One Bois de Jasmin reader will receive Maison Francis Kurkdjian Amyris Femme 70ml spray bottle, brand new (I already have a sample for my own review needs).
How it works: You have to be a Bois de Jasmin email subscriber or Facebook follower in order to be entered into the draw. Please leave a comment answering the following questions: “How are you planning to celebrate winter holidays? Are there any special winter holiday traditions in your family?” Each participant will be assigned a number, and the winner will be selected via a random number generator. Draw is now closed, I will announce the winner over the weekend.
Giveaway explanation: anybody from the US or overseas can enter as long as you answer specific questions explained in the contest rules. If a winner does not respond within a week, I reserve the right to randomly pick a runner up. I’m not responsible for items lost by the mail carriers or held by customs, and I can’t replace them. Thank you for understanding.
161 Comments
Vic: Hi Victoria,
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in your contest.
For part of the holidays, I’ll be staying in Toronto and spend Christmas with friends and family. In the past we’ve got together for Christmas Eve for some food and drinks.
For New Year’s my plan is to go to New York with some friends. We’ll probably go to a restaurant there and after we will probably go for drinks and to the Time Square for the count down.
We don’t observe any special traditions. For Christmas we usually eat turkey with stuffing and different salads. During this time, we also tend to drink more red wine and cognac, as they go really well in the cold winter.
How do you plan to celebrate the holidays?
Vic December 12, 2012 at 7:26am
Carol: This Christmas I’ll be in the Virgin Islands for a friend’s daughter’s wedding. We’ve never been to a warm climate for the holidays so this will be very different for me. I know it sounds crazy to some but I’m still not sure how I will feel about being at the beach on Christmas. I’m wondering if it will really feel like Christmas…we’ll see. December 12, 2012 at 8:02am
Tony: This year Christmas I will be spending with my family and friends . We would be hanging out at one of the friends place with overflow of drinks and food…it’s party time! December 12, 2012 at 8:14am
Zazie: Thanks for the draw!
December 12, 2012 at 8:20am
This Xmas, like all the previous ones, will be spent with my family at my grandfather’s house, in the small town from which we come from before we all scattered throughout the country and abroad.
It feels good to reunite, and my heart is getting warmed up already in the anticipation of hugging all my loved ones…Yeah, feeling sentimental today!
Cybele: Thank you for this generous draw, Victoria! In my family we are settled on a French duck recipe for christmas: canard aux navets. This dish is very rich and therefore accompanied only by baguette to dip the irresistible juice. December 12, 2012 at 8:22am
KL: This year I will be spending the winter holidays in japan…I hope it snows. Haha. There is no special traditions in my family, everyone have their own plans. Thanks for the draw! December 12, 2012 at 8:26am
Anne: Let’s see: homemade egg nog, osso bucco, a flourless chocolate roll stuffed with whipped cream and drizzled with liquor and sugar. Mainly lots of lying around, staring into the fire, and giggling. + cocktails… December 12, 2012 at 8:26am
Amy Orvin: I am planning to get together with my brother and eat and watch movies. Our holiday tradition is riding around looking at Christmas lights . December 12, 2012 at 8:31am
Lynne Marie: Good Morning Victoria!
My husband works in law enforcement, which means he works all holidays unless they fall on his regularly scheduled days off. This year he works on Christmas but Christmas eve falls on his “weekend”. Christmas eve also happens to be our wedding anniversary so I’d rather have him home then and we’ll celebrate Christmas at the same time. I learned when I was younger and a divorced mom that Christmas isn’t a day on the calendar – Christmas is feelings and opportunities to share celebratory times with loved ones. For years I celebrated Christmas with my children on New Years Eve after they had spent the Christmas holidays with their dad. Now that they are grown our tradition is that sometime during the season we have a family cocktail party – ballgowns, high heels, fancy canapes, champagne, the whole deal. It’s such great fun! Thank you for the draw and I hope your holidays are everything you want them to be! December 12, 2012 at 8:47am
Liane: Xmas at home with all the family. Holiday tradition is making a gingerbread house. December 12, 2012 at 8:49am
Eleni: Hello,
My family and I are spending this half of the holiday at home doing festive things (mostly eating, then) and the other half out of town: we will be visting my grandmother, who is 90. Am so looking forward to that as I haven’t seen her in 2 years and she will love spending time with her great-grand children.
We don’t have any special holiday tradition in my family, except this: every New Year’s, we buy a national lottery sweepstake for every member of the family. The draw takes place every 31st December. No one from my family has ever won anything though – so far!
Thank you for the giveaway! December 12, 2012 at 9:01am
Mirian: “How are you planning to celebrate winter holidays? Are there any special winter holiday traditions in your family?”
This year is our (my boyfriend and i) first christmas in our own apartment! We have everything all decorated and presents are already wrapped. In my family we always have roasted leg of lamb for xmas eve dinner and after we open all the presents so that christmas day we just SLEEP! it’s my favorite part of the holidays. New years is still up in the air. December 12, 2012 at 9:10am
Charlotte: Youre so generous !
So my small family gathers there, to celebrate. Im Santa Claus, even though its not very hard to figure out since all I do is to put on a hat!
My Christmas eve gets to move aside a bit, since its my mothers birthday
Winter vacation is the busiest time of year for me, working in retail, but Im glad if I can squeeze in some ice skating. December 12, 2012 at 9:11am
may: I plan to make handmade gifts for friends. There aren’t special winter holiday traditions in my family as we don’t really celebrate Christmas. December 12, 2012 at 9:12am
d3m0lici0n: I am taking some days off from work to fully enjoy Xmas with my family. We don’t have a tradition but we eat a lot and have lots of fun. December 12, 2012 at 9:15am
Ines: Here in Australia, we don’t have winter holidays, we have summer holidays
which means a lot of time in the pool and outdoors having barbeques. I wish everyone peaceful holidays and a Happy New Year. December 12, 2012 at 9:18am
cyndee: This Christmas is special as we have our youngest daughter, Sara, along with her husband and new baby visiting from Sweden. The baby is a bit young to “do Christmas” but he does like the lights. We will have a restful day, beginning with our traditional almond bread and fresh fruit. Then spend the day visiting and ending with a hike in the Santa Cruz mountains. Perfect day. December 12, 2012 at 9:18am
ula: Our celebrations are the same every year – dinner with the family, decorated tree, loads and loads of sweets and cakes, good wine and siting by the fireplace. For dinner, we’ll have carp fillets fried in breadcrumbs, potato salad and as soup cream of mushrooms – that’s typical for Slovakia. December 12, 2012 at 9:20am
Nancysg: After having spent a lot of the fall traveling to my daughters’ houses, I am staying home and everyone is coming to me. Christmas in Connecticut and hoping for snow for the grandchildren to experience and play in. December 12, 2012 at 9:24am
Iva: Thanks for the giveaway! I’ll be spending the holidays with my family, baking up a storm. Our annual tradition is to gather together (my brother and I with our partners) on Christmas Eve and decorate a huge Christmas tree at my mom’s and dad’s place. Wishing you Happy Holidays
December 12, 2012 at 9:26am
Debbie: We get together with family: sister & boyfriend for one meal and exchanges, husband’s family for another, and friend’s family (my adopted family) for the real celebration. Husband and I will probably go to a Christmas brunch. I like to make tortierre as a Christmas tradition; just love it. It’s special. December 12, 2012 at 9:29am
Andrea: I am all ready for Christmas now so can’t wait to spend the day with my 2 children and parents. The best bit for me is still sneaking into their rooms on Christmas eve to put presents in their stockings then hearing them opening them up at the crack of dawn. You would think I had younger children but no they are both teenagers.
