00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is five days of hygge.
00:03Hey guys, it's me.
00:05Welcome back to another Try Living with Lucy five-day challenge.
00:09Before we start, if you're new to our channel, click right here to subscribe and also comment
00:14below right now to let me know what other five-day challenges you want to see me try.
00:19We all good? Let's get into it. H-Y-G-G-E, hygge.
00:24I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing it 100% correctly.
00:27Hoogie. Hy-G-G-E. Higgy? This little book is going to be my guide this week and the book
00:32tells me that it's pronounced hygge, so we'll go with that. It's a word that the Danes in Denmark
00:40use to describe a feeling. Some call it being consciously cozy or cocoa by candlelight.
00:48The term originates from the Norwegian word for well-being and my major takeaway after reading
00:54this entire book from cover to cover is that you cannot really describe hygge. The book did break
01:00down some of the major hygge pillars for me, so you'll definitely want to watch until the end of
01:05this video if you want to get the clearest and fullest possible picture of what hygge means.
01:10So sit back, relax, grab a hot cocoa, and get comfy.
01:15I started out today by making the atmosphere of my apartment more hygge-like. Candles are arguably
01:22the most important piece of the hygge puzzle. When asked how many candles you're supposed to light at
01:27once, most Danes will tell you that it's more than five. So I got myself 20 candles, all unscented,
01:34and I turned my apartment into what most Americans would call a fire hazard. In Denmark, though,
01:39candles are burned at homes, in offices, even at school. I opened up my windows to make sure there
01:45was proper ventilation, and I was being very cautious. Most Danes will tell you that an open
01:50fireplace makes a room more hygge-like. Living in a New York City apartment, that wasn't really an
01:55option for me, but I did take my big TV and I turned on YouTube and put on the Yule
02:00log video that
02:01lasts 11 hours, and I had a crackling open fireplace in here. I decorated my living space with excess
02:08fluffy blankets and pillows. I strung up some lights around my lamp, and I also went around replacing
02:14all of my LED light bulbs with lower temperature bulbs. As I learned in the book, the lower the
02:19light temperature, the more hygge it is. Hygge can happen all year round. Yes, even in the summer months,
02:26but in Denmark, December is arguably the biggest month for it, which is why I chose this time of year.
02:32Also, most of the clothing associated with hygge is clothing that you would most likely associate
02:37with a warm winter's night spent locked inside by the fireplace. What better way to show you guys
02:43my hygge wardrobe than to do a Lucy Fink hygge haul? The book taught me about a word hygge-buxer.
02:51I'm not
02:52sure if I'm saying it correctly, but it basically refers to a pair of pants that you would never be
02:56caught dead wearing in public. Maybe I should get a pair of hygge-buxer. We're here! This blue chunky sweater
03:02is from my friends over at Hanya by Anya Cole, and you'll see a few other pieces in here from
03:07them.
03:07They actually let me borrow a few of their items for this week of hygge. First item is this sweater
03:15that I wore yesterday. This is a chunky oversized but sort of cropped long sleeve turtleneck. I got it
03:23from Toby, and it's really, really freaking soft. Beautiful. Here are another of those Hanya by Anya
03:30Cole sweaters. How soft is that? Wow. Right? So nice. You can't have hygge without scarves, as I learned
03:40from The Little Book of Hygge. This one, I just don't remember. Oh, I blew out the candle with the
03:47scarf.
03:47I don't remember. I'm making a mess. Please hold. Food plays a major role in hygge, especially sweet,
03:57delicious, and really indulgent food. And certain foods are very hygge-like, while others are just
04:04not. For instance, cookies are. Mm-hmm. Celery sticks are not. Eh. Score! So today,
04:15now that I had my hygge environment in the living room glowing, and I had my comfy hygge clothing on,
04:21I spent today indulging. I started with a mug of rich, dark hot chocolate piled to the brim with
04:28mini marshmallows. Sugar and sweets are part of a balanced hygge-like lifestyle, so I, of course,
04:35was munching on gummy bears all afternoon. But something that I read in the book is that the
04:40longer it takes to make something, the more hygge-like it is. It's all about preparing food,
04:45and our relationship with food, and the joy that comes from eating something that we worked hard
04:50to make. Cinnamon buns! I'll put the link to this recipe in the description box below. I started by
04:56making the dough from scratch with yeast. I mixed in the salt, eggs, and flour, which, let me tell you,
05:02was a real workout on the forearms, and then I let it rise. I cleaned off my countertop before pouring
05:09some oil onto it, and then I spread out the dough into a rectangular shape. I poured melted butter on
05:15it, and then I spread my cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Next, I rolled it up into a log shape,
05:21and then
05:21I cut out slices. While they were in the oven baking, I whipped up some homemade cream cheese icing,
05:27and I've got to be honest with you, as always, they looked really great, but they were not great.
