Next up we have fabulous Joslyn from one of my favorite reads, Simple Lovely, sharing with us this sweet family tradition. Welcome, Joslyn!

One of my favorite movie scenes occurs in the beginning of Little Women (the newish one with Wynona Ryder) when the sisters come downstairs for Christmas breakfast and are thrilled and awed by the sausages, fresh bread and butter and the single orange gracing the table. There is such purity in their excitement of the fundamental things we take for granted daily that I never fail to be hugely inspired by watching them.

A few years ago, I started an annual Little Women viewing for our family the very first weekend of December. We use the film to set the tone for our holiday celebrations, to temper the urge to let the month be about the material rather than the experiences. To remind us that in this age of instant and constant availability, things can (and should) still feel rare and special.

To that end, some of the most important components of our holiday are the things that we save for December. We pull out our stash of favorite Christmas books and enjoy them for a single month a year, ditto the Christmas music and movies. We wait until December 1st to buy our first crate of Clementines (it’s hard, but we do it); we have a few special recipes that we save for Christmas (no matter how much we crave them the rest of the year).

It’s amazing how these small things make such a big impact and remind us of the sheer beauty in simplicity…