Christmas for 2...ideas please

[Sneezee]

Me and dh don't have children. We usually spend christmas with extended family but for various reasons that won't be happening this year...we mayhave one of our parents over for lunch but it'll be just the 2 of us for the rest of the holidays.

We both love christmas and I'm desperately trying to not be sad and hoped you could give me some ideas on how to make it festive and special?

Thanks

Volunteer at a local soup kitchen?

1. Go away to a hot country!

or

1. Completely spoil yourself!!! Only eat the most luxurious food and drink plenty of champagne!

I could have written your post! In fact I was going to make a thread saying the same thing the other day.

So I'm on here for ideas too :)

The only thing I do know that we're doing is having sooooo much food and drink I'm already looking forward to it!

Watch lots of Christmas films, go to panto/nutcracker/theatre, advent at church, read Christmassy books (either all that chick lit stuff or A Christmas carol), listen to Christmassy CDs, Christmassy Yankee candles, baking gingerbread and cookies (for colleagues or yourself), craft some decorations, visit craft fairs or farmers markets, see towns lights get turned on or just have a stroll down the Main Street with a hot chocolate, also look at your towns 'what's on'/ events like stately homes or castles that decorate for Christmas.

Can you do something for or with a local sheltered complex for the elderly or any charity you'd like to help or volunteer at?

Pre kids me and dp would book a shepards hut or cottage somewhere and have a few days of wall to wall shagging.

Thanks for all the ideas. We have pets so going away isn't really an option. My job involves working with elderly people so volunteering would feel like a bit of a bus mansholiday.

Shizlack lots of lovely ideas there.

I just don't want it to feel like a normal Sunday iykwim

I'd go for the luxury food and drink option too.

You could leave the Christmas tree until Christmas Eve (or just a few days before) and spend a nice evening decorating, listening to Christmas tunes and drinking mulled wine or fizz.

Make sure you both have a stocking for Christmas morning. Have a Christmas brunch, long walk, spend the afternoon cooking something special together for your main Christmas meal.

Id treat myself to beautiful hotel xmas eve to xmas day with lunch, is Manior quat saixons open at xmas?

Look into stunning hotels and if you cant afford that, amazing meal out on xmas day and eve....treat yourselfs....

We have:

had breakfast in bed whilst watching a movie then taken the dogs out somewhere nice whilst dinner cooks.

had a total duvet day and slobbed out eating a running buffet of m&s goodies and watched boxsets.

had lunch in town and window shopped.

wrapped up, made a picnic of m&s goodies, took the dogs to the beach.

**disclaimer, yes, m&s food hall is our christmas treat

GemmaTeller M&S food hall is awesome

In our pre children day we:
Had a nice romantic meal on christmas eve (steak, champagne etc) and went to midnight mass. Very christmassy and different to a sunday service. Exchanged one present each when we got in.
Had a lie in on christmas day - breakfast was smoked salmon bagels, exchanged gifts and then went out for lunch. Walked along the sea front after lunch and then came home for the afternoon where we spent the afternoon watching films and eating! In the evening we had grown up family or friends without children over for drinks and buffet (again, m and s!) Everyone dressed up and it felt special.

We did look at going to London this christmas or a nice country hotel but unfortunately the scrooge in me was how blatantly the prices escalated to cover christmas week.

If we weren't scared stupid of flying (both of us) we would go abroad or cruise (these cost similar to a week in a nice London hotel over christmas)

Christmas just the two of you can be really lovely; me and DH have done it for the last couple of years.

We had a nice meal on Christmas Eve and champagne ok, cava and stayed up til midnight to open one present each. We turned the telly and phone off, lit all the candles and put some classical carols on.

Opened presents in the morning and had some more champagne whilst listeningto cheesy carols.

I cooked lunch, did the full works, nice table, crackers etc. Prep as much as possible beforehand - you don't want to be in the kitchen all day. More champagne, and then some wine.

A nice walk after lunch.

Card games in the evening with music on (and more wine). Watched a comedy DVD, put on our new pajamas.

Then I was a bit sick (too much turkey and wine).

Debate whether I should eat my selection box for supper, and to bed.

Boxing Day is always a sofa day watching the racing.

Between Xmas and new year we usually:

1. Go out for a nice meal.

1. Go round friends - a lot of them are shift workers so we only really get to see them on the odd weekends that they aren't working.

1. Go to theatre/cinema/panto

1. Get wrapped up and go to the coast for a bracing walk and fish and chips.

1. To see friends separately. Both our individual groups of friends tend to have an annual night out between Xmas and new year. It's nice to get away from your partner for a bit sometimes!

1. Drink wine

My perfect christmas would be hiring a log cabin in the arse end if nowhere with a hottub, just me and DH.

Clash that sounds perfect exactly what I'm looking for!

Big lovely walk, somewhere really beautiful! (especially if you have doggies, don't know if you do, you mentioned pets). This year, I hope to just have a simple lunch, go out for a huge lovely walk with the woof in the afternoon, then have nice roast in the evening in front of the fire. Am thinking we might have pheasant in red wine gravy - it has always always seemed like a fun, festive dinner to me.

Well I normally avoid Christmas threads like the plague, but Christmas for 2 was my specialist subject pre-DS. DH used to work away so Christmas meant locking the doors and getting on with...

Dressing the tree
Making soup while watching Its a Wonderful life.
Wrapping presents.

Then getting very drunk, watching Carols from Kings and having a shag

Then at midnight we'd open our presents and have more booze.

Christmas morning was for sleeping late, then a big brunch. Open champagne. Start cooking Christmas tea, which would be whatever we fancied. Then Christmas telly.

Boxing Day was usually about a big walk somewhere.

And on the 27th we hosted a cheese and wine party for all our friends (everyone buys cheese at Christmas, no-one eats it so why not enjoy it with friends?).

Reding back, basically we used to lounge about with really good food, tonnes of booze, and a bit of Christmas telly. Bliss.