Such a generous giveaway and such a beautiful perfume. December 12, 2012 at 9:29am
Maureen: My family will be spending Christmas together at my mother-in-law’s house…my late husband’s mother. There will be crazy kids everywhere, including my grandchildren-2 & 4 years old-and lots of great food and presents. Fun!!!! This New Year’s Eve will be spent at a nice Italian restaurant where my boyfriend, who just retired from teaching and started a new career as an entertainer, is performing. New Year’s Day is at my house with pork roast and trimmings and the Mummers parade on TV. I am in a suburb of Philly, so the Mummers are big around here!
Thanks so much for the wonderful giveaway, and Happy Holidays to you and yours. December 12, 2012 at 9:31am
Andrea: Great query, V! We celebrate Christmas Eve by going to a candlelight service at our church, where our dear pastor has 4 services back-to-back! It is quite lively and meaningful. All of the children are dressed in their beautiful Christmas finery, and giddy with excitement. They get to go on the “stage” for a song in which award-winning country artist Rick Trevino sings with them. Then as candles are lit in the darkened auditorium, everyone sings Silent Night as snow falls from above (yep, snow in Texas!). We then go out to dinner and come home to hot chocolate and opening 3 presents each: an ornament symbolizing my children’s main interest for the year, their Xmas PJs, and a gift of their choosing. Off to bed so Santa can be up all night stuffing stockings, eating bites out of cookies and the like! Christmas is a messy free-for-all, we stay in our jammies way too long, but we do read Scripture of Jesus’ birth and pray together thanking God for His precious gift to us.
I look forward to hearing all of the unique and beautiful traditions that others have in their own celebrations during winter. December 12, 2012 at 9:32am
Yile: I celebrate christmas simply by having a nice dinner with my family!
no traditions for christmas exactly because we are not religious
December 12, 2012 at 9:34am
Laurinha: I’m going home to Paris, family and friends for the holidays; in terms of traditions: apart from the unavoidable tree and presents, it has always been mostly about good company and good food (oysters, foie gras, boudin and champagne usually a fixture), so I look forward to these precious gatherings once more.
Thanks for the draw! December 12, 2012 at 9:42am
JanetinMaine: The favorite part of the day will be the prime rib roast served with Julia Child’s horseradish sauce to be served with garlic mashed potatoes. We only have it once a year and really look forward to it.
The second best part of the day will be watching our pups (collie and golden retriever) when they watch all the unwrapping commotion and they get to have their stocking. It will be their first xmas so it will be fun to see how they react. They just recently saw snow for the first time and they love it. December 12, 2012 at 9:43am
Phyllis Iervello: Every year we do the Bad Santa gift exchange after Christmas brunch. However, our family has diminished this year because of a divorce and the fact that my older son is not coming home for Christmas this year so this year we will be playing it by ear. December 12, 2012 at 9:49am
nikki: I am spending Christmas in Arizona at a German Club Christmas Party with singing and hot mulled wine and sweets. December 12, 2012 at 9:54am
Andrea: Thank you for the draw, Victoria!
For us, Christmas means to be at the family home with as much family as wants to come. This year we can’t do that. So we all plan to more or less skip Christmas and go skiing – either in Utah or in New Mexico – whereever the better snow is. I’m dreading it. December 12, 2012 at 9:54am
Elisa: “How are you planning to celebrate winter holidays? Are there any special winter holiday traditions in your family?”
I’m visiting my parents for a week in El Paso, Texas. We have pretty much all the usual Xmas traditions: lots of cooking and eating and wine-drinking! Also we always make my dad play Santa and pass out the gifts.
Happy holidays to you! December 12, 2012 at 9:57am
Carla: Thank you, this is an amazing giveaway! I just “liked” your blog on facebook. Does that make me a “follower”? We are staying home this Christmas. My sister will visit. We have so many traditions. My husband is from Alsace, and I love the way they celebrate Christmas there, from Advent to Epiphany. We focus a lot on food, like the French do. Foie gras, buche de Noel, speculoos, maybe oysters or langoustines, poularde, saumon fume. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are the big dinners. I like how in France it’s about the food more than it is about the gifts. December 12, 2012 at 9:58am
JAR: Our special Christmas celebrations have gone by the wayside, with our children far away and one converted to Judaism and my Mom recently gone. So each year we reinvent given the circumstances. Lights…always on the balcony and a Christmas tree. Still, we “import” my Dad from a neighboring state and “do” the big city in style. Our gifts are the time we spend together and the fun things we do during that week. December 12, 2012 at 9:58am
JAR: PS I am a facebook fan December 12, 2012 at 10:00am
Suzanne M.: Thank you for the very generous draw.
I spend Christmas day with friends of all religious, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, none, so it’s more of a pagan winter celebration. I host an groaning table open house on New Year’s day. An annual event that is a good opportunity to stay in touch with friends I don’t see as often as I’d like. December 12, 2012 at 10:08am
Liz G.: Hi Victoria. My hysband and I don’t have family near so we have a pretty low-key holiday season. We had an Open House on Saturday for all of our friends to drop by and that was really fun. For Christmas Day we spend the day cooking a delicious meal from an area of the world we have been wanting to try. Last year we did a cassoulet and it was delicious. This year we are leaning toward some type of Indian meal with a curry. and, of course, on Christmas Eve and Day I will be wearing Caron’s Nuit de Noel. It’s sort of a tradition I started about a decade ago. Wearing it on Christmas Eve, sitting in front of a fire sipping some tea always makes me feel like it is truly a special time of the year and takes me away from the day to day modern worries and transports me to an English country manor or French chateau celebrating the season when it wasn’t so commercial and more about connecting with loved ones. December 12, 2012 at 10:08am
Elena: My family is from Scandinavia originally so we always get together on Christmas Eve and have things like salmon with dill, red potatoes, pickled herring, knackebrod (rye crackers), and of course coffee and sweets! On Christmas day we have a quiet day at home, and enjoy the peace while our 3 year old daughter plays with her new toys contentedly all day. Last year she asked for bacon and nothing else for breakfast, so that might be a new tradition! December 12, 2012 at 10:12am
Lia: I’m going to spend the holidays with my family just like every year.
Usually we would just hang, catch up on everybody and have a feast.
Thanks for the lovely draw!
December 12, 2012 at 10:13am
Rhiane Schroder: Christmas day will be spent by the pool and for new years we will watch the sydney fireworks then for holidays, Ill be leaving the Aussie summer to play in the snow in Europe with my family! December 12, 2012 at 10:21am
Katrin: Celebrating Christmas at my house with all my husband’s family, around 50 of them! December 12, 2012 at 10:42am
Irina: Not celebrating:-( but wishing all of you a merry Christmas December 12, 2012 at 10:46am
Hui: For the holidays, my family and I are going to Disney World in Florida.
