How to Holiday in Houston

I’m actually no expert in how to holiday in Houston, since we’re only new here, but I’ve made a plan. I figure if I don’t make a plan now, Christmas won’t start until we get to Maine five days before the big day!

It’s so strange living in a place that’s relatively warm (or scorchingly hot) year round. It’s the first time in my life I’ve been in a warm climate for more than a few weeks or a summer. September in Houston was boiling, October was humid and a million degrees the week we got Maya, and since then it’s been mostly 70’s and 80’s with a sprinkling of 60 degree days here and there. It feels like we’re living in a twilight zone of perpetually over-heated autumn. Heck, even Thanksgiving was high 70’s and 99% humidity!

The trees are a little less vibrant than they were in September, and some have even turned brown, but it really does not feel like Christmastime.

So, I’ve decided I’ve got to make a list and a plan to celebrate the holiday season for the next few weeks before the season is over. We also have the added excitement of celebrating Maya’s first Christmas – and introducing her to as much sparkly cheer as she can absorb at the ripe old age of two months.

Here’s what’s on my list:

• Take Maya to see Santa at Tiny Boxwoods cafe. They’re having their tree-lighting this week, so I’m going to dress Maya up and see what she thinks of the bearded man!
• Go to the Lights in the Heights. Our neighborhood has a whole evening dedicated to spending time looking at the light displays on all the beautiful houses. I’m planning on giving you a little neighborhood tour one of these days, but the houses went insane for Halloween (giant spiders everywhere!) and it’s already starting to glow for the holidays!
• Have hot chocolate at the Houstonian Hotel. Each evening during the festive season, the Houstonian has performances by local musical groups, accompanied by hot chocolate and cookies. Their lobby is all decked out and they make giant, intricate gingerbread houses. A good excuse to get a little dressed up for an evening, even if we’ll have Maya in tow.
• The Heritage Society does candlelight tours of the historic buildings in Sam Houston Park, not far from where we live, and there’s an art market to check out as well.
• Sip a festive drink! I can’t really stomach Starbucks, but once every holiday season, I really like to pick up a peppermint mocha an sip it while doing a little Christmas shopping. How people drink those regularly, I have no idea – so much sugar!
• Get a wreath. Check! I picked up a balsam wreath at Trader Joe’s today and it just needs a festive ribbon. I also picked up one of their grape vine wreaths and I’m tring to figure out how to decorate it for inside our house.
• Choose Christmas pajamas for Maya. We’re spending Christmas in Maine with my family, and I want Maya to have some holiday PJs for Christmas morning. My sister has already picked up a few holiday outfits for her so she’ll be fancy all day!
• Make a tree! Because we’re not staying in Houston long term (famous last words, ha!), there’s no sense in stocking up on Christmas decorations that Michael will definitely never let me lug back to Ireland. But I do want some sort of tree with battery-powered LED lights. Numbers 5 or 6 from this list are what I’m thinking for our very small apartment. (Update – that photo above is from my work in progress!)
• Take regular family walks around the neighborhood to check out the lights. It gets dark around 5pm here, which is relatively late compared to Ireland, but I want to take advantage of the evenings by getting some fresh air with Maya.
• Watch Love Actually (watching it as I type!) and The Holiday. Any favorite Christmas movies? We always watch A Child’s Christmas in Wales, the Dylan Thomas poem in movie form, and my sister and Michael always fall fast asleep five minutes in. Ha!
• Bake holiday cookies sooner than later. Or just eat all the mini chocolate stars from Trader Joe’s. Yum yum!

What’s on your holiday cheer list this year?