BE Happy

A few things that make me happy right now...

(1) GIVING AND THANKING: Giving makes me SO happy! I love giving and, dare I say, I’m good at it! My husband may argue that I give a little too much and too often, but honestly it's something I enjoy because it's the way I show love. As an inherently shy person, I am not the greatest at expressing my affection verbally, but gifting enables me to show I care in a way that is just as powerful. The holiday season affords me so many opportunities to give and that makes me very happy!

While we're on the subject of giving, we should also discuss thanking. Can we all agree to try and give proper thank you's this year? What is a proper thank you, you ask? Well, I recently read an article that explained it perfectly. The author said there are 3 components for a perfect thank you: 1) be specific; 2) acknowledge the effort involved; and 3) describe how it benefits you. Think about it…how often do we just 'phone-in' a ‘thank you so much’, or a ‘what a great gift’ ,or - worse yet - a ‘you didn’t have to give me anything’. Are we really conveying our full appreciation with those? When you express your gratitude fully you AND the person your thanking will reap the benefits! ❤️

"Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more." ~ H. Jackson Browne, Jr.

(2) NAME THAT ARTIST GAME: I’ve hosted Thanksgiving dinner for a large group at my house for over 25 years. It's a ton of work- as I’m sure a lot of you know, but I love so many things about it. I love being creative with my table settings and place cards (see note below). I love trying out new recipes for stuffings and sides. I love the lively conversations around the dinner table. But, most of all I LOVE our annual ‘Name the Artist Game’ that we play during clean up.

I don’t know how it started, but every year while we clean up- and while my brother-in-law graciously does the dishes (Love you Steve-o!)- everyone congregates in the kitchen to play a game of name that artist. Typically, we break into teams- pairing some the of the younger guests with some of the older guests- and my husband serves as the MC using songs from his expansive list of music on iTunes.

While people are packing leftovers, drying dishes, or finishing their dinner wine, we guess at song after song until one team gets ten correct. Some years it’s a blow out and we play a second round, but mostly it’s pretty competitive and always it's loads of fun! Our MC is always good about including lots of genres including some pop/rap hits that the kids can get and some 80's dance tunes that I can get- which I really appreciate!

Music is so good for the soul and it's also a great antidote to the drudgery of Thanksgiving dinner clean up. Our game has become one of our most adored traditions…why not try it at your house this year?

Note: One year (when I apparently had a lot of extra time 🤣), I filled mason jars for each guest with personalized items based on a theme, i.e. the NE Patriots; the love of tea; LEGOS; fishing, etc. I bought a lot of the contents on Etsy and Amazon and it was so fun to put them together! The best one was for my mother-in-law. I filled a jar full of ‘Hugs and Kisses’ that included Hershey’s Kisses and ‘love’ notes from each of the guests to represent the hugs. As fate would have it, that was her last Thanksgiving with us. Give your loved ones some ‘hugs and kisses’ this year cause…you never know.

(3) CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN: My kids LOVED their felt Christmas Tree Advent Calendar! Each December morning before school, they would take turns pulling out a different ornament from one of the pockets below to hang on the tree. They were so happy doing it and I was happy watching them! Then, unfortunately, they grew up, went off to college/jobs, and the advent tree adorning was left for me to do alone. (Sigh)

I missed the joy of seeing their excitement each morning and I had a feeling they did too. So, that’s when I decided to make it a tradition to give them an interest-specific, adult advent calendar each year at Thanksgiving and…they’ve been a big hit!

Now, no one would complain about getting the traditional chocolate calendar that you can find at most grocery stores, but there are SO many more unique ones out there! Here are just a few that I really like:

1. A Booze Box that you can fill with craft beers, hard seltzers, sodas or a combination of all three;

2. Jam for your grandparents or hubbies;

3. Beauty Products #1 or Beauty Products #2 for the ladies;

4. A Playlist calendar for anyone who loves Christmas tunes;

5. Tea, Coffee, or Cocoa for the warm drink lovers;

6. A highly rated Nails calendar;

7. One full of collectible Marvel characters;

8. Two non-chocolate sweet options: Caramels or MooseMunch;

9. An option for those who like things Spicy; or

10. For a more serious take, these Candles could become a new countdown tradition for your fam!

*My friends celebrating Hanukah, could use any of the above or this Hanukah specific Yummy countdown calendar!

You’re never too old to enjoy the magic of the holidays, and if advent calendars help keep that spirit alive, then I think they are well worth giving!