I think our holiday tradition is that we don’t do the traditional holiday things, not being Western. It’s really usually just a time for all of us to be together and not worry about school or work. December 12, 2012 at 10:46am
mough: I plan to go to our new home in Montana as fast as possible. There are no restaurants or culture where I live. It is just myself and my new husband. And DOGS. My parents are both deceased, and my sister is mad at me, so I have no family to speak of. But this will NOT deter me from Xmas fun! I have made a point to buy bottles of perfume for the wonderful women in my life, as a surprise, donating the ones I don’t use to a women’s center, and then getting my first one for my new hubby. One tradition my family had was to open one present on Christmas Eve. It was always a night gown! December 12, 2012 at 10:46am
Lauren B: This year, I’ll be celebrating with my family, and my boyfriend’s family.
My immediate family always likes to watch “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” every Christmas Eve. We also all sit around the tree on Christmas Eve and open one present. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone this year
December 12, 2012 at 10:49am
AnneD: This year we will be celebrating my mothers’ 100th Christmas! All the family(which is huge) will be gathering in our hometown for a family feast. We don’t do presents except for the children, but we spend an hour at least taking pictures of everybody. We have been doing this every year as far back as I can remember. The only exception is we had to rent a hall because the family got so large.
I read your blog daily and enjoy your reviews so much. Thank you so much for the lovely giveaway. Happy Holidays to you and your family! December 12, 2012 at 10:49am
LCT: This year, we are traveling back to the city we moved from two years ago to see all the friends we miss so much. Our only real tradition is that we spend the holidays with family, and since that involves travel, we tack on a few days at the end for ourselves in a city or at a ski hill nearby. December 12, 2012 at 10:49am
Nina Z: We’re a mixed family so we have a half Christian and half Jewish holiday on the 25th. The first half is a fabulous brunch with stockings and presents and a tree. The second half is a long walk, a movie, and a dinner in an Asian restaurant. Hoping this year’s movie will be The Hobbit. Giving up the big Christmas dinner was a huge relief for all of us. December 12, 2012 at 10:50am
Steve L.: Thanks for the wonderful draw Victoria. This year we are quietly staying at home for the Holidays as we were in New York just a few weeks ago and are preparing for an African Safari in February. As for traditions, since moving to Washington DC, we always go into Georgetown on Christmas Eve to soak up the sights and sounds of the shoppers and to enjoy the Christmas decorations and then we started the tradition of picking up the most exquisite Chocolate Babka for Christmas morning at Dean and Deluca. Christmas morning is spent opening presents, eating Babka and drinking pink champagne. How decadent is that??! Wishing you and yours the best this holiday Season! Steve December 12, 2012 at 10:53am
Anne Sheffield: Oh thank you for this Victoria!
I am soooo looking forward to Xmas. It is m’y favorite time of year. It Will start on the 24th with ice skating, then the early mass, before dinner with family and all the children. And carry on the 25th and 26th. It is just 3 glorious day of warm cinnamon scented happiness. Swiftly followed in January with a detox…
Love to you all,
Anne. December 12, 2012 at 10:54am
Caro Fernandez: Dear Victoria,
the holiday season is Summer here. My husband and I are not very festive people, so we prefer to spend Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve quietly at home, maybe with some family.
In Argentina Christmas Eve is almost as important as Christmas Day and presents are opened at midnight, we stay awake and don’t wait until the following morning.
Thank you for holding this generous draw.
xoxo
Caro December 12, 2012 at 11:03am
Margo: Thank you for a wonderful draw!
This time last year we had only just moved into our house and were up to our eyebrows in boxes. We had Christmas lunch with lovely family. This year we are having an intimate lunch, just us two, then loads of family for mulled wine and nibbles later.
We celebrate the Celtic Festivals and this year’s Winter Solstice will be truly magical.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday time, too! December 12, 2012 at 11:05am
Emily: This is a funny year — my first without all of my siblings home in Texas — so it’s still unclear how many of our traditions will be observed. December 12, 2012 at 11:07am
BombshellB: We are travelling to my home state. I even took extra time off this year! We always watch White Christmas on Christmas Eve. December 12, 2012 at 11:09am
Lainie: I plan to be in my painting studio every day — and at my sewing machine in the evenings. I spent Thanksgiving with family and will spend Christmas day with friends – beautifully scented, I hope. Victoria, thanks for your wonderful writing all through the year, and enjoy the season. December 12, 2012 at 11:09am
breathesgelatin: I’m traveling to my home state for a week to be with my parents. Very much looking forward to it, because they live on a farm and it’s so quiet and relaxing. Except… it will be cold, and that sucks. Ah well.
My main tradition is doing Christmas Eve brunch with my high school friends. December 12, 2012 at 11:12am
Absolute Scentualist: We celebrate the solstace in our family, so we have a couple traditions we enjoy every year. We make mulled wine the afternoon before, snuggle up with the children and watch the sun set on the shortest day. Then, we light a candle, bake gingerbread, make ice lanterns if the weather is cold enough and then hurry the children off to bed so we can have friends over, finish wrapping gifts and settling them under the tree. We have the same traditional breakfast the next morning (French toast cassirole) and enjoy a quiet morning before welcoming family and friends. December 12, 2012 at 11:16am
Apollonia: Thank you, Victoria, for another opportunity to win a lovely bottle of perfume! On Christmas Eve, being Italian, I will prepare several fish and seafood dishes for my family hours before we attend the Traditional Latin Mass at midnight, where I will wear Caron’s Nuit de Noel, naturally. My husband especially loves sauteed smelts and angel hair pasta with clam sauce. After the beautiful high Mass and some little socializing with friends at church, it will be at least 2:30 a.m. or so by the time we return home to open presents, and then we will begin drinking the mimosas! My husband then makes his special breakfast of scrambled eggs with ajvar, hot peppers, and feta cheese while the girls and I set the table, butter the toast, and fill the glasses with juice (another mimosa for me)! Then, we sleep! We used to throw a party every New Year’s Eve when the kids were babies, but now we really just like to stay home, make a fire and try to stay awake until midnight! December 12, 2012 at 11:18am
Marieke: We eat turkey and roast chestnuts by the fire. One tradition is to visit family friends who live nearby within walking distance. We finish our dinner, get dressed and walk over to their house. Also we always have a breakfast of pancakes with lingonberry jam. December 12, 2012 at 11:20am
cheesegan: I celebrate Solstice and have a Solstice ritual each year. With my family we have a white elephant gift exchange tradition. December 12, 2012 at 11:21am
Carolina: I’ve really enjoyed reading everyone’s responses! I’m traveling from NY to France to be with my sister and mom. Our Christmas traditions are all about food. My mother, who is Swiss French, makes a gratin of cardoons (if she can find them; she asked a friend to send her a couple of cans from Geneva!), a buche de Noel, and a “caviar” dip with champagne. We dress up a bit for Christmas Eve. We decorate the tree with red-and-white gingham bows that my mother made decades ago, and white feather garlands (now moth-eaten and shedding like crazy). This year my niece is 3, so I look forward to seeing how our traditions evolve with her. December 12, 2012 at 11:22am
Theresa: We plan to look at christmas lights, both on land and water – every year Portland has a parade of Christmas Ships – boats festooned with lights. Thank you for the draw! December 12, 2012 at 11:23am
Sylvia: Thank you for a generous draw! This year we decided to celebrate in Italy. We will stay in Rome for the New Year’s! I can’t describe how excited I am.
