- 7 minutes ago
The Danish term Hygge stands for all things cozy, and for five days Lucie does her best to fully experience this trend.
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00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is five days of hygge. Hey guys, it's me. Welcome back to
00:05another Try Living with Lucy five-day challenge. We all good? Let's get into it.
00:11H-Y-G-G-E. Hygge. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing it 100% correctly.
00:17Hygge. Hygge. This little book is going to be my guide this week and the book
00:22tells me that it's pronounced hygge. So we'll go with that. It's a word that the
00:29Danes in Denmark use to describe a feeling. Some call it being consciously
00:34cozy or cocoa by candlelight. The term originates from the Norwegian word for
00:41well-being and my major takeaway after reading this entire book from cover to
00:45cover is that you cannot really describe hygge. The book did break down some of the
00:50major hygge pillars for me. So you'll definitely want to watch until the end of
00:54this video if you want to get the clearest and fullest possible picture of what
00:59hygge means. So sit back, relax, grab a hot cocoa, and get comfy.
01:05I started out today by making the atmosphere of my apartment more hygge-like.
01:10Candles are arguably the most important piece of the hygge puzzle. When asked how
01:15many candles you're supposed to light at once, most Danes will tell you that it's
01:19more than five. So I got myself twenty candles all unscented and I turned my
01:24apartment into what most Americans would call a fire hazard. In Denmark though,
01:29candles are burned at homes, in offices, even at school. I opened up my windows to
01:34make sure there was proper ventilation and I was being very cautious. Most Danes
01:38will tell you that an open fireplace makes a room more hygge-like. Living in a New
01:43York City apartment that wasn't really an option for me, but I did take my big TV and
01:48I turned on YouTube and put on the Yule log video that lasts eleven hours and I
01:53had a crackling open fireplace in here. I decorated my living space with excess
01:58fluffy blankets and pillows. I strung up some lights around my lamp and I also went
02:03around replacing all of my LED light bulbs with lower temperature bulbs. As I
02:08learned in the book, the lower the light temperature, the more hygge it is. Hygge
02:12can happen all year round. Yes, even in the summer months. But in Denmark, December
02:17is arguably the biggest month for it, which is why I chose this time of year.
02:21Also, most of the clothing associated with hygge is clothing that you would most
02:26likely associate with a warm winter's night spent locked inside by the
02:29fireplace. What better way to show you guys my hygge wardrobe than to do a Lucy
02:35think hygge haul. The book taught me about a word hygge buxer. I'm not sure if I'm
02:42saying it correctly, but it basically refers to a pair of pants that you would
02:45never be caught dead wearing in public. Maybe I should get a pair of hygge buxer.
02:49We're here! This blue chunky sweater is from my friends over at Hanya by Anya Cole
02:54and you'll see a few other pieces in here from them. They actually let me borrow a
02:59few of their items for this week of hygge. First item is this sweater that I wore
03:05yesterday. This is a chunky oversized but sort of cropped long-sleeve turtleneck. I
03:12got it from Toby and it's really, really freaking soft. Beautiful. Here are another
03:18of those Hanya by Anya Cole sweaters. How soft is that?
03:23Wow. Right? So nice. You can't have hygge without scarves as I learned from the
03:30Little Book of Hygge. This one, I just don't remember. Oh, I blew out the candle
03:36with this card. Don't remember. I'm making a mess. Please hold.
