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A Christmas Eve Tradition

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It’s no secret from my family and friends that I love traditions. For me, traditions create memories that last a lifetime, and also brings families and friends together to celebrate, reminisce or experience a certain thing. Traditions are a memory, a moment of reflection on the family members before you who created this ritual, but also a glimpse at the future and the excitement that you can pass on these moments to future generations. 

Unfortunately, in today’s day in age, traditions do come and go. Families separate, new families form, and life gets too busy or in the way and we lose track of those moments that were once so important to us. Coming from a divorced family, many of my childhood traditions disappeared. And I won’t lie – it was heartbreaking. But as I got older, new traditions formed and the dream of passing down family traditions to my future family kept my spirit alive. In my 24 years of living, there is one family tradition that never faded. There was one magical tradition that my mom kept alive, and passed on to my friends and boyfriends as I got older. Whether we were together on Christmas Eve or not, my mom never let me down with my longstanding family tradition: Christmas Eve Pajamas. 

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10 Tips for Saving Money While Decorating for the Holidays

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Our house is finally decorated for the holidays, making it hard to leave our little wonderland each morning for work. At night when we get home from work, I love to turn on all the twinkling lights and sit in our cozy home with a fire. There’s nothing more peaceful to me. Since moving into our house in February, we have heavily relied on hand me down decorations, and just recently started sourcing new holiday items of our own. I think the perfect balance of old + new is what creates the best holiday spirit and cheer!

For those new to the holiday decorating game, like we are, I’m here with a PSA: Decorations can get expensive! I won’t forget the mile long receipt from my first holiday run to Target. Needless to say I returned a few things and started investing time and money into the items I truly wanted and needed, rather than those I coveted or saw on display. Let’s not forget about the cost of the electric bill during the month of December due to a surplus of outdoor lights! I wanted to share my top tips for saving money during the holiday season, without giving up on design and style!

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DIY Advent Calendar

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Advent calendars have always been a special part of my holiday season ever since I was a little girl. And no, I’m not referring to those chocolate advent boxes you can buy at the grocery store. I’m talking authentic, homemade advent calendar that is a true countdown to Christmas.

Growing up, my advent calendar was special to our family. It was a handmade fabric calendar my mom made in a previous, crafty life of hers that featured a Christmas tree with a decoration for each day of the month. Each day was a small wooden ornament that I was always so eager to place on the tree (and see what the surprise was that day!) I didn’t need chocolate and my favorite cartoon characters to countdown the holiday. I just needed the spirit of Christmas.

When I studied abroad in Denmark, I was fortunate to stay with an incredible family who took me in as their own daughter for the five months. My host mom was both compassionate and crafty, and gifted me my very own custom made advent calendar that she and her husband designed for me.

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10 Gifts that #GIVEBACK

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Happy #GivingTuesday! For those who don’t know, Giving Tuesday began as an international movement to kick off the holiday season by giving back to charities and non-profits across the world.

My family and friends can attest to this, but I always try to give back to my community, especially during the holiday season. I’ve always purchased Secret Angel gifts for under privileged children through my church or my work, and I am notorious for adding on a $1 or rounding up my bill at stores to give back to local children’s hospitals and organizations.

One Christmas as a young girl, I decided to only purchase gifts that gave a portion of proceeds back to charity. I remember that included makeup for mom (such as Burt’s Bees!) and Heifer International animal donations for dad. At a young age, I saw the importance of helping and supporting others and I personally believe holiday gifts are a great, easy and selfless way to give (in multiple ways!)

I’ve rounded up 10 gifts that give back to charity and are great for anyone in your life – moms, dads, brothers, sisters, significant others, friends, baby, animal lovers and even their furry friends.

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#ADULTING Holiday Gift Guide

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Can you believe the holidays are around the corner? I’ve been trying my hardest to keep our fall decorations and pumpkins out for as long as possible, but the recent snow storm and the 24/7 streaming of Hallmark Christmas movies have made it very difficult. Once Thanksgiving is over, all bets are off and the our house will look like winter wonderland! 

So many of the bloggers I follow create these beautiful gift guides each year, and I’ve always found them helpful when looking for unique gifts for my friends and family. Since I am promoting a domesticated life, I wanted to gather some of my favorite items and gifts that I have received that have helped my #adulting transition from slumming it in college dorms to decorating and hosting in my first home! Whether you know someone who is moving into their first apartment or home, or looking for the perfect gift for the millennial in your life, these gifts and gadgets will be winners this holiday season and spread cheer all year long. 

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October To-Do List

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I swear, the first day of October sneaks up on me every year. And like clockwork, I quickly grab all my flannel, every down vests I own and buy some fresh apple cider at the farmer’s market waiting for the weather to drop (today was still 80 degrees in Pennsylvania!) There’s a lot going on this month, plus our big trip (more details coming soon), but I’m still determined to get these chores and fun activities done before we leave.

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September To-Do List

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Why do we make lists?

More often than not, lists are for groceries, chores, bills – a boring to do list we dread completing every week. Why can’t we create to do lists that include goals, actions and bucket list items. We shouldn’t have to hold ourselves accountable for having fun, but as responsibilities add up, our “me moments” can be forgotten. Each month, I challenge you to create your own “to-do list” comprised of both necessary chores and fun activities. Plus, I’ve even created a fun downloadable list for you to use this month!

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