MEET HOLIDAY HAUS

Shannon Holdren

Holiday Haus Founder

Psst! Over here!

Why the passion for “making magic”? We can thank our mom for that. 

The love of turning moments into irreplaceable memories seems to be a hereditary trait. If you have the tremendous privilege of knowing our mom, you know what we mean. She has the extraordinary gift of making everyone she interacts with feel special. She has that same effect on holidays (any day, really) too. Always going to extremes to not just celebrate, but to really make magic and help punctuate the reason for the holiday. She’s a warm and vibrant light, and we hope that same warmth is delivered in every single package we send.

OUR HISTORY

Why we do what we do

We don’t believe in waiting till a holiday, a vacation, the weekend, girls night, or any other occasion to start enjoying life. *Every day* is a gift. Having said that, holidays are extra special to us because it’s not every day all your favorite people gather under one roof! 

Click the picture to understand where that passion was born.

OUR INSPO

How'd we wind up here

Shannon stumbled upon this idea at the intersection of “discerning her talents and passions” and “being unwilling to sacrifice time with her son.” She’s passionate about helping people, she’s passionate about celebrating moments (big and small), and she’s passionate about spending time with the people she loves. Holiday Haus affords her the opportunity to use her gifts and creativity to help others make special memories with their loved ones, while allowing her the flexibility to spend time with the light of her life. 

OUR VISION

Where we plan on taking it

Oh boy, do we have big plans for this little company, and we can’t wait to see them all come to fruition. But the joy is in the journey. We hope you follow along and share in that joy as we evolve and grow. And we hope to share in your joys too. After all, that’s what Holiday Haus is all about. 

We're big "celebrate life" people

The fact that you’re here makes us think you are too? Let me guess. You’re inclined to say “yes” to last-minute plans and spontaneous opportunities, trips, and adventures (“we’ll figure it out along the way!”), and you’re known for going the extra mile (or several miles) when you know it’ll make your loved one smile. You’re keenly aware that these are the good old days. The days where the kids are even interested in building forts and finger painting with you are numbered, so when they ask, it’s an automatic (almost involuntary) “yes.” Because you know the trouble is no trouble at all and that the mess is worth the memories. People may describe you as “fly by the seat of your pants,” but you know you actually put very careful thought into your decisions. They just reflect an emphasis on the experience, rather than practical or convenience. Sound like you?

Yep. Same.

Our inspiration

We don’t believe in waiting until the weekend or girls night or vacation to start enjoying your life. From a young age, we were taught that life is a special occasion. Life in a house with six kids was chaotic, but mom was never too busy to pause and have an impromptu pajama party under the kitchen table or to turn a mundane activity into a memorable one—like taking the opportunity on a 5-mile drive to crank the music to 11 and have a dashboard rock session before school.

This created an environment where imagination and spontaneity were encouraged, and gratitude for time spent together was firmly engrained. 

Mom continues to bend over backwards to not only sprinkle magic everywhere, but to dump that entire bucket of magic, love, excitement, and pure joy all over everyone she meets – we just thought you could use a little of that too!

"The Lord gives us each a vocation, a challenge to discover the talents and abilities we possess and put them at the service of others." 

Pope Francis

"Often we imagine that we will work hard, arrive at some distant goal, and then we will be happy. This is a delusion. Happiness is the results of a life lived with purpose. Happiness is not an objective. It is the movement of life itself, a process, an activity." 

Ethan Hawke

"The biggest mistake I made as a parent is the one that most of us make . . . I did not live in the moment enough.

This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of my children sitting on the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day. I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less." 

Anna Quindlen

© Holiday Haus 2020