At Lejaan, we love the holiday season. We cherish the moments spent with our dearest and nearest in the comfort of our home (and everywhere else too). That’s why we’d like to share our favourite Christmas activities, memories, inspirations and traditions. Read on and tune into the Christmas spirit of Lejaan team members.

Indulge in the Christmas Atmosphere

Our B2B Sales & Customer Care Manager, Johanka, is clear about the holidays. “I love Christmas! For me, it starts with the endless smell of mulled wine, which my friends and I prepare in our thermos flask in the evening and go for a walk through the snow-covered city. At the weekend, I play the Lejaan Christmas playlist with the hit song All I Want for Christmas is You, bake Christmas cookies and decorate the apartment with Christmas lights.”

While walking around the city, Johanka often stops to admire the street decorations and catches seasonal events with inspirational Christmas gift ideas. We asked her what Christmas event she could not be without. “For the second year now, I've helped the Lejaan team prepare its Christmas pop-up in Prague. It offers the full Lejaan range, displays our new-in products and prepares sweet treats and eggnog. Even though I'm from Liberec, I just can’t imagine Christmas without it.”

Christmas Day woven with tradition

For our Production Manager, Štěpánka, Christmas is all about peace and goodwill and a time when wishes come true. Each year, she chooses to spend Christmas in a close family circle. Their Christmas tree is obtained from the local Liberec nursery. Spending time together and carrying out Christmas traditions is their utmost joy. “In the morning we all rinse ourselves with cold water to ensure good health in the upcoming year. We fast during the day and indulge in Christmas traditions in the evening (sending off little walnut shell boats floating, lead pouring and kissing under the mistletoe),” says Štěpánka, describing the annual course of the festive day.

Traditions seep into how the home is decorated, too. “We always have cherry twigs in a vase as part of the Christmas table decoration along with a string of fairy lights which symbolise togetherness and protection against thieves. No one is allowed to leave the table during the meal (to ensure we all meet again in the following year). After the meal, we’ll find a carp scale under the plate and go outside to see if we can see the Polaris star in the sky."

Under the Duvets from Dawn to Dusk

For many, Christmas is primarily a time for well-deserved rest and relaxation. That’s how our Social Media Manager Maci has it. “My favourite part is when we all snuggle under the duvets and watch fairytales. I can do that for hours! Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without films like Three Wishes for Cinderella, Home Alone or Love Actually," says Maci with a smile. “At home, we all instantly fell in love with the down duvets. Their fluffiness brings back memories of childhood days spent at grandma’s! I’ve covered the duvets in warm organic cotton beige Wooden Essence bed linen for the winter. I can just see us all spending the whole holidays under these duvets!”

Apart from watching Christmas films, Maci is also an avid reader. “When I'm not watching fairytales, I'm up to my ears in books. During the holidays, some of my favourites include books by Mornstein, Where the Crawdads Sing, Zuzana's Breath, and my favourite classics by Truman and Kundera.”

Gifts from the Heart

“I love baking Christmas cookies, watching Czech fairytales with my mom, walking around Christmas-decorated Prague until our noses are red, dancing to Christmas carols with Judit (our three-year-old daughter) and thinking up Christmas presents. I take that quite seriously,” notes Danya, our Influencer Marketing Manager, who is renowned for her creativity in just about every area. And Christmas gifts are no exception. “I want to gift all my dearest and nearest as a thank you for being in my life. But, at the same time, I don't want to just gift them useless items. I often make them a gift or cook/bake something as I think edible gifts are the best.”

And what’s on her own Christmas wish list? “If I didn't already have everything at home with the Lejaan label on it, I'd want new bed linen and a silk pillow. But because I refresh my Lejaan stash throughout the year, this year my Christmas wish list includes a massage voucher, a proper wool sweater, jewellery and a trip to somewhere far away."

Sweet Christmas

For our Admin Specialist, Míša, the most important thing at Christmas time is to feel good, relaxed and to end the day with a sweet treat. “I read somewhere that people who get the decorations and baking done in November are overall happier. And I can confirm this! My favourite Christmas cookies are the gingerbread ones, but the kind that don’t need time to soften. They’re ready and soft right away, so then it’s just a question of how strong your willpower is to not eat them all at once,” laughs Míša. She’s happy here to share her secret recipe with you:

INGREDIENTS:

400g plain flour, 140g icing sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp gingerbread spice, ½ tsp cinnamon, 50g butter, 2 eggs and 2 tbs liquid honey.

METHOD:

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the other ingredients, then use your hands to bring together and form a dough. Leave the dough in the fridge overnight. The next day, roll out the dough, cut out shapes using a cookie cutter and bake at 160 °C for about 10 minutes. Immediately after removing from the oven, brush the top with egg yolk mixed with water and voilà!

Míša spends Christmas Eve visiting family members during the day and then in the evening she’s with her boyfriend and daughter Thorinka. After dinner, presents and a quick story, that’s when the well-deserved relaxation time sets in. “All that's left to do is to wrap up in a bathrobe, snuggle into our favourite Lejaan bed linen (which we bring into the living room from the bedroom), put on a movie and nibble away at all the left-over sweet treats. Because holding diets is out of the question at Christmas!”