Winter Bucket List for 2022

‘Tis the season to romanticize your life! Here we are again, the month leading up to a brand new season. It’s time to reflect and think about your upcoming goals. Creating a winter bucket list is especially fun when December leads into the New Year. This is a winter bucket list that overlaps a bit with some of my New Year’s resolutions.

Hopefully, this gives you some ideas for things to do in your local city this December, January, and February.

The majority of these things you can do alone, and you don’t need anyone to do them with you to enjoy your season. I spend a lot of my time ice skating. As for me, I’m planning to visit 10 rinks I’ve never been to this winter. Just 3-4 brand-new rinks a month. You can read my blog post here about rinks to visit in Toronto and Ontario.

But on this list, you’ll mostly find December holiday-themed activities.

1. Listen to Christmas Music

Listening to Christmas music is first on this winter bucket list. I used to be anti-Christmas music. But that was before I made the definitive Christmas playlist. Do you know what my issue was? Christmas music that’s sad and depressing. I respect old school. But I can’t listen to slow Christmas music. I need gospel or pop Christmas songs I can 1-2 step to. So I made this playlist of my favourite holiday songs. There’s a lot of Tori Kelly on there because her Christmas album is one of the most enjoyable.

2. Warm Hot Holiday Drinks

During the winter, there’s something about Starbucks’ Chestnut Praline, Caramel Brulée, or Toffee Nut lattes. A good homemade matcha latte with peppermint marshmallows or white hot chocolate is also a good vibe when you’re typing away at your computer for work or writing a novel.

3. Christmas Decor & Scents

My favourite decor and scents are this FA LA LA LA LA pillow and Christmas Tree String Light from HomeSense.

My Nanoleaf light panels play my favourite Christmas themes on autoplay throughout the day, giving me a festive atmosphere.

This season, my favourite scents have been the Fa La La Latte candle and plug-in scent, Bright Christmas Morning room spray, vanilla bean and gingerbread car scent plug-in, and Brown Sugar & Vanilla AirWick plug-in scents. Costco has a huge pack of those and they’re top-notch.

4. Bake Christmas Cookies

You can buy a 3-case pack of the Christmas Pillsbury cookies you see all over Pinterest for like $10 in Canada right now. Throughout the holiday season, you can bake a few at a time.

5. Holiday Pet Advent Calendar

For the first time this year, I bought a pet advent calendar from Pet Valu that comes with a pet treat every day that’s Christmas-themed. I’m hoping to give Noah one new cookie every day after he walks.

6. Get Christmas Nails

I got Christmas-themed nails again, as you can see. I did it last year, and I wanted to do it again.

Honestly, I was torn between a mature, dark green nail look and fun red and white Christmas nails with characters.

7. Go to my Figure Skating Club’s Showcase

Skating gives me a lot of serotonin. As I get to know my new skating club, I’d like to attend and even participate in one of their events. Actually, my coach wants me to start working on a program simulation for any song I like. I’m planning to learn ice dance footwork since she specializes in it. For fun, on the side, I’d like to teach Taekwondo to teens/adults (when I get my 2nd or 3rd-degree black belt), and compete in ice dance!

8. Christmas Light Trail

I’ve always wanted to try the Canadian Tire Christmas Light Trail, but I never have. It would be awesome to do it one day!

9. Play We’re Not Really Strangers

So I got the Friendship version of We’re Not Really Strangers along with two expansion packs that I haven’t touched yet. I really want to use this game more and play it with people I know to get to know them better. If you hate small talk, this game promotes intimacy in a fun way.

10. Wear a Reindeer Headgear

I’m going to be annoyingly festive this year and wear a reindeer headpiece at least once a week until Christmas.

11. Participate in Festive Fridays at Work

My company hosts a really fun event for an hour called Festive Fridays. Every week there’s something new, from free lunch to HUGE giveaways. I’m cashing in on my good luck this year and winning stuff is always fun.

