What Christmas is Like in South Florida

It's that time of year again. 

Time to hang the lights outside while wearing Christmas sweaters.

Time to put up your Christmas tree and decorate the mantel.

It's time to curl up by the fire on a cold, snowy winter night.

WAIT!! I forgot! I live in Florida! It is a crisp 80 degrees outside. That is definitely too hot to appropriately enjoy a cup of hot cocoa topped with delicious vegan homemade marshmallows and coconut whipped "cream."

So how is it that we celebrate Christmas, winter solstice, or any other winter holiday?

First thing we do is crank up the air conditioning to make it cold enough to enjoy that cup of cocoa. It's winter. We want that cocoa and show off winter gloves if we want to. You can also bet we take those gloves right off after that Instagram picture!

We go to the beach. And build snowman made out of sand!

Source: http://ilovefunnypics.com/floridians

We marvel at the sight of a brown leaf on the floor.

We make fake chimneys to hang stocking or to enlighten our kids. Take a look at this here.

Source: Your Modern Family

We wear winter clothes. While some of us actually are feeling the slight temperature change, most of us just want to show off that cool jacket or boots. And yes, we are sweating underneath all that. Please ask us if we want to hang up our jackets at your holiday parties.

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We have holiday parties. Usually outside, by the pool or grill. I can't count how many holiday parties I've gone too where we danced bachata to five in the morning and eating rice and beans. It's not a holiday unless someone falls in the pool.

Then there are the "drive around the block" nights where we go look at the lights everyone has up. Look at the inflatable snowmen and palm trees wrapped in lights!

Credit: Steven Michael Photography @ Ruffled

After looking at all the ridiculous ways to wrap lights around palm trees, we go to sleep with the air conditioning on. In the morning we go to Starbucks and grab a winter themed iced latte to start of the day.

And last but not least, we go to Santa's Enchanted Forest. Why is this so important? Because it is the only winter tradition we have. Where else can you play with fake snow, eat great Spanish foods, and walk by a huge Christmas tree? Seriously, no one even takes a picture of it! Look even Santa known how to celebrated South Beach style.

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But aside from all the funny alternatives we have for winter, at least we don't have to shovel snow out of the driveway to go to work!

All jokes aside, this is the most Christmas you will get in South Florida. So we make the most of it for our kids. One day we will take Aiden somewhere up north so he can experience snow first hand. He will appreciate the warmth and comfort of a warm cup of cocoa. He will know what it is to sit by a roaring fireplace and marvel the smell of firewood. But for now, we will make snowflakes out of coffee filters, decorate our plastic Christmas tree, and make snowmen out of sand.

What are some ways your town celebrates Christmas?