What to Celebrate January 13 thru 19, 2020
Celebration Ideas for January 13 – 19, 2020
As we head into the 2nd half of January we take time to decompress from the holidays, do some cleaning & organizing to help the year ahead go smoothly (we hope!), and have some fun too.
By now you know the drill. So go ahead. Take a peak & plan your week.
And always remember to …
Enjoy!
Celebrate All During January
January is all about fun! At least these celebrations are. Although many people are also dead serious about their gardening and other hobbies. Either way, cold January days are perfect for indoor hobbies, outdoor activities, and planning for spring.
National Mail Order Gardening Month: Spring is closer than you think! And now is the perfect time to plan your spring planting. So check your mail for your favorite gardening catalogs (or request them) if you prefer to page through physical books. Or head online to check out what’s new and what’s tried & true. If you’re not sure where to start, Burpee Gardening is always a good place to go. It’s been in business since 1876!
National Hobby Month: If gardening is your hobby, and you’re participating in Mail Order Gardening Month, then you’re already celebrating right! But if you have other hobbies, this is the month to get back into those too. Or find a new hobby. Because if you’re like us you’ve been neglecting your hobbies (and yourself) lately. But the holiday hubbub is done. So dig out your supplies & get started or buy the hobby supplies you need. Then make time for yourself & your hobby!
National Skating Month: This is the month to dig out your ice skates (or buy a new pair!) and hit the ice. Bring the kids too … the point of the month is really to introduce new skaters to the joys of skating. There are Skating Month events around the country. So celebrate on your own or see if there’s an event near you.
Weekly Celebrations for Jan. 13 to 19, 2020
Feeling and showing gratitude is a great way to start any week (or year, month, or day too). So Thank You Days is one celebration you won’t want to miss. You could even combine it with letter writing!
Fuel your written and spoken thank-you’s with pizza & mocktails. What a perfect week!
International Thank You Days (January 11 – 18, 2020): Think about all the things & people you’re thankful for. Then say “Thank you” to anyone who has helped you in any way, no matter how small. If you put your Thank You in a letter you’ll be celebrating 2 weeks in one! (Keep reading. You’ll understand. 🙂)
National Pizza Week (January 12 – 19, 2020) : Eat pizza all week! Or eat pizza a few days & show your love of pizza the rest of the week with pizza-themed clothes & jewelry. Find pizza deals here.
National Mocktail Week (January 12 – 18, 2020): The holidays tend to be alcohol-soaked for many people. And most of us—drinkers and non-drinkers alike—are ready for a little sanity in the drinks department. But cocktails taste so good! What to do? Make ‘em without the alcohol of course! They’ll taste just as good. And even better, without alcohol to dull your senses you’ll still be able to taste them (and stand) after your 6th one.
National Letter Writing Week (January 12 – 18, 2020): When was the last time you wrote a letter? Received a letter? No, not email or a text. And certainly not a sales letter. No, a real letter written by someone you know and containing information, thoughts, & ideas you want to read. Probably a long time! But this is the week to change that. So get out pen & paper (you do still have those, right?!) and write a letter to someone who’d love to hear from you. Hopefully that person will write a letter back!
Celebration Days coming up for Jan. 13 thru Jan. 19
As the 2nd full work week of the year dawns we take the opportunity to clean off our desks. And cover them in stickers! (Ok, probably not).
The next day we tackle organizing our homes. And dressing up our pets … preferably before organizing, just in case your pet protests by tearing up the place.
We also let our inner child out several times during the week, celebrate absolutely nothing, and use those gift cards before we forget about them.
Of course there’s plenty of deliciousness, too. So you’re nearly guaranteed another fun-tastic week.
January 13:
National Rubber Ducky Day: Rubber duckies! You’re never too old for a rubber ducky. So find yours (or your children’s)—or buy yourself one—and settle in for a nice bubble bath with your fun bath toy.
National Clean Off Your Desk Day: Get yourself set up for a more productive year by clearing off your desk, tossing anything you no longer need, & organizing the rest. Then you’ll be able to quickly find what you need for each project and get that project done & filed in record time.
