Taking In the Holidays
At AHS, we love a festive season and any excuse to decorate, dress up and enjoy time with loved ones! If you’re anything like us your schedule tends to fill up quickly this time of year, and in the blink of an eye it’s over, leaving you wondering where the time went and if you even enjoyed yourself. So this year, Nicole and I made a list of things that we wanted to do to celebrate the season, setting the intention to check them all off the list before ringing in the new year. These weren’t big activities that required a great deal of planning or money, but they brought an immense amount of joy because they were simple and fun. We hope this inspires you to make your own list of activities and adventures to ensure you enjoy everything the holidays have to offer.
Shopping Local
Shopping can be a little unavoidable this time of year, so why not make the best of it for all involved and shop small! You get to cross things off your gift list and you get to support a small business where your purchase can not only make a monetary difference to an entrepreneur, but can introduce your network of friends to a new brand they can revisit again and again.
Hot Chocolate Walk
Personally, I’m a big fan of hot chocolate this time of year, especially if you spike it with a little Baileys. I mean come on, what’s not to love? There’s something about walking in the brisk air, with a hot beverage in hand that just feels good. And like many of the activities on this list, its a simple thing that fills your cup and offers joy! If you find yourself at the Stackt Market here in Toronto, check out the spiked hot chocolate at the “Drinks Drinks Drinks” booth, it will change your life!
Getting a Tree
Growing up, a deep love for real trees was instilled in me at a young age, between the smell of the branches and the quality time as a family, I was forever hooked. Every year my family would pick a date that worked for everyone’s schedules, pile into our family van and trek out to wherever my parents decided to get our tree that year. We would look through all of the trees and decide together which one looked the best and would fit in our home. From there it was tied to the roof of the van and home we went to anticipate the moment when the tree was ready for decorating. Needless to say, this is something I’ve continued to do myself, often with help from others. This year, Nicole was up for a laugh as we picked out a tree, hopped on a streetcar with it and carried it to my condo. Not that much different from tying it to a van right?
Baking Cookies
‘Tis the season for baked goods! You really can’t go wrong with a night in, creating something festive, fun and delicious. A craft you can eat? Sign my up. While I scoured the internet for fun cookie recipes, we ended up making the “easiest” of the bunch because well, Nicole and I are not at expert level when it comes to baking. That said, we had a great time making these festive sprinkle sugar cookies!
Holiday Movie Marathon
Did you really do the holidays without a classic christmas movie? With likely a starlet falling in love with some impossibly handsome man? Or perhaps where a child makes a Christmas wish, only for it to come true just in the nick of time? There are some classics out there that I watch every year, but sometimes its good to make new traditions and Nicole and I have done just that! Every year we watch a bad holiday movie and drink a lot of wine while watching and poking holes in the plot, costumes, acting and direction. It’s a really heartwarming tradition I know, but it’s a great reason to get together and have our own little staff holiday party to celebrate our hard work at the end of the year here at AHS!
How are you going to take in the holidays this season?
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