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MTV Base's Jasmine Dotiwala spills the
behind-the-scenes-beans
MY Christmas adventure began in New York where I had 24
hours before my annual trip
to Aspen
with MC (Mariah Carey). I used the
time to cram in plenty of fun: brunch
with Tracy Cloherty, former head of New York hip-hop radio
station Hot 97; a visit
The Ritz Carlton at Central
Park to see my former boss/ surrogate older sister Kim
Luck; and a visit to Estelle’s stunning Brooklyn apartment, where she was cooking
for some of her peeps!
The next morning I met MC's family and we
headed to Aspen,
where we arrived to be
greeted by a lovely dinner. As we held hands
and prayed for our festive blessings, I
should’ve prayed for luggage, coz mine didn't
arrive until the following day!
Next, after doing our Christmas shopping in
quaint yet horrifically expensive Aspen
town, we arranged a men vs women snowman
building competition, with both
teams trash-talking each other and making
‘secret SAS snow plans’!
Later, we had our traditional two-horse
sleigh ride through the snowy packed
mountains, where MC and hubby Nick (who from
hence forth are to be referred to as 'Mr
and Mrs C’) are still so loved up only months
after being married. Their clothes
compliment each others’ most days and they
hold hands whenever they're together. Mr C
clearly adores her and I've never seen her
looking so at peace and smiling so much. I'm
not surprised though. Nick really is a very
entertaining, multi-faceted guy who always
makes us laugh in fun moments, as well as
engaging us in deep and educational
debates. They really are a match made in
heaven.
We had fun trying to out-sing each other with
Christmas songs where Mr C brought a
whole new flavour to the game this year by
remixing many of the songs into dancehall
beats, complete with DJ-style "rewind
selector and come back again" chants. It was hilarious!
On Christmas Eve, we wrapped our gifts whilst
sat by the fire and Mr C’s brother
Shawn was heckling all sorts of things that
were, shall we say, not exactly in the name of
Jesus! Ironically, we later headed to church
for midnight mass, which was
led by Nick’s
best friend, ‘Minister’ Kase. He did a fine
job of reminding us that God has his own
plan for us all. He was the flyest
sneakerwearing pastor I have ever witnessed!
Christmas day began with me wanting to kill
someone who was banging on all our
doors yelling "ho ho ho" early in
the morning. When I emerged to see who was
causing the commotion, there was Nick dressed
as Santa, complete with beard and
boots!
We all had breakfast then pulled our cards
out of our personalised stockings and began
opening presents. I must have been on Santa’s
good list, as I got great gifts
including a Gucci top, O Neal purple ski
goggles, an ipod Nano and diamond
earrings. But my best gift was a beautiful
photo album of Mr and Mrs C's wedding,
with stunning photos of the day and a
personalised message that I will treasure
forever!
After opening gifts, we jumped into our
bikinis and splashed into the outdoor hot
tub. Mrs C and a couple of the fam rolled in
the snow, but Mr C and I were ok in the
sanctuary of the boiling water!
That night, we wore red to our traditional
Christmas dinner where this year we had
‘fried’ turkey. Apparently, it’s a San Diego thing (where Mr
C is from). It tasted just as
good as roast turkey and only took 45 minutes
to cook!
The next few days for me were full of
relaxation – and yoga. At one point whilst,
going into my sixth sun salutation on my yoga
mat, I felt so content and at peace.
Working out whilst hearing Mrs C cooking her
annual clam linguine just yards away in
the kitchen, and hearing laughter and
conversation bubbling away was a great
moment.
On December 29, we got up bright and early
and took the private jet to St Martin en
route by boat to St Barts for the second part
of our magical annual adventure. As we
touched down at Princess Juliana
International I thought: how appropriate!
Part two next week!
Jasmine Dotiwala for
The Voice