It’s Christmas Time In the City

It’s that time of year again. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to write. I promised myself that this Christmas season would be calmer, more relaxed than last year. I purposely didn’t plan events too far in advance, for fear of them piling up and being too stressed out to enjoy the season. But it seems that between working two weekends a month and planning events with family and friends (and let’s not forget the never-ending shopping and wrapping and mailing), I’ve just been swamped with things to do. When that happens, I often don’t know where to start my to-do list. And since I haven’t been feeling 100% I’ve let some things go, more so than I would have had I been feeling fine. So now I’m feeling the stress. Only two weeks to go and I’ve barely started my shopping. And honestly, if I don’t get a majority of it done tomorrow, I just don’t know when it will get done. I hate doing things like this last minute. Talk about being stressed out. I’m not good under pressure. I like to give myself plenty of time for everything so that I can complete whatever the task with precision and care and actually enjoy it. I can’t do any of those things if all I’m worried about is crossing it off my list. With all that said, I’m trying to enjoy the season no matter what. And if some things don’t get done, well, so be it. Let me tell you that it’s not often I say that.

I did get some Christmas enjoyment in last weekend. My husband and I went to New York City with some friends. We had a great time. We took our time shopping and just enjoying the day. We did get to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree. It was a lovely tree and all the lights are wonderful to see. But there were so many people there, we could hardly walk across the street—I’m talking wall to wall people. But we had fun nevertheless. We also went to the Top of the Rock. The view is amazing, especially at night. If you’re ever in New York City, I highly recommend it.

In addition to enjoying the day, I also enjoyed preparing for it. My friend and I made a list of all the things we wanted to do while there. I kept this list in my Filo of course. And on the day we went, I pulled out my Slimline Guildford, added my emergency contacts, my Day Planner sheet for the day, the list of places to go, and two maps—the one for New York City subways and the road map of Manhattan. I didn’t use either one but it was good to have them just in case.

I put my Slimline as well as my other necessities in my new Timbuk2 bag. I bought this bag specifically for city trips. I needed something that can hold a good number of things but not too much—the bigger the bag, the more I add to it. This was the perfect size. It held everything I needed, plus a little bit of room for anything I bought along the way. This bag is a messenger-type bag so I was able to put it around my body which was great—I like to have my hands free when in the city. And having the bag around your body is extra security against purse-snatchers. It’s not too easy to grab a bag that’s around a person’s body.

I didn’t buy much while in New York, though I did make sure to stop at Sam Flax and buy out their entire stock of Day Planner pages – it wasn’t difficult, as they only had three packs available. Oh well. That just means I’ll have to go back in a few months to buy more.

All in all it was a great day and a great way to celebrate the season. I hope your holidays are going well and that you make time to enjoy it.