From years of hating Christmas to embracing the holiday season.
I use to love Christmas. Every year during the Christmas season we would fly out to Puerto Rico. My family is from a beach town and it was the best. I was in the Caribbean with my cousins and grandparents. Since I went to Catholic School our Christmas vacation lasted until the first week of January. We'd be in Puerto Rico for almost three weeks, not only to celebrate Christmas but Three Kings Day too. Double presents, woohoo! As the years passed and I went to college, no more holidays in the island. If I wasn't in school, I was working. I also left my house at a young age so I was paying rent. I first worked in the retail industry then I quickly moved towards the hotel world. When you work in the hotel industry there is no such thing as holiday. Someone has to work those days and when you are low in the totem pole you get stuck working the worst shifts.
For years I worked crazy hours. I eventually ended up working in luxury hotel industry. Again starting from scratch working the worst shifts. Late nights, every single weekend. I was always exhausted and once September hit the season picked up again. But once November hits that's it, forget having a social life or enjoying yourself. I was a concierge and all I did was make plans for other people. All day, everyday. I loved it but it's exhausting when everyone wants to go to the same "HOT" spot. Also everybody was somebody. If I had free time I was attending an event and meeting new vendors or discovering new spots in the city. Don't get me wrong I loved it, I was beyond lucky to have discovered new spots and get the perks. I also got to meet a lot of new people everyday but again it was exhausting. My shifts were always crazy because even in some luxury hotels they don't want to hire enough people to provide luxury service. There I said it! The luxury industry is sometimes worse than your regular big box store. In the luxury industry you have to be on all the time, you must be patient and you must always make miracles happen. You can't say no to the guests and you can't make mistakes, ever!
It was a love/hate relationship. I worked in a beautiful property and connected with many guests, however working in NYC during high season is extremely stressful. You are dealing with the crowed commute, the weather, the sidewalks jammed pack with tourist that walk too slow, the crazy requests, the hours, the events you have to attend. I never had time for myself, on my day off I would sleep in late and veg out. I was sick of hearing about Christmas. The songs, the sales, the requests, the parties and please don't get me started on New Year's Eve requests. I hated the holidays and I just wanted to end as quickly as possible so on January I could take New Year's Day Off. I finally worked my way to the totem pole where I could request to have the day off. I was also the Chef Concierge so it was time to allow myself to rest, plus I have my own tradition on New Year's Day. After I left the hotel world a few years ago I moved to luxury fashion. Oh My! I have no idea why I did this to myself. Even though we would get the holidays off it was still stressful. I wasn't in sales but I worked with VIP Clients and I was still dealing with the same requests I would get in the hotel industry.
Needless to say my hate for the holidays grew. I was worse than the Grinch, at least he had a dog. A few more years later and I dreaded the holiday season even more. I had to prepare myself mentally and I wouldn't see my friends. I was too tired and grumpy, I didn't want to ruin anyone's night because I would come off as nasty when it was just my exhaustion of always making people's dreams come true. Don't get me wrong it was a great feeling but it's also hard. I was great at it but my mind was tired. Clearly 2020 is a different year and a lot has happened. My latest job that I actually loved the most was gone because of the pandemic. I've been home everyday since March and I've created my company, have a blog, designed a mask and I have so much more I want to do. This year even without a job and uncertainty I decided to celebrate the holiday.
It all came to me when my friend Melissa shared that she was customizing Christmas decorations and creating a few other things. Let me tell you about my friend; she is obsessed with Christmas, no seriously! As soon as Thanksgiving is over, Friday morning she goes to her storage room filled with containers filled with her Christmas decorations. She will spend the entire Friday decorating her tree and her apartment, even her bathroom. She will either blast Mariah Carey's, "All I Want For Christmas" or watch "Elf". I saw her latest designs and I thought I wanted to celebrate this year. I decided I wanted stockings with my blog's name and of course I don't do color. I am a New Yorker, I need black. I messaged her and asked her if she could do it and with my font. She did it! I was so excited, I felt like I finally could love this holiday again.
I want to create my own little holiday and really enjoy it. Despite not having a traditional job, I've been given the opportunity to be creative again. All those years thinking about my blog and building my own business was finally given to me in the strangest way and I will embrace it. I've been given time to slow down and enjoy the holiday even if it does look different. Speaking of different, there is no way I could have done a traditional tree. I want my apartment to sparkle and to feel less crowded. The stockings makes it feel cozy, yes even though they are black. It's cozy to me and you have to admit my friend did an incredible job. I'm obsessed! This Christmas I will be home, quarantined watching "White Christmas, "It's A Wonderful Life" and maybe "Elf while drinking coquito.
If you are interested in purchasing any custom made items shoot me a message on my contact form and I will connect you to my friend. Her website currently under development.