I cannot believe we are already here in December!!! It’s been a month since our wedding and TIME HAS SERIOUSLY FLOWN BY. And if you’re wondering, yes, I do still wish we could relive that weekend over and over. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.

Since it’s officially the holiday season, I’ve made a list of all the things we cannot wait to do to really soak in that holiday spirit!

1.  Sending Christmas cards! For the first time EVER, we’re going to send out a Christmas card this year! It’s our first Christmas as The Franco’s so what better way to really celebrate that then with a holiday card?

2. Visiting the Christmas Tree farm. We just went this past weekend and it was a blast! It’s so fun to run through the rows of trees, breathing in that pine wood sent. It’s a much better experience than buying your tree in the grocery store parking lot, that is if you have the opportunity! Otherwise, those grocery store lots will do the trick!

3. Decorating our Christmas tree! Every year, when we get our tree, we plan one night where Joey and I plan a “decorating date.” We cook dinner together, light candles, put Christmas music on the record player, and quite literally dance around the Christmas tree as we spruce it all up! I’m especially excited this year because we’re going with a little bit of a different theme than usual and I’m excited to see how it turns out!

4. Riverside Festival of Lights.We accidentally came across this festival last year, when we had a meeting with our wedding florist. We were hungry and driving around after meeting with her when we noticed a bunch of the streets were blocked off. We parked the car and walked to see what the commotion was, and it was the most fun little Christmas festival happening downtown! There were so many beautiful lights and things to see. They had holiday vendors everywhere. It was like a big holiday farmer’s market- with lights and music, and for sure the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had! We’re looking forward to going back again this year!

5. Baking up some good Christmas cookies and desserts! It’s always fun during the holidays to try out different recipes. I’m looking forward to creating some sort of peppermint dark chocolate treat! I’ve been pinning ideas for months!

6. Having a Christmas movie marathon paired with some hot cocoa on the couch! I’m more than ready for some Elf, Just Friends, The Santa Claus, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!!!

7. Visiting Candy Cane Lane. Every year we drive through a local neighborhood everyone refers to as “Candy Cane Lane.” All the houses in the neighborhood go all out and decorate their houses like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Last year we went with my cousins and we were all huddled in the car with blankets blasting Christmas music, it was so much fun and I can’t wait to go again!

8. Visit the snow! Last year we went up to Big Bear with some friends of ours and we had so much fun sledding and inner tubing down the snow filled mountains.

9. Christmas parties! Last year we literally went to a holiday party every weekend, and sometimes even two in one night! I can’t wait for the holiday parties this year, it’s such a great time to catch up with friends and family.

10. Visit Disneyland!! Although the fall season is my absolute favorite, Christmas time at Disneyland is also very special. They roll out a plethora of new treats and their decorations are super cute. I can’t wait to go all month long!

I’d love to hear about your favorite things to do during the winter/Holiday season! Do we share any of the same things? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,

Amanda