The (slightly late) Holly Jolly Holiday Tag

Hello lovelies! Happy Boxing day! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and had a lovely time and I hope Santa brought you everything that you wanted. I'm currently sat here having not eaten breakfast regretting how much food I ate yesterday. Oops. I hope the same doesn't apply to you. So on to the actual point of this post, I have decided to have a go at a Tag. Yaaay. A while ago I was tagged by Niamh (go follow her!) to do the Holly Jolly Holiday Tag but never got round to it, so now seems like a perfect opportunity to do it as I have literally nothing to do.  I realize that this tag should probably be done before Christmas during the run-up to it but hey, I'm sure I can get away with it.

12 year old me in the snow! 

1. Favourite Christmas movie 

Ahhhhh for me this is the hardest question I could ever get asked. There are so many movies that I have to watch every year, without fail, otherwise Christmas wouldn't be the same! I think i'm going to have to go with The Grinch simply because I have loved that ever since I was little, plus Jim Carrey just cracks me up! I also love The Muppets Christmas Carol, for similar reasons in that I loved that when I was younger (although I found it quite scary!) I also love Jingle All The Way! That is a hilarious film with Arnold Schwarzenegger! Oh and Elf of course! Augggh there are just too many films! 

2. Are you on the naughty or nice list ?

Gosh...I don't want to jinx anything but I hope that i'm on the nice list! 

3. Show us an embarrassing Christmas card photo! We know you have one...

 As a family we never took photos together and sent them out so i'm afraid I genuinely don't have one to show you however when I was about eleven or twelve I took this hideous selfie with my favourite decoration whilst decorating the tree (I think I was joking! Or at least I hope I was...) and ever since I have been so ashamed of myself! What was I thinking?! You can see my braces through the corner of my mouth, I seem to be wearing some sort of scarf/bandanna thing around my neck (?) and my hair....well let's not go into that. So there, now everyone can see this horrific picture of an eleven year old me. Splendid. 

4. Have you ever had a white Christmas?

Yes! I have a few times! Yet one year we were lucky in that it snowed absolutely loads and it ended up being very deep! Usually it's just a very thin layer of snow but a couple of years ago it was amazing! Here's a picture of me and my brother that year, a few days before Christmas going off to the park! To me, that really was the best Christmas simply due to all that snow we received and all the snowmen we made and snowball fights we had! Unfortunately it didn't snow this year which was a shame as I think it really adds to the excitement of Christmas!

5. Where do you usually spend your holiday? 

I don't think I have ever had a Christmas away from home and if so I must have been very young. We always stay at home and then visit our relatives the day after boxing day.

6. Play or sing your favourite Christmas song!

I think this must have been a youtube Tag haha! But if I had to pick a favourite Christmas song...ahh it's like with the films! There are just too many! I mean I love Mariah Carey's 'All I want for Christmas is you' and Slade's 'Merry Christmas everybody' oooh and Shakin Stevens 'Merry Christmas everyone' but this year I have really been loving Michael Buble's 'Baby please come home'. Again, I just love Christmas music and Christmas really wouldn't be the same without it!

7. Do you open any presents on Christmas eve? 

No, I can't say we've ever done that before. I might open a Secret Santa present a few days before but I never open any presents on Christmas eve. We leave all the present opening for the big day!

8. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? 

Ahh maybe..I don't know! Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. Is that all of them? Arggh it's hard!

9. What holiday tradition are you looking forward to most this year? 

In my family we have so many traditions and i'm always creating new ones! We always hang decorations above all of our bedroom doorways, take our dog to the park and have a little get together with the other dog owners on Christmas day, drink hot chocolate before opening the presents under the tree but my favourite is probably when me and my brothers get up on Christmas day, we make our parents a cup of tea and then as a family we all open our stockings together and see what Santa brought us! It's a lovely way to start Christmas day and I always look forward to it! 

10. Is your Christmas tree real or fake? 

We always have a real one, I just love the smell of it! Although i'm sure it's much easier and more convenient buying a fake one, we just have to have a real one! 

11. Hands down, what is your all time favourite holiday food and holiday sweet treat? 

Does hot chocolate count? I aaaalways drink that around Christmas! I also love munching on thorntons chocolates! 

12. Be honest, do you like giving gifts or receiving gifts better? 

I'm not going to lie, I adore receiving presents! Who doesn't? However I love the thrill you get when you find a present that you know someone will really love! It makes Christmas so much more exciting as I always look forward to seeing their faces when they open it! 

13. What would be your dream place to visit for the holiday season?

 Like I said, we never go anywhere for Christmas so of course I love just staying at home. However it would be awesome to go somewhere where it's guaranteed to snow during Christmas, somewhere like Alaska! Also i'm sure Disneyland is pretty amazing around Christmas time.

14. Does your family have a special holiday recipe you like to make?  

Hmmm..I don't think we do to be honest. I suppose, as we're vegetarian my Dad always cooks this nut roast as opposed to a Turkey so does that count? 

15. Are you a pro-present wrapper or do you fail miserably?

I fail miserably without a doubt! I wish you could see the presents that I wrapped this year! They were so awful! 

16. Most memorable holiday memory?

Awww, well Christmas is so full of memories it's hard to pick one! Once the tree fell on my Dad! That was hilarious! Haha! However one Christmas when I was very young, i'd say about three or four, I woke up at around 3am on Christmas day and saw my stocking full of goodies so I grabbed it and went and sat outside my brothers' (who shared a room at the time) bedroom. My oldest brother must have heard me and so he came and told me to go back to sleep but I just said to him "No it's ok, i'll wait" not realising how early it was! In the end after some persuasion I went back to bed! 

17. What made you realise the truth about Santa? 

Awww do we have to talk about this?? It's too sad! I still leave a note along with a mince pie and a glass of milk for him! I fail to believe that he is not real! Anyway I don't think there was a specific moment of realisation, I think it was more of a gradual thing that happened over time. 

18. Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you stick to them? 

I always make them! But they're always the usual! Exercise more, save money, do homework and revise more, go to sleep on time, etc! But sadly, no, usually by February all hope of ever exercising more has vanished! 

19. What makes the holiday special for you?  

Awww a nice little question! I really love just spending time with my family and being able to relax. The atmosphere around Christmas is so wonderful! it's a really lovely time of year and everything about it is special! 

Thankyou ever so much for reading this rather lengthy post! It really means a lot to me! As I have already said, I hope you all had a truly magical Christmas and are enjoying your holidays! And if I don't see you before then, happy new year! Best of luck for 2013!

(also as I am still new to blogging, feel free to let me know how I can improve in the comments) 

Have a lovely day

Caitlin

xxx