A quick holiday greeting today with two little gifts inside — survival skills for your toolkit, if you will.

A stiff drink.

Here’s how to make a restaurant-quality martini at home, and here’s the only espresso martini recipe you’ll ever need. If you’re in the company of teetotalers, no worries — how about a lovely booze-free Negroni? There is also, of course, The Barefoot Contessa Drinking Game, but you don’t need a reminder at this point. We’ve been playing it together for years, after all.

A great playlist.

*Mariah Carey voice*

“IT’S TIIIIIIMMMMMEEEEE!”

Stream our ten years (!) running festive playlist, A Love List Christmas. It’s meant to be set on shuffle and forgotten, so you can get back to being with the ones you love. (But there are some belt-along bops on there, should you be listening alone in your car. Just sayin’.)