Laughing Lindsay

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Tips to Celebrate Each Season

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Now that it’s the beginning of a new year, I’d like to share a few tips to celebrate each season.

Tips to Celebrate Each Season

Tips to Celebrate Each Season

Personally, I need little things to look forward to doing. I love that each season is so different (at least in Virginia) and has different activities and holidays to look forward to. Fall and Winter with Halloween and Christmas tend to get the most attention. However, I enjoy bringing the same enthusiasm for the season and activities to the rest of the year. So, here are some of the little (affordable) ways I like to celebrate each season!

  • Crafts – Over the past couple of years, I gotten more into painting door hangers and little items. I love that Target has even started offering different seasonal crafts. I also just purchased a paint by number canvas from Aldi. I also have a few color by number books. Crafts ease my anxiety and brighten my day. So, it’s fun to make seasonal crafts to hang up or just look at while you color.
  • Decorate – This one often goes along with crafts, but I enjoy changing out the decor around my home. I’m always home and the plain walls can be boring to look at. So, it’s nice to switch out a few items every few months.
  • Bake – I love to bake! I enjoy making seasonal treats. Give me all of the pumpkin and apple in fall. I love blueberries, lemon, and lime in summer. Winter is great for chocolate or spice. Spring is the perfect time to make my grandma’s rhubarb pie.
  • Pancakes – I know this ones seems really random, but it’s a really affordable way to celebrate the season. Walmart (and sometimes Target, Trader Joe’s, or Aldi) will carry special seasonal pancake mixes. I enjoy picking up a couple each season and trying them on the weekends. I just finished off a peppermint mocha one from Walmart and am hoping Target gets their Valentine’s Day red velvet one again this year. You can also mix and match with seasonal whipped creams from Target or Aldi.
  • Travel – It should come as no surprise that I enjoy travelling to different destinations to see seasonal events. Although, I tend to avoid summer travel since it’s so hot.

How do you celebrate seasons?

Do you do anything fun to celebrate the different seasons? If so, what?

A Look Back at 2024

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We find ourselves at the end of another year, so I thought I would do a look back at 2024!

A Look Back at 2024

A Look Back at 2024

Last year, I posted a year in review of 2023. So, I thought I would continue that tradition this year. Personally, I enjoy looking back on a year to see what I did or accomplished. It can help me create new plans or dreams for the future. So, here’s a look at where I went and what I learned.

More Intentional Travel

2023 was full of trips and I was very busy. I decided towards the end of last year that I wanted to be more intentional with my time and trips in 2024. So, I set out to take fewer trips this year and I was successful on that front. In 2023 I took 9 trips! In 2024 I have taken 5. I’ve come to realize that I need at least two weeks between trips to fully recover, but at least a month is ideal. I’m hoping to carry this intentional travel and time spent at home into the new year.

Epic Solo Trip

It took me several months to figure out the jigsaw puzzle of a schedule that was my epic solo trip to Burbank/Anaheim in September! I flew into Burbank to visit Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Walt Disney Studios! Then, I traveled down to Anaheim to visit Disneyland for Halloween! It was an exhausting trip that included sitting in rush hour traffic for two hours! However, I am so happy that I was able to make that trip happen. I was able to check off several things I’ve been wanting to do for a while.

Virginia’s Historic Triangle

I found myself in Virginia’s Historic Triangle on two separate trips this year. I went with my husband in early May and we visited Jamestown (my second time) and Yorktown (for the first time). Then, I visited Colonial Williamsburg with my mom in December for Christmas. Both trips also included a visit to Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

2 New Theme Parks

I was able to visit two new (to me) theme parks this year: Universal Studios Hollywood and Busch Gardens Williamsburg! In fact, I became a passholder for Busch Gardens since I visited twice and they offer bring-a-friend free passes.

Some Favorites

As I revealed in my 2023 post, I also had a trip booked for early February to Orlando. My mom and I got to experience Mardi Gras at UO again as well as Festival of the Arts at Epcot again. It was a nice trip that I’m sure we’ll repeat again sometime, but probably not in 2025. As I said in the 2023 post, we let our UO passes lapse and haven’t been back since. I had a trip booked for October of this year, but cancelled due to the hurricane.

A Look Back at 2024 Baking

I mentioned baking some new things in last year’s post, so I thought I would briefly mention it again. This year, I made my first completely from scratch pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving! It was really good! I also experimented with a no bake cheesecake, but learned that the water bath version just sets up better. I also made my first French silk pie, which was tasty! In August I made my first cherry pie. I didn’t care for it, but my family said it was good. For my birthday, I made a chocolate peanut butter cake that was too rich. Oh, well. I’ll try something else next year. I did make a pretty good key lime pie in the summer!

Looking Ahead to 2025

Once again, I’m not entirely certain where the new year will take me. However, I currently have one trip booked for next year. It’s a bucket list trip that doesn’t involve a theme park and it will happen very soon! Stay tuned to learn about that one. Beyond that, I’m not sure what I will be doing next year.

So, what are your plans for the new year? Do you have any exciting trips planned for 2025?

My Favorite Christmas Activities

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I previously posted about the best things to do in different seasons, but today I’m honing in on my favorite Christmas activities!

