Month: December 2022

SIMPLIFYING YOUR HOLIDAYS

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In today’s post I wanted to share with you EIGHT WAYS you can simplify your holiday season this year. Over the past several years I have been pursuing minimalism, and it has not just been about decluttering and living with less physical items, it has also been about living a more intentional life. It’s been about eliminating anything that no longer serves me so I can live at a slower pace. One of the things I evaluated was how I spent my time, money, and energy around the holiday season. There are several things that I have intentionally chosen to do in order to simplify my holidays.

The first thing I wanted to share with you is to MINIMIZE YOUR HOLIDAY DECOR. I am all for people doing whatever works for them! If you have the time, energy, and bandwidth to deck the halls all out for the holidays, then you do you! But my guess is you’re reading this blog post for a reason. You long for things to be more simple during the holiday season. Having a more simplified holiday decor collection will definitely help with this. I am now down to two large bins for my Christmas decor, and I feel like this is a good amount. Something else I do is choose holiday decor that could be cross-over into winter. Having decor that is not Christmas specific will cut down on the amount of time it takes you to put everything out.

The second thing I would suggest is EVALUATE HOW MANY GIFT EXCHANGES TO BE INVOLVED IN. I recognize for some people this is really meaningful and important. Just evaluate if there are gift exchanges or people on your holiday gift list that could be eliminated. We stepped away from extended family gift exchanges because we don’t get to spend the holidays with them in person. It didn’t really make sense to purchase something they told you they wanted, wrap it up, then stand in line at the post office to mail it. It felt like at that point we were really just exchanging money. 

Third, I would suggest DO AS MUCH ONLINE SHOPPING AS YOU CAN. It takes the stress out of shopping to sit in the comfort of your home instead of hustling and bustling around with everyone else.

Another suggestion I have is to EVALUATE YOUR HOLIDAY GATHERING COMMITMENTS. Are there any holiday parties that you could say no to? All of the extra commitments around the holidays can get overwhelming, so intentionally choosing which parties to go to is wise.

The fifth thing you can do is, DON’T COOK ALL OF THE HOLIDAY FOOD YOURSELF. Does your local grocery store or a nearby restaurant have pre-made holiday foods you could purchase? Sometimes it’s helpful to at least purchase a few pre-made dishes, especially if you are hosting a holiday meal.

The sixth thing you can do is KEEP HOLIDAY BAKING SIMPLE. Instead of making a dozen different types of cookies, maybe choose your 4 or 5 favorite cookies. Perhaps buy pre-made sugar cut cookies to decorate. Or pre-made icing to decorate your cookies.

Next, the seventh thing you can do to simplify your holidays is consider NOT SENDING OUT HOLIDAY CARDS. This is a tough one. At least it was for me. I have been married 26 years and we always sent out a family photo Christmas card up until last year. I started writing Christmas letters about everything that was going on with our family that year as well once our kids got to be school aged. It was fun, but also a lot of work and expensive to send out after purchasing the cards, the paper for the letter, and the stamps. So, last year I finally decided to just remove this from my holiday to-do list.

My eigth and final idea is to KEEP YOUR TRADITIONS SIMPLE. If you have traditions that are time consuming or a lot of work it can be overwhelming. By keeping your traditions simple you are more likely to have follow through, and it will remove some of the stress in your holiday season.

Well, I hope these ideas were helpful for you to simplify your holiday season this year! Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, and whatever holiday you celebrate!

Here is the YouTube video I made in conjunction with this blog post.

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2022, GIFTS FOR YOUNG ADULTS

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In today’s post I wanted to share with you a holiday gift guide for young adults. My three children are now young adults, so I thought I would share some ideas with you! I have six categories of types of items to share with you.

The first category is the PRACTICAL GIFTS. Let’s be real, most young adults are poor. When kids are little they don’t want things like socks for Christmas, but young adults get excited to get practical gifts that they did not have to purchase themselves. Practical items could be kitchen items like maybe some specialty kitchen gadget like an instant pot, rice cooker, or fancy blender. Or you could get something as simple as a Yeti type cup – water bottle, coffee mug, or wine cup. Another practical item would be coasters. I only thought of this because this is something I purchased for my college age son this year. He doesn’t have coasters for his apartment, so I thought purchasing some fun coasters was a great gift idea for him. For my daughter, I like to find higher end makeup or skin care products which I know she loves and might not spend the money on herself. Lastly, if the young adult on your gift list enjoys coffee you could get them coffee items like a French press, pour over coffee pot, or maybe an Aeropress which makes espressos. You could add some specialty coffee or syrups along with it.

The next category of items would be SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES. Many young adults these days got used to using their parents’ subscription to Netflix, Hulu, or other streaming services so a year subscription might be appreciated. Or maybe they will continue to use their parents’ accounts! You could also get them extra streaming services instead like Disney +, HBO Go, Peacock, or YouTube premium. Other streaming services they might enjoy getting as a gift are Spotify Premium, Audible, or Skillshare. Another type of subscription service that would be great for young adults is the meal kit services. Many times young adults are still learning how to cook and honing their kitchen skills. These meal kit services will help them with meal ideas and teach them some cooking skills.

The third category of gifts would be EXPERIENCES. Again, many young adults don’t have a lot of extra expendable income, so some sort of experience would be much appreciated. Perhaps they love to travel and you could get them a plane ticket voucher, or even more fun plan some sort of trip that you could take together! Another idea is gift cards or passes to fun things to do with friends like Top Golf, one of those ax throwing venues, escape rooms, or if you have an extra adventurous young adult perhaps something like skydiving or bungee jumping.

The fourth category would be SEASON PASSES to venues you know they would like to frequent. Perhaps a gym, rock climbing gym, or yoga studio. Our son is on the rock climbing team at his university and always appreciates getting a year membership to a local rock climbing gym as a gift. A local amusement park is another great idea for young adults. Or perhaps passes to a favorite sporting event. Lastly, you could get season passes to a local museum you think they might enjoy.

The fifth category is probably the easiest route and that would be GIFT CARDS. Most people in general appreciate gift cards, particularly if you know of coffee shops, fast food restaurants, or clothing stores they like. 

The sixth and final category is FUN ITEMS! These are items that they would likely not purchase for themselves, but would really enjoy having. Maybe put together a gift basket of fun food or snacks. You could even make this themed – like maybe a movie night theme, hot sauce basket, or just a variety of snacks you know they enjoy. Another idea along the same lines is fun or specialty drinks. If age appropriate you could even get alcohol and perhaps assemble items for a specific drink, like items for a margarita or for a Moscow Mule. Another fun idea would be plants. I believe plants are still really popular right now among young adults! You could get them a fun board game that is geared towards adults. Also, you could get them a nice Charcuterie board with some non-perishable items that could go onto the board. I know Charcuterie boards have been pretty popular and I think they continue to be! Lastly, this is mostly for women but receiving jewelry is always fun as well. I have shared the company Ana Luisa on my YouTube channel before and highly recommend their jewelry company! I have partnered with them for YouTube content, but purchased items from their website even before partnering with them! They are a great sustainable jewelry company with beautiful and simple pieces which fit almost any woman’s style.

Some of these items could work well for teenages too! Young adults and teens can be difficult to purchase gifts for so I hope this gave you some diverse ideas about things you could get for the young adult on your gift list!