fullygoldy | Holiday Season

I'm having a pretty relaxed holiday season so far. It's been a long time since the season didn't feel like a rushing swirl of stuff to do that ended up being left undone.

It always starts the weekend after Thanksgiving. I think part of my low-stress experience this year has to do with the extra week. Thank you floating holiday of thanks! Of course, another reason could be the fact that I'll have every Friday from Tday to Xday off! Also, DH decided he was going to do his part of the decorating in phases. I thought that would be more annoying than it turned out to be. Every other day I would come home to find a new little scene somewhere in the great room. We have the "over the river and through the woods (to grandmother's farm)" scene on top of the bar cabinet, the city park with skate pond, gazebo, band and tree stand on the bookshelf, Main Street on the mantle, and the traditional construction site on the buffet. New this year is Paul Bunyan's homestead, complete with Babe, and in the kitchen on top of the cabinets another commercial district (train station, trading post, brewery, watchmaker, restaurant).

I used the Tday weekend to address seasonal cards, and gave a handful to DH to write his own sentiments in. They went out in batches, with the international two dropped in the post last Thurs. I think it's been 8 yrs or so since I did cards of any kind. I did several years of New Year's cards instead of xmas, designed by me with artwork/photography by DH. I'd print and address them on New Year's Day, while watching the parade and football games. It was so much less stressful than trying to get them out before Dec 25.

Because of the "puppy" (10 mos now) who chews everything, we decided no tree this year. That was a bit upsetting since we invested in a really nice artificial tree last year. I substituted two fresh wreaths over the mantle, joined by a fir garland strung with lights. Each wreath is dedicated to one of the kids, hung with their collection of annual ornaments. It turned out really nice.

There's a winterberry wreath hung from a velvet ribbon in the kitchen window, a pre-lit garland on the bannister, and multi-colored light clings on the window of the front door. Around the master bedroom door is a garland of fir decorated with pinecones, and the seasonal cards get attached to this with wooden clothespins as they arrive.

The two fig trees in our bedroom are a matched set - one has all silver ornaments, and the other has all gold. Everytime I look at them I hear Burl Ives in my head. It's only a little weird. I also hung a few wine and beer themed ornaments around the bar and glassware.

The outside turned out really nice too. Last year we got the medium size multi-colored LED lights - enough to go the full length of the house, and they're back up. Around the front door is a pre-lit fir garland, next to it the shrubs are covered with blue net lights and along the front between the kitchen door and the front door is a string of jumbo bulbs that stick into the ground (they'll get relocated higher as the snow starts accumulating). The kitchen door has a mixed greens wreath with a handpainted sign that says "comfort & joy." No ribbon, no glitter, just a lovely fresh smelling aroma as you enter the door. And lastly, the antique pram we used as a flower box all summer is spilling over with green boughs (leftovers from the garland) and several oversized bright red ornaments. The only new thing outside is the kitchen door wreath and the sign I added. I had a similar wreath last year that I decorated with gold pinecones, and was delighted to find it stayed fresh and fragrant far longer than I expected. All of this went up in phases as well.

On Dec 1, I traditionally get out the Spode Christmas Tree china, and completely swap out the everyday white china. We use this as our everyday dishes until after New Year's.

Today I wrapped a handful of gifts instead of saving them all for one big event (my back is thanking me). I'm using up last year's wrappings, and supplementing with plain brown paper decorated with reused holiday cards and tied with shimmery ribbons. So pretty! I'm also recycling cards by cutting the fronts into tags for packages. I made the template last year. I can usually get 3-4 tags out of each card front. It's easy enough, and they're sturdier than the ones I've bought in the past. Brown paper is much sturdier and cheaper than any wrapping paper I've ever bought - I think I'm going to switch to this forever. It's a great base for anything. If I get tired of brown, I can always get plain white too.

I've got one decorating thing left - I want to set up the 2' fiber optic tree in the office/guest room, and decorate it with girly ornaments and pink ribbons in honor of the girl's visit home. She'll love it!

We've almost completely settled the menus for xmas eve and day, but menus get their own post :) DH has been baking cookies every few days and freezing half the batch so we'll have plenty on hand. The bar is fully stocked, and there is every variety of hot beverage available as well.

I've got a little bit of shopping left - all online I think.

Tonight is a Retro Cocktail Party at our BFF's (their annual tradition) and tomorrow is an early Bday present for me - we're going to see Beauty and the Beast at Overture! We haven't done a show in ages. Next weekend is my milestone tattoo appointment, and a friend's 40th bday party-festive but not holiday-centric. Also next weekend, the girl arrives for her 1-month sabbatical. We've got 2 more Sunday afternoon dance classes left. And that's basically it. Not too many hours/days at work, not too many parties, not too many events or visitors, and almost no trips to the mall. I'm feeling pretty zen about the season. \o/