Being a wedding planner often makes my head spin but it’s got nothing on the Holidays. If you are anything like me then you are probably feeling the same way. Stranded on a desert island and obsessing because your sand castle won’t set and you are desperately trying to figure out how to ferment the coconut water because Lord knows that is the only way we’re getting through this in one piece. I’ll be the Wilson to your Chuck Noland (Don’t you just love a Castaway reference) and maybe we can manage to shed a little humor on the Holidays.
By now you’ve realized this isn’t your typical wedding post and from time to time I like to deviate from all the helpfulness that I write about and talk right to you! The very qualities that make me a planner by nature work against me when it comes to the Holidays. Too many players in the game and too many personalities! All that mumbo jumbo about Holidays being a time for Family and Friends and Love… Who wrote that crap? It certainly doesn’t happen like that in our household. For me the Holidays mean stress. If you were a fly on my wall you could probably hear me shouting things like WHO DID THAT?!! Who took that pastry from right smack in the middle of my display?! Tell me right now… seriously who does things like that?! Then I spend 10 more minutes rearranging and refilling the display while my husband brushes the crumbs off of his goatee and says What?… I’m not allowed to eat it yet? Well of course you are allowed to eat it but can’t you eat it without messing up the integrity of my display?! 
For some reason the Holidays make me feel the need to make everything into a styled vignette. I blame Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, HGTV, Chip and Joanna Gains and that damned Pinterest!! I’ve gotten so obsessed with the style that I won’t even let my poor husband eat the best pastry b/c of its placement. So this year I’m using my planning super power for good. I’m going to suck it up and dump the pastries on a plate. I’m going to pour an extra LARGE glass of wine and I’m going to do my best to enjoy because I don’t want my kids to remember their mom as the neurotic, bat shit crazy mess that I am around the Holidays. I want them to remember the magic of it all.
SO… how am I going to do it? Well so far I’ve stayed up to 1 am this week wrapping Christmas presents even though my tree isn’t up yet but when it is there will be presents under it and I won’t be staying up to 1 am on Christmas Day doing it. That’s a win right?! I’m LEAVING the house delegating the Christmas lights to my husband and 12 year old who for some odd reason is dying to get up on the roof this year. I wonder if she’s trying to test out the best ways to sneak out in a controlled environment? Probably, right? <pours more wine> Why am I leaving the house when I have a zillion and one other things to do? Because I can’t delegate. I just can’t do it. The planner in me forbids it and we’ll spend 5 hours putting up lights instead of 2 because I have to have all the clips straight and the lights unraveled just so. But will I really enjoy the lights anymore if the clips are crooked? Probably not. Hell you can’t even see them at night! I’m going to spend Black Friday decorating instead of shopping and I’m going to pour another glass of wine. Then I’m going to buy a big ole tub of cookie dough and pour some egg nog while my children make a mess of the kitchen and try not to have a heart attack because… well because it’s Thanksgiving and it should be about Family and Friends and togetherness and I shouldn’t care that they are eating more of the raw cookie dough than they are making cookies and even though they might get salmonella… they might not too… and I did it as a kid and I remember it as an adult and those are the moments that should matter.
So I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving Friends! I’ll be thinking of you! If you need a bit of liquid motivation to get through it try one of my favorite Holiday Cocktails!
Tell me how you are getting through your Holidays! I’d love to hear it. Feel free to leave a comment below or if you really need some loving and non-judgmental support Email me!