My All-time Favorite Holiday Traditions

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”… now you’re singing that in your head and YOU ARE WELCOME! Oh my goodness how much fun is the holiday season!!??? Everything changes this time of year. Decorations everywhere, the weather turns, the smell of hot chocolate, and all the comfort food you can possibly stuff in your tummy. Who cares about the holiday 10? You can lose it with your New Year's resolution and your new gym membership.

If you've watched our Amazon Livestream on Mondays, you've probably seen me! A couple of fun facts about me: I'm a singer, songwriter, and I've performed more than 2000 shows internationally. I also have 3 kids under the age of 4!

For me, Thanksgiving starts a chain reaction of Holiday traditions. From Thanksgiving dinner to when I bust out my Santa hat on Black Friday and put up all our Christmas decorations. It’s one of the only times of the year so many people are celebrating at the same time with their own family’s traditions and many commonly shared ones.

My Italian American family has some incredible traditional and unique traditions. I was contemplating on which one of our traditions I was going to write about. Was it going to be Christmas Eve Mass followed by Cioppino dinner at my cousin’s house? Was it Christmas Day when we all go to my Aunt and Uncle’s house in our pj’s to open gifts and then go back later for dinner? Nope,... It was going to be my favorite tradition. Cannoli night! Cannoli night is my absolute favorite holiday tradition our family has by a landslide! On Christmas Eve’s Eve we all go to Aunt and Uncle’s house to hand make the cannoli shells and filling we will be stuffing our face with on Christmas. On Cannoli night we consume too much food, too much booze, have too many laughs if there is such a thing, and no cannoli as those are strictly for Christmas.

I never feel so close to my family as I do during the holidays. Traditions are such a huge part of what makes the holidays feel different than every other day of the year. Something you can count on. Something you look forward to. Something you share with your kids and build memories on. As the years go on you will all remember things that happened on past “Cannoli Nights” laugh, reminisce, remember those who are no longer there and keep them with you. 

The Holidays are here. Let us keep building memories, taking pictures, taking part of your family traditions and building new ones. Happy Holidays!

“Enjoy the Parenting Adventure. Make Every Moment Count.”

With love,
Julz

Meet Our KeaMommy Contributor: Julianne Julianne Costa is a mother of 3 adorable rambunctious kiddos.  She is knee deep in her parenting journey, sleep regressions and diapers. She finds joy in creating community, sharing her experiences and listening to yours. Her "eldest" is Kayden (and we use air quotes on that because he is only 4) followed by Isabella lovingly known as Bee who's 2 and Raffiel a merrily 7 months. In her last pregnancy she was labeled as an "older" mother (again we use air quotes because she is only 38 haha) as she wanted to be ready to take a break from her beloved entertainment career to start her family. Her colorful vocation led her to travel the world performing as a singer, work with celebrities in Los Angeles, behind the scenes and in front of the camera for film and television. Julianne is still finding her balance of continuing a career she loves, as well as being an active parent that holds her own in pillow fights while simultaneously building an empire.