December Recap – PLAYWORKEATREPEAT

Hello, dear friends! It’s been a long time, right? I’m so excited to reconnect with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Can you believe how quickly the celebrations go by?

To kick off 2026, I thought I’d do a quick December recap and share some of the things we’ve been up to. Thanks so much for stopping by!

December Recap

Last Day of 2025

Getting out of work on the last day of the year, December 19, has never felt so amazing. I think I got home and didn’t come out of the waiting room for about two days. My husband said, “Wow, it’s so great to see you getting into vacation mode.” He knows exactly how difficult this year has been on his job. Actually, I’m completely done. kaput. Finished.

I know I always feel tired at the end of the year, and I usually always complain about it. This is the next level of burnout. It wasn’t until I was home alone that first Saturday night that I started to feel a little better after crying for a while.

It’s so strange because it’s not that I feel sad, but I definitely feel sad, and I’m not really sure why. After all, it was holiday time, so there was nothing to be sad about. I was exhausted but couldn’t relax or fall asleep. Every time I was about to fall asleep, I jolted awake as if I had fallen from a building. I guess I was emotionally and physically confused, haha.

The good news is that I quickly got out of that funk. When Monday rolled around, we immediately got into happy holiday mode with lunch at one of my favorite spots, The Grounds of Alexandria.

Our Lunch at The Grounds

The Grounds always looks amazing, and for Christmas, everything goes with a traditional festive theme. It’s so pretty.

Christmas Dessert Preparation

The next day, Tuesday, I made the chocolate hazelnut filling for the box of little tarts I bought from Woolworths. I wanted to start with some Christmas desserts for the big day.

Date Night

Then in the afternoon we headed to Martin Place for dinner at a restaurant called Epula which is located in the Fullerton Hotel and right near the giant Christmas tree. This restaurant has a lovely, relaxed atmosphere and beautiful decor. The food is also quite spectacular.

After dinner, we wandered around Martin Place and enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere in the city.

Christmas eve

Christmas feels like a decade ago now! We had a big family celebration with the cousins, although our oldest son and his partner couldn’t attend. Her partner’s family also celebrates Christmas Eve, and in the past, they have managed to attend both gatherings.

However, since last year, their celebrations have moved to another relative’s house a long distance away. My cousins, who were hosting our gathering this year, had also moved, and it took them over an hour to get there. So we decided in advance that we would have Christmas lunch with just the five of us at my place on the 25th. We missed them both, but it certainly made things easier for them.

My son’s partner is the best, and we love him very much. Over the years, he cut his celebrations short to attend ours too, but the distance was now too great.

Christmas Eve is a big party followed by some crazy games. I’m pretty sure the whole street heard us scream.

I love these Star Wars Christmas crackers that my cousin found.

Christmas Day

It was a beautiful, calm day, and after endless hot weather, we finally got some rest. Instead of temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, Christmas Day is in the low 20s, which is perfect weather for eating. And eat we did.

I am very happy with the results of the table.

This year, I bought the tablecloth and plate chargers from Kmart, and the gold napkin rings were from Amazon. We’re a little behind here with Amazon, or maybe it’s just me, but until December 2024, ordering from Amazon doesn’t seem like a big deal. I used to read posts about “what am I getting ready for this month” and think, huh? Now I understand.

I still try to be careful about what I buy, but a cute gold napkin ring is something I know I’ll use a lot, and not just for Christmas.

We started with seafood.

Then turkey, ham, baked potatoes, beans and gravy.

Pavlova and hazelnut tart for dessert.

Boxing Day

What better way to spend Boxing Day than a trip to Ikea with one of your favorite people? That’s exactly how I spend my money. My best friend booked us a free gingerbread house making activity at Ikea.

New Year’s eve

Steve and I planned to stay home, make something we didn’t have time to make for Christmas, eat, drink soft drinks, and see in the New Year just the two of us, because Sam had an invitation to a fun party. But the day before, my friend texted to ask if we wanted to come to her house. Of course we said yes. They made delicious food, and we took our snacks for dessert. This is Mary Berry’s recipe, and not only does it look spectacular but it tastes really good too. It was so delicious, even without any jelly, we would definitely make it again.

This is interesting. If you want to build a relationship, I recommend cooking together. Haha, we had creative differences, kept going, and even learned how to make sugar frostings which almost broke me. Five attempts later, it finally worked. I won’t let it beat me!

Holiday Project

Now that I have time and lots of enthusiasm, I have started some DIY projects. I turned the living room upside down, cleaned all the nooks and crannies, replaced the curtains, washed the sofa covers, and more. It’s great to be on holiday and have time to work at home.

I’ll be back on Wednesday to share the recipe, and then, I’ll show you all the things I’ve done at home and in the front garden to spruce it up. It feels good to be back here 🤗

Happy Monday!