My Christmas Life by Carine Tyler of Smallesthings

Next up in our Christmas Life Series is my favourite French lady, Carine!
She writes a beautiful blog called Smallesthings from her Parisian home which she shares with her husband and their totally adorable little son. She is one of those girls you just want to go for a coffee with. An awesome mom with a fantastic taste and incredible stories to tell. Here is her Christmas Life Story…Enjoy!

Bonjour tout le monde! It’s a privilege to be posting on Diana’s blog today and to be sharing with you some bits & bobs of my holiday traditions.

I’m recently a new mama - my son is 22 months old - and with a little bambino in the house, the magic of Christmas suddenly returns. This will be our second Christmas as a family, but the first year where our little boy will grasp what all the fuss is about which is going to be fun. We are eager to share with him our own childhood traditions (I can vividly remember spending hours in the kitchen with my mum baking mince pies!) and also look forward to creating new family traditions - our family -along the way.

Being a Franglais* household, we celebrate Christmas with a meal on the 24th (the French way), another is the 25th (the Franglais way) and yet another on the 26th (the British way - Boxing Day).

Phew, after that it’s no wonder that our New Year resolution is always “Lose extra kilos put on at Xmas”! Though most French children open up their presents at midnight on Christmas Eve, we like to follow the British way for this and wait until morning to open our gifts. There's nothing like the excitement of waking up on Christmas day when you are little and seeing all the presents under the tree that Father Christmas magically brought down the chimney.  Really, I think our ingredients for a perfect Xmas is being with our family, sitting around a warm meal and enjoying our interesting mix of French and English traditions.

My one wish for Christmas is that my little brother who I have not seen in months, pays us a surprise visit.

1. My Christmas essentials...
A Christmas tree, stockings, holy, mistletoe, foie gras, roast turkey, Brussels sprouts, Christmas pudding, buche de noel, mince pies, Christmas carols and dates.

2. My guilty Christmas pleasure...
A Foie gras (guilty because I don't agree with how it is made but can’t resist eating it every year).

3. Left out for Father Christmas...
Mince pie and glass brandy!

4. In my stocking...
Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Every year!

5. My Christmas isn’t complete without...
Christmas crackers! I love the bad jokes and ridiculously small toys.

6. My Christmas movie?
Mr. Franglais has to watch a James Bond on Xmas day (in England, they’ve been showing 007 on telly on Xmas day for years!).

7. My Christmas tipple is...
Champagne.

8. My Christmas scent....
CHYPERLINK "http://pinterest.com/pin/246220304597129940/"lementineHYPERLINK "http://pinterest.com/pin/246220304597129940/"s – it’s just that time of year. When I see shops selling clementines in November and someone starts peeling one, that sweet smell always reminds me of Xmas.

9. For snowy days...
Board games and a pack of cards for hours of fun.

On my tree...
When I was about six, I remember being in England and buying a little robin to put our Christmas tree. Every year after that, I had to have this little birdie on our tree.

* half British, half French.

(Top and buttom image layout by Rebecca Baust of The Daily Muse for exPress-o. Middle photo by Carine)