I’ve had nature withdrawals ever since I left Austria, so when it came to our Christmas tree this year there was only one way to do it: go to a farm, search for the winner and cut it down. When people think of New York City, they rarely imagine its unbeatable proximity to New England and the breathtaking upstate countrysides of both New York and New Jersey — one of the greatest advantages of living in the city for those who love east coast adventures. There are several amazing Christmas tree farms in the greater NYC area that make chopping down your own tree (whether solo or with family) an easy-to-reach tradition every year.

I’m slowly becoming obsessed with the origin of everything, so the first-hand experience of cutting down my own tree was a joy and absolutely a tradition I’ll incorporate into my life and share with my future family. People tend to think America is lacking on tradition, but my first year of living back in the United States taught me that couldn’t be more untrue; we take our seasonal traditions and routines quite seriously. There was a sweet family that sang Christmas songs as they searched for their tree together — it was like The Sound of Music in real life and my heart swooned.

While I’m looking forward to testing a few farms over the next years, Barclay’s Tree Farm in New Jersey offered a beautiful first experience. I’m a sucker for family-owned anything that comes with a story, and Barclay’s has been a destination for Christmas Trees for over 45 years. Their team will help you with every step of the Christmas tree process – from selection, cutting down to securely tying to your car roof to make sure it makes it back to Brooklyn safely. Ever since living in Europe, I treasure the American spirit of going over and beyond to make complete strangers happy. This sweet family-run farm did just that.

In the spirit of maintaining my cozy snowy weekend mood of eating blueberry pancakes in bed, drinking vats of hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies, I thought my coziest pajamas were the only appropriate outfit for the occasion. To top off all the class I’m exuding, they cost less than $20 from Target (this isn’t the first time I’ve styled Target pajamas).

Next tradition on the itinerary: decorating that tree while listening to Frank Sinatra and baking my grandmother’s famous holiday cookie lineup. Stay tuned this week for those moments and the chocolate chip cookie recipe everyone asks me for.