Every year, right around this time, I start having some semblance of anticipatory grief that the holidays will soon be over. I love everything about December. I’m a deeply nostalgic, sentimental person and it feels difficult going from the buoyancy of Christmastime to…January, knowing that we have a solid 3+ months of freezing, dark days to endure. I love the Northeast but, good Lord, winter can feel depressingly endless at times.
I like to give myself a pep talk that some of the best parts of Christmas don’t have to end on December 26. Even after the tree and decorations come down, there are ways to infuse holiday-like joy into the winter months. Incidentally, today marks the winter solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. Many people celebrate the solstice by bringing more light - in the form of candles and lanterns - into their homes, which feels cheerful, cozy and hopeful. I don’t know about you, but this is exactly the tone I want and need to set moving into the post-holiday abyss.
Here are my favorite ways to capture that holiday magic, even after December has come and gone:
Make your home a cozy, inviting space. Gone are the holiday-specific decorations, but those pretty little white twinkle lights don’t have to go anywhere - they add cozy vibes to any space, so string them along your mantle or around a window/door frame for instant ambience. In the winter, my living room is always full of books, throw blankets, pillows and candles - I make sure that the stage is set for lazy Sundays, snow days, and everything in between. I put heavier blankets on the beds and bring out the flannel sheets. Electric blankets and space heaters make their annual appearance. Coming home feels quite literally like a warm hug when you make coziness a priority in your living spaces.
Make togetherness a priority. One of the best parts of the holidays is gathering with loved ones to share good food and drink. This can (and should!) obviously continue throughout the winter months. Prioritize family dinners at home most nights. Invite friends over for a cozy game night, host extended family for Friday takeout, gather a few of your child’s friends to bake cookies on the weekend. These gatherings can feel festive and special any time of year: de-clutter your living room, light a few candles, put on a good playlist and slow down to enjoy the company of your favorite people.
Bring some greenery/nature inside. Many homes are adorned with Christmas trees, garlands and poinsettia in December, so things can look a little stark when the festive decorations come down. Houseplants, paperwhites, amaryllis and Christmas cactus are a great way to keep the natural decor going strong even when the weather is cold. I occasionally decorate with pinecones and dried eucalyptus in the winter, and whole citrus fruits and pomegranates make for gorgeous seasonal centerpieces.
Romanticize your weekends. I really love the trend of romanticizing your life; in summary, it’s amplifying the simple pleasures and luxuries in your daily life as a way of bringing joy to the mundane. Yes, you will still have laundry to do and dishes to wash, so this doesn’t imply that every second of your day will be idyllic. But, you can serve dinner on the nice china and light a few candles. Host an at-home Aperitivo hour for you and your partner/best friend. Stroll through a local museum on a Saturday. Browse books at an indie bookstore, cappuccino in hand, on a Sunday. Take a bath with some scented bath salts. Make mulled cider and put on a favorite movie. You get the idea! Making a small effort to make things extra nice feels holiday-ish, and makes life altogether more enjoyable.
Cook more! One of the best parts of the holidays is all of the amazing homemade food. Making food from scratch is such a nurturing practice with huge payoffs - homemade food almost always tastes better, is more nutritious, and generally more affordable than processed convenience foods or takeout. I don’t have to tell you that I’m of the firm belief that cooking regularly is a practice worth prioritizing. Yes, it requires some planning, prep and extra cleaning, but there’s nothing like a homemade meal to bring family together, and the health benefits of whole, plant foods are innumerable. Treat yourself to a few new cookbooks in the new year and commit to cooking from scratch at least 3-4 days a week.