December Traditions

I love kicking off every December with a to-do list. It might seem like an odd way to welcome the holiday season, but with so much packed into one month, a little planning goes a long way. Organizing my schedule helps ensure there’s actually time to slow down—time to sit by the decorated tree and watch Christmas movies. A few years ago, I realized that when I’m intentional about how I spend my days, I can create all the Christmas magic and enjoy the season without feeling overwhelmed. Everyone’s December looks different, and that’s perfectly okay!

Decorate your home, one space at a time. Don’t put pressure on yourself to do the whole thing overnight! I like to pick a space to decorate after work and just do a little bit at a time.

Wear those Christmas pajamas. There is just something cozy about wearing my Christmas red and plaid in December.

Christmas movies. We try to watch one a night, even if it’s on the TV in the background.

Christmas cards. We order a batch from minted.com to send to our families, but I also hand out cute Christmas cards to coworkers and friends!

Christmas Village. Every year, Philly shows off during December with the Christmas Village and the tree in Rittenhouse Park. After work, we will walk around the city, and it feels like a Hallmark movie.

Bake cookies. Each year, I bake a ton of cookies and give them to coworkers. I start to get cookie requests in November, and it’s something we all look forward to!

Volunteer. This year, we donated food to a neighborhood food pantry, and it’s an easy way to give back. We volunteer at a toy drive every year, and it’s so rewarding.

Christmas sheets. It’s something new I have been doing lately, and it totally gets me into the Christmas mood!

Tree in the bedroom. Last year, I put a tree in our bedroom with just lights on and now I love crawling into bed with the tree on at night.

Our Christmas Cards 2024

Sending out our Christmas cards every year was one of my favorite traditions growing up. It was always a process though… get dressed up in coordinating outfits with my brother, find the perfect location, take photos, get cards ordered, write a personalized message on each card, address cards, seal ’em, and put a stamp on it before dropping them off at the Post Office. Did I mention, that my mom did all of this while working a full-time job and she got them out in early December??? Now as I sit down to order our Christmas cards, write a personalized message on each card, and go to the Post Office to buy stamps because who has them these days to then address them and bring them back to the Post Office to mail out — I have a lot more appreciation for what my mom did for decades to get these cards out on time!

A lot of hard work went on behind the scenes to get these cards delivered, but the looks on people’s faces when they got one, were worth every minute I stayed up past midnight to write on each card. Let this be a reminder to bring Christmas cards back because they are a part of the Christmas magic that makes the holiday season so special.

PS – Ordering cards from Minted was the easiest part of this process. Finding time to write on them and get them out was because I needed to plan better LOL

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Friday Favorites 1.19

If I’m honest I have to tell you I still read fairy tales and I like them best of all.

Audrey Hepburn

I am bundled up and enjoying the first snow day in years! With all of the snow and ice this week it’s nice to be able to stay home during this snowstorm and be able to enjoy it from home. It took me a few days to get ready for the new year, but I have finally settled into a routine.

  • Saltburn
  • Buccaneers
  • Real Housewives of Miami

I got a Blendjet for Christmas and it makes my mornings so much easier! I like to prep my smoothie at night and put it in the fridge so I can just grab and go in the morning. My one issue is that it doesn’t blend frozen fruit but I don’t mind prepping a smoothie with frozen fruit at night because by morning it’s melted enough to blend together.

One excited purchase I’m excited about is I signed up for the gym last weekend and I’ve been really committed to it.
Picked up these black leggings with gold buttons from Zara and I’m so excited to style these!
One great thing about January is the after Christmas sales! We picked up a few ornaments for our tree next year.

Last weekend I did a big grocery trip to set myself up for success this week. I’m back to eating healthy and that means meal prepping! I’ve been eating a salad for lunch and packing pretzelcrips, peppers with hummus. Instead of counting calories, I’m focusing more on healthy meals and healthy snacks during the day so I don’t eat junk food when I’m starving at the end of the day. For dinner, I made taco salads and rice bowls with protein this week and we enjoyed a nice pork tenderloin in the crockpot on Monday. I love using the crockpot but I always forget about it!

Starting to swap out my Christmas decor for hearts and pink! 

Finally sitting down and working on my posts about our London trip. It’s nice to go through photos and write about our trip, I’m already planning our next trip back!