Hi there, wholesome reader. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone across the globe! 🎅🎄
The past days have been jampacked with celebrations with friends and families as we celebrate the most festive season of the year – Christmas.
C'mon, let's talk about how these past days have been for me. 😉
Christmas Gathering | December 22
As Christmas Day was nearing, parties and gatherings happened here and there. For three years now, we have been celebrating our annual Christmas gathering with my college circle of friends.
Every year, we book a place, gather together, and stay there overnight. For this year, we booked a room and stayed at Sta. Barbara Residence Hotel. This is actually our second time choosing this place. The first one was last 2021, our first overnight Christmas gathering together. What we love about the place is how spacious it is and the bedrooms are just perfect for us, a group of eight friends.
Our activities for the night included a dinner together, a lot of dancing, a painting activity, drinking wine and more wine, and of course, the exchanging of gifts.
I personally enjoyed the painting activity. Each of us had to paint one for each person in the group; meaning, each person had to make 7 paintings. We only chose the simple designs since we started a little late. 😅 After finishing all the paintings, we slipped one on each Christmas sock we bought, with our name initial embedded on each sock.
Christmas Eve | December 24
The most awaited night of the year for most people is finally here. It's Christmas Eve! A time when we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and a time for reflection on all the blessings we received all throughout the year.
For me, the best place to celebrate and be in this season is at home. Nothing beats Christmas with the family. I know this isn't the case for everyone, that's why, I feel ever so grateful that I am still able to enjoy this season with my family.
It's one of our family traditions to prepare a small feast on Christmas Eve,
or famously known as Noche Buena. When the clock strikes 12 midnight of the 25th, we gather together and eat the food we prepared, in celebration of the birth of Jesus. But before the festive celebration, we went to church to attend the Midnight Mass for Christmas. This is the perfect opportunity to thank the Lord for all the graces we have received.
For this year’s Christmas, the food we personally prepared were roasted lechon belly, steamed pompano, spaghetti, and of course, the most important dessert in every Filipino Noche Buena – the mango float! 🤤 (Which, by the way, I forgot to take a pic of).
While eating, I gave my gifts intended for my family. Since my siblings have already grown up, I decided to give them cash and let them buy whatever they want to buy with it. Funny enough, my sister, who is also working already, gave out money, too. As a result, we just exchanged cash, lol!
Christmas Day | December 25
After staying up late for Christmas Eve, we could've just slept all day but that isn't the case for us, as we have another gathering to attend to. Every 25th, we go to our cousin’s house to have a mini family reunion and celebrate Christmas together.
This has been a tradition since we were still little kids. I am glad that we were still able to continue this annual tradition with our family and relatives from our father's side.
The gathering consisted of singing, another exchanging of gifts, gift-giving from each family, and games!
This was the time that we were able to gather together, especially for those relatives who live far away. Truly, Christmas is best celebrated with family and loved ones. This gathering was another reason to be grateful for, to be grateful for the gift of family.
How about you, dear reader? How did you celebrate Christmas this year? Share them on the comments section below. I would love to read them, too!
Thank you for reading my post up to this point. I hope you have a great time ahead!
I'll take delight in writing for you again soon.
Love,
Sam ♡
Hello, in case you have not read my intro post, my name is Samantha. You may call me Sam for short. I am from Cebu, a beautiful island in the Philippines. I created this space in an attempt to put all the good things in one place, thus, my blog name @wholesamdiaries.
If you wish to show appreciation; an upvote, comment, reblog and/or follow is the way! Thank you once again and see you around! ♡
