the 12 dates of Christmas

Blogmas Day 21

Our Christmas Present 

This weekend Husband and I finished up our Christmas gift to each other and I'm so excited to share what is was. But it wasn't a physical gift at all. In fact, we don't give each other traditional Christmas presents. If you are a regular around here, you already know the reasons we aren't giving each other Christmas gifts. Since we married, it's become our tradition. Instead we gift each other experiences and time together. This will be our 3rd Christmas as a married couple, but it's the first Christmas that we have had the opportunity to spend this much time together. Our school situations have always kept us apart for most of the holiday season, but this year granted us the opportunity to spend the whole of December together. We took complete advantage of this by gifting each other the 12 dates of Christmas…12 holiday-themed dates during the month of December.

For the first date of Christmas, we cut down our own Christmas tree...

This was the first time that I cut down my own tree. And I love that my first experience with this was with Husband for our first date of Christmas!

For the second date of Christmas, we decked the halls 

We decided to keep things simple this year, but by the time we hung the wreath, decorated our tree, and finished our DIY Card Display…it felt like Christmas. When Christmas is over, I'm really going to miss the twinkling lights and the amazing scent of fresh pine every time you walk through the door 

For the third date of Christmas, we had a Paint Nite Date Night

Husband gets 100% of the credit for planning this date all on his own. I love that he knew this is something I would like. Even though he is not the best at crafts, he did it for me. And now we have a set of winter wonderland birch tree wine glasses to show for it. 

For the fourth date of Christmas, we ate Chocolates and drank Cocoa 

We went to one of Boston's best chocolate shops to drink hot cocoa and pick out a few morsels to enjoy. We loved choosing a Christmas box and filling it with treats! Between the gourmet chocolates and the old fashioned candy, this place made quite an impression on us. We have been back twice since our first trip! It's quite addictive. 

For the fifth date of Christmas

we went to the Nutcracker Ballet to Cherish the Moment 

For the sixth date of Christmas, we had a Holiday Dinner at Home 

 I made a special dinner that I had been planning for Husband. We had dijon rosemary pork roast with a vegetable medley. For dessert was this upside down pineapple cranberry cake...another tradition of ours. 

For the seventh date of Christmas, we took Family Photos with Santa 

We loved seeing all the pups in their holiday sweaters. And PJ loves every dog {and human} he encounters. Taking photos has never been so fun!   

For the eighth date of Christmas, we baked cookies together…

For this date, I had planned to keep things simple by baking the cookies myself, then having us decorate them together. But Husband surprised me by saying that he wanted to bake with me. He has a general understanding of what the stand mixer does, but he has never actually used it before. I put him in charge of making this recipe and he did great, plus he had me laughing the whole time! 

For the ninth date of Christmas, we had a dinner date and watched the light show

It's been a warm winter in Boston so far, but we somehow managed to pick the coldest night for this. Totally worth it to walk around Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market right in the center of Boston. We loved seeing the lightshow! And even better, we ended up with the restaurant balcony all to ourselves at dinner. 

There's nothing like an 85ft tree to put you in the Christmas spirit! 

For the tenth date of Christmas, we created a Keepsake Ornament

We have wanted to preserve PJ's paw print for years and we decided to spend a date night doing just that. We were most excited about this kit because it was a "no mess, no mixing, no baking" kit. There was no mixing or baking involved, but there was definitely a mess. I was convinced this would be an epic fail, but the final product turned out pretty great! 

For the eleventh date of Christmas, we took a walk through the park 

Boston Common is our favorite place in the city, but we have never seen it at Christmastime. A secluded midnight walk through the park to see all of the twinkling lights was the perfect impromptu date..it doesn't get any more romantic than this

For the twelfth date of Christmas, we spent the morning ice skating and eating our favorite brunch 

Once again, we headed to our favorite Boston Common. This time we did some outdoor iceskating on Frog Pond. Husband has rollerbladed for years so he is annoyingly good at iceskating while I'm a total klutz, but we still had a blast together. I think we need to go back before the season ends! 

During our relationship, we have spent more time long distance (7 out of 8 years) than we have together. Nothing could be a better gift than spending so much time together. I adore this holiday tradition of ours of not exchanging Christmas presents, but exchanging experiences. This year, the 12 dates of Christmas has been the best thing for us. It got us up and out of the house, exploring our city, and fully enjoying everything that comes with this time of the year. 

Our Christmas Present 2014 
Our Christmas Present 2013

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