It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Right?
It's the holiday season, officially. Thanksgiving came and passed, Black Friday was another full weekend of shopping deals, and now it's the build up to Christmas and the New Year. Not to be a Grinch, but I feel like it's harder to get into the holiday spirit as a 20-something. It's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but it feels immensely different than in the past. I felt this way last year too as it was my first Christmas as a 'real person'.Now, I don't want it to feel that way. Although I'm no longer attending Christmas cocktails with my sorority sisters or taking holiday breaks from school work, I still want that same old holiday feeling.Maybe you feel this way too being a 20-something going through the transition to adulthood, or maybe you're simply just looking for more ways to get into the holiday spirit. Here are a couple ways I plan to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year that you can try out, too!Christmas Movie Marathon | Are you surprised I am going to watch large amounts of Christmas movies? Probably not, because I do it for just about every single season (see: Halloween). There's just something about getting cozy on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. No matter how cheesy the movie is or how many times I have seen it in the past, I still love watching them!Shopping for Others | The holiday season is about giving, so shopping for others definitely puts me in the holiday spirit. Not only shopping for family and friends, but shopping for those in need, is important this time of year. Last year I sponsored a child from my community and the feeling from helping others is by far one of the greatest gifts of this season.Decorating My Space | Truth be told, I always have Christmas lights hanging in my bedroom. I started doing that in college and I never stopped. But during the holiday season I add an extra string of lights, light a seasonal candle, and decorate with Christmas decorations. I also love decorating the house, more specifically the Christmas tree. The act of decorating is a tradition that I always look forward to. Spending a month in a house full of decorations always keeps my spirits up!
Tree Lighting/ Small Town Festivities | A lot of major city's have a tree lighting ceremony, and so does my tiny town. It's in the center of town and I swear everyone in the area goes to see the giant tree light up. Its a tradition, and one that I have always looked forward to attending. The tree lighting in Marblehead kicks off the Christmas Walk weekend, which is a weekend full of seasonal, family activities.Baking | I bake for just about every holiday! I love baking and I intend to bake a lot of yummy recipes this year. Every year my neighborhood bakes for one another and we deliver the goodies door-to-door on Christmas eve! When I was younger I would bake with my mom, but now that I'm older, I've taken over!Holiday Music | Holiday music is a must. I'm one of those people where the moment we stand up from Thanksgiving dinner, I want to crank up the Christmas tunes. Most of the music I listen to for the month of December is Christmas music. I'm currently working on perfecting my Spotify playlist so that I can listen to it from today until the New Year.Blogging Things Christmas | One thing I will be doing to keep my spirits up is blogging throughout the holiday season. I have a list of potential blogs for this month and they're definitely getting me excited for the holiday season!How are you planning to get into the holiday spirit?
Emily Riane