We don’t have many traditions, because we are not religious and every year we do something different. December 12, 2012 at 11:23am
Sassa: Gosh, that sounds wonderful! December 12, 2012 at 11:26am
Patt: Thank you so much for the generous giveaway!
December 12, 2012 at 11:24am
Our daughters will join us for a restaurant dinner on Christmas Eve, after which we open our presents. I spend Christmas day cooking dinner: spicy pumpkin soup, turkey with all the trimmings, endive salad with lemon vinaigrette, and creamy chocolate mousse for dessert. After which, we all collapse
Leonel: Thanks for the draw.. just chilling wih the family for the Holidays. I wish I had more exciting plans
December 12, 2012 at 11:25am
Sassa: Thanks for a great draw, Victoria! I intend to be spending my winter holiday recuperating from the face lift that I am giving myself as a reward for reaching the age where I need one.
I will be hiding out from friends and family until after the new year, whereupon, I will emerge to greet everyone with a great renewed attitude to go with my rejuvenated face. December 12, 2012 at 11:25am
Lexi: Christmas will be spent in summer. In the heat
. Oh how I wish for a white Christmas one day. My grandmother was yesterday diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. So my Christmas will be spent with her in hospital. I’ll take my nan in some lovely Christmas food and a nice Christmas pudding. And Boxing Day will be spent with my other grandparents. Then straight after Christmas I am off to bright sunny Queensland for a week long holiday. Contemplating canceling that now. December 12, 2012 at 11:25am
Radmila: hi, the only tradition is to have my husband act like a Santa Klaus and bring presents to us! December 12, 2012 at 11:26am
Barbara: I love this tradition!
) December 12, 2012 at 12:04pm
Jorie: I’m so looking forward the the holidays this year; it’s been a busy year at work and I finally have down time and time off. My husband and I continued our new tradition of cutting our own tree… Oh the discussions about evergreens as we searched for the *perfect* tree for us! This weekend I am also looking forward to my tradition with my sister and her young girls as they all head to my house for our annual Christmas cookie baking marathon! And then just the simple pleasure I enjoying the twinkling lights on my tree and sipping winter beverages. Happy holidays all!! December 12, 2012 at 11:27am
Elizabeth: This will be my first Christmas away from home. This year I will be with my boyfriend’s family in Germany! It will involve gingerbread, mulled wine, a roast goose, and a candlelit service in the town’s medieval cathedral. Can’t wait! December 12, 2012 at 11:29am
Bluepinegrove: For the past several years my husband has made loaves of pompe a l’huile, a Christmas recipe from Provence. He runs around town giving the rich loaves to friends while I disappear into my sewing room–AKA “Santa’s Sweatshop”– to make gifts for people. December 12, 2012 at 11:30am
Joaquim: My mother (who loves Christmas) fills the house with tons of christmas lights, balls, tree etc, the family comes to dinner (the whole family, i’m talking of 20 people!)
I don’t like all this paraphernalia, I’m more understated but I enjoy Christmas because my mother loves it and I see how happy she is!
I woulkd love to travel a little but the prices in this days are outrageously high.
Thank you for the draw. December 12, 2012 at 11:37am
mridula: thank you for the draw. We are certainly moving around a lot this christmas holiday season, trying to see the scattered members of the family. But christmas eve we will finally be home, then to midnight mass, and the opening of the presents the next morning. In past years when the children were babies there was a feeling of the need to stuff ourselves and them with things but each year since we are simpler in our orientation to gift giving and consumption.
happy holidays to you December 12, 2012 at 11:40am
rosarita: It’s just my husband and myself, and while we don’t celebrate Christmas we have a tradition of going to the movies and out for Chinese food on Christmas day. This year we’ll be watching Les Miserables. December 12, 2012 at 11:48am
Barbara: If it snows on Christmas Eve, we have to make snow angels, and everyone has to participate.
) December 12, 2012 at 12:03pm
Carmen yepez: Our family will be spending Christmas and New Years in Baja, Mexico with my husband’s side of the family. Looking forward to some wonderful tamales cooked over an open fire and buñuelos. Not to mention a visit to the best fish taco stand EVER! Happy holidays and thanks for the draw. December 12, 2012 at 12:09pm
Austenfan: I would love to have a chance of winning this bottle.
As I don’t really like Christmas, or this time of year I have no particular plans for it. But I wish everyone who does enjoy it a very good time.
And thank you for hosting this! December 12, 2012 at 12:14pm
Pamela: This will be a solitary holiday for me. My first Christmas without my son, who is finishing his first year as a deputy district attorney in another state, and is on-call for seven days.
I will spend Christmas Eve with friends, one of whom is 99 years-old (and still wears fragrance every day), for cracked crab and salad. The next day, Christmas, I have promised myself to write about this event-filled year, and where the next is likely to take me. December 12, 2012 at 12:16pm
Vishishta: We will have a short meditation followed by a Christmas Brunch (Crepes with cherries and ricotta) and many other luxurious things. The following day we will drive up the coast of California to stay at a beautiful Russian hotel with small cabins (each having it’s own fireplace).
I wish you the best Victoria, in your European city. I will probably make your fantastic biscottis this weekend for take home gifts for my Brunch attendees. It will be nice to think you are participating in my beautiful circle of friends.
Much love, V December 12, 2012 at 12:20pm
E. Lime: I will be spending the holidays with family on the east coast: both mine and my husband’s. I am looking forward to introducing them to my 18 month old’s habit of saying “oh darn it” when something goes wrong. As for tradition? We always stock the beautiful hand-carved tiny creche in my parent’s house with fun additions: plastic dinosaurs, luke skywalker, hotwheels, etc. December 12, 2012 at 12:21pm
Anna in Edinburgh: At present I’m hoping Not to catch the cold that my OH has got, and quietly planning to celebrate OH’s Significant Birthday in the run-up to Christmas.
Thanks for the draw opportunity, Victoria, and good luck with your own festive plans. December 12, 2012 at 12:26pm
Deborah: Thanks for the competition! I will be sitting around the fire on Christmas Eve with my grown up kids, opening gifts and eating mince pies. On Christmas Day my honey and I are going away for the day – we rarely have a day together because his weekend falls on different days from mine, so this is a special day this time. But Les Miserables does open Christmas Day in USA so if he had to work that day I would go to see that. December 12, 2012 at 12:26pm
solanace: This year our hollidays will be more about the baby… I have managed to convince our moms of serving an early dinner, and that is all I wanted!
We usually go camping by the beach for the New Year, there is a national park not too far that is perfect, but not for the newborn!! Next year we’ll be there. December 12, 2012 at 12:27pm
Lana: We always spend X-mas with my parents. In fact, we celebrate Orthodox Cristmas. You know, it comes one week after New Year’s Day. December 12, 2012 at 12:28pm
Kay: Our family has the new tradition of spending Christmas away from home traveling for a week, our money is spent on travel, food and lodging and we have a wonderful time making holiday memories together. This year its in Laguna Beach California. December 12, 2012 at 12:32pm
Nancy A.: Hi Victoria,
Traditionally, I view “The Tree” at Rock Center and savor potato latkes for Chanukah. I cover all bases so to speak, however maybe not so much this year. This year is all about peace, rest, hope and recharge for the coming year. Thank you for the opportunity for these treats! A warm and joyous holiday for you! December 12, 2012 at 12:37pm
Lean S: Thank you for the opportunity. This is a wonderful draw. My holiday celebrations will be relatively simple with family visiting. A lot of good food and company.
