Issue #57: December 2024 Favorites

A heartwarming TV show, my go-to writing tool, the best NFL celebrations, and more

It wasn’t that I was a Grinch this year, although I finally watched the newest version of that movie. It’s just that my inbox was a neverending river of gift guides and holiday must-dos, and I didn’t have anything additional to add to all the noise. I’m at the age now where I see the stress of people in charge of making the magic, and I don’t think anyone needs another list of things they should do, make, watch, and buy during the holiday season.

We found ways to make our own holiday magic here with a trip to the Wild Lanterns at the Woodland Park Zoo, eggnog dates with friends, and my first-ever trip to Disneyland. I watched the newest Lindsey Lohan movie, which I should have included in this favorites list, but I’m trying to avoid holiday things here. I sent out holiday cards, which is my way of spreading cheer to our friends and family around the country. And now, I’m excited to fully settle into the winter season.

It’s time. Let’s dive into my December favorites.

🐕 Colin From Accounts

This show popped up on my flight home from San Diego, and I watched the first three episodes and quickly fell in love. I have mentioned it to everyone I’ve seen since then. It’s Australian and can be found on Paramount+ to stream (plus Delta flights.) The story starts with a dog getting hit by a car (stay with me), and the people involved in the accident have to help the dog, sparking a new relationship. It fills a void in my TV watching that I didn’t even know I had. Highly recommend.

🌲 Real Garland

We don’t get a tree anymore, but this year, we picked up some garland from Home Depot’s garden department, and I love it. We put it around the fireplace with some white lights, and I will leave it up all winter. It brings in more greenery and can easily be composted in the spring. The look is so festive without being too Christmassy.

🇮🇹 The Guncle Abroad

I will read anything that Steven Rowley writes. He has a way of describing grief and love that I find incredibly relatable. The Guncle was one of my favorite books of 2021, and this was the sequel. The author took a minute to make fun of sequels early in the book, which was so clever. These two books would be a great way to kick off the new year if you want a little escape.

😈 Minnesota Vikings

I have been relatively checked out for the last few seasons, but I’ve been watching more of the Vikings this year, and it’s been a delight. Their end zone celebrations are the best in the league with recreations of the Parent Trap dance and the High School Musical choreography. We also got to see them play here in Seattle two weeks ago, and it was so much fun.

📺 The Diplomat

Keri Russell is someone that I will always follow. The Americans is one of the best shows we’ve ever watched, so I was instantly intrigued when I saw The Diplomat. The second season just wrapped up on Netflix, and there was a serious cliffhanger that has me impatiently waiting for the release date for the third season.

📝 Paperage Journal

For the last five months, I’ve been doing morning pages every weekday. That’s a practice from The Artist’s Way book, and it just means that you open the notebook every day and write three pages. As someone who has used journals for years, it took me a long time to find a favorite. These notebooks lay flat and stay together well, plus the cover keeps them protected. I buy them in packs of three now, and the color options allow me to switch it up each time.

Grab a three-pack or just one to get started if you want to make this a new 2025 habit for yourself.

🎿 Strength for Skiers on Peloton

Our ski trip is officially booked for Whistler in March, so it’s time to get serious about getting my ski legs ready. Peloton just released a few strength classes specific to skiing, and I’ve been adding them to my weekly rotation. So many people assume that Peloton is the bike only, but I use the app way more for strength and mobility classes. If you are in the same boat as me with skiing this winter, give them a try.

Try the Peloton app for free for 60 days using this link.

🎶 Messy by Lola Young

I’m sure this song was a TikTok thing, but I absolutely love it. It’s the perfect energy for me going into a new year. Knowing I can still relate to a 23-year-old is a wonderful feeling.

🧙🏻‍♀️ Wicked

We waited until the theaters had emptied a bit before buying tickets to see Wicked in the theater, but we finally saw it. I was worried it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but I was so wrong to be concerned. The movie was excellent, the music was incredible, and everyone in the theater seemed to be wiping their eyes at least once or twice during the movie.

The world they have created in the movie is incredible. We loved it so much, we decided to use it for our holiday card this year.

If you missed our ridiculous card from last year, check it out here, and you’ll see that ridiculous cards are kind of our thing:

Issue #23: Trying to Stir Up Holiday Feels

• If you do want to start journaling, there are some great ideas to help you get started.

• My mom gifted me this awesome cookbook for Christmas and it will be put to good use in 2025. We are going to make every single pizza and salad combo, but there will be some substitutions where there’s meat. I’m so excited.

• I just purchased this hair treatment to try and make my hair less frizzy.

• Here are my favorite books from 2023, and I’ll be putting together my 2024 list soon, but I still have a few hours to finish another book and meet my goal.

• The holidays can come with a lot of family questions, and I thought this NY Times article was interesting and annoying at the same time.

• I’m giggling at these 2025 trends as I pull a fresh loaf of sourdough out of the oven. Why is this journey so addicting even though I have yet to have a perfect loaf? I doubt I’ll start wearing capes, but don’t count me out yet.

That’s all for 2024. I’ll come back with a recap of the year later this week in a similar format as last years:

Hopefully, you’ll be enjoying a good cup of cheer tonight and ushering in a new calendar year. I might run into the Puget Sound tomorrow or bake a new loaf of sourdough, but I think I’m past resolutions and hefty annual goals. I’m just focusing on enjoying the little moments.

Thanks for reading this year. I’ve got some great drafts in the works for the next few months, so keep reading, sharing, following, commenting, and everything else. It’s so appreciated. Tell me what your favorite December thing was.

Cheers!

Steph

**Reminder: Some of the links included are affiliate links. Purchasing through them may give me a few pennies, but it won’t cost you any extra. The pennies help me justify the amount of time I spend watching bad TV to share with all of you. Another way to help is to share this, hit the like button, or even drop a comment with something you have loved this month. And if you’re really inspired, you can pledge your support.