12. Film Videos

These are the videos I want to produce: A Winterfest & Winter Village vlog, ice skating vlog, Cosplay & Convention Q&A, EFFY Standing Desk Review and Desk Tour for 2023, 2023 Goals Video using My Notion Setup, and the Miyavi and BlackPink Concerts I went to in the Fall will be released soon.

13. Ice Skating

Skating has already been mentioned several times, but yes, I’m planning to skate alone and skate with friends all over the city this year. If you’re a friend of mine and reading this, let’s go skate somewhere. Skating never gets old for me. It’s weird how addicted I am to it. Also, I pay for coaching once a week for an hour, so I always have new stuff to practice. At least four times a week, I skate. I’ve been skating thrice a week, but now that outdoor rinks are open, I’ll be taking advantage of that as much as I can. Rollerskating is such a big thing in Toronto that SUSO Skate Club (a rollerskating group in Toronto) is opening a pop-up at Promenade Mall. I never thought I’d use my rollerskates during winter, but here we are.

Some of the top places I want to hit up are Nathan Philip’s Square, which I haven’t been to since 2019, Mel Lastman Square (where I visited religiously in January 2022, almost every single day), and Harbourfront, which I’ve never been to, but I’d love to check out their DJ Skate nights. My Top 10 Rinks to visit this year include the Union Ice Rink, which you have to book in advance, but I’ll definitely add it to it.

14. Bloor-Yorkville Holiday Magic

The atmosphere at Bloor-Yorkville looks funky and festive, so I wouldn’t mind walking there after skating at Nathan Philips Square. Walking through there might be fun.

15. Eat Quality Japanese Food

It would be nostalgic to drive to Mississauga to pick up onigiri and Dango from Ginko Japanese Restaurant and eat at Tokyo Grill with a friend after skating.

16. Distillery Winter Village

Toronto’s Christmas Market rebranded as Distillery Winter Village this year, and I’d like to check it out during the day when it’s less crowded. I usually visit at night, and this will be the first time I’ve been since university. I’d love to vlog my experience!

17. Avatar 2

I feel the need to sit through three hours of this movie and hopefully I’ll do so with a friend to lighten the burden. However, I’ve already seen the first Avatar by James Cameron multiple times, and I’ve been waiting for this for over ten years, so it feels right to watch it now.

18. Watch Happy Feet

I’ve been telling my friends to watch Happy Feet for so long. Who knows how long it’ll be on Netflix!? I’ve gotta schedule time to watch it or it might never happen. And it’s winter. This is a perfect time and movie for a winter bucket list.

19. Watch First Love

Is that Takeru Satoh in a movie inspired by Hikaru Utada‘s music? Say less. I’m about halfway through episode two. Since it’s slow, poetic, and slightly melancholic, I can’t binge it in one sitting. But it’s only 10 episodes, so maybe I can.

20. Finish Reading Books

Reading Lore Olympus and Sasuke Retsuden every week and biweekly keeps me occupied. I also bought the novel version of Sasuke Retsuden.

As a SasuSaku shipper, this is a plus. It’s also highly entertaining to follow the Twitter community for this ship. But I still have a few other books I’d like to finish: You Are a Bad Ass at Making Money, Wired for Story, Creating Character Arcs, Mere Christianity, Crumbs and…I don’t expect to meet my Goodreads Reading Goal, but I’ll try to swap out my TikTok scroll in the morning for reading and my Grey’s Anatomy comfort episodes in the evening for reading. I’ll try to make more of an effort.

21. Buy Gifts

It’s my top love language to receive and give gifts, so I’ve got to promise myself not to become gift-crazy this Christmas. I like giving people gifts and seeing them use them. I’m eyeing these toy cars for my niece and nephew and these hats for my friends. If I get the chance, I’ll make an Avatar-themed gift list and share it with you.

22. Cook Salmon for Family Christmas Dinner

For Christmas, I always cook salmon for my family, but not for my family outside of my household. Therefore, I think it would be cool to prepare something like that and bring it to the holiday dinner as a gift for everyone on my winter bucket list.

