Monday, December 4, 2017

Holiday Survival - Checking Off the List!

Happy first week of December! How are you feeling? Stressed? Ready? Honestly, this year, I'm determined to experience this month with as little stress as possible. Well, that's my goal. Have you seen Bad Moms Christmas movie yet? The original Bad Moms was better but honestly, I laughed out loud a lot watching this one. I saw it in the theatre a couple weeks ago with some girlfriends, wine in our travel mugs and it was great. What mom doesn't stress at the holidays? But really, we put this unrealistic pressure on ourselves. So, this year, I've done a few things differently.
 

The first one, I decorated early. Obviously as a home design blogger, I love to decorate for the holidays. Its my favourite. But I know you know, hauling out the Christmas boxes is an event in itself. Honestly, our house lacks storage space and Mr. Fix-It's workroom is filled with bins FULL of Christmas stuff. It's amazing how much we all store to celebrate such a short season. But, it's worth it...totally worth it. So a couple of weeks ago, mid November we brought up all the boxes, and the decorating began. It's one of those things that seems like a great idea when you start and halfway through, when the garland greenery is all over the floor and the decorations are strewn throughout the house, it seems never ending. However, the carols were on, I had my wine in hand, the kids loved decorating their faux tree in the basement with all their special ornaments and I'm a happy girl because it's one thing checked off the list of "to-dos". Now, its the first week of December and the house is shimmering and glowing with Christmas beauty. Only thing left is the tree, but we can't get it until this week or we'll be left with a naked dead tree by Christmas. Our old house is so dry, the tree would self-combust from the dry air.

I've also ordered a few more decor items online that I'm waiting to arrive to finish it all off. I'll share that post soon :) Here's a look back at the last couple of years herehere and here

So, decor done. Check. Mr. Fix-It, aka "Clark Griswald" worked on the outside last weekend with the kids. He's training them;) A few trips to the big box stores, and oh Lord, our house could be a runway for Santa's sleigh. Thank God he doesn't do the inside decor. But, the kids love it, it was great to get done before the snow hit the ground and it's another thing off the list. Check. We're waiting for one more online order to arrive and I'll share the over-the-top exterior decor in another post to come. Stay tuned.

So, on this "stress free" list, we've checked off a few things. For the bakers, have you done your baking yet? I'm not really a holiday baker but I do love the Christmas smell. 

I always do the "stove top" Christmas smell each year and only requires...easy. Let's keep it easy and simple, shall we?!

Who's travelling this year? We're staying put for Christmas but will travel to the cottage at some point. Honestly, how on earth did anyone travel with kids without Netflix? I know we didn't have it as kids but how long can you keep a kid occupied at the airport or on the road, colouring? For us, we use Netflix to save our sanity when we're driving to Toronto or at the airport. Well, let's be real, our kids watch Netflix all the time but when we're travelling...its a necessity for all involved. Did you know that 1 in 5 Canadian parents say one of their main concerns when travelling is keeping their kids entertained.



The best part is that you don't only need wifi to watch Netflix. You can download your family's fav shows. Netflix at home, becomes Netflix on the go. Amen! It's available for "Netflix originals" and you can click on "available for download" menu on the Netflix app on your phone or tablet and browse all the titles available to take with you whenever and wherever you want.

You don't need to feel like you're stuck in Litchfield from Orange is the New Black while being on a family road trip again. So, if you know you're going to be travelling with the kids this month, download all their fav shows now and it's another thing off your "to-dos". So, go decorate, get your baking done (or just create that delicious smell on the stove), download your shows and you're already ahead of the game.

Good luck guys! And when that stress level feels like it's rising, when in doubt, always have wine on hand.

Keep it Beautiful.
xo Alicia

Disclosure: Christmas is busy and can be over -the-top stressful. I'm sharing a few tips from Netflix because we all love Netflix and we all need survival during  the holidays. I'm part of the Netflix Stream Team and get perks to share ideas with you. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog.








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