Happy Wednesday!! I thought I would jump on board with the Let's Look link-up today! I love talking about the holidays over here, and even though Pierce always says October is too early to talk about them, I think it's the perfect month!! You have a month of perfect fall, a month of sweet Thanksgiving, and a month of cozy Christmas! What could be better!!
I had the amazing opportunity to read the Kendra Adachi's new book, The Plan, a little early, and I loved it! I loved all of her practical and helpful tips to planning (and pivoting when those plans change!), especially her little section on seasons.
So this year for the holidays coming up, I have definitely put a few pieces of her advice into action, and it's already been such a blessing. Here are just a few things I hope to be doing to prep and plan for this sweet (and busy!) time of year...
1. Reflect back on last season...
I loved this advice, and I love the thought behind it...
What was last season like? What was amazing? What was hard? What has changed? (Hello Andy, for us!! ☺️) What priorities have shifted?
There are so many amazing questions that she lists, and as I have been thinking through them, it has helped me make a note of what's important and what I LOVED last year that I want to include this year... Which brings me to number #2...
2. Look ahead at this season...
What's exciting about this season? What are you dreading? What makes this season special that you want to include? What needs to be smaller? is Kendra's maybe biggest advice, and that always helps me realize that maybe some of my "things" are really big projects that I can break down into smaller steps to help make them happen...
3. Planning the Season...
She loves to use the steps of "prioritize, essentalize, and organize," and I love her advice on these...
As you prioritize, she loves calling things that are on the calendar "flags," as in they are planted and not usually rearranged...
So, we definitely did that with a few things this year. We knew Jackson's Orchard was an important fall tradition to us that we wanted to keep, so we broke it down into a few steps, contacted our family, and put it on the calendar, and we can't wait!!
Christmas Village is another one of our very favorites!! In her season chapter, she often refers to "Opening Ceremonies" to mark the beginning of a season, and this is definitely one of ours! It really does feel like it marks the start to the Christmas Season and has been since Pierce and I were married. Even though we've added Jane and now Andy, it just feels like it keeps getting sweeter!
We love going to Christmas Village the weekend it's in Nashville and coming home to decorate that weekend and turn our house as close as we can to our own Christmas Village!
It's a favorite a definitely a planted flag in our calendar this year!
There are a few others and of course everything added in-between too. She calls these “chairs” and “bunting.” Chairs are purposeful rest that’s planned and intentional. And bunting is fun and little things that tie everything together - my favorite!!
We always love setting aside time to enjoy the coziness at night, usually with a cup of tea or a good book!
And from making fun Christmas snacks to listening to Christmas music, putting on Christmas sheets, ordering a family ornament and everything in-between, the little things are so fun to “plan” too!!
Sometimes these small things are really what makes the holidays so fun and special!!
4. Break down projects into smaller pieces.
I loved this idea especially in light of Christmas.
Christmas Shopping is a really big one this time of year, and I used to just put it on my to-do list, but now it is so helpful to break it down into much smaller items that are decisions and actions. From making time to brainstorm a list of people to a list of gift ideas, to making time to sit down and look into some of those gift ideas, scheduling a date it needs to be finished by and scheduling out the next few steps…it’s nice to see it all written out.
Wrapping presents is another that is so helpful when broken down a little…
And really the list goes on of things on our list to plan, but I love feeling a little more settled after looking back, looking ahead, and mapping it out a little and breaking it down too, which brings me to number 5....
5. Enjoy the season...
This last one is just my own love and goal of enjoying each day and season as it comes. I feel like it has started to be a true gift to enjoy the little things of each day, and definitely the big things in each season too!
From looking at lights, to baking, to shopping, reading, spending as much time outside as possible, soaking up time with our families, watching football, eating good food...they are all important to me and really do make it so fun to just enjoy the seasons of the year and months on the calendar...
I can't wait to hear everyone else's tips too on planning and prepping!! The Holidays really are such a special time of year!!! Thanks Shay and Erika for the fun blog link-up today!! And thanks as always for following along!
I'll plan to see you back here tomorrow!!
Here's to welcoming in the Holidays!! 🤗
Sending lots of love!!
XO
Tab
XO
Tab
I really enjoyed this post, friend!! I loved the idea of planted flags and chairs, that book sounds incredible! Such cute photos of your family here, and I hope you have a fantastic upcoming holiday season!! :)
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