Favorite Christmas Activities

My Favorite Christmas Activities

I’ve now posted my favorite things to do in fall, spring, winter, and summer! However, I realized that the holidays are their own special time of the year. So, it deserves its own post!

List of Things to do at Christmas

  • Travel – I love to travel and see the holidays at different locations. My favorite place is probably Walt Disney World (shocker, I know). However, I’ve always enjoyed Christmas decor and lights. So, I enjoy seeing those just about anywhere.
  • Watch movies – I enjoy getting into the holiday spirit with a good Christmas movie! I have several movies that I have to re-watch every year, including A Christmas Story and Elf.
  • Bake – We started hosting the holidays back in 2019. So, I’m responsible for the vast majority of the holiday treats for my family. The good news is I enjoy researching new sweets and making old favorites every year. Nothing says Christmas Eve to me like baking!
  • Listen to music – I tend to resist listening to Christmas music until Thanksgiving. However, after that I will listen to it when I bake or get ready to go out. I still listen to rock/pop music when I workout though.
  • Decorate my house – Even before we hosted the holidays, we put up a tree and a few lights outside. However, now that we host, we tend to go all out. It takes us a few days to get everything set out, but it’s worth it.
  • Puzzles – In recent years, I’ve taken to completing at least one festive puzzle while watching a movie.
  • Wear holiday clothing – Yes, I probably seem insane. However, rotating my clothing for the seasons makes me happy. So, I do it.
  • Buy presents – I enjoy surprising my husband with the perfect gift. We use a gift list for everyone else. However, I do buy stocking stuffers to add some fun. I also may hit up deals to purchase stuff for myself. Haha!

What do you do to get in the spirit?

Is there something you enjoy doing around the holidays that I left off of my list?

My Favorite Summer Activities

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It’s hard to believe that yet another season is upon us. That means it’s time for my favorite summer activities post!

Favorite Summer Activities

I’ve now shared my favorite activities for each season: fall, winter, and spring! So, it seemed appropriate to kick-off the unofficial beginning of the hottest season with a list of my favorite things to do!

Favorite Summer Activities

  • Read – While it’s hot outside, I like to stay in the air conditioning with a good book. In fact, I love participating in the local library’s summer reading program for a chance to win prizes! It’s something I’ve done most summers since I was a child! I think most libraries host one.
  • Eat berries – I love strawberries and this tends to be the best season to enjoy them. Lots of restaurants will have seasonal berry treats this time of the year and I like trying as many as I can.
  • Sunflower festival – This is a relatively new one for me, but I enjoy visiting a local sunflower festival in the summer. There’s actually a couple here in Virginia. They are fun to photograph. Plus, it’s nice to take the time to appreciate the beauty of each individual flower.
  • BBQ – Who doesn’t love some BBQ?! I’m lucky enough to have a couple of good BBQ places where I live. We eat it year round but tend to gravitate towards it the most in the warmer months as it’s not heavy.
  • Ice cream – It’s wonderful to cool off with an ice cream or frozen yogurt with plenty of toppings!
  • Stay home – Given my propensity for travel, this probably comes as a surprise. However, I’ve taken to intentionally staying home during the hottest months of the year recently. I sweat too much to go too far in the heat.
  • Do a puzzle – A puzzle is the perfect indoor activity.
  • S’mores – We bought a firepit a few years back and love to make s’mores on Saturday nights.

Summertime Fun

I know lots of people like to take vacations to the beach or camp during this time of the year. What do you like to do in the heat of the summer?

My Favorite Spring Activities

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Happy first day of spring! I thought I would celebrate the new season with a list of my favorite spring activities!

Favorite Spring Activities

Favorite Spring Activities

I feel like I just shared my post with activities for winter, but today is the first day of spring! So, I thought I would share a new list of things that you can do to celebrate this season!

  • Decorate the house – I have a few spring and a few Easter specific decorations that I enjoy displaying during this time of the year.
  • Fun crafts – Over the past couple of years, I have gotten into painting some seasonal door hangers and knick-knacks to display. I painted some flowers this year and decorated a bunny cookie house I found at Target! You can see last year’s crafts in the Instagram post below!
  • Baking – I love to bake. I will be making a carrot cake here soon to celebrate my husband’s birthday (his request) and it feels downright springy! I also might try to make my grandma’s rhubarb pie again.
  • Make/color eggs – I’m too old to color eggs. However, I used to enjoy it as a kid. Now, I like to make peanut butter/chocolate and coconut/dark chocolate eggs to eat with family and friends!
  • Spring clean – I can’t stand a cluttered mess. Spring is the perfect time to get rid of stuff you don’t use and to get organized. I also don’t mind doing a little cleaning around the house.
  • Embrace pastels – I love changing up my clothing to match the holidays and seasons. So, it’s nice to begin thinking about wearing lighter clothes and brighter colors.
  • Travel – You have to research school/college calendars and avoid spring breaks to travel during this season. However, a late spring/early Summer trip after Easter and before Memorial Day is usually a good idea.

Spring Can Be Fun

I think spring is pretty with the pastels and flowers. However, you have to dodge the spring break crowds and deal with pollen. So, what are your favorite spring activities?

You can view my favorite summer, fall, and winter activities here.