MoC - Christmas Eve Edition

The Mugs of Christmas

Mug Six:

The final mug for this year is just a little Christmas tree.

Simple, quiet, and charming - all the things we often forget to be during the holidays.

It’s the kind of mug I reach for on Christmas Eve, whether I’m feeling contemplative or up to my eyeballs in frantic, last-minute wrapping. Either way, it’s a soothing, calming design that helps me just… breathe.

MoC - V

The Mugs of Christmas

Mug Five:

Start the day with this guy and how can you help but meet the world with a smile on your face?

Although I certainly can (and do) drink coffee out of this mug, it’s real purpose for being is, I am convinced, to hold hot chocolate. Specifically, Ibarra Mexican hot chocolate, which is pretty much the Platonic ideal of hot chocolate - at least in my cave. 

Because this is a mug that screams, “Snow Day!!!!” to me, evoking the feel of stinging wet cheeks, the sounds of laughter and snowball fights, the smell of wet woolen mittens as you bring them to your face to taste that handful of snow. It’s stomping into the warm house with snow-clotted boots and a sniffly nose, puffing and cold and hungry, and already anxious to go back outside for more.

It’s a whole-body kind of happy that you rarely get to feel as an adult… but that I love to be reminded of.

So it’s a really good mug for a Friday, don’t you think?

MoC - IV

The Mugs of Christmas

          Mug Four:

If I’d photographed this with the handle on the right, the way the others are, all you would see is a classic, red-cheeked, right jolly old elf - a perfectly acceptable design for your Christmas mug, to be sure… but it’s the back side that makes this one so special: 

         Santa’s Diner

Wouldn’t you love to stop by there for a piece of pie?

This mug takes me back to a Christmas with the previous beau. We’d gone on a long excursion to the far end of a different state in search of the ultimate Christmas lights experience…, and ended up in a wee village, perched in an old-fashioned diner and watching a gentle snow paint the town with magic. Seriously, I expected to see George Bailey come whistling in for coffee at any minute. It was like being thrown back in time, to when life was simpler and joy more accessible.

So this mug makes me smile, even as it makes the tiniest bit wistful, too.
Happy, with an undertone of bittersweet.

Sounds about right for the holidays, doesn't it?.

MoC - III

The Mugs of Christmas

    Mug Three:

The blue is a little outside the usual Christmas color scheme but I fell in love with this guy at first sight. The set had a different design for each of the eight reindeer but I couldn’t afford (or store!) the whole bunch. I did spring for Prancer as well as this one, just to have another blue for balance, but poor Prancer rarely makes it out of the cupboard. 

Because, you know, Dancer is my spirit reindeer.

This is an excellent mug for when I need a morning pick-me-up. 

Like something to propel me into Hump Day, for example…

I like to pour the coffee and then mimic the foot positions as I sip. Between the dainty poses and the proud, erect posture, it makes me feel just like I’m performing in The Nutcracker. (Except, of course, that I’m doing so in the comfort of my big fluffy bathrobe, rather than a skimpy and undoubtedly chilly tutu.)

There is also the rather awkward fact that I have to practice the front and back footwork in turns, being severely hampered by my bipedal nature - but that just doubles the fun. 

Gets you going, gets you giggling…

What more can you ask for?

It’s a good mug.

MoC - Part II

The Mugs of Christmas

Mug Two:

The new kid on the block this year, this is a mug of subtle charms. (As befits a Tuesday, don’t you think?) The weight and curves of it are very satisfying in the hand and I love both the saying and the mix of fonts that it’s said in. This is a mug that says, “We’ve Got This!” (and then nods emphatically.)

I will confess that I am also smitten with the big, old-fashioned Christmas bulbs that adorn the top. Those are the Christmas lights of my childhood, those big bulbs. I’m so happy they are making a come back lately. For years, you couldn’t find a string of these for love or money. Everything was the twinkling mini-bulb. Which I’m quite fond of as well, mind you… any Christmas light is a good one… 

But I still retain a soft spot in my heart for a bulb that glows proudly with bold color.

Merry and Bright, indeed!

The Mugs of Christmas

OK, now that I'm back in coffee, I’m getting to use all my holiday mugs again.

I love my festive mugs… I get myself a new one every year and rotate through them. My collection is actually larger than shelf capacity by now but that’s okay. The excessive large number lets me customize each year's assortment according to what kind of holiday love I'm feeling that December, while still providing sufficient variety to accommodate my daily moods.

It’s a small thing but one of my favorite traditions of the season... and for the week leading up to Christmas, I’m going to share the fun with you.

Without further ado, Gentle Readers, I give you:

          The Mugs of Christmas

          Mug One:

This is a good choice for Mondays, when your head is still dawdling back in the weekend and you can't begin to wrap your mind around where to start... at least not before consuming the contents! It's a mug that signifies the many options before you, yet no matter which one you may contemplate, that festive holly sits front and center, bobbing cheerfully in front of your eyes with each sip and reminding you not to lose sight of the holiday.

But Today...

               I Haz Coffee

and even some Christmas spirit!

Debt, diet, and dubious relationship status be damned!

Peace on Earth, y’all.