In Which We Decorate

We were lazy after getting up early the day after Thanksgiving, so we postponed our decking the halls until the following day. 

First, we set the scene by putting on a Pandora Christmas radio station (I have six different Christmas stations and they're set to shuffle for the widest variety of Christmas tunes). 

Then we got the tree out, which was hilariously easy this year, since all we did was open the box and set it up. There were no needles on the ground, no sawing the bottom off to make it fit in the stand. I still prefer real trees for the experience, but it was a completely pain-free set up this year.

Next, we pulled the box of Christmas decor out from the basement and got to work. I'd forgotten the Christmas things I bought on clearance after Christmas last year, so it was a fun surprise to see those unused ornaments. As always, we pulled each one out with remarks like "Remember this?" and "Oh, I'd forgotten about that one!" One of our traditions is that we collect an ornament from places we visit, so we also got to revisit those fun times.

Doesn't everything look beautiful and glowy at night?

The mantle is one of my favorite things. I haven't figured out if this is how I'll leave it, but I love having my little Christmas trees up there, as well as the wreath we made this year (I'm incredibly proud of that wreath). My mom made the stockings the year that we were engaged.