December 2025: Winter Warmth, Creativity and Simplicity
The “feels like” temperature is 12 degrees outside and my house is finally warm with our new heating system up and running. Honestly, no matter where we live, a lot of us are craving the same thing right now: a little warmth. A little kindness, a little patience, a little less demand. So I’m keeping this post comfortable, simple, and light. Here’s what I’ve been working on lately to keep a bit of balance.
On the Table This Week
With all of the season’s events, to-do lists, and limited daylight, I have pulled my Creative Emergency Kit back into my routines - and it’s been doing it’s job. It’s a simple way to make time for creativity - even five minutes. It’s free to download here if you need a little gift for yourself (or feel like building one for someone you love). I genuinely think it makes December feel more doable.
New Art
This week’s “back to the table” moment turned into a Kindling Season painting: a glowing lamp post. Some of you will recognize that glow—it’s a Wellesley College lamp post, which, in my opinion, is the most storybook kind.
It brings back a specific memory: sledding down a ridiculously steep and probably-not-safe hill as the sun set, then watching the campus lamps flick on one by one.
If you want to see the painting up close (and where it could live in your home), it’s here: SHOP LINK. If you’re local to Natick, even better—just reach out to me.
Stovetop Potpourri for Winter Warmth
Since we’re embracing the ’80s again (Stranger Things, anyone?), here’s a beloved winter trick from my mom that makes a house feel instantly friendlier. To fight the blues and dry skin, throw this together in a sauce pan or dutch oven:
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1 slice of orange (fresh or dried)
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1 cinnamon stick
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3 cloves
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Optional: a little evergreen from your “Vitamin D walk,” star anise if you have it, broken bay leaf bits, rose petals, etc.
Add everything to a saucepan or Dutch oven, fill with water, bring to a gentle boil, then lower to a simmer. Set a timer to check it and add water as needed.
I usually keep the same batch going for a day or two—it gets darker and richer, and the scent is warm, comforting, and genuinely cheerful.
Time for a breather
I’m taking a mostly-social-media break until mid-January. More family, more rest, more reflection. Solstice and Christmas.
I went down a rabbit hole on solstice traditions after finding an old note in our ornament box from 2021. For the past few years, our family has made two lists on the winter solstice:
What we’re carrying forward + what we’re letting go of:
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Things to keep (a habit, a feeling, a friendship change, a family routine)
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Things to release (a worry, some negative self-talk , an over-scheduled thing)
We burn the list of things to release, and we hide the list of keepers in the tree. After the holiday, we put them in the ornament box.
In one piece I read by Jacqueline Fatica, I found a phrase I can’t stop thinking about: “every frost conceals potential.”
I KNOW! - Right?
Our broken boiler and those cold weeks didn’t feel like gifts. But somehow they brought connections, friendship, and a warmth we truly didn’t expect. So yes: I’m welcoming this winter’s gifts.
Here’s wishing you frosts brimming with potential; real warmth, growth, connection, and hope for you and your people.
A small winter closing note:
If you want a beautiful, wintry line to sit with, I keep thinking about Gary Snyder’s “Pine Tree Tops.”
…pine tree tops
bend snow-blue, fade
into sky, frost, starlight…
For the full poem click here: Gary Snyder’s “Pine Tree Tops.”
Here’s wishing you frosts brimming with potential; real warmth, growth, connection, and hope for you and your people.