I follow on facebook (Lean Sa) as well as through email (LeanS12(at)gmail(dot)com) December 12, 2012 at 12:39pm
Erin T: Thanks for the great draw, V, and I hope you have a very merry holidays. My hubby has put his foot down this year, tired of shuttling back and forth between our families, and is insisting we have Christmas morning with the kids at our apartment. Christmas being a bigger deal with my family, my parents said, very well, we will come to you, then! They’ll bring my youngest bro, who is home for the holidays; my other brother and his partner have their turn in Halifax this year with the in-laws.
We call my mother the “Christmas Kid”. She’ll no doubt be horrified by my lack of decoration at the apartment, but I’ll make a big breakfast to eat after the stockings, which are a huge deal in my family, and where most of the gift money goes. Gag gifts are usually also included. Christmas dinner will be at mom’s house, turkey and tourtiere, with her brother’s family, and then we’ll play cards and watch the Alistair Sim version of “A Christmas Carol” – it never gets old. I think this year will involve celebrating that we still have my Dad with us, since we nearly lost him to a surprise early heart attack in June. He’s usually the humbug / Scrooge, but he’s had the Dickensian conversion this year!
December 12, 2012 at 12:47pm
Cynthia: Our family is really small. The one tradition we have kept up from when my grandfather passed was to not have tradtional turkey dinner. It was too much for my grandmother. So now each year is has a theme meal. We’ve made Greek, Italian, and New Mexican dishes to name a few. This year we will travel to my sisters to celebrate the new year with her family in Denver. December 12, 2012 at 1:19pm
Full of Grace: Delish! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Merry Christmas!
We’ll be spending our time with our family and in there will watch A Christmas Story (“Hey kid, you’ll shoot your eye out!). And around the dinner table we will go around and describe the blessings we received all the year long. December 12, 2012 at 1:22pm
Arin: What a wonderful draw!
I will be working the day before Christmas this year, but the S.O. and I will be celebrating with a big potlock meal with friends. I live far away from my family and so do many of my friends in the area, so it’s become a tradition over the past few years to get together and make our own “family Christmas.” December 12, 2012 at 1:25pm
MK: I’ll be celebrating Christmas the way I always do – surrounded by friends and family, Midnight Mass, a big meal…can’t wait! December 12, 2012 at 1:26pm
Claudia D.: For Christmas this year, my husband and I will visit my mom on Christmas Eve and his family on Christmas day. We both come from very small families, so we really don’t have any special traditions in either of our families. Thanks for the giveaway!
December 12, 2012 at 1:28pm
Gina: I’m a nurse and I rarely have Christmas off, but this year I do, and even better, so does my boyfriend, who works offshore. We’re just going to stay home with my daughter and have a quiet, small holiday. I can’t wait. Happy Holidays to you and all your readers! December 12, 2012 at 1:36pm
Amanda: Our family has a Christmas Eve party with tons of food, desserts and games. Then on Christmas Day we go to my mothers for dinner. My girlfriends and I have a cookie baking day before Christmas December 12, 2012 at 1:44pm
Alica: I am not going to celebrate, I have had a disastrous and shaky year from personal point of view, my life is head over heels. Regarding the tradition, there always was the X-mas Eve special dinner with X-mas tree with the gifts under the tree, now we all used to meet at my parents and spend some time together. Merry X-mas! December 12, 2012 at 1:45pm
Tomate Farcie: Looking forward to oyster stew on Christmas Eve and the big meal on Christmas Day! December 12, 2012 at 1:47pm
Annunziata: What a very generous draw!
My friends are really my family, and unfortunately they are scattered everywhere, from Seattle to Venice…my plan is to keep painting and ride my beloved horse, and have some of my favorite riding friends over for a mini-feast.
I wish you and your family a joyous holiday, victoria. Your blog is always a refuge and a delight. December 12, 2012 at 1:51pm
Wordbird: Hi V
Well my daughter (the famous Small) and I will be celebrating Christmas in our own house in Wales for the first time. I bought our place this year and there’s something special about your first Christmas somewhere. It’s a nice opportunity to create new traditions.
We will, of course, be hanging stockings up on Christmas Eve – with extra ones for the cat and dog, which should be fun on Christmas morning. And we will be having lunch at my mother’s house, which has been our one firm Christmas foundation in our years as a family.
This year, we’ve added The Elf On THe Shelf to our CHristmas traditions, and he’s proving a great success. Small is loving telling him what good things she’s done, so he’ll tell Santa. (She also rats on the dog, for his numerous daily crimes.) December 12, 2012 at 1:54pm
sammm: I have a broken foot so my plans to visit friends in Canada and squashed. Instead I’ll be playing board games with local friends, which is actually a rather nice way to spend time.
May your Christmas be merry and bright. December 12, 2012 at 2:01pm
SoirdeParis: This Christmas is the first I’m seeing my family in 3 months! I’m so excited
December 12, 2012 at 2:19pm
We don’t really have any unique traditions, just the usual mass-presents-dinner-family thing!
Jessica: My friends and I are going to have a tea party on Christmas Day. We will have a Mad Hatter theme and later we will go Carolling in our Wonderland finery. Every year we get together and go Carolling and watch White Christmas with Bing Crosby. December 12, 2012 at 2:20pm
Claudia: We are being VERY low key this year, due to work issues. One thing we like to do is drive around the neighborhood on Christmas Eve (after dinner) and look at all the pretty decorations! December 12, 2012 at 2:23pm
Emily: Thanks for the giveaway, Victoria!
My husband and I are having a pretty low-key celebration this year — which we generally do anyway. We usually make ebelskivers (filled pancakes) in the morning on Christmas day, and then go see a movie (this year it’ll be the new Quentin Tarantino film). He also usually fills my stocking with delicious cheeses and charcuterie. So, yeah, we’re weird
December 12, 2012 at 2:56pm
Alityke: What a kind gesture Victoria. I’m one of you many Facebook following fans. Thank you for your wonderful insightful blog. I so look forward to relaxing with an Earl Grey and your blog each day after work.
Our “traditional” family Christmas is probably one most would hate. Both my Mum and her mum, my Nana were nurses. I’m a 3rd generation nurse also married to a nurse. So our Christmases have always been “flexible” as someone has always drawn the short straw and had to work part of the holidays.
This year my hubby will work 15hrs on Christmas Day but I’ll have both my sons home for the first time since last Christmas. We shall have the Christmas bird on Boxing Day and my eldest son has invited everyone to his flat for an evening meal cooked by his own fair hands on the 27th.
Different to most this holiday time but we are all acutely aware of those unable to have a celebration in their own home and surely making their Christmas as happy as possible is the greatest gift anyone can give? December 12, 2012 at 2:56pm
Gnosmic: I’ll be in New York City for the first time during the holiday, then onto Cleveland to visit my parents. I’ll pack little no to fragrance, strangely . . . because I’ll be perfume-shopping nearly every day! December 12, 2012 at 3:08pm
Ekaterina: Yes, we have Christmas tradition in our family- watching Love Actually. The best film ever!
