New Traditions

Today was absolutely lovely. I strategised the entire day so that it wouldn't feel like we were doing last-minute Christmas shopping. It helped that the weather cooperated, and we had a lovely sunny day. We lazied around all morning (thanks to the Wal-Mart adventures) and then set out walking to the mall at noon. The only stops we made at the mall were the bank and our favourite book store. We bought a Christmas present, got fries at New York Fries, and then walked home.

After that, we drove to the smaller shops that we were planning on visiting. All of them required a bit of outside walking (especially downtown), and all of them were to small and friendly stores. We spent quite a while wandering around 10,000 Villages, listening to the soft African music, and feeling good about buying fair trade Christmas presents. We also bought a wedding present at my new favourite store, a little Vietnamese shop in the Market Square downtown. The woman who runs the store sells items that her family makes, and they're absolutely gorgeous. She was so excited to see me again (as I've said, it's my new favourite store) and spent quite a while helping us pick out a present, telling us all about her family's lacquering techniques.

When we had walked into the Market Square (an open-air mall downtown, full of some of the sweetest shops you'd find), we heard brass music floating all around. It turned out that a brass quartet was playing Christmas carols in the courtyard. And so we stopped and watched for a while. It was beautiful.

After a quick stop for groceries, we then stopped by my friend Kat's house, where we met her parents and her brother and his fiancée. We sat down and visited with them for an hour, drinking tea and joking. We all enjoyed each other immensely. (Right now, I have my gift from Kat beside me. This book is amazing. And I think Chris and I are going to try out some of these recipes soon.)

And then we came home. Now, I'm in the process of making Norweigan rice porridge and a cheese ball. My Mom makes those for us on Little Christmas Eve (which is tonight) every year. I've never made rice porridge before, and I couldn't find my family cookbook, and so I'm operating entirely on memory and Mom's verbal instructions. Considering the fact that I've also never made a cheese ball before, and that this will be our entire (late) supper, I'm nervous.

I've lit candles, because that's what Mom does on Little Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve every year. And that's what feels Christmassy and traditional to me. Making our own Christmas is strange and exciting. We each find ourselves trying to preserve those favourite parts of Christmas from our own families, but we're also finding ways to make our own Christmas.

Call me a crazed sentimentalist, but every Christmas when I sit my my parents' Christmas tree and watch the lights twinkle, tears well up in my eyes as my heart just feels full. This year we have no Christmas tree of our own. But the funny thing is that today, as we walked through Market Square, with the brass music, the ocean, and the friendly Vietnamese woman, my heart felt full.