05:36Huh. But if I took anything away from the food section of the hygge book, it's that the food you're
05:40cooking doesn't have to come out perfectly. So even if my cinnamon buns didn't come out that well,
05:46the entire experience of making them could not have been more hygge.
05:56Hygge Krog, a comfy or cozy corner or a snug place. Apparently most Danes have a Hygge Krog in
06:02their home where they like to snuggle up with a warm blanket, a cup of tea, and a good book.
06:07My
06:07window sills aren't exactly wide enough to sit on, so I decided to make that little corner of the couch
06:13my Hygge Krog for the day. I spread out my fluffiest blankets, brought along a few good books and a
06:19journal, popped on my fuzzy socks, and relaxed. Today was all about having a Hygge filled day
06:25using some of the Hygge tips that I've learned in the book so far. In my journal, I wrote down
06:29a few
06:30of the happiest Hygge-like moments that I've had in the past, and then I created a Hygge bucket list
06:35of Hygge moments that I want to have in the future with the people I love. Things like a board
06:40game
06:40night with my siblings, renting a cabin with my family, and getting snowed in with Michael. This is a
06:46good moment for me to mention that even though I'm Hygge-ing at home this week, Hygge does not
06:50need to take place in the home. Actually, some of the best Hygge can take place outdoors, in nature,
06:56or in coffee shops. This is also a good time for me to mention that I've been Hygge-ing by
07:01myself this
07:01week because it's the middle of the work week and all the people I know and love are either at
07:05school
07:05or at work. But most Danes will tell you that Hygge is the best when it's experienced with others. So
07:11once
07:11Michael gets home from work tonight, we're gonna snuggle up in our little Hygge Krog. And he recently
07:16just went through and printed all of our photos from when we first started dating in high school,
07:20so we're gonna look through our new photo albums. I got Michael and we're in our little Hygge Krog.
07:27We've got some candlelight on. Dark outside. This one is our first photo that we ever took together.
07:35We're so young. Oh yeah, that was my college graduation. That's when we went to Newport.
07:44Happy Friday, or as they say in the book, Happy Frida Shuga, which is Hygge on Fridays.
07:53So last night Michael and I Hygge'd together on the couch, but any Dane will tell you that the sweet
07:58spot
07:58for Hygge is with three to four people. So tonight we invited my sister Allie over because the three of
08:04us,
08:04me, Michael, and my sister, have always called ourselves the three Musketeers. We're best friends
08:09and we love spending time together. Since Hygge is all about being present, we turned our cell phones
08:14off and then we worked together to cook a delicious dinner. And then we spent the rest of the night
08:18laughing together, playing board games on the couch, and just enjoying being with one another.
08:24Doing a hoedown. Yes! Writing a book. Ha! Yes! Looking like an idiot.
08:32Skiing. Three Musketeers! I don't think I've enjoyed another five day challenge quite as much as this
08:40one, and this little book here could not have been more helpful at allowing me to integrate this amazing
08:45Danish feeling into my everyday life here in New York. Comment below letting us know how you Hygge,
08:51and if you've never heard the term before, I highly recommend you get this book and give it a try.
08:56And as always, let me know what you want to see me try next time for five days. Bye!
09:01Hey YouTube! Thanks for watching Five Days of Hygge. Click here for another video on Refinery29,
09:07right here to subscribe to our YouTube channel, and here for my personal YouTube channel. Bye!
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