A Covid Christmas

Christmas Day outfit: 'Have a sweet Christmas' t-shirt from Target Girls (size 12), Supre jeans 

Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day sales to you all! What did you get up to this Christmas holiday? I have to admit, we had the most craziest Christmas yesterday, it was so crazy that I had to write it down here on my blog here so that in future years I can look back on this day and chuckle.

We had planned for a small Christmas Day lunch at our apartment with The Boy, his family and my family. But our day was unexpectedly turned upside down when The Boy received a text message saying that he was a close contact with a friend who has just returned a positive Covid test! Yikes! This happened in the morning right in the midst of food preparation. So... we had to keep The Boy isolated (all the while him trying to give us instructions on how to finish cooking the dishes that he had planned to make), finish cooking and pack away all the food in takeaway containers for our guests to take away or pick up if they hadn't yet arrived (we felt bad that they had no other food prepped at home and all the shops were closed since it was a public holiday). 

Christmas lunch converted to Christmas take away in an old shopping box for friends and family. Always handy to wash up and keep old takeaway containers for days like these!

Our simple menu for Christmas lunch at home

We then went to get our swabs done, but because it was a public holiday the majority of the Covid testing clinics were closed so we ended up at the testing clinic at the hospital in our local district. The lines were tremendously long. It was scary to hear people coming out of the clinic saying that they had waited over two hours to get their swab, but we persisted and waited in mind. Mind you, it was also an extremely sunny and warm day, beautiful weather for if you were at the beach, not while in a queue to get your Covid swab. 

Over two hour queue for Covid testing at St George Hospital, Sydney, on Christmas Day

We were glad to eventually get home and so began our Christmas Day home quarantine and patiently wait for our results to come back the next day. Thankfully both our swabs have since come back negative but The Boy is a closet contact so he has to remain at home for another few days, while I am only a secondary close contact so I'm now allowed out of the house and have to wait on him (lol) such as bringing him his food to his room where he's isolating away from me. 

I think this is the first time we've had so many presents under the tree! We've deferred our Christmas party and present opening til after The Boy is allowed out of isolation

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my favourite pics of our Christmas this year: 

Homebaked gingerbread cookies

The annual festive Christmas lights and decorations on Borgnis Street, Davidson (Sydney)

Earlier in the week, before The Boy found out that he was a close contact, he drove us to see some Christmas decorations and lights on Borgnis Street, Davidson. This is starting to become our little annual Christmas tradition. This is possibly one of the most famous and well decked out streets in Sydney, and of course there are several other notable streets/areas in Sydney that are just as good. 

Borgnis Street in Davidson is north of Chatswood. The lights are on between 8 to 10pm. It may be best to find parking in other nearby streets as the traffic does get busy on Borgnis Street and it's also a one-way street. There are some ice cream trucks and coffee trucks there, but not much food so best to eat dinner before coming. You can check out their Facebook page for more details. 

I would also recommend wear shoes that are easy to walk in. There is no consistent footpath and we often needed to walk on the grass. I wore my gold ballet flats from Wittner thinking it would add a sparkle to my outfit for the occasion, but almost slipped walking downhill since it had rained a bit earlier. I said to The Boy, next year I might even wear my Hunter gumboots so that I wouldn't mind walking on the sloshy grass, particularly if it's been raining again! I have the Hunter Tour packable boots, which are a better fit for my shorter legs compared to the Original Tall (my review here). 

Hand made Christmas card from The Boy. We have a long standing joke that he is Mocha and I am Latte bear from the Sugar Cub Stickers on Facebook Messenger

What with waiting for our Covid swab results today and all, I didn't venture out for Boxing Day sales at the shops, but instead having been seeing so many great deals online!

Boxing Day 2021 deals noted by me:

• Net-A-Porter sales + 20% cashback on full price items for limited time (Boxing Day only; reverts to 12% cashback afterwards) via Shopback (including Saint Laurent, Loewe, Givenchy, Chloe etc, Gucci is excluded). Use Shopback sign up code 8RWIDn. 
• The Outnet: extra 25% off selected items (code: EXTRA25). See my post here for great selection of Stuart Weitzman shoes and boots on sale.
• 24S.com selected items on sale, and extra 20% off full price on selected brands (code: WINTER20). Plus additional 6.5-7.0% cashback via Shopback. Includes brands such as Chloe, Burberry, Givenchy, Valentino and more. My Chloe woody tote bag is included with the 20% off discount. 
• Farfetch sale, plus additional 5% cashback (new customers) or 1.0% cashback (old customers) via Shopback
• MyTheresa sale
• Ssense sale
• Matches Fashion sale
• Myer sale, plus 20% off cashback via Shopback on 26th Dec 11am to 3pm
• Sephora 15% off sitewide, plus 7% cashback for new Sephora customers via Shopback
• Uniqlo 15% cashback via Shopback
• Selfridges - the best discount on Le Creuset (be mindful of extra 10% or so taxes added at checkout + $40 international shipping), Mulberry bags and Reiss clothing, with up to 8.50% cashback via Shopback
• David Jones sale - 20% off Le Creuset, 50% off Gordon Ramsay Maze dinnerware, plus others
• Mulberry - up to 30% off. Can also check out Mulberry selection on Farfetch 
• And of course, pretty much most stores and brands would have sales happening so if I come across any other spectacular sales, I'll add to this list. Come back and check for updates. 

Hope you all had a good Christmas. From this experience of having the scare of being in close contact with potential Covid, I have the biggest sympathies for those who have been much more deeply affected by this pandemic. Although we've only had to be in home quarantine for a short number of days, it's actually a lot harder than it seems! Whilst I find it fairly easy to remain indoors at home (luckily The Boy stocked up our pantry before Christmas Day so we have plenty of supplies at home), it is a lot harder than I imagined having to stay away from your loved ones within your household. 

Anyway, take care of yourselves and be kind to each other including colleagues at work or even strangers who may be going through difficult times for whatever reason. 

Merry Christmas!
Choco

Instagram @choco_petitestyle

*Sales and discounts current as of 26th December 2021, but may be subject to change. Affiliate links included in this post.