Making A List And Checking It Twice – Getting Organized This Holiday Season

Hey friends! I can not believe we are already almost mid-way through December. Every month seems to fly by but December is the zippiest of them all. Do you agree? Part of keeping myself on task is by making lists … lots of them actually. I am a big believer in making a list and checking it twice. I thought I’d give you some tips on staying organized during this extra busy time of year. My biggest advice? Keep your lists in one notebook. Otherwise, you have lists in multiple places and it’s hard to keep track of who/what/when/where.

We attended two parties this weekend. One was at our friends’ incredible farmhouse. We wanted to move in and stay forever cause it was so dreamy. They didn’t leave any details out when they built their home and it was totally magazine worthy. Her craft room was a dream. Seriously. I didn’t want to leave and my hubby was having a blast in the game room/bar. What guy wouldn’t, right?  Last night my girlfriend hosted a tamale making party. We ate amazing tamales and got to take home a dozen to cook later.  Two things, I have never made or eaten tamales. I know, what’s wrong with me? I’d be happy to do both again! We have another fun event scheduled for tonight but we have to opt out as it’s a school night, my oldest has finales this week and we just need a night to breathe at home. It is so hard to miss out on the fun though. Later this week, we will be heading to an area about 30 minutes from here in Sacramento called the Fab Forties to look at Christmas lights. It is a super fun tradition that we have done for years. We usually go to dinner beforehand. The past two years we have gone to Cafeteria 15L and let me just say, the chicken & waffles are the bomb! I didn’t even know I liked chicken & waffles but now I am a believer. I’d love to squeeze in a trip to San Francisco as we have never done that during the holidays. The days and nights just fill up so quickly. I need a whole other month of December to fit it all in. Do you have special holiday traditions?

I feel like I am a pretty organized person but it’s so easy to miss events or gifts if you don’t keep some sort of calendar or checklist. We use our calendar on our phone to keep track of things but we also keep a paper calendar on the fridge to have an immediate visual at home of what we have happening. My husband and I share the phone calendar so that we can make sure we both see what the other has scheduled for planning purposes.

To keep track of my Christmas ‘stuff’, gifts, meal plans, etc. I use a notebook. Everything is in one spot and I can easily add or cross stuff off as it happens {or I change my mind. Ha!}. I also use my phone for ‘day of’ type lists. For example, I have to go to Costco later today. I just stick a note of what I need at Costco in my phone for quick reference.  I even have a few lists for blogging. One is a list of things I need to handle and the other is a list of topics I’d like to blog about. I have a list of house projects broken down my room too! Yes, I am a list junkie but it keeps me on task. Usually.

A few examples of my lists:

C H R I S T M A S  G I F T S

• Who
• What
• Check once completed

S T O C K I N G   S T U F F E R S

I always do stockings for my boys and hubby. I usually stick things that I know they will like and use so things like small books, magazines, special treats, beef jerky, socks. Each one is a bit different but I want to be fair about who gets what so I write it all down to make sure that everyone gets the same amount of goodies. By the way, I might have visited the gas station for some stocking stuffers this year. Yes, I really did! They have some of the perfect snack size/stocking stuffer sized portions.

M E A L  P L A N S

We travel to see my husband’s family in Napa twice a during the Christmas season. We always bring some type of food so I like to make sure that I add this to my list and shop accordingly. I will be taking enchiladas to the first event and I always bring a big platter of sweet treats to share.

I also always host Christmas morning and Christmas dinner. Both of these meals involve feeding a lot of faces and I try to have everything done 1 -2 days in advance. Less work the day of = more quality time with family.

Christmas morning usually involves something sweet and something savory. Breakfast casseroles are some of my favorite make-ahead breakfast meals. I shared a post with 20 delicious make-ahead breakfast dishes here. I can’t decide which ones I will be making this year because they all look so good.  I add some fruit and of course drink options too {coffee, hot cocoa and orange juice but you could definitely turn that OJ into a mimosa cause hey, ’tis the season to be jolly}.

We usually eat a bit earlier and have appetizers plus breakfast keeps us pretty full into the afternoon.  Dinner this year is looking like a gorgonzola-stuffed beef tenderloin with port wine sauce {I found this in a 2013 copy of Sunset magazine – good thing I save my seasonal magazines, eh?}, ham, a few savory sides, a big green salad and rolls. Dessert will be Ruth’s Chris Bread Pudding {a favorite around here} and a cheesecake. In honor of my dad, we will also have deviled eggs and a salami & cheese platter for appetizers. These were things he always contributed to Christmas. I also like to put out whole black olives as that was a tradition during the holiday season when I was growing up. Yes, I do like to put them on my fingers like a child and eat them. Doesn’t everyone? 😉

C O O K I E S  &  T R E A T S

I bake a lot this time of year. I typically weed through Pinterest and old cookbooks & magazines. I make lists of what I think would be fun to try and of course, add in a few tried & true recipes as well. I recently shared some fun shareable treat ideas here.

I typically dedicate a few days to baking and then I put everything in separate containers until right before I am ready to assemble my platters. This keeps everything fresh and none of the flavors run into each other or make other cookies too soft, etc. You know you don’t want everything to taste like mint from one mint cookie. Know what I’m sayin’?

When I am ready to shop, I pull recipes and add everything to my awesome ‘ALL OUT OF‘ list. This has been my go-to grocery list for years. On a typical week, I will scribble out my weekly meal plan on the back.

Do you have a method of keeping yourself on task during this busy time of year? I’d love to hear how you stay organized. Merry everything to you!