I always have a little trouble accessing my Christmas Spirit. It was easier when I lived in New York City, I think, because I was always out in the world, wandering through subway stations filled with shoppers and down streets past Santa after Santa. I actually left the house at night, and saw Christmas lights everywhere I turned.

Leaving the house after dark isn’t a thing I do very often these days; once we get back from our afternoon activity and start dinner, that’s usually it for me. And it’s for a good reason: there is literally nowhere in the world I’d rather be than in my own living room (which is usually the case, but especially at this time of year). We’ve been decorating, and cooking, and lighting a fire every single night, and watching Christmas movies and making forts and baking cookies. And with each night that passes, I get just a little bit more into that lovely-but-elusive holiday state of mind.

Did I mention that my efforts to make our home feel all Christmassy are also resulting in considerable cookie consumption? Oh my goodness so many cookies. The problem, of course, is that one type of cookie just won’t do: we have to make sugar cookies so that they can be decorated, and we have to make chocolate chip cookies because obviously, and we have to make Santa’s Favorite Cookies because even though Santa may not technically be on his way yet, practice makes perfect, right?