Celebrate November!

1. Watch a movie you haven´t seen in ages. Make yourself a good cup of Cocoa with cream, newly baked pastry and enjoy yourself and life in general!

2. D.I.Y.-day! Find an fixer-upper stuffed away in the attic, and be creative with it. Is it a stool, an old chest, a small table. Whatever it may be, add some color to brighten up the gloomy days of fall.

3. Make a Christmas gift.

4. Make another Christmas gift.

5. Make a third Christmas gift!

6. Have lamb for dinner. Cook with cabbage and whole peppercorns for 3 hours. Make white sauce and serve with potatoes. (A mix between “lamme-frikase” and “fårikål”)

7. Go to the library, and borrow a audio-book. Enjoy being read aloud to.

8. Now is the time to make an advent-calender. Make 24 little gifts, wrap them and mark each with the numbers 1 all the way up to 24. The gifts can and should be be small, inexpensive things that are needed anyway, a pair of socks, a box of raisins, a pencil, and so on. Or you could write a little notes instead of wrapping presents. Small encouragements. Or maybe a things-to-do-before-Christmas. Hey, you could even pick apart CELEBRATE DECEMBER! and use the 24 first to-dos on the list! Stay tuned! but for today: make the calender itself, something to gather all the small presents on.

This is my Advent-calender that my Mom made me when I was 14. I still use it

Come to think of it… make a deal with a good friend, to make calenders for each other. Everyone loves nice surprises ad little gifts. So why not be a little childish for once?

9. Take time just to be with your dearest one!

10. Ok. Time to do some cleaning. How about the cellar. It´s been a while, hasn´t it?

11. Since you did so good yesterday, have fun today! Find an old game, gather the family, and play. My favorite is Trivial Persuit. 

12. Make a personal list of what you want to do during the next year. My friend, Michelle, makes one every birthday, of all the things she wants done by her next birthday. That way, she gets more things done, instead of just work all the time. 

13. Did you know MOO can make stickers of your designs or photos? I have a little bundle, and I have to admit I really like them. I use them in my journal and on letters. 

14. Turn of the TV, and listen to the radio instead.

15. Start by taking a walk and getting some fresh air. Then be creative. Have a journal? Make a page inspired by the colors and the smell of autumn. Need inspiration? Check out Teesha Moore´s site!

16. Windy and rainy outside? Stay inside, find the photo-albums, and have a laugh at all the weird old hairstyles you used to have

17. Visit an old friend, bring cheese and wine, and have a gay, ol´ time!

18. Check out this site for “Oddly enough news“. I´ve come across lots of fun stories here.

19. Today is GREEN! Find something green in your wardrobe to wear. And make dinner vegetarian. Even meat-lovers like myself can survive just fine one day without meat. There is a feast of vegetables just waiting for you out there to discover them! Have you ever tried  frying egg-plant spiced with curry and red pepper? Try it! 

20. Buy a bouquet of brightly colored flowers. Light scented candles. Start knitting a scarf. It can be a Christmas-present if you don´t need one yourself.

21. Talk through the night to someone you really care about only to go to sleep when the birds start singing… 

22. Favorite-Sunday! Stay in bed for as long as you want. Eat in bed, read in bed, talk in bed, laugh in bed…

23. Before you go to work today, do five minutes of wildly dancing to “Pinball Wizard” by the Who. It´ll get your blood pumping for sure. Find the lyrics on the net, and try to learn them so you can sing along the next time

24. Today is dress-up day. Not Halloween-dress-up. But nice-dress-up. Inspired by the fifties, when men wore hats when driving a car, and women were in skirts and heels to go shopping. Dressing up will make you straighten up, pull back your shoulders and feel more awake.

25. Cleaning-day! I mean, it is Thanksgiving tomorrow, and you´re having guests! Not? Well, if your not expecting guests, you can cheat and start the Christmas-cleaning early. Something like cleaning the kitchen walls and ceiling and drawers, things you don´t have the time and energy for in December anyway.

26. Thanksgiving! Start the day by writing a list of things you are thankful for. Make a nice meal for dinner and share with family or friends. 

27. Splash out on a magazine. A creative one to inspire you. Maybe one of those filled with great ideas for Christmas.

28. The opening of the Christmas-exhibition at Galleri Giga in Leirvik, Stord! I will have some of my pictures here. Come, come!

29. Go for a long walk in the forrest, and pick up some branches of ever-greens that you can make into a green wreath to have on your door to welcome December! Remember to find the Advent-candles and light the first one.

30. First, send me suggestions for ways to celebrating December, then read a good book.