LYB(Holiday)L Week 7 + Linkup Reminder! // Seeking Holiday Calm

Hello everyone! I hope that you had a fun, festive, and peaceful weekend! :) We did a lot of fun things, but I was also able to catch up on some things that I had been struggling to find time for. :)

Let's get straight into this week's prompts!

New here? The What & Why

Shea from Shea Lennon and I are super psyched to be continuing LYB(Holiday)L this month! Starting December 1st we have one prompt per day to help us live a calmer, more organized, and peaceful holiday season! Each week we'll share the week's prompts, and our own ideas for how we'll do them. We'll give brief re-caps on the previous week as we go. The full list of daily prompts is on IG, and will be linked at the bottom of each of my posts. If you're a plan ahead type person, tape it into your planner or write it out to start thinking ahead. We hope that you'll join us! Use #LYBHolidayL to let us know when you tag along on social media! :) (see the full intro post and details, here).

Week 6 Recap:

Here's some things I did during week 6!

• I thought a bit about holiday stresses, and I was at that moment stressed about the Advent activity we were supposed to do... so we put it off until later. :) Still working on trouble shooting ideas for family things. (ideas welcome!)
• KC and I discussed a while back upping the budget for parents and siblings (some of whom we are working on a group fixed amount, so those did not change). But we allowed ourselves to round out some gifts and not worry about the exact dollar amounts. Everything else though is at or under budget, and I feel good about it. :) 
• I mentioned that I got a new planner, but I had a bit of fun playing around with it and adding birthdays, etc. :) 
• We picked a new crockpot recipe, one of you all shared it.. but I don't know who! It was a ham and potato crockpot soup and while we didn't make it yet... we plan to this week! :) 
• We were busy on the "wrapping party" night, so we made a point to get more wrapping done over the weekend... and then ran out of time! We plan to do more wrapping this week!
• We bought a pre-made gingerbread house, because it was a very busy week/weekend for us. Our aim was to have fun and be creative with the decorating.We didn't get to decorating it, but we needed to make a cake as well, so we used a gingerbread house cake mold and decorated it. It was very cute, and fun to decorate... but the cake recipe wasn't my favorite. Oh well, we'll try it again! :) 
• We made a blanket fort and watched Love Actually. With Hotschnappslate, one of our traditions. So fun! :)

Week 7:

December 11 - Allow yourself a tiny impulse buy: the little truffle at the checkout, the $1 holiday socks, etc. You deserve a treat! :)

Hmm... not sure! I'll think of something! :)

December 12 - Put on some Christmas music (or whatever you like to listen to in December) to get you though your chores or work day today.

I am at home on Tuesday, and listening to music definitely helps me feel a bit less lonely around the house by myself. Festive xmas music makes it all the more fun! :)

December 13 - Make an effort to get outside, even for just a few minutes!

KC and I have been pretty well (minus when Scali was sick) at getting out and about for our daily walk at work. Today should be no exception!

December 14 - Plan a few go-to healthy meals and snacks to balance all of the indulging.

This is a really good prompt. To be honest, we've been so busy with projects and plans that we haven't been eating at home much. At the very least I'll plan to eat some clementines, and grab a salad if we are eating out. :) 

December 15 - Drive around and look at Christmas lights!

Oh man, these are still just as magical to me as they were when I was a kiddo! KC and I are excited to do this on Friday night! Have you seen this website? You can find light displays near you, and add your own address if you want. Many cities have their own version of this site as well. :) 

December 16 - Bake holiday cookies (1 classic, 1 new recipe!) 

My very favorite Christmas cookie is one that my sister Jess and I made with my mom at Christmas. We used a vintage cookie press to make spritz cookies in many shapes each year. KC and I got our own cookie press so we can make them too.. Now to find the press...! ha #temporarylivingspaceprobs hehe We want to make a new one as well, I have a Christmas cookie bookazine (magazine cookbook) of just holiday cookies, so once I find that (LOL) I hope to choose one from there for the new recipe! 

December 17 - Make a faraway loved one feel special this holiday season

I am planning to package up cards, notes, and gifts for family and friends across the US. I am still finishing up some DIY things.. .heheh... I am going to try to call my grandma as well. :) 

Linkup Reminder WEDNESDAY 12/13!

Shea and I both had the idea to FINALLY do Advent calendars in our homes this year, and we thought it would be fun to do a linkup where you all can share your calendars if you made them, but also any of your fun holiday traditions in your home! :) No matter what you celebrate this month, we'd love for you to share it with us! The linkup will be on WEDNESDAY!! December 13th! We hope that you will join us in sharing your family's winter holiday traditions!

Do you like holiday lights? Do you drive to look at them or put up some of your own?

What is your favorite holiday cookie? Have one that I should try?!

Go-to healthy recipes?!?!

We'll be posting about the prompts using #LYBHolidayL on Instagram! Make sure to check in with Shea on her IG too! :) @simplyalexandra12 & @shealennon

XO,

Alexandra