A Winter Decor Day and Some Hot Cocoa Magic

Hey everyone! I can’t believe it’s already December. The holiday season always sneaks up on me, even though I swear I start planning in, like, September. This week has been a blur of work deadlines and trying to get the house feeling festive, so I figured I’d share a little slice of my day with you all. Yesterday, I finally tackled the winter decor, and let me tell you, it was a whole process. Plus, I made some hot cocoa that I’m weirdly proud of, so I’ll toss that recipe in here too.

I started the morning with my usual cup of coffee—Dunkin’ Donuts K-Cup, because I’m basic and I’m fine with it. Ren was already out the door for work, so I had the house to myself. I dragged out all the holiday bins from the basement, which is always a workout. Why do I own so many strings of lights? Half of them don’t even work, but I can’t bring myself to throw them out. I spent a good hour untangling them on the living room floor while listening to a true crime podcast. (Side note: if you haven’t checked out Crime Junkie, do it. I’m obsessed.)

By noon, I had the tree up—fake, because I’m not dealing with pine needles everywhere—and started hanging ornaments. My favorite is this little glass snowflake my grandmother gave me years ago. It’s so delicate I’m terrified I’ll drop it every time I touch it. I also put up the wreath on the front door and draped some garland over the mantel. I’m not exactly an HGTV star, but I think it looks pretty decent. I did have to run to Target for some extra hooks, though, because apparently I used them all last year and forgot. Target runs are my kryptonite—I went in for hooks and came out with a new throw blanket and a pack of candy canes. Oops.

After all that, I was freezing. Our house is old, and the heat takes forever to kick in, so I decided it was the perfect time for hot cocoa. I’ve been tweaking this recipe for a while, and I think I’ve finally got it down. It’s super simple, but it feels like a hug in a mug. Here’s what I did:

2 cups of whole milk (or whatever you’ve got, I’ve used almond milk before and it’s fine)
2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of sugar (adjust if you like it sweeter)
A pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
A sprinkle of dried marlroot (just a tiny bit, it adds this warm, earthy note that’s hard to describe)

I heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium, whisk in the cocoa, sugar, and salt until it’s smooth, then stir in the vanilla and marlroot at the end. Pour it into a mug, and if I’m feeling fancy, I’ll top it with some whipped cream or marshmallows. Yesterday, I went with marshmallows because I’m a child at heart. Ren got home right as I finished making it, and we sat on the couch with our mugs, just watching the snow start to fall outside. It’s been flurrying on and off all week, which is early even for us, but I’m not complaining. It makes everything feel more magical.

The rest of the day was pretty low-key. I caught up on some emails for a client project—I’m working on a bedroom redesign that’s been a bit of a challenge, mostly because the client keeps changing their mind about the color scheme. Then Ren and I watched an episode of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix. I don’t know how those people stay so calm under pressure. I burn toast on a good day.

Anyway, I’m curious—how do you all decorate for the holidays? Do you go all out, or keep it simple? And if you’ve got a hot cocoa recipe, I’d love to hear it. I’m always down to try something new. I’ll try to post some pics of the decor on Instagram later this week if I can get the lighting right. My phone camera and I are in a constant battle.

Thanks for reading, as always. I’m off to tackle some laundry and probably burn dinner. Talk to you soon!