Jun. 25, 2024 - It’s beginning to ~~look~~ smell a lot like Christmas!
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Prep: CeraVe - Hydrating Facial Cleanser
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Brush: Trotter Handcrafts Burnt Butterscotch v11 Fanchurian Badger
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Razor: J.A. Henckels #50 5/8 Hollow
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Lather: Noble Otter - ‘Tis the Season
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Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm
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Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - Yesterday Haze
Christmas is a special time for me, growing up as the son of a Methodist Pastor it was always a busy time for my Dad. There were way more events than normal at the church starting with Advent and going through Christmas. It was especially busy on those random years when Christmas Day was on a Sunday because we would have a candle light Christmas Eve service and also one on the day of.
But no matter how busy my Dad was, he always made time for us as a family, and the way he did that was by reading an Advent book out loud to us every night. It was one of those books set up to read one chapter a day throughout the season and finish up on Christmas Day. Each year we would rotate to the next one in the series (I think 4 books in total) and be totally engrossed in the story for 20-30 minutes each day. It was an incredible way to bring our family together for intentional time spent together.
When I found out that my wife was expecting I knew that this was a tradition that I wanted to continue with my family. My parents knew this as well and gifted us a set of the books when Woodchip (my oldest) was born. Unfortunately, military life rears its ugly head and after my son was born in August 2019 I was deployed from November through January that year. I missed my sons first Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. So what did I do? I packed up that book, brought it 6,000 miles with me to read. Every day I would record a video to send to my wife to play for my son. While I know it wasnt the same thing, and I know that he wasnt old enough to really understand, it was an intentional move to make sure to spend time for my family and one that really helped me get through that deployment.
Daily Challenge: This challenge is a strangely difficult one because other than uniform hats (covers) I do not own a single hat myself! I have a slender head and large ears and wearing a hat just magnifies that fact. So I have really never worn hats in my life. BUT, my wife absolutely loves to wear ball caps so I am in luck today! So standing in my bathroom getting ready to shave all i had to do was look over and check out my wife's rack for today’s challenge. Here you get a cropped pic of me in the hat to mitigate the NSFW potential for today’s challenge.
Daily Theme Justification: Just look at that little Santa Otter on the label of ‘Tis the Season and tell me this isnt a perfect soap for today!
To be real, this is one my favorite Christmas scents and actually the only one that I have in a full tub! Stirling Christmas Eve is incredible as well but I like ‘Tis the Season more, the Cranberry and Apple in it does a great job of making this a fresh scent.
Relevant Post Shave & Frag: All the items that I used today are Christmas colors! Red or Green including my brush and razor!