How Neil Patrick Harris, Nicole Kidman, & More Stars Are Spending the Holidays This Year

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It’s fun to imagine that every celeb’s holiday season is spent jetting off to exotic locales, booking the best hotel suites, and being lavished with extravagant gifts. But most stars are looking forward to the same things we are: quality time with loved ones, goofy holiday traditions, and the chance to unwind and reflect on the year. We investigated how Neil Patrick Harris, Nicole Kidman, Blake Shelton, and more stars are spending the holidays — and these down-to-earth holiday plans are already warming our hearts.

Highlights from this year’s holiday plans? Apparently, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen are hosting Gwen Stefani for an impromptu end-of-year dinner, while Meghan Markle and Prince Harry spend the holidays in Canada — and not with Queen Elizabeth II. Kourtney Kardashian hosted a glam holiday party, while Emma Watson reconnected with Harry Potter co-stars, and Mario Lopez invested in some sweet matching jammies.

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Curious about more of these stars’ planned festivities? Read on.

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris, husband David Burtka, kids Harper and Gideon, and their dogs recorded a sweet holiday message for fans.

Chris Hemsworth

Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky celebrated the holiday season in warmer weather, with great friends and family.

Emma Watson

Emma Watson had a very Harry Potter holiday, with Harry Potter co-stars Tom Felton, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, and Matthew Lewis.

Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore is traveling for the holidays — and making playlists for her fans while she goes.

Kylie Jenner

Kylie and baby Stormi were twinning yet again this Christmas — can you handle the cuteness?

Kim Kardashian & Kanye West

Most stylish Christmas Eve photo of all time? We think so — even though we learned poor North had a stomach flu for this photoshoot.

Mario Lopez

Mario Lopez and his family donned matching PJs for the holiday, and kids Gigi and Nico showed off a musical surprise.

Gabrielle Union & Dwyane Wade

Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade headed to Hawaii for the holidays — and we’re dying of jealousy.

Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff is spending the holidays on an activity all moms know well — trying to snap a Christmas Eve photo of the whole fam.

Busy Philipps

Christmas came early for Busy Philipp’s daughter Birdie this year: “We couldn’t keep the @danielhowell & @amazingphil merch from her for once more second,” wrote Philipps. “And honestly, it made her so beyond happy that I was crying last night.”

Khloé Kardashian

Khloé (and all her sisters) got glam this holiday season for Kourtney’s party.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey gave us the greatest Christmas gift of all: a new video for her iconic holiday hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Later, she snuggled up with family for Christmas Eve.

Kourtney Kardashian

The oldest Kardashian sister brought her kids to Disneyland to celebrate the holiday. Later, she showed off son Reign’s Christmas-themed look — and the family’s new Christmas puppy!

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman is heading home for the holidays — and she ran into friend Russell Crowe on the way! These two stars shared a sweet holiday airport selfie.

Zooey Deschanel & Jonathan Scott

“When you surround yourself with amazing, creative people…the result is magical,” Property Brothers‘ Jonathan Scott wrote on Instagram alongside a snap of himself and new girlfriend Zooey Deschanel. She shared a photo of herself from 2003’s Elf with the caption, “in the mood for some swirly twirly gumdrops!”

Sofia Vergara

Sofia Vergara seems to have flown somewhere warm for the holidays with her family, and she shared a photo of the whole crew dressed to the nines.

Brooke Shields

Brooke Shields is creating a winter wonderland in her home for the holidays: a decorated tree, a wreath on the door, wreath necklaces, and a collection of Christmas tea.

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon has the Christmas spirit down to a science: Christmas cookies, Christmas movies, and hot cocoa with her dog by her side. Can we join next year?!

Joanna Gaines

Joanna Gaines knows how to kick off Christmas week right: “Microwaved nachos, sleeping bags, and sibling fireside chats make for a good start to the holiday weekend,” she writes.

Katy Perry

Katy Perry partnered with Amazon for the holidays this year, turning the clubhouse of the Boys & Girls Clubs in Bell Gardens into a winter wonderland. She also handpicked gifts for the children there.

Hoda Kotb

Today host Hoda Kotb got down with her co-workers this holiday season, sharing snaps from the annual Today Show party. “@savannahguthrie made it to the @todayshow Christmas party and then everything was right,” she wrote.

Celine Dion

Celine Dion is going all out on her Christmas tree this year — and wearing a jaw-dropping outfit while doing it.

Eva Longoria

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is celebrating the holidays with a tree filled with puppies: “Christmas is officially 6 days away… have you finished all of your Christmas shopping?!” And now that the holidays have taken off, she’s happily sipping a drink on the beach — the perfect way to spend the holidays.

Candace Cameron Bure

Full House alum Candace Cameron Bure announced that she’ll be taking a social media break over the holiday season, reminding her fans that it’s important to take time to be in the moment during this time of year.

Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich is counting her blessings during the holidays this year: “To be 44 and pregnant is already such a miracle and a god send, but on top of it, to have been woken up to a donut bouquet (there should be literally no other kind) and balloons from my amazing children was the most incredible feeling in the world!” she wrote on Instagram.

Pink

Pink is engaging in a few fun holiday traditions: an annual dress-up party, where she dressed as Billie Jean King, working on her winter knitting project, and baking snowman-themed goodies.

Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson posted a photo of the whole family in serious Christmas gear (as in, red and green head to toe). “We take Christmas MERRY seriously….” she wrote on Instagram. She also shared a few snaps from her daughter Rani’s holiday party look.

Tim McGraw

Country star Tim McGraw’s holiday plans involve putting together quite the impressive Christmas tree: “finally finished!” he wrote on Instagram this week.

