What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

[FilthyforFirth]

Hi everyone, really I just want an excusr to chat Christmas with like minded people! W

Whenever I am feeling a bit down, Iove to drown myself in Christmas chat, thoughts and ideas.

I find I prefer the build up to the actual day. My absolute favourite thing about Christmas, and it is hard to narrow down, is the socialising aspect. You get to see people you might not throughout the year, as everyone always makes more of an effort. You get to host multiple Christmas dinners, mulled wine evenings. You all get together for panto or festive pub crawls.

I am a people person who loves to host, so it is my favourite part of it. Christmas music is a close second!

So, what is yours?

So many people, including nyself, moving this year! Good luck to all and enjoy plotting where to place all of your decs! (I can't be the only one who walks into a living room when looking at houses and immediately thinks, not 'where will the sofas go' but 'where will the tree go?' )

Interesting that so many of us enjoy the build up more. I suspect as my DS gets older, I will come to love the day as much. But for me, the planning, the anticipation is so wonderful!

I went and got a new plate set today for my new house from John Lewis. They had a bunch of Christmas stuff in their clearance section so I've got some paper chains, cute little baubals and some lovely festive cake toppers for pennies!

Just under 20 weeks until Christmas guys!

I love mince pies, and the cosy feeling you get when your favourite Christmas song comes on the radio, or when you see a big tree all lit up in a square.

I love spending lots of time with my family and snowball cocktails every night for weeks!

I’ve enjoyed reading this thread and getting festive goosebumps!
My favourite thing about Christmas is putting the tree up. After years of white lights, this year I’m going back to my childhood with retro multicoloured lights. I love turning the lights off and seeing it all finished, the lights twinkly and feeling just so cosy and excited. And as someone else said upthread, having just the Christmas tree lights on on an evening with a glass of mulled wine in hand.

Also love Christmas music, Christmas jumpers, and Terry’s chocolate oranges.

Does anyone remember the Terry's white chocolate orange, I used to love those

Getting some time off work to spend with my family

Todamhottoday I want to live at your house!

SnuggyBuggy yes I remember them!

One of my favourite moments is that point on Christmas Eve when you’ve done all the shopping for last min bits and if you don’t have it you are doing without it, and all the people that need to arrive have. It’s like all the pressure and running around and worrying is gone and Christmas can officially start as everything and everyone is in the place it needs to be!

I really appreciate the fact that my adult children still come home for Christmas - it's so lovely to have them all here.
Putting the tree and window lights on first thing in a morning and seeing the colours against the dark before other lights go on.
The fact my husband takes on ALL the cooking and I do a lot of putting my feet up with a drink!😄
This year we'll have our first grandchild here - cannot begin to articulate how exciting that's going to be even if s/he will have not a clue what is going on!

I have a first baby who will hopefully be ready for a highchair by the time we are eating Christmas dinner.

The buzz around the place, shops bars etc everyone seems to be in good spirits, the long dark evenings, strictly come dancing, the decorations, the Christmas songs on the music channels playing over and over again!I never get sick of them

Spending time with family, thinking of thoughtful gifts to get people. Oh I know I am a saddo but I get all excited when the Aldi Christmas leaflet/booklet comes out, I go home and have a nice cup of coffee and mark all the shite Im going to buy in it.

My DS was just in a high chair last Christmas. His first ever food was a roast carrot off my plate! It is lovely having them sat up with you .

It is so nice reading over this thread to a) get that festive feeling and b) find others brilliant ideas to steal!

Please keep them coming :)

Another fave thing of mine is having a poinsetta in the house. I love them so much and always look forward to getting one for the dining table!

That's so lovely. I need to look up a Christmas menu for a 7 month old.

I love the build up to Christmas and all the prepping. I also love it on Christmas Eve when we snuggle down for the day with Christmas films and just spending time with the family

Ooh......... in no particular order :

Doing my lists
Saving up my Nectar points and going to Sainsbury, getting everything on my list and a few "extra" things. When the DC were little DH would take them to the cinema while I did the Big Shop, now I prefer to do it on my own.

DD and I go to London, usually on the 23rd for a mosey round

Trying ( and usually failing) to organise a Family Day Out . Usuallly a film if there's anything out .

The annual opening of the £2 Jar. I save in a money tin all year (£2/10p/5p/1p/1p) take them down to the MetroBank and cash it up in the machine. DS has his straight into his account , DD and I squander ours, DH buys something online. Its usually £200 between us.