03:43Food plays a major role in hygge, especially sweet, delicious and really
03:48indulgent food. And certain foods are very hygge-like while others are just not. For
04:00coloring sticks are not. Eh. Score! So today, now that I had my hygge environment in the living
04:07room glowing and I had my comfy hygge clothing on, I spent today indulging. I
04:13started with a mug of rich dark hot chocolate piled to the brim with mini
04:18marshmallows. Sugar and sweets are part of a balanced hygge-like lifestyle, so I of
04:24course was munching on gummy bears all afternoon. But something that I read in the
04:28book is that the longer it takes to make something, the more hygge-like it is. It's
04:33all about preparing food and our relationship with food and the joy that
04:37comes from eating something that we worked hard to make. Cinnamon buns! I'll put the
04:42link to this recipe in the description box below. I started by making the dough
04:46from scratch with yeast. I mixed in the salt, eggs, and flour which, let me tell you, was a
04:53real workout on the forearms and then I let it rise. I cleaned off my countertop
04:58before pouring some oil onto it and then I spread out the dough into a
05:02rectangular shape. I poured melted butter on it and then I spread my cinnamon sugar
05:07mixture on top. Next, I rolled it up into a log shape and then I cut out slices.
05:13While they were in the oven baking, I whipped up some homemade cream cheese icing and
05:17I've got to be honest with you, as always, they looked really great, but they were not
05:23great. Huh. But if I took anything away from the food section of the hygge book,
05:29it's that the food you're cooking doesn't have to come out perfectly. So even if my
05:33cinnamon buns didn't come out that well, the entire experience of making them
05:38could not have been more hygge.
05:42Time for another hygge definition. Hygge krog, a comfy or cozy corner or a snug place.
05:50Apparently most Danes have a hygge krog in their home where they like to snuggle up
05:54with a warm blanket, a cup of tea, and a good book. My window sills aren't exactly
05:59wide enough to sit on, so I decided to make that little corner of the couch my hygge krog
06:04for the day. I spread out my fluffiest blankets, brought along a few good books and a journal,
06:09popped on my fuzzy socks, and relaxed. Today was all about having a hygge filled
06:14day using some of the hygge tips that I've learned in the book so far. In my
06:18journal, I wrote down a few of the happiest hygge-like moments that I've had
06:22in the past, and then I created a hygge bucket list of hygge moments that I want
06:26to have in the future with the people I love. Things like a board game night with
06:30my siblings, renting a cabin with my family, and getting snowed in with Michael.
06:35This is a good moment for me to mention that even though I'm hygge-ing at home this
06:39week, hygge does not need to take place in the home. Actually, some of the best
06:43hygge can take place outdoors, in nature, or in coffee shops. This is also a good
06:48time for me to mention that I've been hygge-ing by myself this week because
06:51it's the middle of the work week and all the people I know and love are either at
06:55school or at work. But most Danes will tell you that hygge is the best when it's
06:59experienced with others. So once Michael gets home from work tonight, we're gonna
07:02snuggle up in our little hygge krog. And he recently just went through and printed
07:07all of our photos from when we first started dating in high school. So we're
07:10gonna look through our new photo albums. I got Michael and we're in our little
07:15hygge krog. And we've got some candlelight on. Dark outside. This one is our first
07:23photo that we ever took together. We're so young.
07:26Oh yeah, that was my college graduation. That's when we went to Newport.
07:34Happy Friday! Or as they say in the book, Happy Frida Suga, which is hygge on Fridays.
07:42So last night Michael and I hygged together on the couch, but any Dane will tell you that
07:47the sweet spot for hygge is with three to four people. So tonight we invited my sister
07:52Allie over because the three of us, me, Michael, and my sister, have always called ourselves
07:56the three musketeers. We're best friends and we love spending time together. Since hygge
08:01is all about being present, we turned our cell phones off and then we worked together to
08:05cook a delicious dinner. And then we spent the rest of the night laughing together, playing
08:10board games on the couch, and just enjoying being with one another.
08:14Doing a hoedown. Yes! Writing a book. Yes! Looking like an idiot. Skiing. Three musketeers!
08:25I don't think I've enjoyed another five day challenge quite as much as this one, and this
08:30little book here could not have been more helpful at allowing me to integrate this amazing Danish
08:35feeling into my everyday life here in New York. Comment below letting us know how you hygge,
08:41and if you've never heard the term before, I highly recommend you get this book and give
08:45it a try. And as always, let me know what you want to see me try next time for five
08:49days. Bye!