Thanksgiving is WOOT! PARADE, TIME OFF AND STUFFED TURKEY! day for me. I like your rehearsal dinner idea best, though.
I did a real Halloween season this year. All October was pumpkins and decorations and spooky music and costumes and candy and TONS of Halloween specials. I like the contrast with the Christmas Season.
On November 1st, I sat down and watched my first Christmas special. I will watch Thanksgiving specials up to Thanksgiving, with the occasional Christmas special mixed in. This is the time for pumpkin everything. Holiday music is now encouraged. Thanksgiving starts with hot cocoa and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Then we go to the in-laws' house for Turkey dinner and board games with family. After Thanksgiving, it's in full swing. Decorations go up. Wrapped gifts sit under the wreath (no tree due to cats), new scented plug-ins with holiday scents get changed. There's usually a holiday musical or play to be attended. Christmas movies come out. Cookies are baked and decorated. There's always gingerbread. Christmas Eve is for A Christmas Story and cooking whatever I'll be taking to Christmas Dinner. Christmas itself starts with hot cocoa and the Disney parade. Then we move over to the in-laws for an early afternoon dinner and presents. Then we play a board game and hang out until the evening. The following week usually has a holiday party with friends where we get together and have a potluck using our Christmas leftovers and maybe hold a white elephant exchange. New Year's Eve has been quiet for us recently, though we've attended some big bashes in the past. If we do, they're usually themed costume parties with dancing. It wraps up for me on January 1st with the Tournament of Roses parade, also watched in my PJs with a cup of cocoa.
I have been following the Christmas Countdown at the Organized Christmas website. They have Christmas preparation stuff all set up. The first week is about getting organized. Printing some checklists, making sure you take care of certain things that will take a while, etc. The second week is about doing a reality check. Looking at what your values and expectations of the holiday season are, what's important to you, how much can you spend, setting up a list of who you realistically can give gifts to, how not to over-do things on the scheduling front, etc. The third week concentrates on figuring out gifts, starting to fill out cards, getting in any catalog/online orders early, etc. The fourth week concentrates on planning for cooking, shopping for the pantry, cooking some things ahead of time and freezing them, etc. Then the fifth week is for decorating (takes place Thanksgiving week) and wrapping up gift buying and most preparation. The sixth week is in early December and concentrates on prep for celebrating. They mix in holiday housework plans and lots of great little things within the countdown, too. I have my binder and Christmas box which I'm finding really useful right now. http://christmas.organizedhome.com/
no subject
I did a real Halloween season this year. All October was pumpkins and decorations and spooky music and costumes and candy and TONS of Halloween specials. I like the contrast with the Christmas Season.
On November 1st, I sat down and watched my first Christmas special. I will watch Thanksgiving specials up to Thanksgiving, with the occasional Christmas special mixed in. This is the time for pumpkin everything. Holiday music is now encouraged. Thanksgiving starts with hot cocoa and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Then we go to the in-laws' house for Turkey dinner and board games with family. After Thanksgiving, it's in full swing. Decorations go up. Wrapped gifts sit under the wreath (no tree due to cats), new scented plug-ins with holiday scents get changed. There's usually a holiday musical or play to be attended. Christmas movies come out. Cookies are baked and decorated. There's always gingerbread. Christmas Eve is for A Christmas Story and cooking whatever I'll be taking to Christmas Dinner. Christmas itself starts with hot cocoa and the Disney parade. Then we move over to the in-laws for an early afternoon dinner and presents. Then we play a board game and hang out until the evening. The following week usually has a holiday party with friends where we get together and have a potluck using our Christmas leftovers and maybe hold a white elephant exchange. New Year's Eve has been quiet for us recently, though we've attended some big bashes in the past. If we do, they're usually themed costume parties with dancing. It wraps up for me on January 1st with the Tournament of Roses parade, also watched in my PJs with a cup of cocoa.
I have been following the Christmas Countdown at the Organized Christmas website. They have Christmas preparation stuff all set up. The first week is about getting organized. Printing some checklists, making sure you take care of certain things that will take a while, etc. The second week is about doing a reality check. Looking at what your values and expectations of the holiday season are, what's important to you, how much can you spend, setting up a list of who you realistically can give gifts to, how not to over-do things on the scheduling front, etc. The third week concentrates on figuring out gifts, starting to fill out cards, getting in any catalog/online orders early, etc. The fourth week concentrates on planning for cooking, shopping for the pantry, cooking some things ahead of time and freezing them, etc. Then the fifth week is for decorating (takes place Thanksgiving week) and wrapping up gift buying and most preparation. The sixth week is in early December and concentrates on prep for celebrating. They mix in holiday housework plans and lots of great little things within the countdown, too. I have my binder and Christmas box which I'm finding really useful right now.
http://christmas.organizedhome.com/