Garance Galore

Merry Christmas, and welcome back to the blog!

I love Christmas and its magical atmosphere… I have been living abroad for a few years now and have spent every single one of my Christmases with A, in Malta. It’s quite hard to go back home at this time of the year for many practical reasons, and sometimes it really puts me down, especially when I see photos of my family members having a great time together.

But I actually love spending the holidays with my other half. Both of us are all about celebrating on every little occasion we get, it does not always mean going big but rather putting in some effort and enjoying a sweet moment together. There are so many ways to celebrate Christmas in my opinion, and we created our own small traditions that I’d love to share with you today:)

Setting up the mood

As I said, I am a huge Christmas fan and I will play the songs, decorate the house, light up the Christmas tree and the caramel-smelling candles to create the warmest atmosphere all around the house. To me, this season is more about warmth and love than about anything else. There is something truly comforting about this time of the year, especially when you get to spend it with your loved one(s). So, I take it VERY seriously! 

Night walk in Valletta

Valletta is, in my opinion, the prettiest city in Malta. We both love it so much and would find any excuse to spend some time there. During Christmas season, the atmosphere becomes so cheerful and celebratory; we love to walk around in the Christmas market, enjoy the many live music performances, and wander through the lighted-up streets of the capital. Every Christmas Eve, after we both finish working, we go there for a couple of hours to enjoy the festive ambiance.

Hot drinks 

While on our outing in Valletta, we always sit at the same place to enjoy a hot drink and talk about the past year and our wishes for the coming twelve months. This time, we decided to go for a pistachio latte. What a délice! We both cherish this moment so much.

Gifts opening

On Christmas day, the first thing we always do right after opening our eyes is make ourselves some hot chocolate or a cappuccino and sit by the three to open the gifts we’ve put under it for the last month. It’s such a sweet moment; we both feel so spoiled and cared for while opening our presents. I know that it is basically what everybody else does on Christmas, but we like to build a lot of excitement around it; it feels so special to us. These gifts don’t have to be expensive or super elaborate. Christmas should not be a season of financial pressure but rather the perfect occasion to show appreciation to the people we love.

Comforting food 

One thing we always do is cook a delicious and comforting meal! And our favorite celebratory dish is A’s special steak that he took the time to marinate the day before and my signature cheese gratin! It’s a nice excuse to cook together and enjoy each other’s cuisine. We both love it so much and truly look forward to it. We then enjoy dinner while watching a Christmas movie or a Christmas episode from our favorite sitcoms!

And… a lazy afternoon

We love to stay home, play board games, watch movies, and simply enjoy our time together on Christmas day. ‘Heavy food, hot drinks, relaxation & laughter’ is the motto on Christmas Day!

It’s not always easy to be far from home during this season, but it’s always nice to find small ways to celebrate and enjoy the holidays. Now that we have our own little habits, I think that I’ll miss it when we won’t be able to celebrate just the two of us! I hope you had a marvelous time and that this post cheered you up a little bit if, like us, you were not with your family this year.

Best Wishes,

Garance xx