I have to admit, I’m feeling a little less red and green and a bit more blue this holiday season. Feeling similar? Hopefully it’s comforting to know you’re not alone. Here are some of the ways I’m combating those seasonal blues this year. (And worth noting it’s totally ok to just give yourself permission to hang out, be blue and just do you.)
Seasonal baking
This one is almost always my go to. I’ve always loved baking at the holidays and I have lots of fun family memories of doing it over the years. Here are some of my favorites if you’re still looking to squeeze in some over the next few days.
Merry soundtracking
This year, if I am not in a meeting and I’m not listening to the latest episode of Be There in Five, I’m almost definitely listening to holiday music. I know some people hate it, some love it … and I’m in the latter camp. I just can’t help but smile when it’s on. It almost instantly improves my mood. Perhaps that’s why I’ve set up an ever-growing Spotify playlist of some of the best tunes of the season I’ve come across. (Am I missing anything fab that doesn’t involve A Christmas Story? If so, drop it in the comments. I wanna know.)
Extra decorations
We always decorate our house but I am doing more this year – and I’ve found it’s been somewhat helpful? We just put up another tree in our room – that way we have our kid-friendly tree downstairs and this new “adult only” tree where we are finally putting up all the fragile ornaments we have that have basically never seen the light of day since they were purchased. How will this work out? I’ll report back later but for now, I’m pretty jazzed. I held off on the extra exterior lights around our home, hoping for some nice after Christmas steals, but I did also cave on a seasonal buffalo plaid pillow for our bed because I felt like it was a necessity.
Festive attire
This has been the one big splurge for me this month that has given me the greatest joy. I felt so guilty about buying these Run Merry Brooks shoes because they cost so much and are in colors I so rarely wear. Oh but I have been living in these. I’ve worn them just about every day. And granted, I bought them with the intention of wearing them for a 5K I wasn’t able to register for (stupid sore knee) I’ve worn them just the same and they make me SO HAPPY. New annual tradition? TBD but I am in love. No regrets.
I also got myself a couple of bargain additions to the wardrobe. L always ends up with something cute and buffalo plaid, so I got myself a simple buffalo plaid shirt to coordinate (they no longer have it in red but here it is in black/white.) I also came across this great buy at Target on a slightly abstract yet close enough to Christmas red to work dress that I thought would be fun and comfy to wear on Christmas Day.
Holiday reading
I’ve really struggled on the reading front. I’ve failed on my pretty lame to begin with annual reading goal — pretty miserably at that. Sitting still and reading just hasn’t been possible for me with everything we’ve had going on. However, I thought some seasonal reads might be just what I needed. First up, The Santa Suit. More to come – and I’ll report back (as hopefully these are ones I can actually finish?)
Seasonal outings
We didn’t do enough of this during the fall, so we wanted to make it a priority for Christmastime. We took the kids to a breakfast with Santa, which they loved. We went to the Berkeley Heights Winter Walk, which had lots of activities for the kids for the season and they were so entertained. We are lol also hoping to hit up one of the local light displays.
How about you? What are you doing to make the season merry even if sometimes you aren’t really feeling it?
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