Author Feature: My Unforgettable Christmas by Lindsey Kelk

I have the honour of getting a spot on the publication day of Lindsey Kelk's fabulously festive novel this year, I Heart Christmas and Lindsey is on I Heart.. Chick Lit to share with us her most unforgettable Christmas!

My Unforgettable Christmas

As you’ve probably already realised, I love Christmas. Everyone seems a little bit happier, people seem a little bit nicer and there are always lots of exciting things going on – parties, mince pies and a drastically increased number of hugs.

I’ve got a million fantastic Christmas memories - waking up at the crack of dawn and trying to stay in bed until my mum woke up, spending hours making sure all the stickers were perfectly placed on my Sindy Kitchen Café, throwing up an entire Terry’s Chocolate Orange approximately seventeen seconds after wolfing the entire thing at six am – but my most unforgettable Christmas day has to be the first Christmas I spent in New York.

Having drank most of Christmas eve into oblivion in a Williamsburg bar with a group of Jewish friends who hadn’t gone home for the holidays, I mosied on over to Manhattan to meet up with two of my best English buddies for a nightcap and seasonal sleepover. Obviously, we spent most of the night gossiping and drinking terrible homemade cocktails, so we were all a bit delicate when we woke up Christmas morning but it’s amazing how much better you feel when you fall asleep with fairylights and wake up to a mound of presents.

Once we had treated our hangovers with a couple of glasses of Bucks Fizz, it was on with our best togs and out for lunch. We might have looked a little bit like a Sex and the City Christmas Special... After extensive research, we decided on Jean George, an amazing restaurant that overlooked Central Park. While I would heartily recommend it, I would also have to say, while the staff are lovely, they don’t especially love very loud, very happy, slightly (cough) tipsy girls who really don’t want to leave, even after eating and drinking for three hours. Anyway, the restaurant was super swanky and the food was insanely good but in reality, the most important bit was being there with brilliant friends. We could have gone to McDonald's and had just as great a time.

Being in New York on Christmas day was crazy. There were so many people rushing around, almost as if it were any other day, but there was something extra in the air. Everyone was smiling, everyone was saying hello to each other and dozens of families were on the street, all bundled up and headed out for a walk in the park or over the bridge. The most memorable moment for me was when we were waiting on Second Avenue, looking for a cab, and seeing loads of kids out on the sidewalk, riding their new bikes. I remember getting my first bike so clearly – chucking my coat over my nightie and making my dad take me outside to ride it before breakfast. It was incredible to see a little girl looking so happy and so proud of herself, feeling exactly how I had felt twenty-five years ago, only she was on the streets of New York City instead of in the back garden of a little semi in South Yorkshire. It reminded me that no matter where you go, people are the same everywhere and really, no matter where you go, it’s the people who are there with you that matter.

Lindsey's new book, I Heart Christmas is out today! What are you waiting for? Head out and get yourself a copy! Or you can buy it from Amazon. Here are the links: paperback or Kindle.