5 Signs You Can Officially Start Celebrating the Holidays Now
Don’t listen to the haters. Halloween is over, so break out the decorations and put that holiday playlist on repeat.
When you haven’t even gotten your fill of your kids’ Reeses’ Peanut Butter Cups from their Halloween stash yet, but you walk into pretty much any store and Santa Clause is already being shoved down your throat. Too soon? Or just in time?
Such is the debate year after year among many on social media. How soon is too soon to start spreading some holiday cheer?
The unofficial start used to be right after Thanksgiving in order to give each holiday a little breathing room. But it seems like every year, it gets earlier and earlier — am I right? This hilarious video by comedian Eric D’Alessandro shows it perfectly.
@ericdalessandro Happy November 1st #fyp #fy #foryoupage #foryou #thanksgiving #christmas #halloween
If you’re like me and you love the holiday season, you may be tempted to start right now. Besides, you’re in the process of taking down your fall decor anyway, so why not just put up your tree?
But others feel that moving right from Halloween to Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa is the equivalent of dumping your longtime boyfriend and then immediately dating his best friend. Some feel you need to give yourself a little space in-between to reflect and regroup — or at least just to savor those Halloween goodies. And hello, turkey!
Well, we don’t need that kind of negativity in our lives. We’re taking initiative and we’re gonna start right now. We’re moving on faster than you can say “Elf on a Shelf.” Why? Because all signs point to yes, the holidays are here!
Here are 5 reasons you can officially start celebrating the holidays right now!
1. Starbucks released its holiday cups
Analogous to the red solo cup at summer’s start, the signature holiday cups from Starbucks do the same to officially usher in the season.
This year, the coffee chain is celebrating 25 years of its festive cups with four new designs that look like gifts.
With the return of the cups are seasonal drink faves, including Peppermint Mocha and last year’s huge hit Iced Sugar Cookie (so you won’t be mourning that PSL for long).
Stores will start serving these up tomorrow, November 3rd.
2. Mariah Carey says so
Many hilarious memes of Mariah Carey portray the singer either “defrosting” or being taken out of a holiday storage bag to signal the start to the holiday season. In fact, her song All I Want for Christmas is You has become about as ubiquitous as Jingle Bells.
The best part is that Carey is in on the joke, recently releasing a video on social media announcing “IT’S TIME!” With the hashtag #MariahSZN.
3. Holiday tunes are already streaming on Sirius XM
Turn up the dial and get ready to belt out those holiday favorites. Now through December 27th, you can enjoy 22 ad-free stations on satellite radio that are entirely dedicated to holiday jams.
The streaming radio service even introduced three new holiday stations for this season, including one that’s just for kids.
4. Oprah’s Favorite Things list is out
Forget Black Friday. You can even forget the fact that all the stores have their holiday displays out. The real kick-off to holiday shopping begins with Oprah’s famous Favorite Things list.
Whatever Oprah’s selling, we’re buying. This year, the eponymous magazine has selected 104 items it says is “celebrating small businesses (think family-run, local makers, BIPOC- and woman-founded, and more!)”
A coveted spot on Oprah Daily’s list can make a brand, and because of that, the team tests thousands of products to make its final selections.
This time, it appears, it’s one-stop-shopping as every item on the list is available on Amazon. And we know there are tons of benefits to shopping early!
5. The Rockettes ‘kick’ it off
Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular, featuring its famed Rockettes, has been “kicking” the holiday season into high gear in the Big Apple since 1933 (see what we did there?).
While shows haven’t quite started yet, you can grab your tickets now for when they debut on November 18th. In the meantime, many other local holiday events, like the Bryant Park Winter Village, are already in full swing.
Consider these your solid excuses to start celebrating the holidays now!
