Not celebrated by the Chinese but Christmas still comes to Shanghai!

A friend took this picture but I had to share as it sums things up so perfectly!

A fun little trip to buy a Christmas Tree at the Plant and Flower Market

I plan it out wonderfully…. (Christmas that is…). And I realise, Pinterest fuels my grand plans quite a bit!

I will buy a cheesy Xmas jumper and marvel at how ironic I am.

I will make gingerbread or christmas cupcakes and take into work.

I will decorate my Pavlova so it looks like a Christmas Reef.

I will start the day early, so I can do Yoga and Meditate.

I will enjoy breakfast of fresh cherries and strawberries with a cup of Twinings Christmas Tea.

I will slowly open my presents.

I will play with Marley and his new toys.

I will tart myself up a bit… in my Sunday bests so to speak.

I will brush my hair and do something with it.

I will clean the house-top to bottom before I go to work, that way I can relax when I come home and prepare for my guests.

I will…….

Then I wake up Christmas morning, on the couch, in my clothes, Marley staring me in the face and that familiar and nasty dry mouth feeling… Yep, seems I am a little hung!

I will buy a cheesy Xmas jumper at lunchtime. No way I am walking anywhere today.

I will make gingerbread or Christmas cupcakes and take into work. WTF.

I will decorate my Pavlova so it looks like a reef. I forgot to buy some Kiwis.

I will start the day early, so I can do Yoga and Meditate. No Fucking Way.

I will enjoy breakfast of fresh cherries and strawberries with a cup of Twinings Christmas Tea. Screw it, today is Starbucks Latte and Jumbo Scone day.

I will slowly open my presents. I am running late for work.. .later.

I will play with Marley and his new toys. Get out-of-the-way Marley, here eat this.

I will tart myself up a bit… in my Sunday bests so to speak. No Fucking Way.

I will brush my hair and do something with it. I will brush my teeth.

I will clean the house top to bottom before I go to work, that way i can relax when I come home and prepare for my guests. I will do it later on, I will get stressed and flustered whilst preparing for guests.

However, it took a bit of self punishment to realise I was doing exactly what the Indian Mentor in Thailand said I do… Bouncing back and forth between my extremes!

Idealist Sarah vs. Bad Ass Sarah

…. Bad Ass always wins in the end haha, but time to experiment with a new approach… today I’m not admitting defeat and so this means making a Gin and Tonic with the bag of lemons I gave myself!

So… I decided, I hadn’t ruined Christmas, it can wait till Lunch time…

Christmas waiting for me patiently as I rush off to work.

I mentally crossed a lot of things off my list…

Make Cupcakes. Gone

Yoga. Gone

Meditation. Gone

Then I added a few things:

Eat Tuna Salad for Christmas lunch because that’s what you feel like. Done

Give Red Envelopes with money to a few people. Done. Cash is King after all.

So, I went home at lunch, I tidied the place (translation, chucked out rubbish, stick things in my spare room and pretending the kitchen wasn’t full of dishes), I made myself a Christmas Tea (Twinings of course!). I pumped my new and cringe worthy favourite power song (Shake it Off – Taylor Swift), sat on a cushion and opened my presents.

By the way, thanks for Mum sending me the best gifts, she knows me very well! Marley enjoyed his gifts too.

I then proceeded to open the gifts for myself. Now this might sound a little kooky… but I decided on my retreat that it would be fun to buy myself a Christmas present and wrap it up (that’s not the kooky part… hang on) but I decided to take it a step further because I was feeling idealistic…. I purchased 3 Gifts….

• One to make the past (young) me happy
• One to make the present me happy
• One to make the future me happy

And, whilst it’s almost embarrassing to say that I actually did this cheesy exercise, it was brilliant… I think I’m going to keep it going. Don’t judge me… I promise I still shave my armpits…. haha

And, I will end with a Joke I am stealing…

Q: Who is never hungry at Xmas?

A: The Turkey – he’s always stuffed.

Found the perfect tree… although i realise my choice of footwear could use some work…

My little Christmas