Getting Ahead of The Holidays

Tips for reducing stress and enjoying the most wonderful time of the year.

Here we are – the season that some of us live for, and some of us dread. The holidays. Halloween is behind us, and you know what that means. Thanksgiving is knocking on the door, Hanukkah is right behind (early this year), and we’re hopping to cap off 2023 with a big W at Christmas. Many of us want to entertain our friends and family, we want to show up with a pile of perfectly packaged gifts, and we want to take our own quiet moments to relax and enjoy the season with our partners, children and closest friends. As wonderful as the holidays are, they can also bring tremendous stress and anxiety. 

This year more than ever, there is a lot happening in the world that can increase our stress levels, and that carries over to how we celebrate the season. The first and most important tip we want to give you is to take care of yourself and your own mental, physical, and financial health. You are enough as you are and if the holidays do bring you stress, take a break and say “No”. It’s ok. That being said, if celebrating the season brings you joy, let us help you with some ideas to make it just a little less stressful!

To&From is first and foremost focused on giving you the best gift ideas and helping you to live your best gifting life. And don’t worry, we will provide you with tons of gifting advice this holiday season, as we have since our launch just over a year ago. Charlotte, our gifting concierge, is here to help you with all of your gifting needs and we are excited to bring you the best mission-driven brands, perfectly curated for the important people in your life. But first, allow us to share some practical tools to help you manage anything the next couple of months will throw at you. 

For the Parties:

We all love a good party. Parties don’t have to be Instagram-perfect celebrations, but they should bring light and love to the people you decide to share them with. Planning a party can be overwhelming, which is why we love Partytrick. With a mission to “Celebrate the everyday”, Partytrick is the planner in your pocket that will help you get your ducks in a row for any gathering – big or small, casual to fancy, or festive to low-key… With party blueprints, curated decor suggestions, timed reminders to keep you on track, as well as countless tips, tricks, and hosting resources, there is no doubt that your yearly fete will be a roaring success with Partytrick.

For the Presentation:

How you present a gift is sometimes as important as the gift itself. A perfect gift should bring joy from the first moment, and that includes the presentation. At To&From we have loved getting to know so many wonderful gift wrappers, with each bringing their own artistic presentation to the party, so to speak, by helping fill a void in the gifting ecosystem. If you happen to live near any of these wonderful women, you’re in luck!  Not only do they provide the best gifting wrapping services in town, but they are also a great online source of inspiration for your very own holiday wraps. Some of our favorites are: Paper&Knot, Westfield Wrapper, and The Wrap Suite. And for some amazingly sustainable and easy wrapping, check out Swathe Gifts.

For the Planning:

This is where the best intentions often die, in the planning for the details. To&From was founded on the belief that gifting and, more broadly, celebrating the holidays shouldn’t be hard and shouldn’t cause anyone additional stress. To and From tools like our gift directory, gifting quiz and most recently Charlotte, our gifting concierge were all created to help you make your gifting easier when it comes to remembering and finding the right gift for the important people in your life. 

We know you will find the perfect way to show your love and appreciation to the people most important to you this holiday season. We hope these tips will help reduce your holiday-induced stress, so you can enjoy the season to the fullest. Remember to take care of yourself, set realistic expectations, and ask for help when you need it. And most importantly, cherish the time you spend with your loved ones.