THE O.K. XMAS LIST: It's all nonsense, but let's wear pink and eat 24 kinds of cheese.

I am a total sucker for Christmas. I love the decorations, the music, the food, the markets... Absolutely everything. So for 2024, I'm filling my stockings with everything cool, nice, and trendy. But I can't keep it to myself, after all, sharing is what this season is all about!

So pull up that onesie, add extra marshmallows to your hot cocoa, and huddle around the fire to discover what's jolly!

And remember, I'll be off until January on a well-deserved break. But I promise you, 2025 will be even more O.K.

TO ROCK AROUND THE TREE

What I absolutely love about Christmas music is its campiness. It also feels like a seasonal treat, the kind you eat too much of during the space of a month, and then you literally can't have another bite on January 1st.

As a special treat I have put together THE O.K. XMAS Playlist with oldies, newbies, and interesting finds for you to rock around the Christmas tree.

But if you ask me on a deeper level, some new Holiday singles are just hitting harder than the rest. Kesha's Holiday Road cover and Mark Ambor's Run Rudolph Run are some of the best to come out, all courtesy of Spotify's Holiday Single collection.

And let's not forget the revisited version of DJ Play a Christmas Song in which Cher duets with Kelly Clarkson for the queerest and campiest song of the year.

HOME ALONE NO MORE

This was Sabrina's year, and she is closing it with a bow on December 6th with her own special on Netflix with special guests, which include Chappel Roan, and a supposedly special surprise for the gays. Guess I have to host a viewing party for that.

I know I touched on Hot Frosty on a previous list, but this year's line-up of "bad" holiday movies Netflix is churning out is a must. Over the years Netflix has taken over the Hallmark Channel top spot and established itself as the streaming to watch during the season. With the help of Vanessa Hudgens, Lindsey Lohan, Christina Milan, and Jennifer Coolidge it has produced some of the trendiest and word-of-mouth worthy holiday films, creating a successful NXCU (Netflix Xmas Cinematic Universe, a creation of my own) with movies that cross-reference themselves in and outside the fake kingdom of Aldovia (Can we please get another Christmas Prince sequel?). This year Lindsey is back with a secret, Dustin is everyone's snowy dream, and Chad Michael Murray is a seasonal Magic Mike. It does not get better than that!

The fans have clamored, and it looks like on Boxing Day we will finally get some promo and visuals for Cowboy Carter as Beyoncè takes the NFL halftime stage in Texas, which will be broadcast live by Netflix as part of their new investment in live sports entertainment. That is a gift we're all waiting to unwrap.

If Netflix is giving us quantity, Disney+ is giving us curation. Nutcrackers, Ben Stiller's new film is giving us 90's Holiday blockbuster vibes. The kind of movie your dad would take you to watch at the cinema at the mall. Good old times!

FOOD IS THE BEST SURPRISE

Advent Calendars are a huge part of the season, and every year we have the musts and the busts (hello, Chanel). While beauty calendars and luxury calendars usually dominate, this year, I have seen a surge in foodstuff calendars to hit the shelves and subsequentially the feeds.

Aldi's Cheese Village Advent Calendar is for sure the winner, and I just can't wait to pay a visit to the Aldi here in Germany to check if they are available here too.

Now get this, if you like cheese, you will love Bonne Maman's advent calendar. The thought of 24 days of jam is too much for me, but if this is your thing, no one's judging!

More on the savory side? Heinz got your back with 24 different types of ketchup!!

SUGAR, SPICE AND PROTEIN

It is recession time, so Christmas dinner this year might end up a little... simpler. Nah, who am I kidding? Christmas celebrations remain unchanged, but a few items are becoming more popular this year.

Grazing boards are all the rage on TikTok. Tesco discovered through research that 61% of UK adults say they’d rather make up their own cheeseboards versus buying a prepared one.

The cheeseboard was also voted the most popular party food item by 17%.

Sandwiches are also growing in popularity for the season.

In the UK, Asda is even offering a Festive Pork King Kebab, with sticky apple sauce, encased in a Yorkshire pudding. I want this sooooo bad!

But don't be fooled by the lavishness of it all, wellness, or better yet, protein, is a growing trend that is also impacting Christmas recipes. The number of TikTok videos about high protein and low calories that cross my feed is quite high. Good if you want to indulge consciously.

Let's not forget Santa likes a tall glass of milk to get energized before he takes on that sleigh.

ON BOXING DAY WE WEAR PINK

Christmas decorations are quite atemporal and haven't changed much over the years. But on a recent trip to my nearby Flying Tiger, I noticed ornaments have changed quite a little. Eggplant emojis and maneki-neko cats featured alongside Santa Clauses, so it got me thinking: what's trendy to put up this year? Thanks to Elle Decor and YouTube, I got my answers!

Turns out, Pink Decor is very, very in this year. Whether you like it glittery or subdued, anything pink goes, especially if you pair it with big bows and gigantic ornaments.

What's also in? Retro Christmas. We're talking Coca-Cola-style Santa Claus, glass ornaments, and massive candles.

For a modern touch, Retro Disco is somehow also an unexpected theme, with mirror balls paired with golden candles and warm twinkling lights.

But if you are a little bit of of Grinch, you might want to try a maximalist, Anti-Traditional Decor. Lauren Chiu, head of color and material trends at trend forecasting company Stylus, foresees a return to the jubilant palettes of the ’90s in homes this year.

See you all in 2025! I'm sure you'll be O.K. without me this season.