I’ve never felt more festive than I do this Christmas season. The only rival was 2003 when I was four months along with Dicka and bought every holiday-themed shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, and body wash Target offered. (Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about applying chemical-laden products to the skin, but I digress.)
So, here Husband and I are, looking for merry ways to celebrate the month.
On our drive back to the Twin Cities from Thanksgiving at Mom’s in northern Minnesota, we launched our holiday season with a stop at Morey’s Seafood in Motley, Minnesota. The nice lady behind the deli counter gave us samples of any and every type of pickled herring we wanted, and each one was a full piece. I would’ve stopped after three, but she kept urging us to taste more, so I was polite and obliged. We drove away with containers of two of our favorites (in cream sauce): Cajun and horseradish.
On Saturday, November 29, we braved blustery conditions to attend Christmas in Excelsior, a holiday market downtown Excelsior, Minnesota. We petted sled dogs, sipped cozy coffee drinks at Red Bench Bakery, and smooched in the mistletoe booth. Even the porta potties there were joyous.
On Saturday, December 6, we waited in line for thirty minutes outside Anthony Scornavacco Antiques on 6th and St. Peter downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. The shop owner minded the door, allowing in a limited number of customers at a time.
“We’ve been around for fifty years, and we do the same thing every Christmas,” he said, “but we’ve never had a line of people waiting to get in before.”
“You’re all over social media this year,” I said, recalling how TikTok and Instagram told us we must go and visit the establishment.
We toured the opulent store, breakables abounding, and came away with only a $4 bag of metal ornament hooks. If we come into significant money, as the saying goes, we won’t tell you, but there will be signs. (Like maybe a Christmas-themed oil painting from the 1800s in an extravagant gold frame.)
Tomorrow, December 12, Husband and I are driving to Duluth, Minnesota, to enjoy the Bentleyville Tour of Lights in the city’s Bayfront Park. Here’s to a jolly time in a Hallmark movie type of setting and hopefully more mistletoe. (And now I can hear the girls saying, “Eeeewwww!” as I type this.)
Until next time, deck your halls!
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*Names in this blog have been changed to protect my family, neighbors, and friends in the neighborhood, and in a nod of appreciation to the beloved Swedish author Maj Lindman, I’ve renamed my three blondies Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka and their husbands (present and future), Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr.