Sunday 23 December 2018

The Christmas Tag 2018

Happy Sunday Everyone! Only two more sleeps until Santa's here! I'm feeling very much in the Christmas spirit now that it's so close to the big day, so I thought I'd share my answers to a festive tag post that my best friend tagged me in at the start of the month :) Head over to LittlePinkDuck to read Jess' post! This Christmas Tag was originally created by Morgan at EnthuiastBlog, so be sure to check out her post too! I hope you all enjoy reading! 

The Christmas Tag 2018

What's your favourite Christmas film?

My favourite Christmas movie is The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (2000) starring Jim Carrey. I love the original Dr. Seuss storyline combined with comedy! The soundtrack is fantastic too :) I know they aren't Christmas movies, but I love watching musicals around Christmas Time because that's what I did throughout my childhood. Oliver! (1968), Annie (1982) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1999) were always on TV in December. Oh, and there's always an ongoing debate as to whether Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) is a Halloween movie or a Christmas one... but it's one of my favourite movies to watch around Christmas Time, and I watch it all year round too, so I'd say the answer to the question is both! What's your opinion: Halloween or Christmas movie? 

Have you ever had a White Christmas? 

We had a proper White Christmas with such ridiculous amounts of snow that we had to be sent home from school, after the classroom doors had to literally have the snow dug away by the school's caretaker to be able to open them, when I was 5 years old and in Reception class. I don't remember much about the snow that year, other than watching one of my brothers try to make an igloo in the back garden by freezing water in plastic tub and making actual bricks of ice (he succeed by the way, but struggled to fill in a gap in the roof, haha!). As far as I can remember, we had a white Christmas when I was in my first year of university, I definitely remember all the snow that covered my campus but I cannot 100% recall if it continued to snow heavy for the rest of the month. Basically, I've only had a few white christmas in my life! 

Where do you usually spend your Holiday? 

I spent it at home with my family, since I still live at home with my mom and sister :) My brothers usually come over for Christmas dinner later in the day. 

What is your favourite Christmas song? 

My Number 1 favourite Christmas song is Fairytale of New York by Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues. To make up my top 5, in no particular order, I also love Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) by The Darkness, Where are you Christmas? by Faith Hill, Rockin' Robin by The Jackson 5, and Do They Know Its Christmas? by Band Aid 1984. Ooo, and I also really like the Christmas song that plays at the beginning of The Gremlins movie because it's super nostalgic to me, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love! *immediately puts my Christmas Spotify playlist on* 

Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve? 

We always open our presents on Christmas Day :) 

Can you name all of Santa's Reindeer? 

Yes, we've had this Christmas banner decoration all my life with all of the reindeers on (although it broke and is now missing two of the herd! T_T), and I have always loved it ever since I was a child. It helped me to remember their names because as soon as my mom first taught me them, I used to point to their reindeers and choose which was which :D There's Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Vixen, Cupid, Donner, Dasher and Blitzen. Then, of course, came along Rudolph with his red nose! Not gonna lie, the Destiny's Child version of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer definitely keeps the names fresh in my mind though! 

What holiday traditions are you looking forward to most this year? 

Hmm, other than all of the typical Christmas traditions, I quite enjoy consuming ALL OF THE CHRISTMAS SNACKS! I've already ate a lot of chocolates from those big tubs that are released in December, as well as my advent calendar chocolate. Not as much as I usually eat, but still a heck of a lot, oops I'm not even sorry :D I also love those German Lebkuchen biscuits are in the shops at Christmas! Not all of the holiday traditions that I look forward to are about the food... well that's only half true, because my next point was that I love my little tradition of going to the Manchester Christmas Markets every year, but then again, one of the main appeals of that is the chance to get a fresh Dutch Sugar Waffle XD 

Is your tree real or fake?

I don't know many people here in the UK that actually get a real Christmas tree, but I'd love to get one some day! We always have a plastic tree, mostly a green one but sometimes we get a white one. As far the small tree I get for my bedroom each year, I've had silver, black, green and white! This year, it's white :)

What is your all-time favourite Christmas food/sweet treat? 

Pigs-in-Blankets and German Lebkuchen, especially the kind with icing sugar and sprinkles on top *nom nom* 

Be honest: do you like giving or receiving gifts better? 

Well I'd be a liar if I said I didn't enjoy getting gifts, it's always so heart-warming when someone finds something that's really personal or just perfect for you! It makes me feel like they really know me well and it's a special feeling. However, I do love giving presents the most! Especially for people who don't know what they want, because I like the challenge of getting them something that they love! I mean they could pretend to love it, which my anxiety likes to bug me with around Christmas and Birthdays, but I enjoy getting things for the special people in my life nonetheless 

What is the best Christmas gift you've ever received?