I always cry:) It is so touching and kind. And this Christmas I will spend at home with my husband and my babies. December 12, 2012 at 3:10pm
Panna: Every year since we pick a country to research and see how people there celebrate Christmas. We try and cook a few recipes from that country, to round out the experience. This year we are studying Jordan.
December 12, 2012 at 3:13pm
Phanie Constanda: I am going back home to Greece to spend Christmas holidays with friends and family
and m newborn nephew
Τhere is a tradition in Greece for New Year’s Eve;
we make a special cake (called βασιλοπιτα) and hide a gold coin in it , before baking.We cut and eat the cake shortly after New Year arrives.Whoever finds the coin in his slice will have good luck for the rest of the year
Thanks for the draw
Happy Christmas everyone December 12, 2012 at 3:32pm
Gisela: We (my husband and I) will both have to work at Christmas, but we will manage to visit my father the other day and eat lots of his delicious homebaked cookies (that’s our family tradition
). December 12, 2012 at 3:34pm
Lucas: Wow! This is one amazing draw. Amyris is such an exquisite perfume.
Here in Poland we celebrate by going to church at Christmas Eve midnight to share the joy. December 12, 2012 at 3:37pm
eunice: We always go to Brasil for Christmas,we have relatives there and on the 27 we leave to New York all together for the end of the year. December 12, 2012 at 3:53pm
Nicole: Well, Christmas for us in the southern hemisphere is summertime! yay!
For Christmas day, we usually have a BBQ, with pavlova, trifle, jelly and ice cream for dessert, or if its a big family gathering, each sub family brings a variety of cold meat, (Cooked chicken, roasted leg of lamb, roast beef, seafood etc…) AND a salad of some sort AND a dessert. This way, the burden is not placed on the hosting family and we all get to enjoy a variety of food.
In the afternoon, it is usually a snooze, backyard cricket and a swim at the beach. The day is more about being together and enjoying each others company than gifts. The evening meal is leftovers and Boxing Day breakfast is ALWAYS trifle.
Happy holiday season to everyone, may it be full of joy and peace and if people are travelling, safe journeys to you all. December 12, 2012 at 3:55pm
Lindaloo: Very simple plans: Christmas dinner at my sister’s, Solstice party at a friend’s and not to forget having a birthday celebration for my sister who had the misfortune to be born on Dec 24.
One of my favourite Christmas traditions is kutya and fried pyrohy for breakfast on Christmas morning — leftovers from the traditonal Ukrainian dinner on Christmas Eve.
Thanks for the international draw opportunity. December 12, 2012 at 3:57pm
jane: Our family was only able to be together on Thanksgiving, so we celebrated a subdued Christmas at the same time. Therefore on the actual holidays of Christmas and New Year I will go to church alone, and perhaps do dome work at a local shelter. My divorce will be final and my only local “family” are not human. Growing up, and for the last 32 years, our family tradition was to have a big English dinner on Christmas Eve, followed by opening of presents, then off to midnight serviced. We’d sleep in on 12/25, then relax and visit and play and est leftovers, then off to Grannies for another family feast and more presents! December 12, 2012 at 4:03pm
ralu: Hi Victoria, thank you for having this draw. Happy Holidays to you!
I celebrate Christmas on Christmas day. The tree is up and I will have to cook some of my favorite Christmas foods which include deconstructed stuffed cabbage rolls and polenta. I’ll bring my mom over and we will celebrate. NYE is big where I’m from but not that big of a deal in the US. It usually involves a party that costs too much.
The important thing is to be around friends and family.
Happy Holidays and a prosperous 2013!
December 12, 2012 at 4:09pm
tiduj: Thanks for the international draw opportunity.
This will be the first year we leave abroad, so go home will be a blessing, especially for our children. about food, anything would go, but all my mother and my mother-in-law have intention to show off a bit. soooo, I can not wait to be fed. happy Xmas for you! December 12, 2012 at 4:33pm
ana: Thank you this wonderful draw, Victoria!This year my partner and I are going to spend the Xmas together on our own, as we live far away from hometowns and our families. It’s going to be peaceful and relaxing.no special traditions , really just some nice food( i need to look up some tasty new vegetarian recipes), plenty of rest, some nice movies and that’s it. December 12, 2012 at 4:47pm
Isayah: Our Christmas traditions are simple: get together, bring lots of good food, give the kids plenty gifts and find some suprise-game or idea to make us laugh and play together. One year each of us prepared a little show-biz act: a song, a mime, a stand-up thing. Another year we all wrapped something we did not need and played a game of opening/trading/stealing gifts. This year we’re preparing surprise Skipe rendez-vous all through the day with loved ones who cannot be with us and a treasure-finding game for the kids. December 12, 2012 at 5:01pm
tasa: I always have Christmas with my parents and we usually have a quiet one. We exchange small gifts, cook and bake together, and simply enjoy our time together.
This year, we are planning on doing a large puzzle as well, which I am very much looking forward to! December 12, 2012 at 5:01pm
Julie: First time posting. Newbie to perfumes. I will be spending the weekend before Christmas suffling my husband and daughters to all our various families to have dinners and gift exchanges. Christmas morning and day will be spent in our pjs all day and relaxing while watching Christmas Story on tv. Some tradtions include: a train ride to the “north pole”, advent calendar activites and events, new pjs on Christmas eve, and pizza for dinner Christmas eve night. December 12, 2012 at 5:07pm
X: Thanks for organizing another giveaway, Victoria.
I live in the tropics so I don’t have the traditional white christmas/ winter holidays but I am looking forward to a good day of rest, enjoy some great food and wine and hang out with my family.
On family traditions: we usually have a nice Christmas dinner on the eve and exchange presents on Christmas Day.
Have a happy holiday.
December 12, 2012 at 5:19pm
Leah: Hi Victoria,
Thank you so much for this giveaway, I’ve been really loving your blog.
I’m currently in college so I’m going to be on winter break during the holidays. I’m mostly likely going to try to learn some new things during the holidays and visit friends and family.
We don’t really have any family traditions in my family, but we sit down for a nice Christmas dinner and exchange gifts.
Happy holidays! December 12, 2012 at 5:30pm
Shannon Campbell: Every Christmas eve my family buys a Christmas tree and then we decorate it. Christmas eve is also the night we exchange gifts and we have different assortments of foods. We will usually play music and do whatever activity my mom bought for us kids to do! December 12, 2012 at 5:59pm
Chris: On Christmas Eve, we begin the festivities at sundown, and before supper, we each get a large piece of white wafer, and share it with every other member of the family at the table, from Oldest to Youngest. Past hurts are forgiven, and everyone participates in the feeling of sharing and community. The wafers are called oplatki, and my family has been celebrating this tradition since my Grandparents came to the USA from Poland, during the early years of the last century. Thank You for this Drawing. December 12, 2012 at 6:11pm
Ariadne: I wish for peace & hope for everyone. A holiday tradition/practice for me is donations….new toys, cash to the local food bank, cash to “operation fuel” (heating oil subsidy for those in need), and cash to Disabled American Veterans. DH and I will be catching up on our long winter’s nap in our own bed. Love to all….. December 12, 2012 at 6:28pm
Tina Marie Colombo: Thanks for the drawing.
