Prosecco and Caviar
Two letters, two women 🥂❄️
My love,
All I’m asking is that you reconsider our Christmas plans. I don’t want to go to Winnipeg to visit your parents. I know you feel bad about moving away and building a life elsewhere. But do we have to do the same thing every year, over and over again? What if we tried something different? I know you want the kids to spend time with their grand-parents. The kids can video chat with them on Christmas morning, and even open their presents while they watch from afar. It’s basically the same thing as being there, and your parents won’t have to deal with our mess afterwards! Besides, they don’t have high speed Internet and you know how important that is to the kids. Apparently they can’t stream Netflix and play Nintendo Switch at the same time without it. Why on Earth did we buy the chalet in Switzerland if we can’t take advantage of it? You work so hard. Don’t you think you deserve some time off? Think about it, my love. You, me and après-ski. I’ll make sure Charles prepares the chalet for our arrival. He told me he could set up the chalet in no time and that he’d stock the fridge with our favourite Prosecco and caviar. I told him the kids were expecting Christmas trees in every room. I can’t wait to walk in and inhale the magical scent of Swiss pine.
I know you’ll be sad about not being with your extended family over the Holidays, so I took the liberty of inviting the Richardsons to join us on our trip. Mary said we could all fly over on their jet, but I refused. I wouldn’t have it. You know how she’s always trying to upstage me. It’s like the time we went over to their place for dinner and she noticed the new ring you bought me. You know, the yellow pear-shaped diamond surrounded by circular-cut white diamonds? She didn’t like that I had a 32-carat rock on my finger and I could tell. I wasn’t surprised when she showed up with that vulgar emerald ring at the Montreal Hospital Foundation luncheon the following week. The nerve of that woman. I’d never seen it before, and neither had Kathy. I know for a fact that she had John rushing out to Birks to buy a revenge ring. Kathy’s assistant saw the whole thing. So anyways, I told her no, we wouldn’t be taking their jet. I insisted we take ours. I even found out how we can contribute to the carbon neutral thing like Meghan Markle and Prince Harry did. Apparently we just have to write a check and somebody will plant trees in our name. I forwarded our flight itinerary to your secretary and she’ll make sure you leave work on time next Friday. Don’t worry about your suitcases, I’ll take care of all the packing. I can’t wait for our Christmas vacation, my love! It will be the respite we all need after an intense Q4.
Forever yours,
Joanna
Dear Reader,
I would have preferred not to add an additional section under Joanna’s letter (isn’t she something?), but as it’s my last newsletter of the year, I wanted to take the time to sign off properly. Whatever you have planned over the next few weeks, I hope you have a good time. I hope you spend quality moments with loved ones. I hope you listen to your body. I hope you go down rabbit holes of curiosity. I hope you say ‘no’ to things you don’t want to do, even though it’s expected of you. I plan on doing all those things and more. I won’t be munching on caviar (does one munch on caviar?), but maybe I’ll have a glass of Prosecco if the occasion arises. I also have several books in my unread pile that I’d like to dive into, including Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong, Making a Scene by Constance Wu and the first authorized biography of my favourite diva, Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon by Kate Andersen Brower.
As I write these words, I’m sitting at my dining room table. It’s snowing outside. It’s been snowing for over 24 hours here in Montreal. I’m in a snow globe and I love it. The trees across the street are covered in a marshmallow fluff-like layer of snow. Its fluffy quality is quite appetizing indeed - I predict I’ll be telling my kid to stop eating the snow on our walk back from school later this afternoon. Dozens of anti-slip sidewalk rocks will magically find their way in my winter boots too. It will be extremely irritating. But for now, I’m enjoying the winter wonderland view. Moments like this remind me of the importance of appreciating the simple things. There is so much beauty in the simple things.
Wishing you the best this holiday season, including health and simple, beautiful things. Thank you for subscribing to Obsessed: A Newsletter. I love sharing my stories with you. Please know that I’ve very much appreciated your kind words, comments, anecdotes, likes and replies. I’ll be taking a writing break over the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to sending you new, obsession-fuelled essays later in January.
With gratitude,
Michelle