Merry Christmas Eve.

Right now, I am celebrating by typing in my office

(read: bed. It is so warm and cozy in here! I have THIS on my lap!)

and listening to the three people whom I love the most as they play downstairs. They are playing Yo Gabba Gabba and something called Bunchems and beautiful, blessed music.

I recently got my daughter into some Elton John, and not just regular Elton John, but the Elton John that is played during scenes in the movie Almost Famous.

I am not sure that there is anything cuter than a five and a half year old girl singing, ever-so-earnestly, “Hold me closer, tiny dancer…” with a little vibrato and brimming passion.

(Oh. Guys. Remind me that, while my Black Swan costume was a ton of fun, I need an excuse to dress up as Penny Lane. Did you catch that, friends? I am thinking we need another costume party. Who wants to get on that?)

(a blogger’s work is never done)

And so, while life has had it’s ups and downs lately, I look at this Christmas Eve as a chance to begin even more new and wonderful traditions, just like last year.

My besties and I had our Secret Santa 2 weeks ago and it was marvelous. I got to buy something special and foxy for a friend who is so, so very dear to me, and J got me a kick butt bag that says “You Got This” with tons of inspirational gear inside. I took it with me on my trip, along with the beautiful card she wrote, and it hasn’t left my side since.

Our holiday gift exchange is now a tradition.

It is ours.

Tomorrow we have plans to have a Christmas Pajama Party with a bestie family, our kids all with matching PJs, so that we can decorate gingerbread men and give little gifts and eat big plates of Chinese food.

We did this last year. It is now a tradition.

It is ours.

And then on Sunday, my little foursome will take a little trip–something that we did last year when our trip to St. John got cancelled less than 12 hours before take off, thanks to my own double ear infection.

My daughter has talked about this trip for the past 365 days and now my son is old enough to enjoy it too, so we are excited. It is now a tradition.

It is ours.

When we did go to St. John last week, my parents and I missed our ferry between islands and so we had breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Clause while we waited for the next boat.

From my dad’s instagram:

I asked Mrs. Clause to sit on my dad’s lap. It was his Hanukkah present. This, I do not believe will become a tradition.

Still, for that hour, we owned it.

It was ours.

***

It is hard to believe that this was one year ago and how much has changed since that time.

Fortunately, I have only gotten closer to my beloved tribe members. #teamMEA has grown (and shhhh team members, don’t reveal our secret, but we have some very exciting surprises up our collective sleeve). My family has shown strength that I never thought possible.

My friends have come to mean more to me than I ever could have imagined.

I have learned so much about myself. I have taken on new roles and new titles. I no longer preface my calls with advertisers by saying, “I am not a business woman…”; I have built things.

I have become a songwriter.

I went snorkling.

I survived.

***

Today, I got home from an appointment with my “worry doctor”–and yes, I still see one–and my husband told me that he had planned a nice evening at home for the two of us tonight. He had gotten cheese with truffles and good bread and said that we would light a fire and open one of our nice bottles of wine. He said that we could watch a movie by the fire. And guess what just so happens to be airing this evening?

Almost Famous.

(Bless you VH1.)

Maybe this will become a tradition, too.

So, in the words of Sir Elton John, and in the spirit of this holiday, I say this to you:

And I thank the Lord
There’s people out there like you
I thank the Lord there’s people out there like you

Thank you for being here. Be good to yourself. You don’t have to be happy today. You can be. That would be awesome. But if you aren’t, that’s OK too. Just do what I said above. Survive. Sometimes it is the best we can do, and that is so much.

I thank the Lord there’s people out there like you.

(Featured Image via)