We are not doing anything especially exciting. I guess the “exciting” part is seeing my girls open their presents from Santa. At 3 and 5, this is the first year they’ll both understand what’s going on and be excited. I guess I only have a few years of that because, before I know it, the older one will no longer believe in Santa. Consequently, I guess my plan is to enjoy it while I can. December 12, 2012 at 6:38pm
Amer: In my family we celebrate new year’s eve more than Christmas. We usually have a banquet at home with broader family and some friends. There is a tradition that my mom overworks herself in the effort to prepare triple the necessary variety of food to impress everyone. Her nerves and everyone else’s surrounding her are severely damaged. We end up having supper barely speaking to each other and when the new year comes there is a lot of apologizing and making up going on along with the kissing and gift-giving. It is as if every unresolved issue of the previous year reaches resolution in fast forward. The arguing and discord give way to understanding with the stroke of the clock. New year magic? December 12, 2012 at 6:45pm
Carolina L: I will be on a plane to Argentina on the 24th!
I find this to be the best day of the year to travel since airports are empty
New Years Eve is more of a big deal in South America. The tradition is to watch the fireworks on the balcony, eat panettone, turronne and al kinds if goodies that we inherited from our Italian ancestry December 12, 2012 at 6:46pm
Deborah: My husband, 2 BMD dogs and myself will be having a cozy Christmas. We will go to church on Christmas eve or Christmas itself and find someway to romp outside, hopefully in the snow. We will call our families, and say hello to everyone. At night we will make a special meal to enjoy together. December 12, 2012 at 7:00pm
Thai: Leaving Seoul on 22nd to join the love of my life in Hong Kong to celebrate the holiday! I am incredibly excited.
My family is Asian and non-Christian, so Xmas has never been a holiday to us. We celebrate Lunar New Year instead. It is my favorite time of the year, the food, the atmosphere, the cold, and the incense smell make it a perfect holiday. December 12, 2012 at 7:11pm
Mel: Nothing truly exciting, other than the usual Christmas get together – a great way to catch up with relatives we seldom (hardly) see. Plus points if family from overseas decide to return and spend the holidays with us. December 12, 2012 at 7:21pm
Elizabeth T.: We’ll be celebrating with relatives this Christmas… I’ll be making the traditional German stoellen for my husband, and spritz cookies as well! December 12, 2012 at 7:25pm
kuri: > How are you planning to celebrate winter holidays?
Nothing special, except thanks to a friend we will be going to the New Year’s countdown at Disneyland. It will be cold, but we’ll be with friends so I’m looking forward to it.
> Are there any special winter holiday traditions in your family?
The only family tradition we had was to go to my aunt’s place to eat Thanksgiving. I would love to start some new traditions, but have been lazy. December 12, 2012 at 7:50pm
TaffyJ: My very large family gets together and the kids open presents. We all bring different foods, so it’s always an adventure!
Thank you for the draw! December 12, 2012 at 7:52pm
Cyndi: This year Christmas will be a quiet dinner with my mother, my brother and sister-in-law, and my niece, Mia.
Our usual tradition is going to midnight Mass, but to be honest, the past few years I’ve been way too tired for that!
But, I love the holidays, especially Christmas.
P.S. Thank you, Victoria, for the draw! December 12, 2012 at 8:16pm
maggiecat: I’ll be going to south Florida next week for six days to visit my mom and my adult son – then back to Dallas on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas peacefully at home. My husband and I have been married only three years, so our traditions are evolving, but holidays often include traveling, and giing to assorted charities rather than splurging on expensive gifts for ourselves. December 12, 2012 at 8:25pm
silverdust: We’ll travel with the kids to our home state to visit with our families this Christmas. First, a traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner — you can’t eat until you see the first star — then Mass at my hometown church, then home to open gifts. Opening on Christmas Eve drives my husband crazy, but that’s my family’s tradition. He can wait till Christmas morn if he doesn’t like it!
Thanks for the draw, Victoria. Best to you and your hubby! December 12, 2012 at 8:30pm
Mel: My family’s tradition is ARGUING, which is why I stay in California. I turn on my Festivus tree, open my presents, start making milk punches at about 10 a.m. and watch films all day! December 12, 2012 at 8:33pm
Deborah Lane McGuire: The major focus of our holiday season is as follows;
MUSIC; we attend many local events to enjoy the songs of the season, sacred and secular.
GREAT FOOD: we invite guests in for special meals during the month of December/January.
FAMILY: we share Christmas Eve with son and family; they come here for a hearty meat pie, a la Canadian Meat Pie known as Tortierre, plus other hearty side dishes, and open gifts later in the evening with a rum and eggnog in hand. Champagne and buttered, spiced nuts start the evening off on a happy note.
Christmas Day; my husband and I have a luxurious breakfast with Mimosas and open our gifts. An early supper for just the 2 of us, and before we dig in we take a long nature hike with our lively Irish Terrier through woods and along streams, no matter the weather. It’s a tradition we really enjoy, a winding-down from all the excitement and tension of the season. December 12, 2012 at 9:40pm
AJuarez: I will be spending Christmas with family, cooking, baking, eating,triditial food including Tamales, bunulos, menudo, and relaxing with the kids, attending the church festivals is always traditial injoy the foods after the church service bags of candy and fruit and open gifts Christmas eve. We make a wish and blow up balloons with our wish inside and let go of balloons up in the air and hope our wishes, our new goal and prayer are answered. December 12, 2012 at 9:53pm
Liz K: This is fun! I have really enjoyed everyone’s answers. We generally spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my in-laws’ house. Christmas Eve we gather in the evening for the family gift exchange with good wine and finger foods. Later that night we come home and dress the cats in antlers and santa hats for the annual cat torture photos (there is a bit of extra wine involved). Christmas Day we go to mass and come home for a tamale breakfast (one of my family traditions that I snuck into the hubby’s crazy litany of must-dos) and then meet back at the in-laws’ with the addition of my mother and exchange the remainder of the gifts, drink more wine, and have a sit down family dinner. December 12, 2012 at 9:54pm
hajusuuri: This year for the winter holidays, I am staying local. Christmas is arriving early for my immediate family as one of my sisters is going on a Christmas cruise…so we are celebrating this Sunday. THEN, the larger extended family (30+) is, for the first time in many years, getting together BEFORE Christmas next Sunday. With all the early Christmas celebrations, I’ll be exhausted by the time Christmas Day arrives!
Holiday traditions…none for family; however, with one of my best friends, we attend a Nutcracker performance and then walk around New York City, enjoying the sights and sounds (but not the crowds)!
Thanks for the generous draw. December 12, 2012 at 10:26pm
Natalie: Oooh, thank you for the draw!
