Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 350 - Early Christmas with my gorgeous guy

My gorgeous guy and I did Christmas early tonight.

It was not, trust me, a flagrant attempt to get presents early or anything instant gratification-ish like that. Really! (Although that was a delightful side benefit of what a perfect night.)

No, it had more to do with the fact that my guy was setting for his hometown of Melbourne a  week early to spend time with his family before I get there for just 24 hours on 23 December. Originally he was going to be there for the big traditional extended family Christmas lunch but this was called off at the last minute so the plan was to spend the week present shopping - far better than carrying them down from Sydney - and seeing friends and family.

So, also wanting to spend one last night together before we were cruelly separated - don't you just love emotional hyperbole? - we decided to have a pre-emptive celebration. It took a bit of doing, at least on my part, as I left work at 6, raced to Coles Wynyard, grabbed a whole lot of veges, roast potatoes to go from the freezer section (yes I cheated!), Kiplings fruit mince pies (for dessert) and red (a chilli dip) and green (avocado) dips for entree and got home to finish what was to be as close to a Christmas dinner as I could manage in a limited time frame. Everything was colour coded red, green or gold - I had bought funky red striped table mats, green cloth serviettes and gold star-shaped serviette holders from Eastern Flair in Newtown the night before - what had been the Easter tree was swathed in red tinsel, and red, green and gold baubles, and I had Christmas carols playing.

It was perfect... and he loved it. The food was delicious - I forgot one thing ... the roast chicken! - so god bless him everyone (clever use of Christmas Dickens-esque phraseology there thank you!), my gorgeous guy bought some yummy Oricco chicken from Dulwich Hill + wine, and we had the most romantic dinner over candlelight. Then we had a lot of fun exchanging two presents each - the presents too large to take on a plane or too delicate. I got the funky red clay dog I had spied in Berry + a Kobo e-reader, while my darling man loved his men's Mary Poppins umbrella (that I had walk through a downpour to get but it was worth it) and the abstract painting I picked up for him in the Ulladulla guesthouse we stayed at. As always his wrapping was superb and so creative!

Honestly it was delightful beyond words. Carols filling the air - Michael Buble, Annie Lennox and Sarah McLachlan - yummy food (the coffee table was set in red with a Christmas reindeer tray) and we watched the Christmas episode of Miranda from season 2, cuddled, ate the fruit mince pies with ice cream, and were together.

It was beyond perfect and the best Christmas ever. But then every time I am with him, it's wonderful because he is as into these grand romantic events as I am, and loves celebrating Christmas as much as I do. I have found my soul mate and it's never more evident than on lovely perfectly-realised nights like that.

(Early) Merry Christmas us.