Happy Thanksgiving and Welcome to Blogmas!

Hello hello, my darling friends!

Sending you Thanksgiving cheer and a warm welcome to another round of Blogmas! Brace yourselves because, in a week, I’m off on another wild European adventure. 👀

Yes, call me crazy, but it’s the best kind of crazy, I promise! This year, I’m exploring a handful of cities I’ve been dreaming of visiting. While the excitement is off the charts, I’ll admit, there’s a hint of nervousness about navigating the holiday season solo. So, my game plan involves meticulous day planning and dialing up my extroverted side a notch. Here’s to whimsical adventures! 🌟

Table of Contents

Welcome to Blogmas

Alrighty, last year I had a lot of rules for Blogmas and this year, my goal is to simply make it through the season. I’m hoping to post every day for the next 32 days but, I hope you’ll understand if I miss a few. It’s not about you, traveling is a lot of work and by the end of the day, I’m exhausted!

What makes this season so special

Christmas isn’t my favorite holiday. In all honesty, I love Thanksgiving. My love language is quality time and acts of service. Gift-giving is last. This holiday, for me, is about being together as a family. Strangely enough, I’m struggling with going to Europe for so long during the season because I love Christmas in Seattle.

That said, this is my first season without a job! It’s my first Christmas outside of retail and I won’t need to be on call. So, I’m taking advantage of it.

Traditions

There are so many ornaments I get to add to my tree this year! Whenever I go to a new city, I buy an ornament and write the date and who I was with on the back. I get to add Denver, Oregon Coast, Dublin, Scotland (Edinburgh/Highlands), York, Lisboa, and Porto!

Listening to the Dolly & Kenny Christmas album while decorating the tree. We used to do this as a family when I was a kid but I continue the tradition for my apartment.

Going to the urban craft fair and seeing the Nutcracker. Both of these are on hold cause I don’t think I’ll be here. 😭

Holiday Plans

As mentioned above, I have a lot of holiday plans this year. Another long solo trip that I’m excited about. I’ll be sharing a 3-week winter packing list abroad. I’ll also make sure to discuss shoes cause man-o-man was that a pain point on my last trip.

I’ll give you a little sneak peek: Germany, Holland, and Belgium!

In addition to going abroad, I’ll be back just in time for Christmas with my family. It’s going to be a very special holiday with my new nephew. I know he’s too young to remember any of it but we’re so excited to spoil him rotten.

What to expect

This year, I’d love to share a few of my favorite things: holiday lifestyle, travel, second-hand finds, budget-friendly gift-giving, handmade/DIY and so much more.

I know many of you have asked me, on Instagram, if I’ll be sharing how I paid off my student loans and saved to quit my job. The answer is YES! Of course. However, those posts are lengthy and tough to outline to perfection so it’s going to take some time to build out my series. Rest assured, it’s on my list and you can expect it in the new year.

Let me know if you think I’m missing anything or if there’s anything you’d like to see from me! I’m so excited for the season and I’m scared it’s going to go by too quickly.