I think my all-time favourite thing about Christmas is getting to spend time with my family. They mean the absolute world to me and every year we get together and have a meal. Our family has grown a lot over the last few years and we now have 6 kids under 9 around on Christmas Day, it’s insane (and I survived it last year with an endless stream of Prosecco) but it is so much fun! Kids make Christmas and I love having the little ones around and I can’t wait for the day I have my own kids to add to the shenanigans!

If you follow me on Twitter you know that I love a bit of baking so every year I bake something for my family. Nothing beats the smell of Christmas themed baking in the house. I’m not sure what it will be this year but I am leaning toward gingerbread! Maybe a gingerbread house… we will see…

Oh and let’s not forget the tree! If I had my way my tree would be real and going up on the first weekend in December but I’m not allowed to so I have to wait til mid-December. For the tree decorating I get out my Christmas songs, make a hot chocolate and get going. I am such a perfectionist with the tree and my mum and I decorate it together and debate over where the decorations look best while my Dad watches on.

And once we’re all ready I get out my onesie and the collection of Christmas DVDs I own and hibernate snuggled on my sofa with my family around me. Bliss.

And now for my this and that answers!

- Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Christmas Day

- Real tree or fake tree? Real (but I can’t have a real one *sad panda*)

- Snowman or snow angel? Snowman

- Jingle Bells or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

- Gold or silver? OH! This is just mean! Probably silver…

- White lights or colorful lights? Colorful :)

- All I Want for Christmas or Last Christmas? Last Christmas

- Love Actually or The Holiday? The Holiday (I can’t actually stand Love Actually *hides from the pitchforks*

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