GuideMeMalta's Great Christmas Countdown with... Denise Gafa
Next on our festive interviews list is the friendly Insta starlet.
Next on our Christmas countdown is the hilarious Denise Gafa! As most of her followers will confirm, her Instagram account is alive with funny antics revolving around family, friends and of course food - lots of it. Her Christmas season is not so different.
For Denise, Christmas is...
“When I think ‘Christmas’, I think family, food and precious moments.” There you go; this girl knows how to sort out her priorities. Like most of us, her days are filled with never-ending errands, to-dos and daily work responsibilities that draw us away from the ones we love, but that’s life. For one day, just one day, the world stops dead in its tracks and brings families together: “Christmas Day is like a ‘no excuse’ kind of day. We’re all there.”
Denise's Christmas traditions
Denise’s family traditions may vary ever so slightly from the regular Maltese set up. “Since my family and I work in the fish industry, it’s hard for us to take the day off because fresh and live produce must be taken care of daily” - bet you never thought of that when you ordered your New Year’s fish dinner huh? “Christmas Eve is just like any other day - we work normal hours, then maybe head out to celebrate in the evening, either all together or with our friends, as everyone else would do.”
“Christmas Day is a little different, but we still head to work in the morning,” shares Denise, “we start early and finish at mid-day, while mum prepares the big family lunch at her house. I’m always so excited for lunch! She makes the best food!” Her day is usually spent with the most important people in her life: “It’s usually just the six of us and the dogs! We open up our presents right after we eat and make our way out for coffee or to unite with other relatives. As long as we’re together.”
As for family traditions, the Gafa family work together to get the job sorted as quickly as possible. “Our staff at work take Christmas Day off so my siblings and I get together with a nifty strategy to finish the job in time for lunch! It’s always a crazy morning.” After all the fishy business in the morning and the rewarding lunch the family enjoys together, Denise most looks forward to her coffee after the big meal! “It’s like, everything is over, we’re finally satisfied and chillin’ together.”
Denise's best Christmas present so far was...
Every Christmas has its special memories but there are always some that trigger that happy thought, for Denise it revolves around a very special present given to her by her mother; a Nutri Bullet that she guards with all she's got. “I’ve had arguments with some people who wanted to bum it off me and I was like, ‘Get your own blender you thief!’.”
How about New Years Resolutions? Will she be making any?
Although resolutions are not really high on Denise’s list, she wants to keep working in the right direction and moving towards her goals as she has done in 2018. “Obviously I allow myself to occasionally wonder about things like, having more time on my hands, investing in a relationship, taking up a new hobby... but if i’m not naturally drawn to it yet, there’s no point in forcing myself.” Her can-do attitude and acceptance of life’s gifts is wonderful, and she continues by saying, “everything will come to me when it’s time for it. It doesn’t have to be a New Year to make me do it. And I definitely don’t have to wait till 1st January to decide that I should be living healthier.”
Apart from that this New Year, there’s also something else she’s got up her sleeve but we’re not going to find out just yet! “I’m currently working on a project which i’m super excited to announce in 2019. Until then, i’m not saying a word.”