Wednesday, December 9, 2009

A Little Christmas Cheer.

The winter holidays are pretty much my favorite time of year. Say what you will, I truly believe people are a little bit nicer and a little bit kinder to one another come December!

Here are a few of my favorite things: the glow of holiday lights, Christmas trees, beautifully wrapped packages, baking cookies, candle light, the smell of cinnamon and gingerbread, peppermint mochas, a crackling fire, crisp-but-clear night skies, Christmas carols, Heat Meiser & Snow Meiser, snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes….and of course that feeling of joy and anticipation that fills the air.

After an outrageous fall (it was a sunny 74 degrees on Thanksgiving, people. Crazy!) San Francisco has grudgingly admitted that it is indeed winter. It’s been sooo cold here (by California standards), dipping down into the 30s at night. Brrrrr. Thankfully our house has central heating, but for years I lived in cute little hipster Victorian flats—that had NO heat!!! Those old Victorians are gorgeous but brutal in the winter. I remember one of my flats had a heating duct OVER the door to my bedroom, so you were toasty warm if you happened to be a stilt walker or were constantly changing light bulbs.

Over the years—egged on by Wolfie—we have gotten bigger and bigger with our house lights. I raided the Target post-xmas sale last year and apparently went a little crazy. We are now the proud owners of THREE light up deer. And yes I dorked out and placed blue lights on the ground in front of the little grazing doe so it looks like she is drinking from a pond. (C’mon now, it’s CUTE dammit!)

Last night we went finally found time to go and get our tree. We own a super fab, vintage aluminum silver tree that has a color wheel and rotates and everything (I’m not even kidding, it truly rotates! And no, it's not that little wee one in the picture above...) but nothing truly beats a real tree. We got a 6-7 footer and oh my is she ever a beauty!

We have a nice collection of vintage ornaments, but I’m not a purest. We have a lot of fun new ones on the tree too. Last year I had to get rid of an entire box of vintage christmas ornaments as they were quite faded and the metallic finish was starting to flake and crackle off. It broke my heart, but it just seemed like a safety hazard. Here are some of my fave ornaments, a mix of vintage and new:


The Snoopy was Greg's when he was a little boy. So cute! This is our tree topper, she always makes me smile:

This year, Wolfie requested we place a star on the tippy top of the tree, so Miss Angel Cakes is taking the season off. I was sad to see her go. I have to confess I'm a bit of a tyrant when it comes to decorating the house for the holidays. I'm totally one of those moms who rearranges the tree sneakily once their child is in bed. (Sorry Wolfgang! Mommy still loves you....and hey, I kept them in the same vicinity as where he hung them himself!) That being said, I'm a democratic tyrant....and really making your child giggle with glee is half the fun of the holidays. So a star it was.

So how about you guys? Do you have any fun traditions? In greg's family, the stockings were KING. They made a big deal about making sure they were filled with awesome goodies. In my family, the stocking was a bit of a boobie prize—we'd get a chocolate bar and other little so-so goodies. But I must say my parents really did it up in all other respects. Not just lovely prezzies, but my parents truly loved Christmas and always made sure it was fun for us. We would sing songs, have game nights, special meals. They've definitely passed that love down to me....and I'm passing it on to Wolfie!

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12 comments:

  1. what a cute little xmas puppy! your ornaments are soo adorable, and your yard decor is INCREDIBLE!!!!

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  2. Such a wonderful post! Love your gorgeous ornaments! Especially Snoopy. I use vintage and new glass ornaments too- I break a couple each year- I am a clutz~
    Marie @ Lemondrop ViNtAge
    Charmed giveaway!

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  3. Aw, love the first pic, so cute!

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  4. I LOVE your vintage holiday stuff!!! OMG. I have some similar things too - I'll be posting later this week, but yours are just fantastic. So well preserved and full of fun at the same time.

    LOVELY as usual! xoxoxo

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  5. love this post so much!!

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  6. This post is so cute! I love the picture of the little guy trying to pull the tree into the house!

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  7. Love the post. We have great christmas traditions like opening one present on christmas eve, filling the stockings sneakily for each other during the night, shopping for the little stuffers until the VERY last minute, eating a ton and of course, watching "It's a Wonderful Life" (teary eyed everytime.) Can't wait til I get to pass them on to my kids. xoxo

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  8. Teri: Thanks!!! I am so smitten with YOUR decorations!

    Lemondrop Marie: I am expecting major carnage this year, our cat is OBSESSED with the tree...he keeps skulking around the base of the tree. i tried to put the pretties on the tippy top, but i know we're gonna lose some!

    Daniella: Thanks lady! I can only imagine how fab your place is looking. Did you post about it??

    Annie: what's yer blog addy?? It wasn't taking me there when I clicked your name! I'd love to see your stuff too!

    Lishy!!!! Girl I owe you a package. I have some little trinkets for the wee one and they probably won't even fit him any more! Waaah! What size is he??

    Beth: haha! Wolfie is very into being a "helper" and was trying to drag the tree all by himself. Needless to say he needed a lil extra man power from his daddy.

    C: You know, we do the same thing xmas eve. When I was little we used to open up presents that relatives sent us...which was always fun. And my mom would make a little xmas buffet and we'd sing songs. Do you know I've never watch "It's a Wonderful Life"????? I have no idea how this is possible, but I swear this year I will do it!!!

    xox

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  9. such a lovely post, made me feel dead christmassy (which I haven't at all yet!), thank you!

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  10. I have the same deer in the 2nd photo but mine are green instead of red and aren't as in as good of shape as yours! So charming.

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  11. hey you! harrison is in 6-12 months already! he is big, not as big as truman was but still a nice fat baba!

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  12. Well ofcourse you and I rock the same vintage velvet reindeer!!!
    Soooo cute!

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