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Happy Monday! What a fantastic Thanksgiving we had! It was a long and wonderful weekend, and I already miss my family. It’s probably no surprise that Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Christmas makes me a little nostalgic because it reminds me of my wonderful childhood. Christmas has seemed to come earlier this year and I cannot believe it’s finally here. This fall, I came up with a list of fall activities I wanted to do, so I thought it would be fun to come up with a Christmas bucket list, too. Many of these are things you can do anywhere and some are unique to Birmingham.
My Christmas Bucket List 2018:
- Decorate our new home and buy a new tree (our other one was too tall for our 8 foot ceilings). We luckily were able to reuse most of our Christmas decor from our previous home.
- Give gifts to the less fortunate: One of the traditions my mom and I would do growing up is Operation Christmas Child’s Shoebox Ministry. I plan to do that again this year or something similar.
- Visit a Christmas tree farm: We visited a tiny one in Atlanta, but I would love to visit a big one again.
- Pick out a new ornament: A lot of our ornaments are inexpensive and plain. Each year I want to add one new nicer ornament to our tree.
- Decorate cookies: I didn’t realize how much I liked baking until I broke out my Kitchenaid mixer for Thanksgiving. I would love to make homemade cookies and decorate them.
- Get a fire pit: When we went to Atlanta, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens had fire pits with s’mores (post on Atlanta to come soon). This inspired Jake and I to want a fire pit. I would love to roast s’mores at home.
- Make fancy homemade hot chocolate/egg nog
- Host a party: Now that we finally have finished all of our major home projects I would love to host a Christmas party. I will make sure to share our new home renovations soon.
- Christmas pjs: Jake probably won’t be on board for this one, but how cute would matching Christmas pjs be? When we have kids someday, this will be a must.
- Christmas movies marathon: Christmas movies are my favorite, so I would love to do a Christmas movie marathon at home with fun snacks and hot chocolate.
- Make a Christmas cocktail: Christmas has so many great flavors, such as peppermint, egg nog, cranberry and more. I would love to have a night where we try Christmas-themed cocktails
- Gingerbread house: I love to make things, so I think it would be fun to stay in, drink some wine and make a gingerbread house.
- See a Live Christmas themed performance and dress up: I would love to get all dressed up and visit a live performance like The Nutcracker or Trans-Siberian Orchestra
- Drive around and see Christmas lights/listen to Christmas music: We have done this a little bit, but it seemed early. I would love to drive around and find the prettiest Christmas lights in Birmingham.
- Attend a tacky Christmas party
- A Pre-Christmas Road trip: Last year, we did our first trip around Christmas time to Nashville. I would love to make it a tradition to do a pre-Christmas trip. This year we’re thinking New Orleans, since it’s drivable.
- Kansas City Chiefs game: One of our Christmas traditions with Jake’s family is to attend a Kansas City Chiefs game every year around Christmas. I cannot wait to continue this tradition again this year.
- Peppermint everything
- Start our own traditions: now living so far from family, this will be our first Christmas with just us two alone, but we will visit our families after Christmas due to Jake’s schedule.
Birmingham Christmas Bucket List:
- ZooLight Safari
- Ice Skate at Railroad Park
- Visit Shoppe and Leaf and Petal garden stores
- Tour Arlington Antebellum House
- Christmas movies at Alabama Theatre
- See Trans-Siberian Orchestra
- See the Nutcracker
- Tacky Holiday Pedal Tour
What’s on your Christmas bucket list?
You look so beautiful!! I love your cape! That’s so festive and I’ve been wanting something similar. Sounds like you guys have a fun holiday season ahead!!
Katherine | http://www.oneswainkycouple.com
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That is so sweet of you! You should definitely get one. I felt like a Christmas caroler haha. Yes, I cannot wait to make the most of the season.
You’ve inspired me to start my own local list! Happy Holidays!
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Aw yay. I hope you have a happy holiday season too. ❤️
Such a great list of things to do over the holidays! I’ll definitely be writing a few of these down!
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I hope you enjoy doing them. Have a wonderful holiday season.
Ok 1) LOVE that cape, it is perfect for the holidays! 2) so many of these things are on my Christmas bucket list, too! Was literally just looking up a recipe for homemade hot cocoa, already ordered my PJs and I’m getting ready to go on a Christmas trip!! It really is the most wonderful time of the year.
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Aw thank you so much, Amanda! How fun I cannot wait to see where you go. I bought some hot cocoa supplies too. I am going to add in some peppermint schnapps this weekend i think.
That cape is absolutely incredible. I have to buy it! This is such a great list! I’m going to have to write a Christmas bucket list of my own.
Author
Thank you so much! It’s such a fun and festive piece for the holidays. 🙂
Such a cute cape and outfit Courtney. perfect winter and Christmas. Giving to the less fortunate is a wonderful tradition , we can get caught up in all the excitement but must not forget others. We just decorated cookies on black friday , so fun ! Making eggnog and hot chocolate sounds so yummy! A party is a great way to meet new friends , be it neighbors , co- workers etc. and just to have fun in general. Pj’s will be so fun WHEN you get Jake on board! I love the lifetime and hallmark movies on right now! Also the traditional movies are great to watch over and over. You should try Irish coffee, I am not being biased right here…. right?! A live performance and getting to pick a favorite dress and look good would be so nice. Driving around neighborhoods is so cool always seeing the lights and getting ideas. I think the chiefs are doing really well right now ? It will be cool to start your own traditions. Thanks for the post Courtney, Terri xo.
Author
Christmas really is so fun! Such a happy time of the year with so many fun traditions. I want to try Irish coffee, what is in it? I’ve heard it’s delicious. Yes, the Chiefs are doing pretty good right now. My husband is so happy. Thank you so much for reading and your support. 🙂
Hi Courtney here is a recipe for irish coffee! You are so welcome it is good to support each other. I am glad you like the link , I am sure you dont need to brush up on any of them , you are awesome!
https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a58347/irish-coffee-recipe/
Author
Ohhh yum that sounds sooo good! Thanks for sharing. It is a great reminder, I do always need them 🙂
I love this! You’ve helped me figure out what I’m doing this weekend…Christmas movie marathon and tons of hot chocolate. 🙂
Author
Aw yay! I hope you enjoy your Christmas movie marathon and hot chocolate. That is what i’m doing this weekend too.
Love all the fun things on your bucketlist!! I may steal some of these too!
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Thank you so much. Yes, please do! We’re crossing s’mores off our list on Saturday. We ordered a fire pit.
Nice look!!
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Thank you so much.