decorating: the mantel with an additional stocking this year! (Hanging with these lovely wood + metal stocking holders.) Hendrik and I are both excited about Freddie's first Christmas, but Hendrik did say that he thought Freddie had better have the mini stocking - which Hendrik had for years and just last year got the full-sized one like us. Baby brother's got to put in his dues on that, ha!
feeling: Christmas cheer thanks to Hendrik's excitement, the lovely glow of the tree, our fun book-a-day advent calendar, and the start of holiday baking. But also disappointment and sadness that we have to think so hard about what will be safe for gathering again this year, probably again doing more staying home than we would otherwise. Grateful that Hendrik will be fully vaccinated by Christmas, but of course Freddie can't be. And with the grim reality that hospitals in our area are completely full... we really all need to think carefully about how to keep everyone healthy, even if vaccinated.
sending: Christmas cards already in the 1st week of December because I was very on top of ordering them thanks to a great photo from a family shoot my mom organized for my grandma's birthday in the fall, and also finding Paper Culture's gorgeous selections + a 50% off sale in early November.
smelling: some holiday baking. We'll make our traditional Christmas cookies of course, and Hendrik and I have plans to use this mold my grandma gave us last year to bake a little spice cake gingerbread village again, but new to the lineup for 2021 is this excellent chocolate chip cake from Inspired by Charm. I actually made it for Thanksgiving, but it would be delish for a little something different for any holiday season gathering or even brunch - a bit of a coffee cake texture, and the cinnamon + chocolate combo feels right for the holidays to me. It's so good.
wrapping: lots of books! My gift-giving formula for most people this year is a book + something cozy (socks or a candle), and I bought early, so I'm wrapping early too. Just love how the tree looks even more when there are piles of presents underneath... And of course, as usual, I love to have a new theme for my gift wrap for the year, and I just love the colors of this collection from Target.
What are you up to in this festive + end of year season? I hope you are enjoying time to celebrate and be with family.
I mentioned last month that I wasn't sure about continuing the linkup in the new year, but let's try for a January gathering here... I have time to write my own posts but not really time to stop by others and comment, which is a bit sad to me, taking away from the spirit of the whole thing - hoping it's just a short season of that, while Freddie is tiny, and that you all are enjoying the community and getting to know one another. I'll jump back into full participation when I can, but for now, I'll provide some prompts and a link-up widget for whoever wants to take part!
So. Wednesday, January 5, we'll do: anticipating, organizing, reading, resolving, and scheduling.
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