I realize this is slightly premature but it's 55* currently, Costco is selling tulips, and I heard birds singing this morning which basically means winter is over (RIGHT?), so I thought I'd share some of my favorite winter hacks.
Last year I finally read The Little Book of Hygge and had a massive lightbulb moment and realized I could still make January fun! The concept of hygge is to create an atmosphere of warmth and cosiness. It exists all year round, but it's especially poignant in the winter months. The book details a lot of different ways to infuse hygge into your homes (blankets! candles! food! textures! games! friends!) and I followed all of them religiously (I'm nothing if not extreme). It was such a huge help last January that I knew I'd do the same thing this winter.
I realized this year that it helps me to separate winter into two different seasons; "holiday-winter" and "snow-winter". "Holiday-winter" is a ton of fun! What's not to love about Thanksgiving and Christmas? There's lots of family in town and I generally don't feel gloomy or tired of the cold those months. But then January 3rd rolls around and I'm ready to hibernate.
This year I combined a lot of what I'd learned from the book and last year's experience. I took down all the overtly Christmas decorations, leaving up the stuff I could make more "wintery", and then broke out the specific "snow-winter" decor. It was nice to have another "season" to intentionally decorate for. I kept my Christmas tree up and put on our snowflake/winter themed ornaments instead, I grabbed a bunch of fir branches to put on top of flat surfaces, and we made a concerted effort to enjoy the snow by sledding with cousins, skiing, and visiting the Ice Castles up in Midway.
"Snow-winter" has become our time to focus on friends. We don't get quite as much time with them during "holiday-winter" because we have so much family in town, so it's really nice taking advantage of the cold to have fun indoors. I actually think we've had people over for games and/or dinner every weekend so far.
This year I really wanted to dig into celebrating winter some more so I decided to host a few winter parties. We've had a lot of people move into our neighborhood that we've wanted to get to know and this seemed like a perfect opportunity! In the spirit of hygge, I didn't want this to be a formal event, but I did want it to still be something to look forward too. I designed some invites using Paperless, which instructed every couple to bring a soup and dessert, and to dress cozy. I'm not sure there's a food group I love more than soups. The idea was we'd all try some new soups & treats and visit.
Hosting a hygge party in the dead of January and February was a stroke of brilliance. I personally appreciated having something to look forward to after the holidays and it was awesome to get to know our new neighbors and ward members. These parties will absolutely become a tradition for us!
My biggest takeaway from learning to navigate the winter months is that I find it more enjoyable when I focus on all the things I CAN do rather than what I can't. Of course I'd prefer it to be warm enough to be outside, or to go hiking and swimming, but that time will come. The concept of hygge has helped me appreciate the seasons of life a lot more and I learned I can thrive in January instead of just survive!
Last year I finally read The Little Book of Hygge and had a massive lightbulb moment and realized I could still make January fun! The concept of hygge is to create an atmosphere of warmth and cosiness. It exists all year round, but it's especially poignant in the winter months. The book details a lot of different ways to infuse hygge into your homes (blankets! candles! food! textures! games! friends!) and I followed all of them religiously (I'm nothing if not extreme). It was such a huge help last January that I knew I'd do the same thing this winter.
I realized this year that it helps me to separate winter into two different seasons; "holiday-winter" and "snow-winter". "Holiday-winter" is a ton of fun! What's not to love about Thanksgiving and Christmas? There's lots of family in town and I generally don't feel gloomy or tired of the cold those months. But then January 3rd rolls around and I'm ready to hibernate.
This year I combined a lot of what I'd learned from the book and last year's experience. I took down all the overtly Christmas decorations, leaving up the stuff I could make more "wintery", and then broke out the specific "snow-winter" decor. It was nice to have another "season" to intentionally decorate for. I kept my Christmas tree up and put on our snowflake/winter themed ornaments instead, I grabbed a bunch of fir branches to put on top of flat surfaces, and we made a concerted effort to enjoy the snow by sledding with cousins, skiing, and visiting the Ice Castles up in Midway.
"Snow-winter" has become our time to focus on friends. We don't get quite as much time with them during "holiday-winter" because we have so much family in town, so it's really nice taking advantage of the cold to have fun indoors. I actually think we've had people over for games and/or dinner every weekend so far.
This year I really wanted to dig into celebrating winter some more so I decided to host a few winter parties. We've had a lot of people move into our neighborhood that we've wanted to get to know and this seemed like a perfect opportunity! In the spirit of hygge, I didn't want this to be a formal event, but I did want it to still be something to look forward too. I designed some invites using Paperless, which instructed every couple to bring a soup and dessert, and to dress cozy. I'm not sure there's a food group I love more than soups. The idea was we'd all try some new soups & treats and visit.
Hosting a hygge party in the dead of January and February was a stroke of brilliance. I personally appreciated having something to look forward to after the holidays and it was awesome to get to know our new neighbors and ward members. These parties will absolutely become a tradition for us!
My biggest takeaway from learning to navigate the winter months is that I find it more enjoyable when I focus on all the things I CAN do rather than what I can't. Of course I'd prefer it to be warm enough to be outside, or to go hiking and swimming, but that time will come. The concept of hygge has helped me appreciate the seasons of life a lot more and I learned I can thrive in January instead of just survive!