I’m an unabashed lover of the holidays. My family is big into holiday traditions: getting our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and decorating together. I love baking cookies and making Christmas cards. I’ve started my own tradition of finishing all my shopping and sneaking off to the mall to watch the piano player at Nordstrom with a Mocha Blanc in hand.
This year, I’m getting even more excited. I’ve been listening to Christmas music and making lists of gifts to buy and crafts to try. I teach right up to December 23rd, which can make me feel like a grinch, so I decided to make a holiday to-do list for myself to get into the spirit:
- Get our family Christmas tree with my mom, dad and brother the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
- Get a small tree for our apartment and hang some Christmas lights.
- Mail Christmas cards.
- Watch Elf, The Family Stone, You’ve Got Mail and It’s A Wonderful Life.
- Pick a name off of an Angel Tree and purchase a gift for a child who doesn’t get Christmas gifts.
- Go to Renegade Holiday Fair in San Francisco.
- See the Nutcracker and get hot chocolate at Ginger Elizabeth with Elizabeth.
- Go see a Christmas movie at the Crest Theater with my best friends from high school.
- Spend an afternoon wrapping gifts and try to get a little creative with my wrapping this year.
- Go to San Francisco for a day with Andrew and wander around Union Square checking out the lights and displays.
- Grade papers to the sound of Christmas music.
- Walk (or drive) around some neighborhoods and look at Christmas lights.
- Go on the Holiday Home Tour.
- Execute a few holiday surprises.
Do you have holiday traditions? What do you look forward to during these wintery months?
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This just blew my mind, as it’s a reality check that OMG THE HOLIDAYS ARE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. Living on a ship doesn’t feel like real life–especially when it’s been hot for three months straight–and it’s surreal that we’ll arrive back to an equally warm Florida then fly to a bitterly cold Tennessee then BAM! it’s Christmas just days after we’ve returned, completely skipping over Thanksgiving.
I love this, Amy! I used to love the holidays, but now they just stress me out. Thanks for the reminder to have some fun with it!
I love getting my holiday shopping started in October. That way I can really think about what I want to get people, and buy with intention, rather than just throwing some stuff in a gift bag (it’s been known to happen). I also MUST watch Love Actually at least 3 times before Christmas.
I love the holidays! And I have many, many traditions so I may just have to do a post like this as well. Also, another perk is that we live in the same town as my parents and my mom is a teacher so we get to see her extra while she’s on Christmas break. (My kids especially love this.)
I love this! I might steal it from you!
As for me, there is a huge park near us that does a gigantic diplay of lights every year. The lights never really change, but Justin and I have been going since we first started dating, and it’s an awesome tradition that I hope to include our kids in someday
This is a good list! For some reason I am SO EXCITED about the holidays this year. This just got me pumped thinking about it!
I love that you and Kyle enjoy Christmas so much. We have alot of traditions that I love and so glad you to do! Your list sounds great! Some old traditions and then adding new ones to make them yours- perfect! I have never seen the Nutcracker so maybe this will be the year!
Love you,
Mom
Driving around looking at Christmas lights is my absolute favorite holiday tradition. I used to go every year with my mom, and last year the hubby surprised me with a drive through the ritzy neighborhoods with the best lights. Can’t wait to do it again this year.
Oh, what a good idea to make this list now while there’s still time to get everything done! This year I want to send Christmas cards, go to a holiday festival, and drive to look at lights in the fancy neighborhoods.
Those all sound like so much fun. I love all the activities associated with the holiday season. It can whiz by so fast, it’s good to have a list.
I just heard there will be an outdoor ice rink 3 blocks from my house at a park. I am a terrible ice skater but it just sounds like fun. I love driving around to look at lights, volunteering at the carousel (proceeds benefit my organization), wrapping gifts and writing holiday cards.
The holiday season hasn’t really been the same for me ever since I couldn’t go to the German Christmas Markets to drink hot cider or cocoa with my friends, but I am really hoping to go home for Christmas this year (flights are not yet booked, ugh!) to get some of that Christmas spirit around family and friends.
Besides hoping and planning for that, I will be baking cookies, making cards (I finished 9 at your house last weekend, but I need many, many more!), play Christmas music, decorate the apartment (we won’t have a tree) and just drink copious amounts of tea
one of my favorite holiday traditions is seeing the Nutcracker. i’ve seen it performed by the same dance troupe every year since i can imagine. and now i’ve started going on christmas eve and it’s just wonderful.
i also have to watch Love Actually, The Holiday and It’s a Wonderful Life.
so many lovely things to look forward to, i can hardly wait.
The holidays aren’t the holidays for me without watching “While You Were Sleeping.” If you don’t know it, I highly, highly recommend it!
Awesome list! I have similar Christmas traditions: send cards, bake cookies, and decorate as soon as Thanksgiving is over. It won’t be quite the same this year since I’m living in Korea (I don’t even have an oven), but I’ll do my best!
I triple LOVE this list! I’ve been thinking about my holiday list all week that I may be postig a similar post on my blog soon.