Haylie Duff spent last Christmas in Miami, but found it “so much work” that she’ll be home in L.A. with her mom Susan and sister Hilary, 20, this year.

“We haven’t done that in a really long time, so we’re staying home and having a normal Christmas night,” Duff, 22, tells PEOPLE. The star-filled home won’t be slaving over the stove though.

“We do the tamales tradition and go out and get them from a little guy who lives out in Pasadena. We buy them from him, like, every year,” she explains. “We don’t really do big cooking on Christmas. We do all that during Thanksgiving and then we’re dieting after that.”

It will be festive too, she vows. “My friend Nicki and I have been decorating the house for the past three days, so there’s been Christmas craziness in our house.”

After Christmas, travel plans take over. “We’re going to go to Mexico for New Year’s,” Duff says.

[Source & Photo Credit: People]