The decorations going up in the shopping centres

DH and I book a day off at the end of November to go shopping together (and have lunch)

I love watching a scary film on Christmas Eve ,

The thought of Christmas Cake (that we never eat so I'm not going to make one this year)

My Christmas crockery and tablecovers. The kitchen/dining room table has a Christmas oilcloth on the 1st Dec

Christmas bedding on the 1st Dec (DD has winter flannel, DS has a fleecy red with snowflakes on one side) . I need to buy new bedding for DH and I.

The Christmas magazines and the TV Times plus 4 marker pens to highlight what we want to watch.

Putting the wreath up on the door and the decorations then the tree.

Costco and HomeSense do really nice Christmas wares

Our Tradition of photographing the guinea-pigs in their hats , and giving them the veg trimmings .

Oh , how could I forget :

Listening out for The Pogues "Fairytale of New York" on the radio or the shops, but only if its not the clean version !

Talking on the 'phone to my granddaughters (they live with their mother but they come to us on Boxing Day)

My adult sons come here for dinner (with anyone they choose to bring with them! )and we all sit together at the table.

The dinner - in 38 years of marriage, I've never cooked a Christmas dinner - my husband loves doing it, and he's a great cook.

Daft as it sounds, I still love watching my sons open their presents!

The Christmas songs. We have them playing all day, even the crappy cheesy ones.

The decorations.

The drinks haha

What a lovely thread. I love Christmas Eve most, going out for an early dinner at a local restaurant (we host Christmas so lovely to have a day off cooking). Go and walk down a local road where every house goes all out with lights and decorations for a cancer charity, which is very close to our hearts. Back to put on PJs and light the candles then posh hot chocolate with alcohol of your choice. Mine is always coffee liqueur. We then watch love actually timing it to finish at midnight just in time to wish each other a merry Christmas before bed.

And of course the Christmas tree! The terrys choc orange! The music! The mince pies! The pre Christmas meet ups! The jumpers! The wrapping of presents! The Making of homemade Christmas cards! The buying of a new decoration for the house! The children's faces! The look on my elderly Grandmothers face when she has ALL of her family around her! I adore it all.

Gosh this lovely thread has brought a tear to my eye.

Aw I can't wait for Christmas now!

AnyFarrah, thank you!

Hopefully we will be home at Christmas (I am overseas) and start an gather all the twigs etc, which this year I may spray copper.

And mooch around TKmaxx for any unusual shaped bowels to make centrepieces filled with baubles, light glitter and false snow (pound shops excellent).

The person I love to hear saying Wow, is DH, makes all the work worth it.

Its lovely to read everyones comments about what they do, Im now feeling quite homesick

Sorrg you're feeling homesick Todam. Love your centre piece idea!

I love mince pies, especially as they are one of the first things to appear in shops. I love eating one in October!

We started a new tradition two years ago when we got married. We go with my parents and in laws out for a festive afternoon tea. I love it and am just now starting to look at where we should go this year :)

Can't wait to start some fun traditions with my DS.

Also I love it as my DH does all the cooking (hes so much better than me) and the cleaning up!

Give me some twigs greenery, and some thing sparkly throw in a candle or 2 and I can whip a centrepiece up quick sharp!

Love the dark nights fairy lights on, burner on (and I dry out the previous years real tree to use as firelighters, great smell), always watch Carols from Kings, and sing along does not matter where in the world we have lived we always watch it. Shame I cannot hold a tune in a bucket...

Same goes for New Years Day concert from Vienna, glass of bubbly (or 2)

Traditions are so lovely

Another shocker of a day. Getting worried our buyers are going to pull out. Supposed to be completing end of month and still not exchanged. I am feeling so anxious and on edge .

Come on people, cheer me up with more reasons to love Christmas...

For the last few years, I have enjoyed taking DS to our local garden centre to chose a new tree decoration. When he has his first Christmas in his house as a grown up he should have enough decorations to hang on his own tree.

Ooh and I love the smell of the first Christmas candle, and making the mincemeat and cake with the whole house smelling of Christmas.

ilovegroot not sure if you posted about that somewhere else last year, but I saw it on here and decided to do it for DD every year! Last year was her first Christmas and she (I) picked out a jingly, fluffy decoration. Plan to do it every year until she leaves home.

Also love Salvation Army playing at work (I’m a nurse, and they go around the wards to play to everybody) - I instantly tear up!

Also the Christmas light switch on at our local pub. Really not many lights, but very festive and lots of food, drink and good cheer!

Wishing you luck with the move. It was the most stressful thing I’ve ever bloody done!!

Love the picking of a dec. I picked one for him last year with his name, but at 17 months this year, hoping he will pick one himself!

Thank you Sipper. The complete lack of control over anything is so stressful to me. I really think house buying laws in this country need an overhaul. Been living with my very lovely parents since May and am just desperate to have my own space again. Been obsessing over Christmas even more than usual to try and escape it all...