Tag: Hygge

Commentary · Nostalgia · Stories

Losing Nostalgia… And Finding It Again

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November 1978

Snaps and crackles emanating from the fireplace combine with clicks and pops from the album that rotates round and round on the old console record player in our living room.

It’s getting on towards Christmas.  Well, okay… really it’s just the start of November and the Christmas tree won’t even be going up until after Thanksgiving. But as a kid, November was the start of winter, and winter meant snow, and snow meant Christmas.

So, yeah, it’s getting on towards Christmas. Snowflakes are falling beyond the picture window in a silent dance to Earth, and I’m listening to the new Carpenters Christmas Album, combing through the Sears Wish Book Catalog.  I flip past the housewares and lingerie sections to get to the good stuff: train sets… slot car tracks… Tonka trucks… Star Wars figures.

This was the year Santa was going to bring me a Tyco train set—the one with a diesel engine, a couple of brown boxcars, a long passenger car, and a red caboose. It was my dream to start building a monster railroad layout, and this little set was going to be the start to fulfilling that dream. 

It was going to be magnificent. Continue reading “Losing Nostalgia… And Finding It Again”

Childhood · Nostalgia · Stories

Week 30: The Luxuriousness of a Lazy Day | Everyday Nostalgia

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I’m standing in the elevator, waiting for it to reach our floor. My foot taps an impatient rhythm as my arms hold my daughter, Zoey. She is beyond upset that we have just said goodbye to my mom—her beloved Grammy Sue—so she is loudly, and messily, sobbing into my shoulder, her cries reverberating in my ears. Her wet tears, the ones trickling down my skin, are the closest thing I’ve come to a shower this morning.

The elevator opens, and I walk into the hall toward our apartment. As Zoey’s tears slowly subside, she begins to feel heavier in my arms: I can tell she’s simply worn out. After we’re in the comfort of our home, I set Zoey down and she plods slowly toward the living room, her shoulders lower than usual. As I watch her walk away, I see raindrops start to splatter against the windows, and in that moment, I feel my own tiredness settle in.  Continue reading “Week 30: The Luxuriousness of a Lazy Day | Everyday Nostalgia”

Music · Music Monday · Nostalgia

15 Hygge-Inspired Songs Sure to Warm You Up

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After yesterday’s Everyday Nostalgia blog post about hygge over here at the Nostalgia Diaries, we thought it would only be fitting if we followed up with a hygge-inspired Music Monday playlist.

After all, given our love of music, we think curling up and listening to good music has the ability to create some of the same warm, fuzzy feelings that hygge is known for.

We’ll admit it: There are so many songs that give us the feels that it was hard to pare down our choices to a manageable list. But ultimately, our final selections were driven by the nostalgic intimacy these songs evoke and how they sound like they could be played on a record player that’s sitting in the corner of your living room as you join together with family and friends–or even enjoy some quiet time to yourself–connecting and talking and slowing down (preferably with lots of candles and a roaring fireplace). Continue reading “15 Hygge-Inspired Songs Sure to Warm You Up”