A New Normal

For most of my adult life, my holidays have been filled with some sort of crazy family drama.  Before remarrying, I was basically adopted into my ex's family.  It's an odd sort of dynamic to see, when I would be the one hanging out with his sisters and brothers and such when he wouldn't even go near them.  But for my son, and his love for being around his cousins, I didn't mind.  They were a great support system for me, oddly enough, and it was nice to have something.

They are a large family, 6 siblings in all, so of course with a large family comes the family type things you expect for the holidays.  Sometime around 2007, the oldest of the sisters stopped talking to me.  Like legit wouldn't even say hi to me.  No one knows why.  She would even exclude me from gift giving and such.  For years, YEARS I ignored it.  I would even make sure my son had a gift to give his aunt, despite her blatant hatred of me. 

This is not to say I'm perfect and everyone should love me and all that jazz, I have my quirks.  I annoy myself sometimes.  But I also always felt on the outs.  I have a deep love for my home-state and am not shy about it.  Apparently this also rubs people the wrong way when you joke about it.  I also have a dry sense of humor.

Anyway, fast forward tome getting engaged.  And not like they never met him or anything like that.  He had been with me at all family functions, played with the kids just like every other uncle, participated in everything, sometimes more than core family members and all that.  Anyway, so we get engaged.  And most of the family is congratulatory.  They know I had a super rough time with my divorce.  That it wasn't something I banked on.  But for one, the congratulations went to "wait, you're leaving" in 2.5 seconds.  Which then went to another sister not speaking to me.  Well, sort of speaking to me, but mostly giving me the cold shoulder.  Thus upping the awkward family meter.

Jumping ahead once more to now, 4 holiday seasons later.  As we are now states away, and I am not a fan of living in snow, we have carved out our own family traditions.  They are much smaller now and much lighter.  My planning and shopping seem to be much less stressful and actually enjoyable, which is super nice.  I know many people living the military life find the moving and being away from family during the holidays hard.  They miss the gathering and being around everyone.  I think it's okay to be the opposite of that though.  It's okay to enjoy just being together, especially when your spouse is able to get the days off. So while we may not have a house filled with 25 or more people, our family of 4 is still having a very happy holiday season.

Fluff and Stuff

It's obviously no secret at all that I enjoy purchasing custom made items for the little one, or myself.  Top of the list of my favorite vendor to purchase from is Wild Pigeon Clothing.  So much so that I signed up to be a brand representative.  I know that blogs are riddled with sponsored posts these days, as is YouTube with sponsored videos and really I'm not totally into those. I would also be totally selfish if I didn't share when items from this vendor are on sale.  It's holiday shopping time and these would make amazing gifts for anyone.  And as luck would have it, during this weekend there isn't one but three different opportunities to buy!

 

12/15/17 2pm Eastern

The first sale is today, 12/15 at 2pm Eastern direct from Wild Pigeon Clothing.  This is just a peek of what is up for grabs.  I know those wipes are calling to me.  Not only are they some of my favorite prints (Nightmare and Misfits!) but they are suuuuper soft to boot.

Imagination Creation Congo 12/15 9pm Eastern

Second is just a few hours later at 9pm Eastern at the Imagination Creation Congo.  What's a Congo?  It's sort of like an online marketplace where you have multiple vendors selling various items.  Sometimes to theme, sometimes offering customs of specific fabrics, and sometimes just whatever they have recently created.  This is legit how I found the vendors that I purchase from and have not been disappointed.

Geek Chic Fleet Congo 12/17 3pm Eastern

Lastly, for the Harry Potter lover, the Geek Chic Fleet Congo will be opening on Sunday at 3pm Eastern with a full Harry Potter theme. The items in this you do not want to miss.  These are some of my favorite prints and you cannot go wrong with any of it.  Only way you can go wrong is if you miss it!  The pants are grow with me, meaning you can enjoy it on your little for a long while  Also one of my favorite styles so that I can behold the cuteness for more than just the 6 months these kids are in sizes for!

Definitely set some alarms and get some soft, fluffy, one of a kind goodness.  Links to all sales are just below the pics for them, so hurry and join before you miss out!