Christmas with Chris

This was me and Chris’ second Christmas together as a couple. I was determined to think up some sort of Christmas tradition that we could share with each other every year, and I finally thought up something good. It was inspired by a sock monkey stocking I found at Sears when shopping with Amanda. I always call Chris my sock monkey, since he has this sweater he loves that looks like one. I bought the stocking, and then thought it would be cute to surprise each other with stockings full of little goodies each year. Chris liked the idea, and set out to find me a quintessentially “Heather” stocking. He put a lot of effort into it, and I am IN LOVE with what he came up with. It just so happens that the day he gave it to me, I was matched it perfectly!

We snuck away to a quiet room in my parent’s house and unwrapped them under the glittering tree. I had filled Chris’ stocking with a travel Bodum mug, a coffee card, some of his favourite candy, and treats for Sphinxy. Mine had some Starbucks chocolate covered almonds (my fave), Williams & Sonoma chocolate pomegranate seeds, a book holder, and a Daniel Wellington watch!!!!!

I have been coveting a Daniel Wellington watch for close to two years, and Chris picked out exactly the one I had hoped for (the Classic Lady Sheffield with a black band and rose gold details). Ah, he did good. His big present from me was a scrapbook of our last year together, and some crazy t-shirts (since I always shrink his). I loved this stocking tradition and have carefully stored them away for next year.

We also have a tradition of giving Chris’ canned goods to family and friends. Chris cans a lot – pickles, jams, jellies, relishes, etc. I love this, because I reap the bounty on a regular basis! But at Christmastime, it is a time to pry my hands away from the rare green tomato relish jar and be a lil generous. My contribution is fancy-ing them up. Last year we used slate cheese boards to display the goods, and this year I found cute baskets at Indigo. I bought a ton of labels from Martha Stewart’s new line at Staples, which immediately refreshed the look of everything.

They were a hit with everyone, I think because they are hand-made and people recognize the amount of work that Chris puts into making them. He’ll toil away over the stove for hours just to get 4 jars of something amazing, like roasted tri-colour peppers. I love and fully support this hobby of his!

I’m so happy we got to spend Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day together this year!