Ah! Six days 'til Christmas is here. It's cold but bearable outside, lights are decorating trees throughout the city and I get to eat my mom's Christmas crepes soon.
For some reason, it just doesn't feel like the holidays are here. My cards are written, my decorations have been up for almost a month and my presents are purchased, but I'm going to cram extra holiday joy into the next few days since it feels like Christmas is sneaking up on me.
Here's some things we can do to savor holiday spirit while trying to forget about the cold weather:
- Send your cards! If you haven't already, you better get on it, sister! It's a great way to connect and it'll make someone's day. With the convenience of e-cards, I like that snail mail still reigns for holiday cards. After mailing your cards, do something else "old school." Put cookies out for Santa, send a letter with your Christmas hopes and dreams to the North Pole, make a gingerbread house ... and shut off your cell phone and refrain from using the computer from Christmas Eve 'til Dec. 26.
- Make something. Potica with grandma, cookies with mom, dinner with dad or candles with sister - bond a little and refine a skill.
- Play in the snow.I would advise against making snow angels outside now, but if we get a few inches on the ground, throw on those snowboots and head outside! Just remember to ask mom to make hot cocoa when you come in.
- Lounge. Spend one entire night under a blanket with a candle lit and hot cocoa in your hand watching holiday classics. And you're also allowed to down cookies - it's the holidays.
- Enjoy the city. Most neighborhoods are decked out for the holidays but downtown dazzles. Go to the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza, drink some spiced wine and then try to ice skate at Millennium Park (but maybe not in that order). Don't forget to check out the window displays - I took pictures of my favorites today. Below is Burberry's window, which is festive and classy.
- Look at lights. Go via car, bus or if you're really brave, foot. But don't forget holiday music! And a friend. It's not as fun to "gasp!" and "boo!" without someone to share your opinions.
- Give. No matter how big or small, we all have something to contribute. It will make your day brighter if you help someone else. I promise.
- Reminisce. Watch videos of Christmases' past from old video cameras or look at pictures from years' past. Old memories are always highly entertaining. And so are the bad clothes and hair styles most of us rocked in the 80s.
Ease your mind. Would 10-year-old you care about what's in store for the new year and resolutions you should be making? I think not. Ease your mind and enjoy the holidays. Let your grown-up worries go to the wayside for the holidays. They'll reappear sooner or later, so why not enjoy a few days without them? After all, I agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote, "what you are comes to you."
- Believe. Thanks to a girl named Molly I learned the truth about Santa in the second grade, but I do believe in a lot of other things ... like 2010 being one of the most fabulous years ever.
What are you doing to prepare for the holidays?
xoxo,
Lisa Marie
P.S. If you want to see the rest of the holiday spirit I captured downtown, visit my Examiner site, where I posted a slideshow!