Our Holiday Traditions
It’s the most wonderful time of the year again as the holiday season is officially upon us. Does it feel like the holidays for you? I am beginning to feel it. Brian and I decorated our house over the weekend as the kickoff to our holiday time.
While things certainly look a lot different this year, I think maintaining some traditions in whatever way you can, will likely be good for the soul. So, why not embrace the magic and spirit of the holiday season during this unique pandemic time while we celebrate safely?
It has indeed been a challenging year in so many ways and for me, it’s the perfect time to reflect and count my blessings. I will continue to practice my attitude of gratitude, as I believe there’s always something to be grateful for. I really love giving back to my family and friends, my community, and those upon hard times. It feels good doing what I can to contribute to making those around me feel extra loved and appreciated.
Today I thought it would be fun to share some of my holiday traditions with BK. This is our 7th holiday season that we will be spending together.
OUTFIT DETAILS ARE LINKED HERE!
our holiday season traditions:
Each year we take photos for our holiday card, and here’s an outtake that didn’t make the card, shown above! You can see previous years here and here. BK really embraced the photoshoot this year and even provided multiple outfits, an A+ for this intern! Speaking of which, I need to get those cards in the mail! In case you missed it, I shared some photo session outfit inspiration and tips for feeling confident in photos too.
After thanksgiving, I make Brian watch at least one holiday movie a week with me. Brian’s all-time favorite is Home Alone II, mine is A Christmas Story. Last weekend we watched A Bad Mom’s Christmas, which is not necessarily a wholesome film by any stretch of the imagination, it’s rated R. We certainly had a few laughs though.
For the past few years, we’ve anonymously “adopted” families and have provided everything on their wish lists. I love imagining their faces on Christmas morning. It’s definitely my all time favorite thing to do each year.
Every December or so, we make my great-grandmother’s recipe for Sunday sauce and meatballs. She called it “gravy” with her thick Brooklyn, NY accent. The recipe makes a HUGE batch, so we end up freezing it into smaller containers, giving some away to family, then enjoying the rest at a later date. It is really great in lasagna, too. I have the process saved to my IG highlights, and I am be open to putting the recipe in a blog post if you’re interested… I hope great-grandma wouldn’t mind!
Since Brian and I first started dating, I started the fun tradition of giving each other an ornament to open up on Christmas morning. The idea was to get an ornament that represented a highlight of the previous year and/or our relationship. We somehow have turned it into a competition on who will find the best ornament. This has made decorating the tree really sentimental and sweet! We like reminiscing on all of our years and then look forward to the years to come. Look for a few of my favorites on stories today and I linked a couple below.
On Christmas morning, I make a quiche, a tradition passed on from my mom. My dad delivers a cinnamon Danish from a local bakery that we enjoy with our morning coffee. We like to have a leisurely morning before we head to Brian’s parents and then to see my parents. This year’s plans are TBD as we navigate a safe holiday for all.
For New Year’s Eve, I always wear red underwear! As the legend goes, this tradition brings good luck in love in the new year; yellow underwear brings good fortune and prosperity; green underwear brings better luck than the previous year; blue underwear brings good health. I may try a new color this year. What color will you wear? Check out my post about this two years ago.
And lastly, it’s not the holiday season until Walter get’s dressed up in his Santa hat! He also has quite the holiday sweater collection which he enjoys rotating throughout the colder months.
Do you have any favorite holiday traditions that you’d like to share? I’d love to hear yours below. Thanks for reading! XX CMK