December Mixed Bag: Holiday Cheer

Well, I’m pretty pooped from a weekend of family, friends, gratitude and cooking. I’m ready to glide into Holiday Cheer mode – with limited time as our season is much condensed from a late Thanksgiving.

I’m traveling to NYC this week, where the Holiday Cheer will be in full flow so I need to be careful that I’m following all of my own guiding principles around clutter: buying it, living in it and creating it! Committing thoughts to paper helps me remember them, so writing this blog is killing two birds with one stone. Welcome to this month’s Mixed Bag!

Avoid the Just Because Stocking

There’s gifting and then there’s filling up Christmas stockings. Filling up Christmas stockings was my Holiday Cheer Killer for years. It was so stressful to try and think of enough small things to fill them up that my family would actually like and use. I rarely succeeded and wasted hundreds (or perhaps thousands?) of dollars over the course of a couple of decades on what amounted to a bunch of clutter.

The lesson I learned is to only buy things I know they will want and use, if it doesn’t fill up their stocking it’s fine. Is the moment of appreciation for a full stocking worth a bunch of wasted money on stuff that’s just going to clutter up your house? It most certainly is not.

Keep a List for Future You

I am a huge fan of making lists (you’re shocked, I know.) One of the reasons I like them is they come in really handy when I need to access some holiday cheer. I keep a gift list to record gift ideas as I have them so I don’t have to stress when it comes time to shop (and so I won’t overspend in a panic.) I keep restaurant lists so when I go to New York I can find a great spot fast that will accommodate my college girlfriends without fuss. And I keep a grocery list for Christmas Eve & Christmas Dinner so I don’t have to spend energy making a new one every year since we mostly repeat the menu.

Lists make your life easier, and since you can keep them on your phone they are also SO convenient. Do future you a favor and get a few lists going – you won’t be sorry you did!

On My List

I’m sharing the things on my list for Santa, because maybe since you’re reading this we have some things in common or maybe you still need some gift ideas. Plus my husband asked for my list so I’m killing two birds with one stone here. Holiday Cheer is for moms too!

Here’s what I’m asking for:

Aviator Nation set. I am pretty casual these days and these guys really elevate a sweatshirt! I’m in love with the cream colorway and the wide-leg sweats!
Ember Mug. I’ve seen this on so many gift lists it’s definitely a hot item this year. I am drinking lots of tea these days while I’m working in my office. Either it’s getting cold fast in a regular mug or it’s burning my tongue in a travel version. This is the Goldilocks of mugs – I’m really excited about it!
Weighted Vest – I asked for this for my birthday in June and didn’t get it so I’m trying again. I’m aiming to up my strength training by wearing this when I walk Gus. I like that the weight is adjustable and it comes in a ton of colors. I don’t want black because it kind of looks like a bullet-proof vest? So I’m requesting light blue!
Vuori. My other favorite comfy brand. I’m asking for joggers (my 5th pair) in navy heather and I’m obsessed with this blue jacket because I already have it in black and LOVE it. It’s the perfect weight for temps in the 40s-50s, which is status quo for winters here.
I know I just ripped on travel mugs earlier but I do need a new one and love this one from Yeti (in orange please!) I have been using some freebie versions we had lying around but they have proven to not do well in the dishwasher. Annoying. Yeti is A+ quality and my bright orange guy will be easily identified as mine!

Declutter While Lounging

There is nothing like habit-stacking to fill my productive heart with holiday cheer! Habit-stacking is the practice of mashing more than one habit together. I like to pair less-pleasant things with things I enjoy. It works because the less pleasant thing gets done with minimal pain, as it is now associated with something pleasant!

I have an example of this that you can practice this holiday season. When you plop down on the sofa to watch a holiday movie, bring your phone with you. While you are watching the movie (that you’ve seen 15 times at least) take a few minutes to do the following decluttering activities:

Delete apps you don’t use on your phone
Delete duplicate pictures from your camera roll
Unfollow social media accounts that make you feel bad
Unsubscribe from emails you don’t read
Cross things off your To-Do list that you know you will never do

Do each one for 5 minutes or less. That’s less than a quarter of the span of your movie. Super painless! And you just took a few small steps toward a happier holiday season – it all adds up!