Oh at last, here is December, the Christmas season starts officially today! The holiday mood has crept onto my downloadable calendar as well, so you can use a grey work day to smuggle some festive cheer into your daily life.

For me, getting into the Christmas mood seems harder and harder every year but I have my own survival kit, which will always bring some holiday spirit. So instead of the usual nature notes I am going to share this list with you – in the hope it might help you as well. So at my place…

…there is no December without

• Christmas movies (Love Actually and Bridget Jones are must-s, others may come according to my mood)
• Christmas carols (it is Diana Krall lately, but I have loved the King’s College Choir and Loreena McKennitt as well)
• candles & tea
• having breakfast in bed with some Christmas Special magazines
• mulled wine and the Christmas fair
• walking in the city full of Christmas lights
• the smell of orange
• baking

Enjoy this amazing month, and have a lovely, calm, shopping-centre-free December :)