I know, I know, it's only November 4th and I'm deep into holiday preparations. I have to say, I'm a holiday traditionalist. Christmas goes up after Thanksgiving, and as much as I adore my collection of Holiday music, I won't play it now. We *just* had Halloween for goodness sake! Back in the early days of the shop, I truly wouldn't decorate until Thanksgiving. These days I realize that spending the day with my family is more important than not decorating a couple days before, so the Monday of Thanksgiving week I break out the Pentatonix, and Elvis, and Straight No Chaser, and Ella Fitzgerald, and let them carol at me while I spend the next few days decorating.
All that said ... sometimes you just gotta make sleigh while the sun shines! (Oh, I sleigh me!) This year our little town has so much planned for the holiday season. There's a Cocoa Crawl - all of the shops are staying open late on December 7th, and will each have a different flavor of cocoa to sample while you shop. There's an Ugly Sweater Fun Run & Walk on December 8th. There's music, there are candlelight tours of the town, there's readings from Night Before Christmas, there are decorations galore, and there's a magical little town waiting for you to visit. We're so excited to be really going all out for the holidays this year, but that means there's even more to do than usual. And that means if I don't want to be completely insane (shhh, peanut gallery, shhh!) by the time the holiday actually gets here, I need to start work now. Actually, I started work a few months ago, I just didn't want to admit it until now. ;)
So, while the leaves turn pretty fall colors, and I munch on the end of the Halloween candy, I'm also out making the sleigh that will sit out in front of the store, perfect for selfies. And I'm working with a friend on plans for decorating the parking meter in front of the shop. And I'm getting fabric ready for draping the shop windows. And I'm organizing ornaments. And ...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even if I don't want to admit it quite yet.
For more details on what's to come in Berkeley Springs for the holidays, visit our facebook page: Hometown Holidays in Berkeley Springs!