It is easy to feel like your head is spinning during the holidays. I have revolving to-do lists, some that I have actually written down. Gifts, cards, meals, cookies, parties, family, kids….and… and…the lists are endless!
Our first tree was 3′ tall and purchased outside a drug store in Santa Clara, CA. Since then we have had 12 Christmas trees and added 2 children to our family. Some of the funniest stories of our marriage surround getting our Christmas tree. In the beginning, it always seemed to be an adventure.
Year A: I watched my husband whittle the trunk of tree down with his chainsaw [in the dark and pouring rain] so that it would fit into our tree stand.
Year B: We took our 18 month old to a tree farm to cut down our own tree. After walking through knee deep mud and our little one taking a face plant, we looked at each other and agreed, without words, to abort mission. We grabbed a tree from a lot on the way home.
Year C: Our favorite nursery nailed our tree stand on for us. When we got it home, the tree had a considerable lean. We piled coasters under one side of the stand to even it out. A slight breeze would have blown that tree over.
I have considered getting an artificial tree, but where’s the fun in that? We actually have it down to a science now. Chalk that up to a little experience. Our requirements: a dry day, all 4 family members in attendance, the same local nursery, a larger tree stand, and a quick check to see if the tree stands straight – before it’s loaded onto the car.
Lucky us, we found a pretty darn good-looking noble fir this year [no chainsaw required].
Step 1: get tree. check.
Step 2: add ornaments.
{clockwise from top left} 1. The original ornaments. Purchased in 2000 for $2.99 for our very first tree. Only a few remain, but I can’t leave them off. 2. An ornament engraved with my name. For the last 37 years, it has been on my grandmother’s tree [along with all of my cousin’s ornaments]. This is our first Christmas without her. I lovingly hung it on my tree this year. 3. iheartny. A little ornament to remind me of an amazing trip to New York City last December. 4. A bag of plastic ornaments purchased at Home Depot. In 2007, I had a baby on the move and needed ornaments on the tree that wouldn’t break [or kill him if he bit one]. Certainly not designer, but we put them on our tree every year. It makes my heart full remembering my boys as babies.
Around my house there is no chance for velvet dresses or satin bows this time of year. However, I don’t throw the towel in completely. The Santa picture is my one chance to dress my guys in their finest. My oldest has always loved wearing ties and looking good. Little Man begrudgingly agrees only with the promise of a candy cane after seeing Santa.
A few tips on dressing up little men:
1. Keep it simple and slightly hipster.
I am sucker for ties and we have quite a collection. Most of them are clip on ties, like this striped one, from The Children’s Place. At $7.95, it is the perfect little boy accessory. This gray tie [similar here] is actually a real tie I bought last year. My husband tied the full Windsor and then we slip it over his head. Pair the tie with a white shirt and pair of jeans-you are good to go.
2. Forgo the dress shoes. Buy something they will wear again.
The arms of the white shirt from last year were too short on my big guy. I didn’t want to buy new. The rest of the shirt fit great, so I improvised. We rolled up the sleeves and he looked casually cool.
Rest assured. If you are mother to boys, you can still play dress up!
If only. Between the crummy weather and hectic schedules-I find my workout is the first thing that falls off the daily to-do-list! Which is really a shame, since there is a box of Williams-Sonoma Peppermint Bark calling my name from the cupboard. [Not sure what they put in it to make it so decadent, but it should be illegal!]
Good luck getting your cardio done…..shopping or otherwise.
The season of advent is almost upon us! And so begins the countdown to Christmas. It appears that kids will be enjoying many different types of advent calendars this year.
Find other seasonal inspiration on my ’tis the season Pinterest board!
My boys have the Christmas doors-or so they call them! It is actually an advent box from Restoration Hardware that I received quite a few years ago. [Sorry to say, it is no longer available.]
Each day one of them has the opportunity to open the next door and discover the treasure inside. This year-each day is a mini Star Wars LEGO to build, taken directly from the LEGO 2012 Advent Calendar. Not creative in any way, but it is exactly what they want. However, others I know are creating unique advent calendars.
A girlfriend’s children have a special advent calendar made for them by their grandparents. They both have a small bag to open each day. Each bag {light green for sister, dark green for brother} pinned on a line with a clothespin, spray painted red, and lovingly hung by the Christmas tree.
