I love the preparation and anticipation of a big event and so am in my element this week as we get ready for our holiday on Friday.  Away from all the admin, clothes packing etc.. I love to do the special sparkles to make the holiday special.  This includes my secret ‘holiday’ bag full of treats for everyone and the task I’ve been working on today my ‘Mix tape’  The Mix Tape has been a feature of many holidays and special events over my life.  I love my music and love creating a soundtrack for special times.  My first mix tapes were taped from the radio and my double tape player, this progressed to CDs and now it is playlists on my iTunes account. Friends used to make me mix tapes too and I will always be grateful to one, who made some classic tapes for me. I still remember my delight and amusement at discovering Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’ on a tape he had done for me.

Every tape needs to start with a strong number and in celebration of our trip to a Greek island, this mix has to begin with Zorba the Greek!  It needs to be an identifiable song and set the tone of the holiday.  As it’s a holiday mix it’s upbeat and happy and includes songs for us all.  Little Miss has asked for ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen and ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, Little Man has the Star Wars theme and ‘Happy’ from Despicable Me.  There are also the family songs which we all sing along to together, Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’, American Authors, ‘Best Day of My Life’, classic Summer songs and some special songs which have special meaning.  I’ve included Noah and the Whale’s Five Years’ Time; it’s such a lovely song with beautiful lyrics. It was originally out In August 2008, the most heart breaking time of my and Mr S time together.  We needed to believe that life was going to get better and this song put our hopes to music.  This year we’re celebrating 5 years as a family and the song full of love is perfect for the mix tape.  My choice  for the mix is Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk’ my favourite song of the year so far and one that is guaranteed to put me in a brilliant mood.

The Mix tape is now ready and downloaded onto the necessary devices.  I’m not going to play it until we arrive in Corfu and am looking forward to singing and dancing to it as our little family in the warm sunshine.  Life is about little details and our Mix tape is a little detail to help make the holiday sparkle.