bring on Santa2013!
After my recent ramblings about Christmas fatigue–it surprised Oakland friends we trekked to see Santa and plop on his lap.
The thing is, while we don’t celebrate the holiday, Santa holds a special place in my heart.
More specifically photos with Santa.
Ive written about the Tornado’s adoption and shared how she resembled a Buddha in her initial pictures.
We poured over those first photos and obsessively *refreshed* our email as we waited to receive more.
The next batch arrived a few days later and looked like this:
Look Ma! Im #1!
Being oh-so-ready-to-get-my-girl-home (and wholly unaware of all the red-tape ahead) I laughed & imagined continuing the tradition with our Jewtemalan in the years to come.
And continue we did.
Each Christmas and *always* at the same place.
The only rule was we never planned when we’d go.
Our trip to the mall was always prompted by a spontaneous Let’s do it now!!!! which resulted in an eclectic collection of shots:
Ahhh Santa sitting in a nightgown.
Im squashing Santa!
Including one immediately following a sweaty soccer game.
This year I grew sad as I read and reread this post.
We couldn’t return to our Santa & I almost declared our tradition over.
At the last possible moment, however, I panicked, decided I couldn’t risk skipping a year & off to the Oakland Santa we went.
(Id assumed going *so* close to the holiday there would be no line for the Bearded Wonder. I was wrong.)
45 minutes into our wait I almost snuck in through the back door.
Santa is on the other side!
But we stood and shuffled and *finally* got close enough to catch a glimpse of our first OAKtown Santa.
He was definitely different.
a dog?!
In every, single, possible way–but we kept the tradition alive.
I don’t imagine this will be our new tradition–yet a few weeks ago Id not planned to continue it at all.
So today here’s to traditions.
New ones.
Old ones.
Treasured ones.
Ones we don’t realize we’re starting until we look behind us a few years later.
Happy Happy Merry Merry and THANK YOU for sharing *you* with me all year long.
Coco says
December 25, 2013 at 4:49 amI think the “tradition” that we’ve been most faithful too as the kids got older is that Santa always puts toothbrushes in the stockings — maybe to balance out the candy canes? If that doesn’t qualify us a Misfits, I’m not sure what would. 😉 Merry Christmas!
AmyC says
December 25, 2013 at 5:02 amMerry Christmas! Love all your Santa photos 😉
Elena says
December 25, 2013 at 5:21 amLove this–and how you find a way to continue your tradition.
Linz @ Itz Linz says
December 25, 2013 at 6:09 amawww i love this! the many years of jews & santa! 🙂
Katrina Pilkington says
December 25, 2013 at 6:23 amMerry Christmas to you and your family Carla! HAHA
Kim says
December 25, 2013 at 7:43 amMerry Christmas and happy day to y’all!!!
This post made my heart happy!!! Sometimes evolving traditions are the best ones ever!!
mimi says
December 25, 2013 at 8:27 amWishing you and your family a blessed and beautiful day!
GiGi Eats Celebrities says
December 25, 2013 at 12:06 pmMERRY MERRY CHRISTMASSSSS! 😀
Jess says
December 25, 2013 at 1:05 pmMerry Christmas what a wonderful tradition! You and your daughter are such kindred spirits. Love these photos!
TriGirl says
December 25, 2013 at 2:59 pmI’m partial to blending and creating new traditions too–happy holiday today to you and your family, Carla!
Natalie says
December 25, 2013 at 5:18 pmI love your tradition. It’s such a special one.
RageMichelle says
December 25, 2013 at 6:10 pmI LOVE this…this is a great trend you have going and I’m glad you found a new Santa.
It just goes to show…we have to adapt…not always easy..
Happy Merry Day
quix says
December 26, 2013 at 10:43 amAwww, I love this! I think continuing the transition is awesome… sometime even if it’s different it’s comforting to continue traditions. Happy merry holidays to the Mizfit fam! 🙂
Jody - Fit at 56 says
December 26, 2013 at 3:28 pmLove! Hope you had a wonderful day just doing your thang.. 🙂
Jenny @ The Wellness Journey says
December 26, 2013 at 6:45 pmOak town Santa was definitely a convincing one! Glad to hear you kept the tradition alive.
Wellness Seminar says
December 29, 2013 at 1:25 amMerry Christmas so love it.
Friend of Fitness says
January 1, 2014 at 1:19 pmGreat blog. Love how interactive you are and all the pictures you post. Keep it up! I just started my own blog and this was very cool to look at!
I have the first couple of posts up at http://www.friendoffitness.com
I will be back to visit!
Jasmine says
January 8, 2014 at 1:24 amOh, I do love this so! It was a new Santa for us this year too- and it was actually so liberating in some ways. Traditions are fun and yet I’ve heard that doing something a little different makes for more distinct memories. Glad you found something that worked for you this year!