In my house you smell the holidays first. It’s the way my mother stretches them throughout the year. She knows she can’t get away with the putting out pumpkins in August or Christmas lights in November without endless teasing from the family. So she’s sneaky. She uses subliminal olfactory cues to ease a family of curmudgeons into the holidays.
Come November I’m inevitably walking in the door and wondering why I’m suddenly craving eggnog and snowfall. Some days it takes me a while to figure it out, but eventually the smell of basalm and cedarwood gives it away. The holiday season has begun as Mom has broken out the Thymes Frasier Fir scents. It’s become a bit of a joke amongst us over when she’ll cave, make a trip to her favorite garden store and come home with secret bags that smell like Christmas exploded inside of them.
For all the teasing though, we’d all be upset if the house didn’t slowly begin to smell like a Christmas tree farm long before we picked the perfect tree. It’s become a symbol of the season and somehow no other candle can quite come close to capturing the same scent as the Frasier Fir. Perhaps because it’s been such an integral part of the holidays for the whole family. It’s in the scent of the candles flickering in the windows, the room spray we frantically use to freshen-up the dog-laden couches when the grandparents invade, the diffuser in the dining room that mingles perfectly with the aroma of Christmas pies, the after-dinner scent doing the dishes, and carrying the season with us throughout the day with scented lotion.
This scent has been with our family for years, and even though we’d try to pretend otherwise, the first time we saw the candles appear in our favorite local garden store we’d yearn for a red sweater and a dog to put a Santa hat on. Scent memory lasts forever, whether it’s the smell of the family dinner’s roasting in the oven or the perfect Christmas tree, it harkens you back to a special moment in time. Maybe things weren’t simpler and the holiday wasn’t without its flaws, but it’s the tradition that lasts and sticks with you.
That’s why I still buy the same Thymes scents my mom does; why I bring the Frasier Fir candles as gifts to my friends in new homes; and the reason I can step into any family member’s house during the winter and feel like home. It’s become a part of our traditions, our shared memories, and brings us together even when we’re apart.
If you’d like to start your own traditions, or like my family can’t wait to have the smell of Christmas trees throughout your home, Thymes has graciously given Literally, Darling readers a free sample set of all 14 of their fragrances with any purchase over $25 if you use this link.
Share your holiday fragrance memories with us using #nevertooearly!
This post was sponsored by Thymes.
