Magic of the Holiday Season
Over the past couple of years, I generally didn’t think too much about the holiday season. I still put up my Christmas tree and a handful of decorations. Some years I got time off of work to drive down to my family for a couple days, some years I didn’t even get to spend that much time with them. Last year, my health suffered a lot so I was more focused on that than the magic that this season brings.
This year is different and my health is doing so much better now. I haven’t quite caught myself in that deep of a survival mode yet, thank goodness. When Halloween came around, I saw it as just another day. I didn’t get around to decorating and honestly, I stayed in solo to watch Coco with a glass of wine. But now that the holiday season is pretty much in full swing, I want to decorate and have festive gatherings with my friends and family.
I’ve done some nostalgic reflecting and have come to realize that for me, that holiday magic we all hope to experience comes from my childhood memories and family traditions. The magic disappeared for a little while but I’m ready to bring it back again this year- AND in my own way. I get to bring back some of those childhood memories, but I also get to create new traditions too, just for me.
Thanksgiving Magic
Some of my favorite Thanksgiving memories were going over to my grandparent’s house on my dad’s side. We’d get to help my grandma make some of the side dishes or watch and take mental notes of how she made everything. One of my all time favorite dishes she made are her baked sweet potatoes (she finally told me how she made them last Christmas when I wanted to try making them for our family’s christmas at my parents house). I used to go up for seconds and thirds just to load my plate with more sweet potatoes. We would eat dinner while watching the Packer game and nap until the game was over and the adults were free from the TV. We always finished up the night with cutting slices of my grandma’s crustless pumpkin pie and a game or two of Fill or Bust.
Since my grandpa passed away and my sister and I slowly made our way of living on our own, these traditions have changed quite a bit. The past couple years I didn’t go home for Thanksgiving, but now my parents make their way over to my aunt’s house (my dad’s sister). I’ve been to their Thanksgiving celebrations a handful of times and one thing I love about their traditions is that before we eat, we go around in a circle and say one thing that we are grateful for. Some of it is surface level (usually from the kids), and some of it gets to be more deep and meaningful.
Thanksgiving Bucket List
This year for Thanksgiving, I will be going home- just for a short while. My parents and I will go over to my Aunt’s house on Thanksgiving day and I’m sure the Packer game will be on. These are some things I’m looking forward to for the Thanksgiving season:
- Watch the packer game
- Eat crustless pumpkin pie
- Eat baked sweet potatoes
- List of things I’m thankful for
- Play Fill or Bust
- Spend quality time with my family
Christmas Magic
Christmas was always magical growing up, from watching my mom bring out the christmas bins from storage filled with memories of past years, to our annual traditions that aren’t really traditions anymore. I still hold all of those memories close to my heart. Every year we would drive over to a family friend’s house to pick out a christmas tree from their property, a personal Christmas tree farm. They’d make us lunch beforehand and we’d have a warm cup of hot chocolate when we got back from picking out the perfect tree.
That same family would invite us over for a cookie weekend leading up to Christmas and we’d spend the whole weekend making and decorating various cookies. At the end of our weekend visit, we would take home a plate or two of cookies for ourselves and to put some out for Santa.
Towards the end of our believing in Santa era, my mom took the extra steps to use the legs of a deer my dad hunted to make “reindeer footprints” and sprinkled glitter in the snow leading up to our front door just to keep the magic alive for us each Christmas morning. In recollection, I think that my family hosted a lot of Christmases at our house. Family from both sides would gather, we’d catch up on life, eat our holiday meal, eventually make our way to the presents, and sometimes would end with some card games, just like Grandma’s on Thanksgiving. After everyone left, my mom, dad, sister and I would gather some snacks from our meal and get the Christmas movies rolling until we fell asleep.
Christmas Bucket List
These are the memories and love that I hold close; and I hope that one day I can give that same love and childhood to a family of my own. Here are some old and new traditions I’m looking forward to for the official Christmas season:
- Bake Christmas cookies
- Favorite things party
- Christmas cocktails
- Put up the christmas tree and decorations
- Watch home alone series
- Make homemade gifts for my people
New Years Eve Magic
When I was really young, I don’t think I fully saw the magic in celebrating the New Year. I don’t have any stand out memories from school or even just with my immediate family of ringing in the new year. Maybe that’s because of winter break and trying to have as much fun as we could during our time off from school.
Once I got a little bit older, my family started going to an annual New Years Eve party with some family friends. They hosted every year, we wore the glasses with the new years’ numbers on them, and they made it a big deal. They made it a celebration. While I might not have known at the time what the purpose of celebrating the new year was, I do know that the tradition of going sledding at midnight and coming in frozen cold to a warm cup of hot chocolate with the lucky charm marshmallows was something that I looked forward to most during my school winter breaks.
New Years Eve Bucket List
Since this is a majority of my memories of New Years’ celebrations, I’m excited to start new traditions this year. We’ll stick to the basics this year and see what else shows up:
- Stay up until midnight- host or go to a NYE party
- Pop a bottle of champagne
- Find a sparkly outfit to ring in the new year
- Vision board 2025
Connection makes this season SO incredibly magical. These past three years were pretty lonely on my part. I did the most I could to be around my people. Spend time with your loved ones. Plan out the gatherings. Integrate tradition. Being around my people, making memories, and creating and keeping traditions alive are what I love most about the holiday season. I hope his inspires your holiday magic and I’d love to hear some of your memories and traditions that make your holidays magical.
