in the past years, we’ve been asking ourselves about each and every holiday and celebration: “what would truly excite us about this day? what do we want do together? what would be fun to do now and as our family grows? how can we make this day a special celebration? what traditions do we want to have as a family?” and while, yeah, it was because we now had a child and I wanted our lives peppered with joyful traditions and intentional celebrations, there’s also another added bonus: simplification.
because, as one of my favorite books ever talked about, there is power and freedom in deciding once. because we waste energy when doing the whole dance of, “I don’t, know, what do you want to do this year fo {insert holiday or celebration here}?” if you can pinpoint right now what you authentically love for that holiday and what would genuinely get you excited for, say, Valentine’s Day, assign it to that day. do it every year. decide once. no need to reinvent the wheel every year if you can figure out now what you’d love - we have plentyyyy of other things in our life to have to think about.
(of course - like our routines - the minute something is no longer serving us in our current season, we let it go and we reevaluate. so it’s totally fine if and when traditions need to change!)
but for now, that deciding once makes things so easy. so even when I’m not feeling well or man, I’m tired, or hi, i have a toddler and a six-month old, those family traditions are automated, guaranteeing us a special celebration.
and i want my kids to grow up and know that their mom loved her daily life, but she also loved holidays, traditions, and birthdays.
and because life is short. and i want mine peppered with joyful rituals and intentional celebrations.
ready?
we pick up cake from whole foods
we had a tiny wedding (35 people!) at a restaurant in Santa Fe and in lieu of a traditional wedding cake, we picked up five or six different cakes from Whole Foods. so every year for our anniversary, we pick up cake from Whole Foods to celebrate. sometimes we do one big cake, sometimes we do several slices of different cakes. regardless, we love this annual tradition (and the trip down memory lane).
read more about our wedding weekend in Santa Fe here.
and we take time that week to celebrate Our Family's Birthday -
with some sort of family adventure*, with a joint family gift, and with lots of the aforementioned Whole Foods cake.
*the interpretation of "adventure" varies each year - I usually choose something off our Local Places List, but maybe when the kids are older we’ll do something not local. :) the possibilities are endless and exciting!
and, and! depending on that year’s adventure, we may do an epic charcuterie board for dinner. but! if that doesn’t work well with that year’s adventure, we skip it, we don’t have to do it every year for it to be a beloved tradition, and I’m not forcing something for the sake of saying “we do it every year.”
so this year, for our sixth wedding anniversary, we booked a day pass at a local resort with a great toddler friendly pool. i splurged and rented a cabana, and we plan to play in the water with our babies and enjoy a nice poolside lunch in the shade. and if we’re home in time for a charcuterie board dinner, great! but if we’re having too much fun at the pool and instead grab drive-thru on the way home, that’s great too. :)
happy birthday to our family! and happy anniversary to us.
PS here’s what I bring to the pool
but let’s talk about that gift a bit more.
I come up with a joint family gift - something we would really use and enjoy. because Brett and I don’t want individual presents - we just don’t. we receive individual gifts through our birthday gift tradition, our Valentine Baskets, our Easter baskets, and our Christmas gifts. so we’re covered.
we prefer using our wedding anniversary as an excuse to invest in a good family gift - and I have so much fun. sometimes I even look at the traditional wedding anniversary gift themes to inspire my gift.
this year, for our sixth wedding anniversary, I decided to make a s’mores kit for our family. (which ended up being more than perfect, given that I’m pretty sure I saw candy was one of the anniversary gift themes for this year!)
but gosh I’m excited to put that s’mores kit to good use this summer and every summer after that.
and know we change it up whenever we need to
but of course - like our routines - the minute a tradition is no longer serving us in our current season, we let it go and we reevaluate. like, we used to celebrate our anniversary with an annual subscription to a Cheese of the Month club from a local cheese shop we loved to frequent as little dating babies. and while I loved this tradition, it was no longer working for us in this current season (read: we had other things to prioritize in our budget), and that's okay. so we let them go. we can always bring them back. nothing is permanent.
also to note
we do go on a dinner date just the two of us at least once a month throughout the year, and we recently started prioritizing small trips just the two of us. but we don't necessarily go on a Big Anniversary Thing every year - although we love going on a weekend getaway to Santa Fe just the two of us, if time and budget allow. :)
so for our wedding anniversary, we eat Whole Foods cake. and we celebrate Our Family's Birthday.
it’s the best.
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