❄️ December: Barefoot in the wildest winter...
Day 1 of Swiftmas: Your December Monthly Roundup
Dear Reader,
“Hey, December, guess I'm feeling unmoored”
As we step into December, the days may be getting colder and darker, but the holiday magic is in full swing. It’s time for twinkling fairy lights, chai sugar cookies, and transitioning into winter. Taylor has lots in store for us, from celebrating music milestones, to coming to the end of an era with the final shows of the Eras Tour 😭 Of course we’re also celebrating Taylor’s birthday on December 13th. And I’m counting down the days to the occasion with a celebration of my own - in the form of fun festive emails and a giveaway for my 13 Days of Swiftmas series! So let’s unwrap all that December has to offer.
In this newsletter you’ll find:
🎄 Day 1 of Swiftmas + Giveaway - kicking off my digital Advent Calendar for Swifties
🎁 The Swiftie’s 2024 Holiday Gift Guide - to take advantage of Cyber Monday deals
🗓️ Swiftie December Dates - mark your calendars!
🎶 December Coded Mashup - a compilation of throwbacks to celebrate the month
🥣 Featured Recipe - Taylor Swift’s Chai Sugar Cookies
🫶 Coming Up - exciting things to look forward to
💌 Upcoming Dear Reader Newsletters
Day 1 of Swiftmas + Giveaway
On the first day of Swiftmas, Dear Reader sent to me…my December Swiftie newsletter!
For the first email of Swiftmas, I’ve incorporated it into my monthly newsletter - so this first one is free for all Dear Reader subscribers! Then the next 12 days of Swiftmas emails will be for paid subscribers of this newsletter. I’d love for you to join in the fun!
For $13, you’'ll receive an email every morning through Dec 13th, with fun Taylor-Swift inspired content. Think of it like a digital advent calendar that’s made just for Swifties. PLUS all paid subscribers of the newsletter will also be automatically entered in a giveaway to win the official Eras Tour Book! It’s such a stunning book (I picked it up on Black Friday) and is one way I can share my appreciation for all of your support. You can subscribe to the series anytime in the next 13 days, and you’ll get access to all paid subscriber content and get entered in the giveaway. The winner will be picked at the end of Swiftmas. You can upgrade your subscription here!
PS - This newsletter doesn’t include my usual December Swiftie Playlist. Don’t worry, it’s coming as a part of my 13 Days of Swiftmas series - and instead of 1 playlist you’ll be getting 3! I’ll still share my playlists over on Instagram later for everyone to enjoy, but it’ll go out to paid subscribers in a 13 Days of Swiftmas email first, including links to all the different playlists to make for easy listening 🎶
The Swiftie’s 2024 Holiday Gift Guide
This is a big weekend for holiday shopping, especially if you’re wanting to take advantage of those Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. So in case you missed it, here’s the link to my Swiftie Holiday Gift Guide! It covers gift ideas for every era and more, with prices for all budgets (ranging from $5-$150). I hope it can give you lots of inspiration on what to get the Swifties in your life!
Swiftie December Dates
This month’s Swiftie December Dates features a wide range of events. As always there’s musical anniversaries, including that of my personal favorite Taylor Swift album, evermore. It’s joked about being the forgotten album, but evermore was the album we didn’t even know we needed. Released as a surprise just months after folklore (which was also released as a surprise…such a crazy time), the songs on evermore expanded on the world Taylor created in folklore. And it gave us beautiful escapism in the midst of an isolating and difficult time.
This December marks the end of an era, with the final shows of the Eras Tour in Vancouver. I don’t really want to face it, but I also know it’ll be such an amazing celebration of a record-breaking, history-changing tour that touched so many of our lives. Do you have thoughts on what might go down during those final three shows?!
On December 13th we celebrate Taylor Swift’s birthday! There’s also some more Chiefs games to look out for - Taylor’s gone to all of the home games that she’s been free for, so I’m thinking it’s likely she’ll be at the Dec 21st game. The Chiefs’ record is 11-1, and after their last win they clinched a guaranteed spot in the play-offs!
Finally, I included the launch of Kylie Kelce’s podcast because she feels like she’s been welcomed into the Swiftie family since Taylor and Travis started dating. Kylie Kelce is the incredible wife of Jason Kelce (Travis’ brother). She’s made some appearances on Travis and Jason’s podcast (New Heights), been to multiple Eras Tour performances, and her new podcast sounds so fun!
What are you most excited about happening in December?
December Coded Mashups
Here is a compilation of mashups to give you all the December vibes:
Out Of The Woods x Is It Over Now? - I loved taking the lyrics of these two songs and weaving them together as they describe the same winter event.
loml x White Horse - This mashup fits that transition period of autumn into winter so well.
Clean x evermore - this mashup of Taylor’s has lived rent-free in my brain ever since, and definitely fits the vibes of this season.
You’re Losing Me x Labyrinth - If you want to have a good cry, this mashup never fails to bring tears to my eyes.
How Did It End? x What Was I Made For? - This was more of an experimental mashup, but I felt the two songs blended so interestingly together. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Featured Recipe: Taylor Swift’s Chai Sugar Cookies
It’s that time of year when this famous Taylor recipe makes the rounds. Back in 2014, for a 1989 ‘Secret Session’, Taylor Swift baked these Chai Sugar Cookies - and then shared the recipe on her Tumblr. I’d been wanting to try it out myself for years, and last year for the first time I finally did! They’re full of seasonal spices, perfect for this time of year.
I’m plant-based, so I just swapped in vegan options for the dairy ingredients, and it worked like a treat. You can find the recipe (for both Taylor’s version and my vegan version) here on my blog.
Upcoming Dear Reader Newsletters
Dec 22 - A final Eras Tour Roundup to celebrate the end of the Eras Tour, free for all subscribers!
Emails for paid subscribers
💌 Dec 1st-13th - 13 Days of Swiftmas series
💌 Eras Tour Roundup: Vancouver - after each city’s Eras Tour shows, I send out an email rounding up all the highlights. This month we have the final stop of the tour: Vancouver! The roundup will go out after the final show.
If you’re interested in receiving these extra emails and supporting this newsletter, you can upgrade your subscription for $13 for the month of December.
That’s all for this December newsletter! Until next time…
“I go back to December all the time”,
Bekah
🎶 Can I Ask You a Question? 🎶
🥳 What are you most excited about happening in December?
🤡 What do you think Taylor might do for the final Eras Tour shows in Vancouver??
🫶 There are 950+ subscribers to the Dear Reader newsletter - I’m so happy you’re here! If you haven’t yet subscribed and are interested, you can subscribe ⤵️
💕 If you found value in this newsletter and know a Swiftie who also might also enjoy these emails, it would mean the world to me if you would share Dear Reader with them! ⤵️
💌 Missed past Dear Reader newsletters? Find previous posts in the archive.
🔗 Dear Reader newsletters may include affiliate links. These are items I use and love, and it’s a free way to support me and this newsletter.