How I prepped for my Christmas Eve festivities
This is my first Christmas where I'm able to blog about it, so I wanted to share what I did today to prep for my Christmas Eve/Christmas Day festivities! Watch on my Instagram story for little behind the scenes snippets of what I'm going to be doing during the day.
I started off my day like an ordinary day, by sleeping in until 11:30. Typical teenage priorities. Once I woke up, the first thing I did was wrap the rest of my presents. I'm usually not one for procrastinating, but it was something that I just hadn't gotten around to doing since I was so busy with other stuff (i.e. finishing up a season of Vampire Diaries and going to Starbucks with friends). There were only a few things that I needed to get wrapped for my family, most of which I had just received in the mail yesterday. I'm pretty sure they already know what they are getting, considering I basically told them what it was and asked for their sizes, so I'll just tell you guys too! I got my dad, mom and brother sweatshirts/ tee shirts to Marist College because that's where I'm going to college at next year! For anyone who doesn't know, Marist College is in Poughkeepsie, New York and I'm going for Fashion Merchandising. I can't wait to go there next year!
Anyways, back to my day. After wrapping gifts, I decided to change out of my pajamas and put in my Christmas Eve day outfit on to get my eyebrows done. My top is actually from Forever 21 (even though it wouldn’t look like it), my jeans are from Abercrombie and my boots are from Rag and Bone. I had to call in advanced just to make sure I could get an appointment because you never know how bad a nail salon is going to be on a holiday. They managed to squeeze me in real quick for 5 minutes to get my eyebrows done, and they turned out pretty good!
When I got back from the salon, it was already 1:45, so I decided I should probably start getting ready for church. I started off by picking out which dress I’m going to wear to church tonight. After much consideration, I decided to go with sequin dress from Zara. It’s one of my all time favorite dresses to wear for Christmas. After I put my dress on, I decided to straighten my hair to go along with the dress. It turned out pretty good even though I was rushing.
After my hair, it was time for make up. I started off by putting my foundation on. This foundation works so well with my skin and it feels super light. After I put my foundation on, I always put on my bronzer stick. This stick does a really good job at blending into my skin. After the bronzer, I brush a little highlight right below my eyes to add some sparkle. When that’s done, I finish with putting some powder on my face so it doesn’t get oily. For anyone who has oily skin, like me, this Laura Mercier powder is a life saver. After finishing with my face, I move on to the eyes. I start off by putting my eye shadow on. I always start with the darker shade closest to my eye, then blend it with a light color and add some sparkle. To finish, I put on some mascara. This mascara is amazing for anyone who wants their eye lashes to have volume and look longer. After I’m done with the eyes, I put on my special-occasion long-lasting lip gloss for Kikos and I’m done!
I always make my family take pictures with me before church since everyone is dressed up nice, for the most part. Since we were all outside in town, we had a little photo shoot at the Gazebo.
After picture time, it was time to go to church. The church we go to is always super crowded on Christmas Eve mass, so we have to get there extra early to make sure we have a place to sit. The mass was super long, but I didn’t mind since I was sitting next to my best friend.
After church, it’s finally time for dinner. Every year, we’ve had fondue for Christmas Eve dinner. It’s been a tradition for five years now! We pull out our fondue boilers and my mom gets some bread and other veggies that we can put in there to cook. Each year, my brother and I get a different colored fork that we use to cook the food. This year, my color was pink!
After dinner, we watched our all time favorite Christmas movie- The Polar Express. The Polar Express is one of those movies that is just associated with Christmas, and without it, it’s just the same! My favorite part of the movie is when the the boy gets the bell from Santa and only him and the sister can hear the bell, but the parents can’t because they don’t believe.
Before leaving for my neighbors Christmas party, I had to set up my decorations. Ever since I was younger, I’ve been collecting reindeer and people from the North Pole. I call them Rudolph’s because they are all from the movie Rudolph. Every year, my brother and I set them up on Christmas Eve right in front of my fire place for everyone to see. Continuing the tradition, we set them up tonight and took some pictures of them!
When the movie was over, we went to my neighbors Christmas party. We have been going to their house for over 7 years now and it’s probably my favorite part of Christmas Eve. When we get there, we are surrounded by their family and friends who are the nicest people I’ve ever met. As the night progresses, there’s desserts that people have made and they are always so delicious. The best part of the night is when Santa comes to their house and gives each kid a gift. Out of all the kids that are there, they never leave anyone out, which I think is incredible.
By the time we got home, it was around 11 and I was exhausted from the busy day that I had, so it was time for bed! Merry Christmas everyone!