holiday stress

Every December starts with a whoooosh. Thanksgiving pies settle in our stomachs and before you know it, it’s the beginning of Advent, the Catholic’s celebration of starting a new liturgical calendar and prepping for the celebration of Christ’s birth. Then it’s holiday shopping, holiday baking, holiday parties, and the actual holidays, and then New Year’s, and then recovering from all the goodies you wolfed down and resolving to work off all those calories. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. But, I’m resolved to follow these five steps to prepare better to truly enjoy and celebrate the holidays this year. 1) Shop ahead of time. Go local, go artisan, go upcycled. Buy the same thing you can get at a big chain from a mom& pop shop (i.e., Smart Wool socks). Visit Etsy where individual artisans hand make their products. Visit the antique & thrift shops around. Support your own local economy. Handmade your gifts. Go simple. If possible, plan throughout the year who you want to give to, and look for good deals on your items. Remember that giving should be enjoyable for you and for your recipient and not a huge last minute run to the store headache. Try to plan ahead. Our big family has decided to go handmade this year for our holiday celebration of Christmas. We’ve done gift exchanges in the past, but as we all love to give gifts, feel that this year, we can do gifts for every person but on a smaller scale than…