National Sticker Day: Stickers! I don’t care how old you are, stickers are fun. And for this day you get to stick stickers everywhere. Well, maybe not on your pets, boss, or local police station. But do make liberal use of stickers for the day.
Stephen Foster Memorial Day: On this day we honor “the father of American Music.” Foster was only 37 when he died on Jan. 13, 1864. But he left behind hundreds of compositions like Camptown Races and Oh! Susanna that are still popular more than 150 years later. The day is an official Federal observation. But not one you get off work!
National Peach Melba Day: Your dessert for this Monday evening must be Peach Melba. How else would you celebrate this sweet day? Use this Peach Melba recipe if you’d like.
January 14:
National Dress Up Your Pet Day: If you have a pet that’ll tolerate getting dressed up, this is the day to do that. Of course you’ll need to take pictures & share them to show off your little cutie being extra cute.
Organize Your Home Day: An organized home is a calm(er) home. And this is the day to get started creating calm. But the 1st rule of organizing is never organize your clutter! So start by deciding what you want to keep and getting rid of the rest. If it’s still in good shape, consider selling your unwanted stuff. Decluttr can help with things like LEGOs, games, cells phones, & other tech items.
Ratification Day: The Revolutionary War officially ended on this date in 1784 with the ratification of the Second Treaty of Paris. So have a party in honor of the date the colonies formally achieved what they had declared years earlier: independence from Britain.
International Kite Day: Don’t take it personally if, on this day, someone tells you to go fly a kite. Take it as an invitation to celebrate Kite Day! This is a big day in the Indian state of Gujarat, but kite flying is fun everywhere. So buy a kite or make a kite, then get out & make it soar! Did you know there are kite festivals & shows all year long? Why not see if there’s one near you on or near this day?
National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day: A hot sandwich hits the spot on a cold January day. So make your lunch (or even dinner) a hot pastrami sandwich & you’ll be celebrating right. Head out to your favorite deli and order one. Or make yourself a hot pastrami like the ones at Langer’s in LA.
January 15:
National Hat Day: It’s really too bad most people don’t wear hats any more. They’re a simple & creative way to show off your personality! Not that we can complain too much … we don’t wear hats either. 😕 But this is the day to find one of your hats or invest in a new hat and wear it proudly. And while baseball caps are technically hats, that seems like cheating. Try to be more creative than that.
National Booch Day: Celebrate the 2nd annual Booch Day with your favorite kombucha. Don’t have a favorite? Or (gasp!) never tried kombucha? This is the perfect day to try some flavors & find your favorite. Or if you already love the stuff, maybe start a batch of homemade kombucha!
National Strawberry Ice Cream Day: Treat yourself to a dish (or cone!) of strawberry ice cream to celebrate getting through the 1st half of January. Or for any other milestone you desire. You deserve it!
National Bagel Day: Enjoy bagels all day! Of course they’re perfect with a smear of cream cheese for breakfast, but they can also replace the bread in your sandwich for lunch. And check to see if Thomas’ (creator of the day) is having an event in your city to celebrate the amazing bagel.
January 16:
Religious Freedom Day: Celebrate your right to practice the religion of your choice. No one—especially not the government—has the right to force you to practice any specific religion. The decision is all yours.
Appreciate a Dragon Day: Dragons are awesome! So celebrate these creative creatures with some artwork, books featuring dragons, or whatever other dragon-y activities you think up. How you celebrate is less important than that you celebrate.
Without a Scalpel Day: This innovative day celebrates the first angioplasty. Why? Because this amazing procedure allows doctors to open blocked blood vessels with just a tiny cut. Today lots of minimally invasive procedures are available to treat everything from cancer to strokes. If you or a loved one has ever needed one of these procedures, you know this is a day worth celebrating!
