So This Is How My Christmas Went

How’s your Christmas?

Well, don’t thank me for asking, because you’re about to hear what I did yesterday even if you didn’t feel like asking.

Just kidding.

But please don’t leave yet.

Before we start, let me address the elephant in the room first: I didn’t go to church yesterday. (If this were a cartoon, I imagine the word “WHAT?!” popping up dramatically in the air.) Let’s get this straight: I wasn’t lazy or anything. My church had already celebrated Christmas two weeks ago during Sunday service, so everyone could attend like usual.

So yes, that was why, even though it was still quite early in the morning yesterday, my boyfriend and I were already on our way to a place called Papilion’s Market Place.

I had actually wanted to go to Papilion’s Market Place since last year, but circumstances said no back then, so I buried that desire deep inside. Since I was in charge of the day’s itinerary (my boyfriend wanted to make one so badly, but he’s… not that good or creative, so…), I exercised my power, made a few adjustments, and inserted this place as our first destination.

What a good use of my privilege, wouldn’t you agree?

Thankfully, the place didn’t disappoint. I really, really loved it there. It screamed Christmas in the most obvious yet soft way. We were a little confused by the map at first, but since the area wasn’t that big, it didn’t take long for us to find our way around.

We then made a beeline for food. Since I wanted to keep breakfast light, we ordered just a salted caramel cookie, seven poffertjes, and a glass of Valrhona tiramisu iced.

My boyfriend and I genuinely enjoyed our slow morning there. Even though it was a little packed, it wasn’t crowded enough to make us uncomfortable. We even played the TikTok game “How well do you know your gf/bf?”, which honestly blew my mind. It’s such a simple game, yet weirdly fun!

At almost 11 a.m., we walked across the street to my favorite pasta place in town: Mamma Rosy. 

Last year, I ordered: 

1. Ravioli Beef with Funghi Sauce, and 

2. Spaghetti with Saffron & Bacon Sauce.

This time, however, I unintentionally recommended things to my boyfriend in a very messed-up way, so our orders ended up being:

1. Ravioli Beef with Saffron & Bacon Sauce, and 

2. Spaghetti with Funghi Sauce.

You see, I can be creative sometimes. But I can also be very not creative.

Thankfully, everything still tasted exactly as great as I had imagined. My boyfriend loved the food too. But if you forced me to choose between the two (please don’t!), I would still go with my original pairing. I don’t know how it works, but I feel like ravioli pairs better with funghi sauce, while spaghetti works more wonderfully with saffron and bacon.

Still, all’s well that ends well.

After lunch, we happily walked to a nearby mall for a movie marathon.

(Okay, it was just two movies… but let’s still call it a marathon. It sounds cooler that way.)

The movie marathon was fun. We started with The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, which turned out to be surprisingly solid and deeply nostalgic. The only slightly awkward part was that we were the only couple in the cinema, while everyone else came with their kids. Or were kids.

After that, our schedule stayed pretty packed: we snacked, did some additional holiday shopping for a friend, had a photobox session (where the lighting was insane—I lowkey looked like I was endorsing a new brightening serum, judging by the gradient of glow on my face), snacked again (because my boyfriend said he was “on a diet,” and we all know what that means), and then continued with our second movie: Anaconda.

For context, I used to hate the Anaconda franchise with a passion. No offense, Sony, but it absolutely terrified me as a kid. I remember being forced to watch it during a cousin’s sleepover at my house. My parents put it on TV, everyone gathered in the living room, and I couldn’t escape to my room because—hello—I was a child, and going upstairs alone was not on my bucket list.

So I sat on the sofa and watched the horror unfold.

Well, at least until I went to the bathroom to vomit from sheer terror.

But now, I’m a grown-up with a fully developed frontal lobe, so that kind of movie doesn’t drive me to vomiting anymore. I usually avoid it altogether, just to be responsible.

Yesterday, however, was different. My boyfriend loves reptiles, and the Anaconda trailer actually looked… amusing. So I gathered all my courage, stepped into the cinema, and walked out surprisingly satisfied, because this Anaconda movie was genuinely hilarious.

Just to clarify, I still don’t love reptiles, but I would actually recommend the movie.

Doing a movie marathon took up most of our day because, well… movies. By the time the post-credit scene ended, it was almost 7 p.m. We grabbed a quick dinner before heading home, since we both had big days ahead—me, working; my boyfriend, vacationing.

So that was how I spent Christmas this year. And I was genuinely happy.

From the bottom of my heart, I hope you were too.

If you like this post, you might also enjoy Oysters (Or, Mr. Bean, Indirectly) Got Me Hospitalized and How I Learned to Make Linzer Cookies (And How Many I Actually Made).