My cousin has made an experiential advent calendar. Each day reveals a holiday experience to do together. I love her inventiveness to think of 24 different things to do with her five year old daughter. A few of her ideas? Write Santa a letter, make coffee filter snowflakes, watch a holiday movie, go to see the nutcracker, take a trip to a Seattle nursery and visit real reindeer. This has inspired me to add a few experiences into my advent box. This is such a special way to honor traditions-new and old!
Pinterest is brimming with ideas as well…..
[via martha stewart, along with 11 other ideas for calendars]
How much do you love this grown up advent calendar?!? A bottle of wine a day. ‘Tis the season for love and good cheer!
It isn’t too late to start an advent calendar. If you are feeling inspired, go for it! Kids would love to open multiple doors, envelopes or bags to catch up!
I recently ordered these cocktail napkins from Pottery Barn. A little napkin with our initial could only make appetizers and cocktails a little more fun. I was giddy with excitement when the package arrived yesterday.
[one might refer to this as an epic fail]
The monogram was supposed to be {T}. Fun, right? Somehow their order system added two dashes after the single letter T that I entered. {T – – } then translated directly to the embroidery. I had to just laugh. Can you imagine the person packaging my napkins? Do you think they saw the humor in this ridiculous monogram? For a moment, I thought about keeping them. It could be my inside joke with my husband. A test for our friends and family. Who would mention or ask about this odd personalization? You know that awkward moment when you notice something, but don’t say anything in case it would be rude. Slightly evil, but still funny.
In the end I decided to return them. The return reason code: WP-personalization error. Yep, I would say that pretty much sums it up.
The clincher: I wanted to reorder the napkin with the correct monogram. Nope. On back order until January 9, 2013.
I know that we made some important decisions about our Christmas lights last year. There were some critical changes that we were going to make this year. We had a plan. Not sure what it was now-but I am certain it was good. Has that ever happened to you?
As soon as it is dry and I am fairly sure he will not slip and fall, I send my husband up on the roof. Sunday turned out to be a perfect day. In the end, we decided to simplify this year. I love the look of these bulb lights. When you use light clips you can get an almost perfect line with perfect spacing. {I am an “all white lights” kind of girl inside, but I splash out out with red bulbs on the house.} I spent most of my afternoon up a tree. Methodically, I wrapped hundreds of white lights around the limbs of our Japanese Maple. Risking my life, numerous times, to get a strand just a little bit higher. The pay off is totally worth the risk.
The Christmas train has left the station and I am joyfully on board. Don’t let it run you over. Just take small steps and find the joy of the season. Make a plan.
The weather yesterday here in Seattle, pushed me to hunt down the essentials for one of my husband’s favorite drinks, a Dark and Stormy. Fitting, right?
The key is finding good ginger beer. Ice, Bundaberg ginger beer, and Gosling’s Black Seal Rum. The perfect Dark and Stormy.
Pumpkins are still the #1 decoration for a few more days. I am crazy about chevron stripes and could not resist this project!
Grab a pumpkin. Make a pattern of chevron stripes with masking tape or painters’ tape. Paint entire pumpkin with white spray paint. [I used Krylon Flat White.]
The pressure is on. Time to pick a picture and theme and get my holiday cards ordered. Each and every year, November arrives and I scramble. We have a few requirements in our home for the picture that we choose:
1. It MUST include all 4 of us. [My husband stands firm on this one.] 2. 3.
Wait, I guess that is just one one requirement. Easier said than done. How many of you get to the end of a calendar year and have yet to take one picture that included your entire family? I was so desperate a few years ago I bought $1 Santa hats, put my camera on self-timer and posed us in front of the fireplace. Not our best picture. Professional shots are the easiest, but we only have those done every few years or so.
Last year we were crazy enough to go indoor skydiving and I had a bystander snap a quick picture. In the end, it was the picture that summed up our year. [Oh! What fun!]
What I love the most about our card in 2012 was that is was TOTALLY us! It is completely freeing to give up on the idea of the “perfect” family picture, for the “perfect” holiday card. Who’s perfect anyway? Perfect is boring. We didn’t sky dive this year, so our picture won’t be quite so awesome. Nonetheless, I do have one of all four of us-so I am on to step 2.
{PS. I love everything about the upcoming holiday, including the cards! If I didn’t find enjoyment in the process-I wouldn’t do it. My thought: if it doesn’t feed you in some way, shape or form, DO NOT do it.}
