Holidays 2024: Nicholson and Moore embrace "Chill Christmas" around holidays
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
The holiday season is a great time for making memories, but pursuing a picture-perfect Christmas can put a lot of pressure on people. Shoppers are bombarded with the message that the secret to a memorable moment is to buy, buy, buy! It can turn the lead-up to Dec. 25 into a race against time. But feeling more stressed than festive doesn’t need to become an annual tradition - just ask Josie Nicholson and Jake Moore. Even though they’re only on their second holiday season as a duo, this young couple has already mastered the art of the elusive “Chill Christmas” - all festivity, no negativity. When The Citizen reached out to them in search of helpful tips for relieving some of that holiday fatigue, the pair was more than happy to share some of their secrets to a stress-free Christmas with our readers.
This year, they’re keeping their holiday plans pretty loose. On Christmas Eve, they’re going to hang out with Nicholson’s sister. There will definitely be brunch, and they might go four-wheeling in the snow, if the urge takes them. Also on the books is a post-Boxing Day trip to Collingwood with Moore’s dad. Right now, the two are living in an apartment on the Nicholson family farm, so tracking down some family for a little quality holiday time doesn’t take very long. When Christmas Day rolls around, all they have to do is get up and walk a few steps to the main house for presents with her parents and a festive brunch. Last year, they marked the occasion of their first Christmas together by starting a simple new tradition: waiting to open the gifts they got for each other until it’s just the two of them, back in their apartment.
Getting together with friends to enjoy a bonafide Brussels tradition is also a possibility. “The Christmas parade is here in town. I think we'll come in, if the weather's nice, and just sit and watch the parade. Maybe invite a few of my friends, and his friends, and just sit and have maybe pizzas or something together and watch the parade. I’ll have the doors open, so if people want to come in and check out the [tattoo shop run by Nicholson], they can.”
Although it’s easy to get swept up in the mad ramp-up towards Christmas, Moore prefers to feel in-sync with the changing of the season. As a mason, he’s busier during the warmer months, so the onset of winter weather is a signal that it’s time to rest, relax and recharge, rather than rush around. “Everything is slowing down at the end of the year, so people don't have to stress so much,” he pointed out. “Well, they probably still are,” he added.
Presents have become a pretty ubiquitous part of the festive season, but Nicholson feels that the spirit of the season has little to do with shopping. “One thing that I think people just need to do a little less of is stressing about gift giving. I feel like the meaning of Christmas isn't the gifts. They’re fun, don't get me wrong. One thing that I've always loved doing is opening presents, but I feel like people stress so much about it,” she offered. As the old adage says, it’s the thought that counts.
In Nicholson’s eyes, the recipe for a perfect Christmas only has one ingredient: the people she cares about. “It’s about just being together with your family and friends,” she explained. “I could care less about presents and stuff. I'd rather hang out with my friends and my family and watch movies and have dinner. That’s what it is for me now. It's family and friends.”
Moore’s favourite childhood Christmas tradition was gathering for a big, traditional dinner with extended family. “I always liked Christmas Eve at my grandma’s house in Kitchener. It was just a nice place. It was just kind of the same thing every year - like a routine.” He likes all the components of Christmas dinner, but he thinks stuffing is probably his favourite. After the meal, everybody would gather around the television and watch whatever classic Christmas movies that happened to be on. His favourite is still the original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, while Nicholson is all about Elf.
Nicholson’s favourite holiday food isn’t one that most people associate with Christmas, but it is part of one of her family’s most-loved traditions. “It’s a little harder to do now that my siblings and I are all adults, but one thing we do every year on Christmas Eve is that we have appetizers. And my order every year, and it still is to this day, is stuffed mushrooms. I love stuffed mushrooms,” she confided.
She may put family first, but Nicholson is still very much a fan of the sparkly side of Christmas. Her family has had a lot of traditions over the years, and she’s taken it upon herself to keep some of them going. “I love decorating the Christmas tree every year. It's my favourite thing to do,” she declared. “That, and my job every year, because I've made it my job, is putting the lights on the house. I love putting up the Christmas lights.”
Decorating the Nicholson family Christmas tree involves more than just tossing on a bunch of random ornaments and calling it a day - there are rules to be followed. “Every year, we do different colour themes. Last year, we did blues and silvers. This year we're doing reds and golds,” she explained. There is one thing on the tree that’s the same every year, but it’s pretty hard to find. ‘“We have a little gherkin pickle that we hide in the tree every year from my one cousin Brielle, because she loves pickles. We’ve made it, like, a new tradition, I guess. This is our new tradition. It’s a German thing, actually, to hide the ornament of a pickle in a tree and people have to find it. It's an actual German tradition that people used to do, so we were like, you know what, we're gonna do it.”
Despite being perfectly satisfied with the comfort and joy of a low-key Christmas that focuses on family, Nicholson does have one idea for a new tradition that just might catch on, “Fireworks. Fireworks at Christmas.”