Holidays 2019: The Perfect Storm of Festive

Evidently 2019 brings with it a ‘shorter’ holiday season because Thanksgiving is ‘late’ this year.

You might hear folks lament there’s one less weekend to enjoy the tree or other holiday decorations. You definitely know the retailers are feeling a pinch with Black Friday deals happening literally as I write this.

One might think these are all reasonable and legit reasons to feel cheated on twinkle lights. But I ask you: Is the holiday season really shorter? Or should we simply broaden our minds to the advantages that this year’s calendar brings us?

That is, there’s still a crazy abundance of holiday time to unplug this year.

Thanksgiving arrives right on time per the ‘last Thursday of November’ rule. Hanukkah and Christmas fall right in line, accordingly, too. We’re starting the story of Advent next Sunday, and I trust my church knows what it’s doing.

So, the challenge: Let’s flip this conundrum on its head and ask ourselves: Hasn’t ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ actually gotten more wonderful? Is this not the most perfect storm of festive you’ve ever seen?

This morning, texting with my Mom, we eagerly shared where to find holiday decorations. (If you’re a Vienna, VA native like us, you’ll be pleased to know that Maple Avenue is sparkling, and Anita’s is all decked out!) I shared that my office building put up a tree and my local shopping center in Lee Heights, Arlington is rocking the holidays, too.

She went on to announce that this coming weekend she’s arranging her Charles Dickens village on the family mantle and putting up the front door wreaths.

And today I saw workers on lifts putting up the White House Christmas tree. It made me smile.

But despite the joy that holiday decorations bring to me, it’s not lost on me that I still haven’t had one bite of turkey. Not even one drop of gravy. And I’m a gravy junkie.

But that’s ok because, like the rest of America, we’re also planning our Thanksgiving bonanza. A day that will be marked by family, football and an overwhelming amount of turkey, all the fixings and too many pies to count. And gravy. Lots of it.

And while this year Thanksgiving dinner will potentially be serenaded by Bing Crosby, it’s still Thanksgiving.

My goal this year: Embrace every last drop of compressed cheer I can get. And let’s unplug while we’re at it.

Spend time with your family and friends; volunteer to make someone’s holidays a little brighter; or just take a moment to soak in the sights, sounds and smells of this special season.

Enjoy your holidays! ALL of them, together – and with the ones you love!

P.S. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank my family for assigning me the most tricky and finicky Thanksgiving dish…. Broccoli casserole. (But I digress.)

Cory is a Content Strategist by profession and a writer / freelance web designer by hobby. A native of our Nation's Capital, she’s fortunate to be surrounded by family and lifelong friends who mean the world to her. On her downtime, you can find her spending time with them, or trying to find the Zen that life has to offer. Things that make her happy include, hanging out with loved ones, exploring new hiking trails, being terrible at Zumba, getting lost in a museum, taking in a movie, reading a great book, being adventurous in the kitchen and penning the occasional article. She also loves french fries, Harry Potter and binge watching just about anything. And her favorite color is orange. Learn more about Cory at www.corycontent.com