Happy Holidays!

Without much time at home before Christmas, I did not drag out the decorations this year, nor recruit Jason into one of his least-desired "things I do because I love her" chores: buying a real Christmas tree. A duty that includes pacing a cold, snowy parking lot testing each tree for height and freshness; cajoling the purchased tree into the trunk of the car (the one time a year I miss his SUV); dragging it up our three flights of stairs; and then watching as 2 out of every 5 five needles jump ship before the tree arrives at the end of our sixty-foot hallway.
This year Jason had it easy as while he stayed home and napped (he's been feeling a little sick lately) I went out and brought home a small tree all on my own. A dwarf Alberta Spruce. It stood up all by itself in the backseat.
And although I'm not one for theme trees, all matchy-matchy decorations, this year it was cheaper and easier to buy and match whatever Lowes had left to offer. I am quite proud of my little red tree. The two souvenir Christmas decorations I picked up in Hawaii coordinate very well with the red light string and red glass ornaments with sparkle green polka dots. The sand dollars are from our neighbors who picked them up while beachcombing on their own vacation and brought them back for us, thinking of our Hawaii wedding.


Since I was working with what was left on the store shelves, the light string is far too long. To use up the extra distance I fed the lights into a large glass jar and placed it next to the tree. It reminds me of the summer pastime of putting fireflies in a jar.

I was drawn to the vibrant red and pink of a wreath at the Four Seasons while we were there. I wish I could recreate it here at home. But like many of the items we considered while shopping in Hawaii (namely Hawaiian shirts) it might be one of those items that is so fitting when you're on vacation but you bring it back to the midwestern winter and it suddenly seems clownish and out of place. I am glad that I have the photo to further consider this question.