With all the pumpkin spice in the air, it’s hitting me that the holidays are right around the corner.

My friends and fam have a ton of different winter holiday traditions, from cultural celebrations to nights out with friends to just enjoying a bit of downtime. For us, holidays are also part of the ongoing convo around downsizing. We’re out of the habit of buying just for the sake of buying, but it’s so easy for Christmas (birthdays too) to turn into a ginormous, overstimulating, spending pressure cooker. 

Last year, we decided to try something different and planned a family getaway: Christmas in San Diego. We stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Diego – Hotel Circle, in a bunk bed suite – whoever invented the bunk bed deserves a Nobel prize, IMHO. We rented a car so we could drive to the beach each day, especially since the boys love the cooler ocean temps (is that weird?). We packed a five-dollar tree courtesy of Target’s clearance section. And as a nod to tradition, we had one small gift for each of the kids, beautifully wrapped and delivered to the hotel in advance, TY Amazon Prime!

I was a little nervous about telling the boys our plan, but they love our travels and were excited for the vacay! Zero fuss about not getting piles of presents; I honestly don’t think it registered. Some days were overcast but temps were in the high 70s, and it felt like we had the beach all to ourselves. We took family pics, dipped quickly-growing toes in the waves, scribbled in the sand, snuggled a ton. We dined on Mexican food for Christmas Eve (salsa IS red and green) and Chinese on Christmas Day (stuffed goose, Peking duck, tomato, tomahto). 

It. Was. A. BLAST.  

Easily one of our best Christmases yet. We were at the beach, we were together, and everyone was just so happy. I hope they remember it that way too. I still am. I always will.