Holidays are coming!

For me and the fam Christmas is about the following, all of which never fail to deliver those tidings of comfort and joy year on year.

Frank Sinatra- and who else? That's right, big ol blue eyes and his smooth, crisp carols send my sister and I into a festive frenzy of bunny hopping around the kitchen table....we love those J I N G...LE BELLS!!!

Cliche shhhmiche because IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. George Bailey I'll love you until the day I die! All time fav Christmas film (along with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), that can only be watched with the five of us present.

Stockings and seek. Never too old for a stocking filled with pressies or satsumas and nuts for that matter (Dad!!) Nor the hiding of gifts mum disguises amidst orders to get tonic from the fridge...there's a present. Carving knife from drawer...a present. Turkey from oven...ROAST POTATOES! Ultimate present!

Unboxing the xmas decs- where we root through the mass of reindeer antlers and moth eaten Christmas hats, untangle fairy lights and deck the oversized tree we forced dad to buy. We hit the Quality Street whilst Mrs Clause deliberates the decor for hours and soon transforms the place into a winter wonderland.

What's not to like? Custard, good. Jam, good. Meat, gooooooood!! The damn Christmas spread is blatantly what it's all about...and the devouring of selection boxes first thing in PJs with a glass of champaz! Thank you Santa!

One Day...

Now when I devoured this last year on holiday my interpretation of Emma was that of a blonde, scruffy, slightly plump someone whose one liners had the power to send me into raging hysterics. Willingly trouncing her own dowdy style and dodgy CV repertoire, as well as outsmarting the idiot  wannabes she comes across- yes Dexter- in effortless wonder, she is entirely captivating.  For me, she rouses the character of Jane from The L-Shaped Room who is another woman in the throes of love and loss, quick witted and just brilliant.

That is why my Emma is not Anne Hathaway, not even with a Northern accent, not even close; hence my reluctance to see the film adaptation. Not only might I be forced to pack up and dart out popcorn in arm, but it may bring back dire memories of watching the 'alternative' ending option slash US edition on the latest Pride and Prejudice DVD. Essentially because the film One Day looks far too flowery, too Hollywood, too Universal Pictures OVERKILL! Surely even Nicholls himself is thinking, along with CHA-CHING, is this really my Emma, my novel, my way?