Hello everyone, welcome back! I mentioned in my Gift Guide that I would love to spend time doing something with all of the people I love this December, so today I wanted to share a list of my favorite activities – perfect for a date, girls’ night, or family outing! A few of them are New England specific if you’re in the area!
- Pop-up Winter Market. There are tons of Christmas markets popping up this month. In Boston, it’s SoWa and City Hall Plaza, but a quick Google search with your city should turn up some near you!
- Build a Gingerbread house. An annual tradition at my family’s Thanksgiving is to kick off Christmas by building Gingerbread houses, and now I can hardly imagine a holiday season without them!
- Go Ice Skating. As cliched as it may be, I love ice skating. B and I went well after Christmas last year, though there is something magical about going during December.
- Visit Winter Reimagined at Tower Hill Botanical Garden (or your local light display!). Tower Hill is one of my favorite places in the world, and every year they put on the most spectacular winter lights display. Every area usually has a well known lights display, so bundle up and reserve your tickets!
- Build a fort for movie night. Everyone’s calendars are so full during December, I love the idea of finding a night you both have free and staying in for a cozy Elf screening (or your favorite movie, but it’s probably Elf). This date is best enjoyed with homemade cookies!
- See the Newport Mansions decked out in their Holiday Best. Two years ago I went with my sister and best friend and they were absolutely stunning. Newport native Jess wrote a full blog post about other holiday activities to do in Newport here – it’s an amazing resource and I can’t wait to go try all of the things she recommended!
- Get tickets for a holiday classic. Whether it’s Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker or the Boston Pops, I love seeing the Christmas magic come to life. If you’re looking for an option that’s more budget friendly, you’d be surprised how fantastic a lot of local high school’s Christmas concerts are!
- See a holiday comedy show. If Christmas music isn’t your jam, most comedy clubs have holiday specials during the month of December. I’m a fan of ImprovAsylum in Boston!
- ZooLights. Most zoos have great light displays for the holidays. In Boston, it’s Stone Zoo.
- Take a cheese board making class to prepare for all of your party contributions! I mentioned this in my gift guide, but for my birthday B got us tickets to a cheese board making class with Formaggio. It was so much fun and we left armed with the knowledge to create some killer cheese boards for our holiday parties (PLUS we found some of our new favorite cheeses!)