The TILL: DECEMBER
things I'm loving lately
This month, the last of 2025, calls for a deeply honest gathering of the things I’ve been loving lately, and I’m getting it up in the nick of time! I’ve been a bit off schedule for the holidays, but I guarantee this edit makes up for last week’s lull.
This time of year has always felt strange to me, the chunk of days between Christmas and New Years, and I’ve found it gets harder to navigate with each passing year in my twenties. Amidst all of the festivities and family gatherings and quiet yet somehow busy days, I find myself living for little moments of inspiration and cataloguing them away in my mind until I’m ready to dive deeper and make use of them. I’m not quite there yet, as I’m still traveling to see family for the holidays, but I’m looking forward to the moment I get back and can retreat to my mat and my journal with a cup of tea to process, and gear up for the year ahead.
Vogue mag – this takes me back to being fifteen reading my Seventeen magazines in bed, kicking my butt, flipping through pages reading about Miley Cyrus’ favorite snacks and Hillary Duff’s makeup hacks. There’s something so reminiscent about settling down with a fashion or lifestyle magazine. It’s giving 13 Going on 30.
This particular issue is the November British Vogue featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, but I also recently read the feature US Vogue did for December on Timothée Chalamet (photographed by Annie Liebovitz) and loved it. He has a confidence that is both inspiring and irritating.
Rotating between ice baths and steaming hot epsom salt baths. I keep it simple with Dr. Teal’s salts.
Organic Olivia tinctures (Lymph Tonic & Gluco Bitters). I’ve only been using these for a few weeks so it’s bold to make a recommendation, but I honestly have noticed a difference since incorporating them. I use Gluco Bitters for blood sugar balance before a big meal, and I drop Lymph Tonic into my water a couple times a day for help with fluid detoxification. If you’re at all inflamed, consider working your lymph more consciously.
Absentia on Netflix. This isn’t in the holiday spirit, but this show had a chokehold on me for most of December.
Hallmark - When it comes to Christmas movies, I’ll admit I’m not a purist. Every year since I was a kid, my mom and I would hunker down on the couch in the evenings and watch the Hallmark channel’s Countdown to Christmas. It’s something that just feels like December to me, and I don’t see that changing. We all need a guilty pleasure.
“You never know what life will bring, so why waste dreams on tomorrow when there’s a perfectly good today?”
- my favorite Hallmark movie quote of the season
Bright Moment (@brightmomentco) recipes were a staple in our house this season. I tried a new recipe every few days and every single one was a hit. We had sausage, cheddar & rosemary biscuits and raspberry cardamom streusel muffins for family breakfasts. I made giant pillowy cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, and we tried a few of her cookie recipes to wrap and give away as gifts. The NYC style browned butter chocolate chunk cookies were possibly the best choc chip cookies I’ve ever had.
Making presents :) I painted some popsicle sticks, slapped on bows and made these picture frame ornaments for friends. I also made coffee scrubs in glass jars. I didn’t follow an exact recipe, but this one on Pinterest looks about right.
Breathwork & meditation on the Open app - I found a 30-day trial from Gabriella Cristina (who also has 10/10 pilates sequences), and I’ve loved doing a session before bed each night.
To Be Magnetic - the December Challenge. This work is not for the faint-hearted, and admittedly it’s difficult to maintain consistency with during the holidays and all of the travel/ family time I’ve been fortunate enough to have, but I know I’m making life-changing progress.
I hope this little break in time has been restful for you, or perhaps productive, or whatever else you’re needing it to be.
Well wishes for the New Year
xx Carey