I’ve been feeling bad over the weekend for being such a party pooper, complaining about burger buns and putting a dampener on the whole evening Pimms vibe, so today I thought I’d balance it out a bit.
I’m not really a grumpy old woman you see. Yes I feel silly buying brollies in the rain, but there are plenty of other special occasions and clichéd activities that I positively relish.
Christmas
Christmas really is the ultimate in ‘things we are forced to celebrate’, and yet I love it. I love everything about it. I love buying presents, I love choosing wrapping paper, I love the smell of mulled wine and mince pies, and watching the girls open their stocking on Christmas morning. I start getting excited about Christmas around September, and am almost beside myself by the time the lights come on and strains of Slade start flowing from open shop doors.
Flowers
Another total cliché, but I have yet to meet a woman who doesn’t like getting flowers. Whether it be an enormous bouquet delivered to your door or a handful of daisies picked from a neighbour’s garden on the way home, there is just something special about being sent flowers. To me, being given flowers tells me that somebody is thinking about me, and that I’m worth the effort of stopping off at the garage, and that’s surely the stuff of fairy tales? And a note to all the men out there, don’t worry if you’re not near a garage forecourt – you can get UK flower delivery online from one of dozens of local florists from Interflora. There is no excuse I’m afraid.
Birthdays
‘Oh, don’t worry about getting me a present, it’s just another day really…’
This is something I will never say. I love birthdays, and expect to receive a lovely array of thoughtful gifts and cards. For the last few years I’ve celebrated with a party, which is even better, as all your guests feel obliged to bring presents and pay you lots of attention. Yes, the money you spend on juke box hire may be more than the value of all your pressies combined, but that’s hardly the point, and everyone wants a juke box in their kitchen right?
The Olympics
You’d think that of all the bandwagons, this would be one of the ones I’d be least likely to jump on, yet there we were, waving our over-priced flags and drinking our free cokes. Seriously, who gives their kids coke for breakfast? Me it seems!
Waiting for the Olympic torch. And the sugar rush.
Do you have any celebrations or traditions that you like to throw yourself into? Any special occasions you enjoy regardless of the fact that they are probably owned by Hallmark? Do let me know…
Wow, juke box hire for parties. Love that idea!
I’m a Christmas lover too, although my OH is seriously not (plus he has to work Christmas anyway). But now we’ve got a child, I can get excited about Christmas again
The juke box was definitely one of my more expensive/bonkers ideas. For three days though my kitchen looked AWESOME.
Christmas is definitely much more fun with small children around to get excited.
Love Christmas; Love Easter; Love Pancake Day; Love other people’s birthdays; Love Bonfire Night (always a winter BBQ + then off to a firework display/funfair for us – bit of a ‘tradition’ from my Mum); Love ‘treating’ children at Halloween even when their costumes are a bit dodgy!; Love New Year’s Eve…
I think it’s probably just any occasion where I can escape the humdrum of daily life, have an excuse to ‘theme’ meals and generally be ‘merry’ without being accused of being a smiley-faced weirdo with jazz-hands et al !
Haha! I love the idea of you trying desperately to come up with an excuse for your jazz hands – ‘Oh no, I’m not just CRAZEEEE, it’s actually a national holiday in Poland today, honestly!’