A Quarantine Holiday

 Hi friends!

Like many of you, I’m staying home and not like I usually do for the holidays this year. It definitely sucks to not see my family (especially because I generally only see them in person once a year), but I would rather be safe and healthy than take that risk right now. But doing the holidays a whole new way means I’m having to figure out how to get into the holiday spirit without most of my usual activities. I’m sure a lot of us are struggling with this right now so I thought I’d share some ideas for things (big and small) to help you get into the holiday spirit even if you’re away from your family this year.

• Make peppermint hot chocolate! All you have to do is add a candy cane into your hot chocolate–it melts nicely and makes the perfect holiday hot chocolate! And if you use a regular (not mini) candy cane it’s also a festive garnish.
• Put up a Christmas tree (doesn’t have to be traditional) and decorate while listening to Christmas music or watching a holiday movie. I got my very first pre-lit fake tree this year and I have to say it’s a game-changer. Not having to wrap lights all around and then inevitably not have enough string lights was really ideal. I’ve seen people put ornaments on their house plants or even putting a garland up on the wall in the shape of a tree and decorating that (google garland tree on wall if you can’t picture this)! Honestly, anything that’s going to make your space feel different and more festive than it has the past 9 months is probably going to help you get into the spirit!
• Make a holiday playlist! Or listen to mine! I like to add all my favorite holiday music into one spot–this one has everything from Ariana Grande to Justin Bieber to John Legend. 
• Decorate cookies with your family over FaceTime or Zoom. Bonus points if you all buy the same gingerbread house kit or use the same recipe for making your cookies at home.
• Get some festive scents into your life! Light a winter-scented candle or add a festive essential oil into your diffuser. I’ve been putting peppermint essential oil into my diffuser and I swear it TASTES like Christmas in my apartment now.
• Learn how to make holiday cocktails for yourself. I know it’s a small thing but I’m really missing all the holiday parties this year. I love a good excuse to get dressed up (and wear my present bow earrings) with my friends and go to holiday parties! So I’m going to be looking up festive drink recipes and make them myself (and maybe even dress up).
• Treat yourself to a seasonal coffee creamer. Usually I’m all for drinking black coffee but this year I’ve been really loving seasonal creamers (especially the ones from Trader Joe’s) to give me the coffee shop fix I’ve been missing.
• Make your favorite super involved recipes! If you have time off coming up and aren’t traveling, it can be hard to fill all the free time with fun things that don’t require you to leave your house. So basically it’s the perfect time to make that dish that requires 100 steps and hours of attention (I mean this in a good way–some of my fave things to make are super annoying because they just take time). This can be an involved bake or a slow roast of an entree–but either way your house will smell delicious.