It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, at least in my house! I do feel behind this year, but the tree is inside and standing (undecorated, but still in place) and the rest of the interior decorations are up. As I am coming up on my second Christmas since I purchased my current home, I still had some décor to buy. With a later Thanksgiving, I probably waited a bit too long to order my new wreath and pre-lit garland for my banister, as I now wait in a nearly decorated home for those final finishing touches.

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I started holiday shopping last weekend and on Cyber Monday, but the rest of my December weekends and nights will likely be filled with some shopping or preparation. I’m going to start cookie making this weekend, and, for the second year in a row, some friends and I, along with our moms, are making holiday decorations at our local AR Workshop. It’s always fun finding a new tradition!

Next week, as any of our regular blog readers know, is our annual GT Tested Reader Survey awards in Beverly Hills. For the last nine years, we’ve celebrated in Los Angeles in December and it just doesn’t feel like the holidays without the event. It’s become a tradition in and of itself.

How do you get in the holiday spirit? Are you behind this year, or right on schedule? What’s your favorite thing about the holiday season? Share with us at letters@globaltravelerusa.com.

— Kim Krol, editor in chief