A Year of Romance

I am looking forward to a wonderful year, thanks to a gift I found beneath the Christmas tree.

Let me backtrack for a moment, and tell you about something I got a year ago. Last year my littlest sister + asked for Clinique Happy perfume. My mother, thinking it would be a great gift for all her girls, decided to give Happy to my middle sister * and myself.

The irony in this gift back then was not lost on anyone in my family. If you go through my posts, you'll discover I had been going through an awful, terrible, no good situation a year ago. I won't go through all the gory details because I don't have the time (and besides, why dredge up all the yuckyness of the past on such a happy day, right?), but I will say that I was in a funk, no a deep depression last Christmas.

Well. I wasn't too impressed with the Happy. It sure smelled nice, it just wasn't on my list of things for Christmas. Few things were, in fact. All I wanted was to make everything okay, to put it all back to "normal."

Fast forward a year, and it turns out this has been the happiest year of my life. All the turmoil and pain has led to tons of self discovery (it's okay, you don't need to get out the crystals and Deepak Chopra for this part) and growth. Now, I am SO SO happy with where my life is going, the person I am and the life God has dealt me.

So. Dare I draw a parallel between the perfume and the way I feel? Who knows, it could be incredibly hokey, but why mess with what works, right?

Several months ago I decided I would push for more romance in my life. My love life is like a well that's yet to be discovered. It's only dry because nobody's discovered the riches that lie beneath the surface. I'm just waiting for a Prince Charming to tap the spring that will burst and flow with abundant passion. I asked my mother for Ralph Lauren's Romance perfume, hoping it would be just the thing to do the trick.

Well. Guess what I found under my Christmas tree last night. No, go on, guess.

The whole fam damily came home last night from Midnight Mass when Mother announced we could open one, just one gift before we went to bed. How cute, making us wait until morning, even though we're all old enough to vote in the last presidential election (vote tally: 5 Kerry, 1 Bush). I plucked a bag out of the piles and piles of shiny, gold paper and glimmering red bows. Inside the bag was none other than a bottle of Romance.

"The big bottle," my mother was careful to point out.

Who knows if this little test of mine works or not. It's a fun game to play to get a great bottle of perfume, and it's nice to think maybe this year will bring to me a few great hugs and kisses, some roses, and dare I say a diamond? (Okay, I'm not counting on that last part, but who knows, right? Besides, I already have a lovely wedding all planned, and I'd hate to see it go to waste. Instant Wedding: Add groom and a cup of water, and stir vigorously.)

Now I have a great big bottle of Romance to enjoy, and I still have half a bottle of the Happy stuff. That should make for one year full of bliss.

Does that come in a spray?