Holidays are Closer than you Think! How I Plan to have a Stress-Free Holiday and make this Christmas The Best Christmas Yet! #SimplyHealthy #CollectiveBias #ad

This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser, Sam’s Club and Healthy Living Made Simple Online Magazine.  All opinions and Stress-Free Holiday Tips are mine alone.

Yesterday afternoon, as I visited with my family and more specifically my nieces; I started up the BIG questions: What do you want for Christmas??? I started a list – and then remembered that last year I had purchased an App that helped me track wish lists and budgets for Christmas; so I opened that up.  At the top of the screen was this…lovely… reminder:

38 days?!! That means as of today – there are only 37 shopping days until Christmas!
This also means in the next 37 days I have to prepare for two major holidays, as well as 5 family birthdays: My Nephew, Mom, Dad in November; and My son and Husband in December.

I started thinking to myself: ‘I’ve got this.’ I just needed this wake-up call to realize that I have to start with the organization now so that my stress levels don’t rise through and ruin the most fantastic Holiday season for myself.

I was reading an article on the Sam’s Club Healthy Living Made Simple Online Magazine App last week – called ‘De-stressing the holidays’. I figured I’d have a *little* more time to reflect on this rather insightful article; but as I was walking down the isles of Sam’s Club a few days later, things were popping out at me as big reminders of what I should be doing.. I started taking mental note… and photographs. After all, I thought that the Holidays were a little further than they in fact really are, and I like to be able to go ‘back to the store’ in memory!

I was really thinking about the things that stress me out the most about the holidays. Some of my biggies are procrastination; being so frazzled at the last minute to get everything done that I wanted to get done. This goes hand-in-hand with my perfectionism of the holidays. I always envision Christmas being so serene and comforting. The smell of cinnamon and apples in the air, a little Kenny G music playing – the light glow from the Christmas tree, and snuggling up on the couch with a giant mug of hot chocolate and big’ol marshmallows. (Of course kids are quietly playing on the floor… ).

Back to Reality.

I purchased several items that I knew I was going to need for the holidays; baking goods mostly – but when I walked past the isle with cleaning goods, I smelled it… That beautiful scent of Cinnamon and Apples. I turned. I’m not going to stress about baking my own pie this year for the delicious smell: I’m going to melt some yummy smelling wax and start off with the relaxing early – and maybe I’ll buy a pie later.

I also tracked down some great gift ideas for friends and family members – as well as some great gifts to have on hand should I accidentally forget anyone on my list or have a surprise guest for Christmas.  Sam’s Club is a great one-stop store for purchasing easy foods for days leading up to the holiday as well as stocking up on beauty products to pamper yourself to reduce stress.

A Few Tips I’m Holding Fast to This Christmas

To Make it the Best Christmas YET:

Planning Ahead: Realize your time frame, and the people that you need to purchase gifts for. Earlier purchases make stress melt away. There’s nothing relaxing about running around on Christmas Eve for last minute gift needs!Be sure you have plenty of wrapping paper, gift tags, Tape, and Bows. I Love the giant rolls of wrapping paper, tags and ribbons at Sam’s Club! Double sided, too – so they coordinate and look amazing under the tree.

List & Prioritize: You’re not going to be able to do it all. Take the things that are most important to you and your family, and write them down! That way when you start getting off track you can remind yourself of what is more important.  I’m calling it my ‘Christmas Bucket List’Write out the goodies that you want to bake and again, prioritize them! Start with the most important. I can’t possibly have a Christmas without my Russian Tea Cakes, or Krumkake. Chocolate chip cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa is also important around here.

Don’t Over-Commit: This is HUGE. I’m mostly talking about preparing food for the Holidays: While Christmas is at my home this year, I am preparing a list of what should be served, picking a few and passing the list on to the other family members. They are just as responsible to bring food as I am!

Take it Easy: Try to pamper yourself just a little… it’s important to me to not feel rushed and unfinished on Christmas Eve. I would much rather spend Christmas Eve with my family, watching a good movie, drinking hot cocoa, and snuggling under the blankets. Plan a few fun activities with the family – perhaps testing each other on Christmas trivia, or playing a family board game together. Plan things that are not too taxing in terms of resources and your energy – you are going to need that for the big day itself! The biggest things for me is the sights, smells, and sounds of Christmas. I want to see the glistening lights, smell the cinnamon, and hear relaxing songs in the background. Focus on what makes YOU happy!

You, too can check out the Healthy Living Made Simply online App by downloading it on iTunes (Available only on iPhone and iPad).  There are several helpful articles about the holidays: this post was inspired by the article called ‘De-Stressing the Holidays’ which can also be viewed online by clicking the link. #SimplyHealthy