Tag Archives: december

happy december

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New England homes will always let you know when Christmas is coming; twinkle lights crop up in every window, woven greens circle door knockers and the warmth of crackling fireplaces glows from the inside out, sending plumes of exhaled smoke up through colonial brick chimneys.  December is upon us.

The successful closing of Up Close On Hope | Apollo & Bach Suites brought a short holiday break for FBP, and now with bellies full of turkey we plunge head first into Nutcracker preparations.  Ah, Tchaikovsky and sore toes, you epitomize my December.  To get into the spirit, I’ve been  doing some decking of my little halls and a bit of Christmas gift gathering too (#shopsmall), with festive socks on my feet and a chai in my hand, of course.

Last night I trekked it up north to Ballet Arts Centre of Winchester to rehearse with the students for my Sugarplum guesting this weekend (eeep!).  Back in Providence, the next 4 days will be spent hopping from France to Spain to Germany, through blizzards and living gardens to a land made of sweets, accompanied by suites my body knows forward and back.  So goes the wonderful, gratifying, exhausting grind of December’s annual preparatory routine.  Gird your loins, dancing friends, the Nutcracking season is officially here.

it’s beginning to look a lot like…

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December is finally in full swing!  A couple of weeks without snowflaking-it-up in the kingdom of sweets and my Christmas spirit went into hiding.  Now it’s back and ready to go Secret Santa shopping with a vanilla chai in one hand and a gingerbread man in the other.  Man, do I love the holidays.  And there’s nothing like a trip to Boston Opera House and a Christmas party with good friends (knit headwear not optional) to get you in the tree-trimming mood.  Sidenote: Does anyone else find keeping close friends outside the ballet crucial to preserving your insanity?  Discuss.

the most wonderful time of the year

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The snowflakes are falling, the air outside will chill you to the bone, my heating pad is turned up on high, and the apartment smells like pine needles.

Slippers are required for even the shortest of journeys (read: from couch to kitchen), my taste buds crave a warm cocoa creation and Nutcracker music dances on and on in my brain long after my rehearsals for the day have ended.

This can only mean one thing.  That’s right, sugarplums, it’s finally December.  The only month during which the words ‘reindeer’ and ‘elf’ roll off the tongue with even more normalsy than any other woodland creature/abbreviated supernatural being combination you can think of.  Every store window and street corner is lit up like Rudolph’s nose (sorry, Rudy, that thing is BRIGHT), and coffee shops worldwide delight their steamy beverage seeking customers with peppermint-infused versions of their comforting norms.

Holiday parties, tree decorating, cookie baking, Christmas movie marathons, Nutcracker ballets (to be danced and observed)…December sure does have a whole lot to offer a wide-eyed fete-loving girl like myself.  And believe me when I say I’m more than excited to bake up some gingerbread men, fasten tiny glittering snowflakes onto the branches of my mini Christmas tree, and brainstorm Secret Santa gift purchases.  Who’s with me?!