23. Go to a Christmas or NYE Church Service

I haven’t been to a Christmas church service in a while, so either that or a New Year’s Eve service somewhere else.

24. WinterFest

I attended WinterFest back at the end of 2018, and it was kind of chilly, but it was still fun. I’d like to do it again for my winter bucket list and maybe go on more rides, and go skating and dress warmly because it’s not fun if you’re freezing. It’s a good spot for winter photos.

25. Write Stories, Blog Posts & Scripts

I’ve kind of paused the Doctor x Rock romance book, but I’ll be back to it soon. It’s been a season of research, but I want to be actively writing it every day by 2023. There are some serious goals I want to reach. I need 2023 to bear fruit since 2022 was a transition year. Less planning, more action.

26. Revamp My Business Website

I need to seriously work on 99WrittenWords.com, which is the name of my production company. I need a website design that represents the type of films and shows I hope to make in the future, but also speaks to what I’m currently working on. I don’t want my old work on there. I only want high-quality stuff. I would like TiaMorrison.com to look more like a personal resume than a business website so it can be a portfolio of my old and upcoming stuff.

My Business Plan

I also ordered some brand-new business cards and cheques, and I need to get serious about organizing my finances. So I’m getting a business credit card, talking to a banker about some stuff, and investing in Quickbooks to link everything up. Also, I’m planning to get incorporated soon because I want to take the business more seriously and be more proactive.

Since my past trauma in the freelancing world (being taken advantage of), I’ve learned a lot about how to spot red flags in clients and how to run things. My goal for 2023 is to learn more about the wedding videography industry while working on scripts & screenplays for short films. I will make it a priority to use my tech YouTube channel as a marketing tool since it got me the right kind of client. Initially, it will be scrappy and cheap, but I need to get my work out there in a way that I’m proud of and can use as a portfolio for my business, as well as get hired for smaller jobs to fund it as it grows.

27. Package & Sell 2023 Notion Setup on Etsy

In 2022, I was planning to develop a digital planner. Towards the end of 2022, I stopped using my digital planner and started using Google Calendar, Notion & a Wall Calendar. I’ve been mad at myself for not designing a digital planner, but you know what they say, always do what you know. I’m really proficient at Google Calendar. And, knowing Notion really, really well, I think I can package an affordable Notion template that’s marketable.

I’ve found that my brain dump system has helped me a lot with my anxiety and OCD. If I don’t do anything with my hyper fixation on thoughts, I can get anxious, so I need a brain dump system that works for me.

Create a Worry List

Also, I make a “WORRY LIST” in addition to my brain dump. I use it when I’m overwhelmed and my cortisol is spiking. It’s a short list of top worries. So, I’ll include it in my Notion setup, because I feel like these tools I’ve picked up from self-help books and articles over the years can help people who feel like they have goals but don’t know how to put them into a framework that can help them focus on the big picture while also working on details in a way that’s not overwhelming. I want to share how I break down my life goals into daily habits or weekly check-ins.

28. Host a New Year’s Party

The last time I gathered the family at our place was in 2019, and I’d like to try to do that again this year with the cousins. Emphasis on try because I might be emotionally and mentally exhausted from the holiday season.

29. Visit Family in Ottawa for New Years for a Week

My grandma’s 102 and I haven’t seen her since 2019. I’d like to take time off to do that, and hopefully, skate on the famous Rideau while I’m in Ottawa! That would be a dream come true.

30. Disney on Ice

When Disney on Ice comes to Toronto in February, I’d love to see it live, especially since some of the skaters I follow on TikTok are in it.

That's it for my winter bucket list for December. When quarter 1 of 2023 rolls around, I'll have a better idea. It's crazy that we're already thinking about the new year! 2022 has been great. I achieved some big goals this year, but I also didn't accomplish some. The goals I haven't accomplished are some serious strongholds I've fought for years, and my goal is to break them in 2023. Somehow, someway. Hope that gave you some inspiration, and I'll see you next time! Thanks for reading my blog. Subscribe to the newsletter or follow me on Bloglovin or Feedly so you don't miss a thing.