Oh gosh, I don't even know! I have received so many thoughtful and sweet gifts from my loved ones over the years. I think to be honest I would have to say it was my PlayStation 1 , and my PlayStation 2 a few years later, that I got when I was a kid, because they filled my life with endless fun for years and years, and helped me develop so many of my nerdy interests which made me into the person I am today :) #deepmuch    


What would be your dream place to visit for the holiday season?

I would love to spend Christmas in Finland, where Lapland is because Finland is beautiful all year round but oh my gosh, I bet it's magical in the snowy seasons! I'd love to go and see the Aurora Borealis (aka Northern Lights) in person whilst I'm there :) Oh, and it would be marvellous to see some of the Nordic animals in the wild! Other than Finland, I think it would be awesome to visit North America during the Holidays or Germany or Austria, especially for Krampusnacht celebrations. One day! 

Are you a pro-present wrapper? Or do you fail miserably? 

I am the worst! Present wrapping meets dyspraxia is a failure waiting to happen! It sucks even more than my mom and sister both wrap presents so perfectly and then I see mine side-by-side and they look like I've opened them and tried to re-seal them XD Oh well, the paper is there to get torn anyway, haha! 

Most memorable Holiday moment?

I think my most memorable Christmas Day moments are those from when I was really young when the fantasy element of the holiday was still alive for me! When I was around six years old, I received a rocking horse and I still remember everything about the moment when I first set eyes on it. I had wanted one for ages so I was over the moon! I had a little bit of an obsession with the story of Black Beauty, so take a guess at what I called my new black & white rocking horse :D I can still clearly picture in my mind finding all of my present as usual in the living room, however my parents... I mean Santa... had put two special presents in the dining room. Me and my sister went in there to discover my rocking horse and one of those little peddle cars, or whatever they are called, for her. Awww, I can't stop reminiscing now!

Other than those childhood memories, one of my favourite memories from around Christmas time would be from back in 2009 when I was 17. On December 22nd, me and two of my wonderful friends hung out for the day and since it had snowed pretty heavy, we decided to explore around our hometown and enjoy the snow basically :) We found this one field that was completely untouched, and it looked gorgeous! Then we let loose and made snow angels and rolled around and threw snowballs and tried to make a snowman. I had not long gotten into photography so I took some cool photos, as well as some hilarious photos of my friends messing about in the snow. It was really fun and the memory pops into my head every Christmas time :) 

When did you release the truth about Santa?

My mom told me when I was about 10 or 11 years old and I sobbed my little heart out :D I was a very trusting child, but also I liked to live in a little fantasy world of my own and I adored all things magical and mythical, and so finding out that Father Christmas wasn't real was not fun. Bless tiny me! (Pfft I say tiny like I'm not 5'2'' as an adult!)

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Do you stick to them? 

I always make New Years goals, but I rarely manage to complete them all! I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to complete my resolutions for the last few years, especially considering I share them on my blog and I feel like I should show that I'm doing what I wanted to achieve. However it's not very great for my mental health, so although I might make goals this year, I'm not going to share them... but then again, I might not make any this time, other than to look after myself more in 2019! 

What makes the Holidays special for you? 

I really love the element of magic that exists around Christmas Time, and I don't mean the literal make-believe magic of Santa Claus and his Elf Workshop, but I mean the real-life magic of everywhere filled with twinkling lights and colours and shiny decorations and heart-warming movies and grottos and markets and spending time with loved ones. And even for those who don't celebrate Christmas, there's holidays for many cultures and religions in and around winter time, and everyone just enjoys the festivities of the season! I think it's such a special thing :) I also love seeing the wonder in people's eyes when they look at Christmas displays and seeing people laughing and smiling as they partake in the traditions! I'm going to stop before I get all emotional :') 



Thankyou for reading! Merry Christmas Eve's Eve! 

Oh, and I tag anyone that wants to do this tag! 
Please send me a link though so I can have a read of your answers :) 


What's your favourite Christmas memory? 
Or song? or movie? or food? :) 

Let me know in the comments!

Share:

6 comments

  1. Aw, this was a lovely post Sarah. I loved reading about your Christmas memories. One of my favourites is when my sister set the clocks back half an hour so we could wake my parents up earlier, lol. 😂 Oh and The Nightmare Before Christmas is both a Halloween and a Christmas movie... We're actually watching it right now! 😁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thankyou :) Aww that's adorable! Sounds like something my sister would do too XD She still wakes us up super early on Christmas morning even though we're adults now, haha! That's so cool! I wish my family enjoyed it too, I usually have to watch it on my own :O Do you have a favourite song from the movie? x

      Delete
  2. Awww I loved all your answers sweet! :D

    https://theremightbecoffee.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awwh, your answer to the Santa question is so cute! I loved reading your answers.

    Jess xx

    http://littlepinkduckblog.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

Blog Design Created by pipdig