Neil Patrick Harris & David Burtka

Neil Patrick Harris presents the Candlelight Processional at Epcot Center every year, and husband David Burtka couldn’t be prouder to share this holiday tradition with him.

Meghan Markle & Prince Harry

This year, the Sussex royals are breaking tradition and scandalizing everybody with their choice of holiday plans — but then again, it seems like every plan they make elicits that reaction. According to a statement from Buckingham Palace, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, “having spent the last two Christmases at Sandringham,” will now “spend the holiday this year, as a new family, with the duchess’ mother, Doria.”

A source told Us Weekly that the birth of baby Archie is the reason for this change of plans: “As it’s Archie’s first Christmas, they want it to be super special,” the source claimed. ‘It’ll be just Doria and the three of them. The drama surrounding the couple has caused a huge amount of stress. They’re making their family their No. 1 priority right now.”

Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos

Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos will be spending the holidays at home this year — and they’re really, really hoping their kids will join them. Talking to Us Weekly, Ripa reflected on how her kids are growing older: older siblings Michael (age 22) and Lola (age 18) are in college, while Joaquin (age 16) is nearing the end of high school.

“As the kids are getting older,” Ripa told the magazine, “we know that these holidays are going to be almost coming up on the last we can all kind of dictate where they spend their holidays and [will] have to share that with their new families…In the blink of an eye, your kids grow up and suddenly you are begging them to spend time with you!”

Chrissy Teigen & John Legend

We’ve only heard bits and pieces of this couple’s holiday plans — but those bits and pieces are making Beef Wellington and having Gwen Stefani over for mac n’ cheese, so we’ll take it. Talking to E! News, Voice coaches John Legend and Gwen Stefani shared that they’d just made some holiday plans together: “I get to go eat at your house!” Stefani exclaimed.

Legend confirmed that it’s not on Christmas, but “right before Christmas, after the finale.” And as for the menu? “We talked about our mac n’ cheese recipes,” Legend said, gesturing at Stefani. “Maybe I’ll make that.”

The Christmas menu itself, however, has long been set. “We settled on Beef Wellington as our meat of choice at Christmastime,” Legend confirmed. “We’ve done it the last couple years and I think we’re going to stick with it again.”

Hannah Brown

Former Bachelorette (and newly crowned Dancing with the Stars champ) Hannah Brown tells E! News she’s going home for the holidays this year. “I’m just excited to go back home,” the ex-pageant queen gushed. “We always have a pickle, where you have to find the pickle on the tree. My mom’s really into Christmas ornaments and our tree’s lavish and beautiful. You find the pickle on Christmas day, it’s a whole thing.”

And that’s not the Browns’ only holiday tradition: “We still have Santa,” Brown confessed. “Santa still comes to my house, you know, if you believe, you will receive. Waking up on Christmas morning and seeing what Santa brought, we still do that… and it’s so fun.”

Brad Pitt

An inside source told E! News that Angelina Jolie ex Brad Pitt plans to spend the holidays in Los Angeles, spending quality time with his kids. “Brad will spend part of the holidays with the kids in L.A. He will see them for his birthday and for Christmas Eve. It’s the same arrangement they have had recently,” the source claimed. “The kids will come over to Brad’s house and spend the day with him. They have some traditions where they eat and exchange gifts. They play music and just hang out.”

Pitt’s ultimate goal? To make the holidays memorable for his kids, and share meaningful time together as a family: “Brad always wants to make it special for them and loves to see the excitement in their eyes. He tries to get them thoughtful gifts and something for them to experience,” the source added. “The most important thing is just being together and being a family. He’s excited to see them and have them be with him at home. That’s really the only thing he wants.”

Alec & Hilaria Baldwin

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin shared with Extra what they’re planning for the holidays at Santaland this year, and it sounds like they’re really looking forward to their Christmas traditions. “We constantly dress like Santa all the time,” Hilaria said. “[In NYC,] they were asking if we were taking part in SantaCon.”

Alec and Hilaria share four kids together: 6-year-old Carmen, 4-year-old Rafael, 3-year-old Leonardo, and 1-year-old Romeo. “They are very good, though we have to take those threats out once in a while to be very honest,” Hilaria said of her kids this time of year. But Christmas itself is “magical, it’s amazing. There is so much magic for them.”

“We come to Macy’s to see Santa Claus,” Alec explained. “We’re going to take the holidays to just enjoy our family.”

Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton is staying close to home for the holidays — Gwen Stefani’s home, that is. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Stefani will be keeping her family in town for end-of-year festivities. “We’re going to do Christmas here in the wintry hills of Los Angeles,” Shelton told Entertainment Tonight. “I have not been handed the schedule yet. I just know that I am going to be a part of whatever is happening.”

After Christmas day, the couple will be heading back to Shelton’s ranch in Oklahoma, where they previously spent Thanksgiving. But it seems like Shelton is just focusing on getting through the holidays first.

“It’s chaos, let’s just face it,” he told E! News. “They have that moment where they run through the wrapping paper wall that she sets up every year — that’s about the only thing that I think consistently happens. One year, there’ll be a fight over a toy that the other ones didn’t get, the next year they’ll all get along.”

As for what’s on the menu this year: Stefani revealed her and Shelton’s quirky Christmas tradition that dictates the Christmas meal.

“Me and Blake have a tradition of always trying to do something new we’ve never done,” Stefani explains to E! News. “We did the Timpano dome last year, which is basically kind of like a lasagna dome wrapped in this bread thing and then you cut into it. You can put anything in it. It was incredible and really fun.”

Apparently, Shelton’s a bit more of a stickler than Stefani: “I wanted to do it again,” she confessed. “He was like, ‘no, our tradition is not a tradition!'”

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