This year, I am celebrating the holidays quietly at home with my family. This will be the first year in quite a while that I live nearby, so I am planning to enjoy not traveling over the holidays. We don’t have many traditions, but one that I enjoy is always doing something active on Christmas Day. It’s usually beautiful weather and very fun to be outside enjoying it with the family. December 12, 2012 at 10:45pm
shaney: I am flying to my family home with my daughter to celebrate and visit family and friends…I can’t wait! Some special winter traditions include a VERY large, all-inclusive family Christmas meal, partially made by my 90 year old grandmother; a trip to downtown to the Festival of Lights; and the requisite chaotic trip to the mall with my sister for returns…and I can’t wait for it all
Happy holidays to you, Victoria! December 12, 2012 at 10:53pm
Christy C: We will stay home for the holidays. We decorate our tree on Christmas Eve and leave it up through the end of the 12 days. Special winter holiday traditions in my family are:
- Saint Lucia’s Day, when my daughters dress up in white dresses and sing special songs at church.
- Pork pie on Christmas Eve
- Putting up the special ornaments my mom made: clothespins lovingly painted and dressed in felt outfits
- Lessons and Carols church service with lots of caroling
- Christmas Eve children’s service where the kids are given oranges wrapped in ribbon and candies, with a candle stuck in it–one year my younger daughter set her hair on fire! (Thankfully, she immediately smothered it with her hand! No damage other a big fright and that awful burnt-hair smell.)
Thank you so much for the draw! It is so nice to see others’ traditions! December 12, 2012 at 11:11pm
Christy C: Forgot to say I follow via email. I think FB as well. December 12, 2012 at 11:11pm
Ada: I’m celebrating Christmas far from my home for the first time in my life, but my family will be coming to where I’m staying to spend Christmas with me. Some Christmas traditions we celebrate include going to church to attend midnight mass followed by dinner (yes, we eat that late!) and opening the presents before the sun rises.
Thank you for this drawing Victoria, and happy holidays! December 12, 2012 at 11:38pm
ojaddicte: Thank you for the draw!
This year, we’re going to the children’s Mass at the Cathedral on Christmas Eve. My son is attending the choir school attached to the Cathedral, and the choir he is in will be singing that night.
We open gifts on Christmas day, have brunch, and in the evening have a big turkey dinner with my brother-in-laws’ family. December 12, 2012 at 11:45pm
Daisy: This winter, I will be here in New York on Christmas Day, flying out to my parents’ on Boxing Day.
We’ll probably celebrate Christmas at the end of the week. My father has almost always worked on the holidays, so our family is used to celebrating either before or afterwards. We don’t really have any special traditions other than making a big meal, which changes every year.
Most of my family eagerly waits for the Chinese New Year for the big celebration. For that we always have a giant banquet, with lots of family. Maybe 20 or more at the table. Tons of food, but always a fish for prosperity and good luck. December 13, 2012 at 12:04am
Jules: thank you for holding this giveaway, victoria!
growing up, my family never placed much emphasis on the winter holidays, as my parents were both atheists and not a big fan of holiday traditions. we usually did go travelling as a family every winter, though, and this christmas i’ll be in italy with the rest of my immediate family if all goes well. December 13, 2012 at 12:07am
Zaira: Winter Holidays really start when my sons start Christmas Break so as soon as school is over we start celebrating. We always wake up late (i’m a stay at home mom).
We watch old movies ( noy just Christmas movies but Hitchcock). We bake brownies and chocolate chip cookies and basically stay home.
My husband does all the shopping so I stay indoors,
My two brothers live in different cities so they arrive at my house on Christmas Eve, along with my mom: I cook everything on my own and we have dinner together.
We exchange gifts and play board games, Wii etc,
I hope this year everything goes as planned because I rarely see my brotheras abd I am really looking forward to do so.
Thank you for the giveaway December 13, 2012 at 12:10am
Naia: Hello, everybody in this forum! Good opportunity to Get to know of some Xmas rituals all over the world, food is very different. CHEZ NOUS / Here: no food durinG the Xmas Eve, only in the eveninG for dinner: a fish soup, potato salad & fried carp as a main dish, then sweets and cakes, sinGinG Christmas carrols, /Czech ones are different from ENGLISH, prskavky, svíčky, / candles/, koledy,…and maybe snow…Many people stay in the mountains, but a lot are GATHERING toGether with the whole vast family, of course! In our house there will be 30 people this year!But not only the family… Are lookinG forward to Christmas ? Victoria, unfortunately, your email came too late, at 15 pm, while you sent it at 4 am. Merry Christmas ! Thank you all ! December 13, 2012 at 12:36am
hongkongmom: All our kids will be together with us this winter holidays and PG my elderly parents will be here too! Right now we are eating latkes and donuts …. there will be heaps of cooking going on..all sorts
thanks for the draw
Happy happy days for all December 13, 2012 at 12:47am
RVB: I hope to spend the holiday week cross country skiing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire….but it all depends on Mother Nature for some snow! A Christmas Eve tradition we had in my family was to go to the late Christmas Eve candlelight church service and afterwards drive around to look at all the beautiful Christmas lights.I will do that this year and will wear Serge Lutens Fille en Aguilles as the scent of the night.It’s pine incense and dark candied fruit notes seem perfect for the occasion.Thanks for the draw! December 13, 2012 at 2:05am
Jack Sullivan: Hi Victoria, thank you for this generous draw (I’d love to introduce my sister to Amyris!).
We’re celebrating at a small scale because we can’t afford to go on a trip, and have to keep enough money in the bank to get presents for everyone. There will be Christmas decorations (we’re late, we still have to do it), good food, we’ll indulge in a big shopping spree at our favorite bookstore, we’ll go out a couple of times (“The hobbit” is on our list). And that’s it, we’re low-key people, what matters the most is the good time we’re going to have together.
There never was much of a Christmas tradition in my family, nor on my husband’s side, so we make up our own tradition as we go, for my son’s sake. And if we get inspired, we try new things, we change plans. December 13, 2012 at 2:54am
Lydia: I’m actually going to see my boyfriend in Germany for the holidays, and we’re going on a little trip to Paris for New Year’s Eve! I think I’ve got it pretty good. Thank you for hosting such a great giveaway! December 13, 2012 at 3:23am
Linda: I’m planning to spend Christmas at home with my family. My cousins always come to visit from out of town, and our holiday tradition is to play a round of mini golf – loser has to buy dinner for everyone. It’s definitely turned mini golf into a competitive sport.
December 13, 2012 at 3:34am
CRISTINA: Thank you Victoria for this opportunity! I am going to spend the hollidays with my family and I intend to bring a whole new tradition to it. I will be making , for the first time, a huge SNOW MAN, with my 2 year old grand daughter, Ayana. He will be named THE PERFUMISTUS, he will have cinamon sticks for smily eyes, a slice of orange for mouth and an old, bright red box of Estee Lauder Make Up for hat. My whole family (overwhelmingly “girlies”) is obsessed with smells , perfumes, scents and make up.
We all wish you wonderful holidays!!!!
BEST GREETINGS FROM ROMANIA December 13, 2012 at 3:46am
carole macleod: Thank you for the draw-I tink i did the right thing with FB-here’s hoping
Lots of changes this year within my family, so time to keep some traditions and just try to enjoy. I think midnight mass, and perhaps lazy breakfast with croissants the next day. Long walk at my favorite beach, and something good for dinner-for some reason I want salmon with a harissa sauce.
I hope your life is wonderful, and that you have a merry christmas!
Sincerely,
Carole December 13, 2012 at 4:40am