Here it is. That awkward day between the end of the week and Christmas Eve.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but Christmas has snuck up and this week has been jam packed. All with good things though. Yesterday, I spent the day catching up around the house, wrapping gifts and getting a head start on Christmas cooking. I made breakfast tacos for Christmas morning, thumbprint cookies and chocolate chip cookies for gift boxes. Neilson and I went to Target on a mission of filling each other’s stockings under $20. One of us followed the rules, the other did not. We folded laundry while finishing the last installment of the Crown. We’re looking forward to Christmas lunches and dinners and parties and services, and sneaking in time to see friends who are in town for the holidays. We’ve also started saying goodbye to friends who are heading out for the holidays and won’t be back until after we leave.
We have flights back to Nice on January 6, and it’s pretty crazy to think that once the busy-ness of the holidays is over, we’ll be packing our bags. In reality, the mental packing has already begun. If this doesn’t sum up the personalities in our marriage, I don’t know what does. I told Neilson I was starting to get overwhelmed about packing to leave. He said “you just chuck your clothes in a bag and buy whatever you forget. I’m planning to bring a couple pairs of pants.” And that my friends, is the beauty of marriage. I love attaching my stress to which perfect combination of clothes I need to bring to have everything, yet only the minimum. Then add a baby and her accoutrements on top of that. Neilson is always a very human reminder to me that our belongings here on earth will turn to dust eventually, so becoming attached to them will never satisfy. But attaching my sanity to a bag or pair of shoes just feels so natural.
We’re so sad to be leaving family and the comforts and joys that being near them brings, but also looking forward to settling back in in France for the season. This year will look different for various reasons, but I’m taking the opportunity to set late night new years resolutions that will carry over to our lives in France. I’m looking forward to travels in 2023 to new places, as well as introducing Charlotte to cycling compatriots and our family on the other side of the pond.
Instead of concrete resolutions, everything on my list says
Create more
Dream more
Read more
Pray every day
Get dressed up more
Thrift/buy secondhand more
Be more intentional with relationships
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I’m trying my best to enjoy every moment we have here. The past three months with Charlotte in our lives have absolutely flown by. We’ve had more time to settle in as a family of three in the states than we imagined possible, have rekindled old and started new friendships, and have had to learn how to navigate our marriage with this tiny addition to our family.
Wrapping up with a little anecdote for you:
I was talking to my Norwegian friend this past week who is celebrating Christmas in Oslo and I asked her about their traditions because I feel like Norway is the most Christmasy place to spend the holidays. She told me about making Swedish saffron buns with friends, celebrating Christmas on the 24th, and dressing to the nines to go to your family’s house for Christmas dinner. On December 13, they celebrate Santa Lucia and children throughout Scandinavia dress in white gowns wearing wreaths on their heads and proceed with lit candles. A snowy candlelit Christmas sounds so cozy. I wouldn’t last a second in that weather, but a girl can dream.
final favorites of 2023
eating + drinking:
grandma’s molasses gingerbread
breakfast tacos
milk mustache cookies-had these at a Christmas lunch and found out I live dangerously close to this bakery
thumbprint cookies
tried Starbucks’ gingerbread iced oatmilk chai (try saying that 4x fast) and honestly, worth it
eggnog lattes chez moi…sneak some eggnog in with the oatmilk while it froths and *chefs kiss
wearing:
the most perfect Christmas-time skirt
these flattered mules that elevate just about every look. Mules are highly impractical in a walking city so I’m soaking in all the Houston backless shoe time while I can
a cozy Gap sweater per Mally Goldman’s rec
the perfect ruffle socks from a white elephant exchange
dreaming about:
Zurich, Switzerland-I’ve been once but now that Mirth has a travel guide, I’m dying to go back in the fall for cycling world championships
a girls weekend in Oslo, Norway
All things silver accessories: ballet flats, sequined clutches, cowgirl boots
Some last minute stocking stuffer ideas for you (available on prime and all):
maison louis marie candle
revision lip replenisher
mighty patches for nose pores…who doesn’t love a good nose mask
I use this ultrasonic cleaner for my jewelry and mouth guard daily and it might be my favorite purchase to date
A Mushie pacifier holder for those chic and sanitary babies in your life
Can never go wrong with a 40oz Stanley cup
Wishing a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and happy new year to you and yours! Thanks for joining me here and looking forward to chatting and dreaming more in the new year.
xx Frances