This year has been a lot. This year has been filled with ups and downs, but I am happy that the holidays are finally here. Whenever I am feeling down or having a hard time, the holidays seem to bring me that joy back.
Spending Time With Friends & Family
Along with being back home comes with seeing my friends and family. I get to see my parents and grandparents who I don’t get to see every day because of school and am able to reunite with friends who go to college further away. Spending time with the people I love means a lot to me. Sometimes I feel like I take it for granted, and I feel bad because I now realize that not everybody has people to come home to. When I hang out with my friends and family I do like to get out of the house and go somewhere to do something fun. This could be going to get coffee, seeing a movie, or driving around looking at Christmas lights. On some days I simply just want to relax at home with them and just be present and enjoy each other’s company. I love this time of year because with break being more extended, I have more time to arrange time with them rather than just trying to see 10 different people in the span of two days.
Baking
Baking is honestly one of my favorite things to do during the winter season. Something about it is stress relieving and comforting. This is strange because any other day if you asked me, I would tell you that I am not a baker. Maybe it’s just because I scroll through Pinterest and Tik Tok and find new recipes that look appealing. When I was little, I spent most of my time baking at my grandparent’s house. We would choose one day to go over to their house and make every kind of cookie you could think of. We made cut-out cookies, chocolate chip, peanut butter, jelly thumb prints, and more!
Decorating
Every year on Black Friday my parents and I set up our Christmas decorations. The Christmas tree and many other decorations make their way out of the attic, and we all help put them up. We put up our seven-foot-tall green Christmas tree. This tree is so perfect and compliments the house very well. It is filled with warm, white lights, covered in unique ornaments, traced with silver tinsel and red bows that glisten in the light, and topped with a gold star. My favorite decoration in our house is honestly probably the stockings. Our stockings are hung up on this shelf in the hallway. We have 4 different red-and-white themed stockings that are held up by different Disney stocking holders. Once we have those hung up, the shelf is decorated with a few different snow globes and other figurines. The last thing that we do to decorate this area is my favorite part, and it’s a stand of Poinsettia red lights that drape over the stockings.
Winter Activities
Over the winter break, I love to do some activities that I don’t usually do any other time of the year. One of the things I enjoy doing the most is going ice skating at Canal Side in Buffalo, NY. Skating here is pretty fun because it is outside, and it’s filled with warm lights and energy. You can rent skates right there on site and then work your way down to the rink. They also offer bikes that you can ride on the ice and other activities such as bumper cars on ice.
The other activity I love to do over winter break is to go tubing. At Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, NY, they have multiple ski slopes and also a designated area to go tubing. This is a fun experience just to be outside with your friends and do something that brings you back to your childhood. Tubing here is relatively affordable, especially for the amount of time you get to spend there.
Traditions
Last but not least are holiday traditions. Ever since I was young, I have always loved cooking. Cooking is a huge tradition in my Italian household, and it means a lot to me. Cooking is not only making food. It is preparing a meal that my family will enjoy together. Every Christmas my mom and I always spend the majority of a day prepping all of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day food. Specifically, we love to make either lasagna or stuffed shells, ham, and many other delicious side dishes and desserts as well. This allows my mom and I to bond together and even allows her to share some stories from cooking with her grandparents when she was young.