Christmas past......and future

Time is running away.....................fast forward to Christmas.
Are you ready?  Don't fib if you're not, it's OK........who truly is.  For many it's those last minute things, the rush of the season, the excitement of knowing there's not much time left, that makes Christmas so wonderful. 

For me, Christmas preparations are changing.  The heady days of bustling through packed malls and department stores for hours on end are no longer enjoyable.  The nighttime secret wrapping, the mechanics of putting together and hiding of kids' toys are just a memory...............all fun when one is young and more able, now something we see young neighbor families do instead!

As for the kitchen chores at holiday time......................now I understand why there are gourmet shops!  No, I don't order hams and turkeys to be delivered sizzling at the door (we don't eat meat).  I don't stay home baking the weeks before Christmas when instead I can be savoring the delights of a city dressed for the holidays - this year Washington, last year New York. 

Next year, who knows where I'll be.  Prague called this year but didn't happen, perhaps for the best seeing as how the airports are mostly shut down and weather horrendous across Europe.  I long to spend one more Christmas at home in England........snowed in at an elegant country estate, in a little farmhouse (heated please!) on wild Dartmoor near my Devon home, or ensconced in a quite posh London hotel, close to Harrods would be perfect! 

All images from Anthropologie's beautiful windows in their Georgetown, Washington, D.C. store this past weekend.