Simply having a wonderful Christmas time

 Last week was my final week of work for 2020 and boy was it a race to the finish line! I was feeling very stressed and completely frazzled and am very glad to now be on work holidays. Well done to all the teachers and families out there! We truly did an extraordinary job supporting students' learning in unprecedented times this year.

 

I had to celebrate with a trip to the local op shop. Look at all my finds! The vintage nighties were $5 each. The vintage scarves were made in Italy and cost me $3 and $2 apiece. The bakelite (!!!) bangles were $1.50 each and I bought the DVDs for $2 each. All this for $22, I was happy with that. And I can't believe I found more bakelite bangles after finding one just a few weeks ago.

 

I recently watched 'Titanic' (1997) for the first time in years and discovered just how much I love this film! My gosh, it must be THE most romantic and devastating movie that I know of. I am now seriously considering henna-ing my hair orange and wearing butterfly hair clips for the rest of my days! At 3 hours and 14 minutes, I was watching it a bit each day after work and I'm now torturing myself by watching it a 3rd time. Bring on the waterworks! Needless to say, I was very glad to find a Titanic DVD at the op-shop and another movie also starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio called 'Revolutionary Road'.


 

Source

Opshopping done, the next thing I was looking forward to was our Christmas BBQ which we had on Sunday. There are still no community-acquired COVID-19 cases in Melbourne, so thankfully we are allowed to have gatherings. I was really eager to catch up with family and friends, as after two lockdowns, I haven't seen most of them since the very start of this year.


 Mum organised the BBQ this year and spent a week cooking and freezing food. I wish I had a photo of the food but we were all too busy eating and enjoying ourselves and we completely forgot! If you know my mum, you'll know she has the Italian belief about food  ('go big or go home!') We had lasagna, roasted vegetables, lots of different salads, meat, brownies, pavlova (an Aussie Christmas essential), homemade pizza and sausage rolls. Plus everyone brought a plate too and there were lots of deserts!


Can you believe this was the only food picture that was taken! Needless to say, everyone loved the food, and we've got leftovers to last us for days, which we will of course eat. 

 

Nevermind the food, this is us! We jokingly called ourselves the 'youngies'...

  

...and the 'oldies'.

 

Here's the most popular boy in town! Bailey literally stopped as soon as he saw the camera flash and gave me his best smile. Isn't he gorgeous!

 

In last week's post, I shared some possible Christmas outfits and I ended up choosing this dress. Nothing says Christmas to me like the colour red and I like the small floral pattern on this dress.



Our Xmas BBQ came to a halt when my uncle got a call from my nonna who said she'd fallen and was having trouble breathing. We called an ambulance and made a mad dash to her house. She spent the night in hospital and thank goodness, she has no broken bones or fractures, just painful bruises. Mum and I spent the day with her today and we'll keep an eye on her.

However you celebrate the holidays, I hope you have a wonderful time. I hope your bellies are full and you feel the love of your loved ones. 

Happy Christmas!
 


Comments

  1. Vix22 December, 2020

    Sending get well wishes to your Grandma. I'm very glad she wasn't hurt.
    Lovely family photos. It looks weird seeing so many people together and so close - how times have changed.
    I've never seen Titanic but loved Revolutionary Road - it lived up to the book it was based on, you can't say that about many films.
    Wishing you and your family a very happy Xmas, dear Jess! xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jess 02 January, 2021

      Thank you Vix. Hope your Xmas with Jon was good too.

      Oh Titanic is fantastic. You should watch it one day. I rewatched Revolutionary Road and picked up on some things I missed the first time round. I didn't know there was a book. X

      Delete
  2. Polyester Princess23 December, 2020

    Well done Jess, and all the other teachers who did an incredible job. You truly deserved that trip to the op-shop!
    I'm glad to hear you are allowed to have gatherings so that you could enjoy your family Christmas BBQ. What a pity it had to come to a halt after your nonna had taken a fall. What a relief it was just bruises!
    Wishing you and your family Happy Holidays, and a most wonderful Christmas! xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jess 02 January, 2021

      Thank you Ann.
      Sometimes you've got to tap yourself on the back.

      So glad we got to gather for Xmas. I'll see you over on your blog soon. X

      Delete
  3. Lulu23 December, 2020

    Hello Jess, so good you can take a well-deserved break and meet up with friends and family. Those barbecue pictures are ace! And your red dress is gorgeous. Leonardo Di Caprio is a cracking actor, I love him in The Revenant and The Departed (haven’t seen Revolutionary Road). The Titanic is one of those movies I don’t want to cry at… but always end up doing so! The saddest thing for me is the story of the band, which carried on playing until the very end. Hope your nonna is doing better. Have a wonderful Christmas. Lulu x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jess 02 January, 2021

      Thanks Lulu.
      I'll add those 2 movies to my list of films to watch.

      The scenes where the musicians continue playing even as the boat is sinking is such a poignamy touch to the film Titanic. I have read that this actually happened in real life and some clarinet pieces have been salvaged from the bottom of the ocean. X

      Delete
  4. Jenna H.23 December, 2020

    Such a lovely christmas tree! I hope you have a wonderful holiday :)
    Jenna ♥
    Stay in touch? Life of an Earth Muffin

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sheila24 December, 2020

    I'm so glad your nonna is okay, Jess! Look at your family all together - that makes me so happy, and miss my family so much (but we're doing a Zoom call on Xmas day!). I love your purchases - I see that Moulin Rouge is on that DVD, which is one of my favourite movies EVER. The costumes are to die for! Okay, I'm now going to DEMAND (heh) that you share your test for Bakelite! You did so well on your shop!

    Love your Christmas dress - you look so festive beside your beautiful tree! Happy Christmas, my dear!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jess 24 December, 2020

      Happy Christmas love! I do hope you enjoy your Xmas zoom call. Anyway you can stay connected to loved ones is worthwhile.

      There's quite a few different ways to test bakelite which I've learnt through google. I find the baking powder test to be most convenient to me. What I do is, I wet an ear bud and dip it in some baking powder. Then I rub the powder on the inner side of a bangle. I've tested all my plastic bangles out of curiosity and if they are bakelite the ear bud will turn a yellow colour. If it is some other plastic, then the ear bud will just stay white. Hope this helps and that you discover some bakelite in your collection. X

      Delete
  6. The Small Fabric Of My Life24 December, 2020

    I do hope your grandma is doing well by the time you read this and how wonderful that Melbourne is getting back to normal. Sadly, things are getting worse here but we will make the best of it and get through.
    Merry Christmas. It's 8.14am on Christmas Eve here so I am guessing it is Christmas Day or almost where you are.

    Lots of love,
    Jane X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jess 02 January, 2021

      Thanks Jane. Hope you had a lovely Xmas. Thank goodness my nonna is much better now. X

      Delete

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