COVID-19 dampening your festive mood? Here’s how you can celebrate Christmas at home

This year, Christmas will be like no other. With the pandemic still raging, it is obvious that celebrations this year would be a bit muted.

Yet, people are often more optimistic during the festive season, despite challenges. Media reports stated that Christmas cheer made an early visit this year, with people starting to set up their trees from November. 

However, it is wiser to refrain from going out into the streets, at least right now.

So while you stay safe inside your houses, with family or alone, YS Weekender has a few recommendations for you to enjoy a jolly good Christmas (and not one spent reading articles like these)!

Tick off your watchlist 

2020 was a year of OTT (Over the Top). With theatres being shut down for most of the year, and restrictions being implemented on outdoor entertainment activities, people turned to their television (or mobile) screens to escape while being inside their houses. 

This year also saw some path-breaking OTT movies and series being released. It thus doesn’t come as a surprise that we have a list full of movies/series-to-watch list. Pour yourself some wine, or grab a cup of coffee and tick off your binge-watch list. 

If you are confused about where to start, here are the top OTT movies of the year, and Christmas movies and series that we recommend. If you are an old-school, here are a few Christmas classics to get you into the festive cheer. 

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Make some mulled wine 

If you’re already bored of winter favourite hot chocolate and want to spice things up a bit, try the classic mulled wine for Christmas. Consumed during the festive season as a tradition, mulled wine is a concoction of spices blended to keep one warm. 

History suggests that the practice of consuming mulled or spice wine originated in Rome. The Roman apparently used warm, spicy wine to keep away from winter illness. And what better time to heat the pan and throw in spices and wine for a warm, comfortable evening?

And if you do not know where to start, Grover Zampa Vineyards has come to the rescue. The wine producer recently launched India’s first bottled mulled wine One Tree Hill Mulled Wine.  

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Pick up a book 

Stephen King said, ‘Books are a uniquely portable magic.’

And what better time for magic than Christmas? Every year we promise ourselves to read a certain number of books before the year ends. Every year we (well, most of us) break the promise.

Now, more than ever, we have time for ourselves and to spend it doing things that truly add value to our lives. With just a week remaining for the year to end, pick up the book that you have been planning on reading for a long time, or dust off the dirt from the book half-read, and give it another shot. Or no one would fault you if you re-read some of your worn-out favourites.

If you are looking for something new, here are some book recommendations from Bill Gates and Barack Obama. 

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Cook an elaborate dinner 

For many across the globe, cooking has been therapeutic this year. With trends like banana bread, Dalgona coffee, and chai latte, taking over social media, it was obvious that people did not shy away from experimenting in the kitchen. 

If you plan to indulge in an intimate Christmas celebration at home with friends and family, we would like to remind you that the fastest route to one’s heart is through their stomach. Bring out your chef’s hat and showcase your cooking skills learnt all round the year. Cook an elaborate dinner for your closed ones and share a roasted chicken (if not turkey) over some brilliant conversations at the table. 

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Pen down your resolutions 

Love the idea or hate it, but you can never get ‘resolutions’ out of your mind during the last week of the year. If 2020 didn’t go our way, so what? 2021 might!

Some of us started the year with resolutions to travel more, others probably wanted to settle in a different country altogether. Until COVID-19 happened. 

The virus has taught us that things that we want are not necessarily things that we need. On this note, we should be more mindful of the resolutions that we burden ourselves with.

Instead of noting things randomly on your 2021 planner, spend this Christmas thinking and setting achievable goals for the new year. 

On that note, a very Merry Christmas to all of you!