National Nothing Day: On this day we celebrate nothing! Literally. Don’t do any celebrating & you’ll be celebrating this day perfectly. Now obviously that’s going to be a problem if you happen to want to appreciate dragons, your religious freedom, or even fig newtons. But if none of that appeals to you, this might just be the day for you.
Fig Newton Day: Eat Fig Newtons! Or any fig-filled bars (we won’t tell).
January 17:
Cable Car Day: Celebrate the nearly extinct cable car. No, not the street cars that run on electricity. The true cable cars, pulled through the streets with huge cables running under those streets. The only ones left in America are in San Francisco. So most of us will probably have to celebrate without actually riding one.
Popeye Day: Popeye the Sailor Man made his debut in a comic strip on January 17, 1929. So celebrate by eating a can of spinach & watching some classic Popeye!
Kid Inventors’ Day: Kids are creative, but they don’t always get credit for their inventiveness. But many truly useful things have been invented by “just a kid.” This day recognizes kid inventors and encourages creativity in all kids … ‘cause that’s how inventions start! If you know any kids with big (or even small) ideas, help them make those ideas reality. And/or let the world know about them.
National Bootlegger’s Day: Celebrate the birth of Templeton Rye Whiskey, born on the day Prohibition made making & selling alcohol illegal. The whiskey shares a birthday with one of its most famous drinkers, Al Capone (although he was born a few years before the whiskey!). Today Templeton Rye Spirits uses that Prohibition-era recipe to make a perfectly legal drink. So why not get yourself a bottle & enjoy? Responsibly, of course! (You could even make a hot buttered whiskey, using a variation on the basic recipe for the next celebration).
National Hot Buttered Rum Day: If whiskey’s not your style, maybe you prefer hot buttered rum? If so you’re in luck. That’s the other drink we celebrate on the 17th. Give this hot buttered rum recipe a try. It includes 2 different ways to make it plus some variations on the recipe.
January 18:
National Winnie the Pooh Day: Celebrate the bear of very little brain (but a big heart!) by reading some classic Pooh. Or watching some Pooh mini adventures.
National Use Your Gift Card Day: This is the very first National Use Your Gift Card Day. And the idea is to make sure those gift cards get used instead of collecting dust in the back of a drawer. You may have free meals, massages, & more hiding all over your home! Don’t let them go to waste. Use at least one gift card on this day. Then collect all the rest & store them somewhere you’ll remember to use them in the coming weeks.
Thesaurus Day: Celebrate (fete/commemorate/honor/recognize/toast) the birthday (natal day/birthdate/date of birth/DOB) of Peter Mark Roget, born on this date in 1779. Without him our sentences would be quite boring (dull/drab/lackluster/characterless/spiritless). Ok, not really. But he was the first to publish synonyms in an easy-to-use reference book.
National Peking Duck Day: Head out to your favorite Chinese restaurant to savor the crisp skin & tender meat of a traditionally prepared Beijing (Peking) duck. Or, if you’re feeling ambitious, make one yourself. But you’ll need to plan ahead! Get lots of tips & tricks for Peking Duck here. The actual recipe is here.
January 19:
National Popcorn Day: Popcorn is a healthy snack filled with fiber. As long as you don’t drown it in butter, caramel, cheese, or other toppings anyway. But since we’re celebrating the stuff, for this one day you should be able to have it any way you want. So make a big bowl of your favorite popcorn and enjoy. Guilt-free!
World Snow Day: Celebrate the snow and all the fun activities you can do in snow. There are World Snow Day events all over the world. So see if there’s something near you. If not—and you have snow—just get out in the snow & enjoy!
Tin Can Day: Celebrate the invention of the tin can. Without this handy-dandy storage method our food choices could be quite limited for much of the year. Although this is somewhat less true these days, when we can get fresh foods shipped long distances overnight.
World Quark Day: Enjoy quark all day! (The dairy product, not the subatomic particles). It’s high in protein but low in fat, making it a great substitute for things like sour cream, cream, or cream cheese. You can buy quark, but it’s also simple to make quark at home. Then you can use your homemade quark in all kinds of recipes.
