I am only two blog posts into December and I already feel like I am on a roll with all the festive content. I am slowly but surely starting to feel super festive and it’s all got to do with a couple of fun things I did this weekend. In the run up to Christmas I always like to do a couple of fun and festive activities to get in the Christmas spirit. This basically is a post dedicated to all the fun things I like to do in December to get myself super excited for the holidays.

The first activity I love during the lead up to Christmas is probably something most older, retired people like to. And since I am such a granny at heart, I am such a big lover of going to the garden centres in and around my hometown. It’s such an amazing way to soak in all the beautiful Christmas displays. The atmosphere at garden centres is just perfect and magical, which always brings me in such a joyous, festive and cosy mood. I usually start going to garden centres as soon as it’s the end of November, but this year I have not had the time to go yet. Thankfully I have a couple of trips planned for next week to make me feel super festive!

Drinking hot chocolates in town with friends

One of my favourite things to do on rainy days is to get together with my friends. This is usually something I like to do all year around. But during the December months I love getting together with friends at home or even in cafes. I love catching up with them in the month of December over a hot chocolate. I have so many great memories of catching up with friends while drinking hot chocolates with lots of whipped cream and some marshmallows on top. This has basically become a tradition to me.

Watching Christmas films

If I am spending most of my evening inside, I love watching any sort of Christmas film. I spent yesterday evening watching The Christmas Chronicles on Netflix and absolutely loved it. Christmas films always make me feel so festive and happy, so it’s no surprise that I usually spend every day in December watching some sort of Christmas film. I especially love watching the classics, such as Elf and The Grinch and my romantic favourites Love Actually and The Holiday. But once all the classics have been watched, I always go back to those super cheesy, romantic Hallmark Channel Christmas. They are such a guilty pleasure of mine!

Christmas tree shopping

Christmas tree shopping has got to be one of my favourite activities throughout the month. It’s my favourite thing to do, as I still live at home. This means I get to go Christmas tree shopping with my parents. It’s always such a fun trip. My dad usually wants to buy the first tree he sees, but my mum and I always are a lot pickier. We like to look at them all and then decide which one will look perfect in the house. When we picked the one we usually bring it home and my mum and I like to decorate it together while my dad sits and judges how Christmas tree work from a distance. He says he doesn’t really care too much, but I think he secretly quite likes having a tree with all the lovely Christmas lights too.

Christmas gift shopping

Gift shopping is a love-hate thing. I like to do my Christmas gift shopping quite early in December, as it’s usually not as busy in town just yet. It’s always quite busy in town, but I love the hustle of people in town during December. Everyone just looks super happy. I love going into town when it slowly starts to get dark. This is why I usually go into town at around two or three in the afternoon. Then at around four o’clock it starts to get dark and you can really see all the Christmas lights around town. That’s probably my favourite part about it all. It makes you feel so festive while going into all the stores to get your gifts ready for Christmas.


Is there anything in the world more festive than a Christmas market? I guess not, which is why I love going to them so much! I have only really been to the ones in my hometown, in Leiden and London. They were both so fun and it’s so nice to see everyone get together and bond over drinks. I actually planned on going to the Christmas market in Maastricht this year, but didn’t get to because of my uni work… So next year visiting lots of Christmas markets is super high on my ‘Christmas bucket list’. I am hoping to go to Christmas markets in Maastricht, Bruges, Dusseldorf and Edinburgh! I think all of these cities really go to town with their Christmas markets.

The Swedish Christmas tree being lit

One of my favourite activities to do while it’s December, is watching the Christmas tree outside of the Swedish embassy being turned on. It’s such a big and fun event in The Hague, where I live. Everyone comes together and enjoys a hot chocolate or gluhwein next to the Christmas tree. I feel like this Swedish Christmas tree being lit is the official start of all the Christmas festivities. After the tree is lit, most Christmas activities in The Hague also usually start.