Christmas around the house: Day 5

...now back to regularly scheduled programming...

I grew up in south Florida where, when it was time to buy a Christmas tree, we went to the garden center at Home Depot, or to a field (or empty parking lot) that had a tent and a bunch of trees. We walked the aisles, pointed at a tree, a nice person wrapped it up and we went home.

When my siblings and I got older, we started getting fake trees and filling all the outlets around the house with Glade plug-ins "Fresh Pine". It gave us the look (and smell) of the Christmas tree (without all the annoying needle droppings, watering the tree- or better yet, forgetting to water the tree and then it dies before Christmas...whatever)

So when the hubs and I were setting up for our first Christmas together, I did what I knew, I took him to the garden center at Walmart (we are on a budget) and found a beautiful boxed tree, took it home, fluffed it, got some plug-ins and BAM! Instant Christmas.

His parents however have a different approach to Christmas. A more, traditional, less plastic approach. They go out to a tree farm (where they breed little baby trees into big, tall, strong trees!) and ride a horse drawn carriage out to a field, grab a saw, find a tree and cut 'er down.

I have never "cut 'er down" before, so my first time was a bit of a learning experience. Especially since I didn't understand this lumberjack approach to the holiday. It was all very scenic being led out to the middle of a field by horses wearing jingle bells and snow falling on my face (causing my mascara to run...) but my favorite part came when we were all done, the tree loaded and we got to walk around the cute Christmas store!

The hubs and I wandered for a while. Noticing tons of snowmen, lots of snowflakes, ornaments and Santa's. Then he spotted the mother load. Three Santa's that were all bending one way or another. So, while we didn't end up with a real tree, we did buy three awesome Santa's.



This year when we pulled out the Christmas tree from the bags we keep it in (to preserve the plastic, you know...) we thought long and hard where to put our super unique Santa's. And we found just the place...

So while we might never have a real tree (which I know kills my mother-in-law a little every year...sorry Di) we will always have three wonderful Santa's to remind us of a wonderful tree cutting ceremony!

Fun finds returns!

I'm taking a break from Christmas around the house to share some finds I've found while looking around online. Enjoy!

I just LOVE these, I would give you a huge hug. A giant pug-hug!

Lets talk about adding some color to your table, eh? I love these rich, jewel-toned plates. (If you're wondering, we have a service for eight...)

Fancy-schmancy salad tongs! I tell 'ya what- if we had these, I might be more inclined to eat salad!

This is a personal favorite of mine. It might be slightly disturbing to some and to others, this will be topping yours (or your recently divorced friends) Christmas/birthday/whenever list. May I present, a very unique knife holder...(oh, and in case red doesn't go with your decor, they have it in black too!)

Happy shopping!

Christmas around the house: Day 4

The hubs and I are Disney people. Some people grow out of Disney characters, while others (like us) find the more adult side of appreciating Disney. We visit Walt Disney World at least once a year (more often when we lived in south Florida...) and so it made perfect sense when we started our home together that when people bought us things, they'd buy us Disney-things. One of those Disney-things, was a miniature village scene.

When we first got it, we placed it on the mantel along with the fake snow it came with. (Thankfully, the hubs read the warnings- which, this should have been a red flag, it came with a warning in huge black, bold-face letters-on the "snow" and learned it was very flammable...so having it over the fireplace seemed like a recipe for a Christmas bonfire. Ever since we've kept it in a little baggie, labeled "Snow- extremely flammable") ANYWAY, this year when we were setting things up I thought, "where can we put the village, that isn't an obvious place?" and then it hit me!

On the leaning ladder-bookcase! Perfect!








At night when its lit up, I'd love to just jump into the scene with Mickey, and carol with Minnie and Daisy. Just makes me smile everything I see it...maybe its time to plan another trip to Disney...hmmmm

Christmas around the house: Day 3

The tree topper. Some people have star tree toppers...or use a bow with ribbon cascading down the sides of their tree. Some people use a family heirloom passed down from generations. Some people don't use any tree topper at all.

If you know me, you know I LOVE Lucille Ball. Everything about Lucy makes me giggle. I grew up watching every episode with my siblings and have looked up to her my whole life. She was silly and colorful and modest and smart at the same time. To me, Lucy stands as a symbol of what I want to be when I grow up. A good wife, great mother, smart business woman all the while making people laugh.

Last year my dad gave the hubs and I a Lucy tree topper for Christmas and I could not wait to put her up. (But we had an angel already on the top, so we decided to wait until this year.)

And it was TOTALLY worth the wait. She was a little heavier than the angel, so I had to, uhm, rig-it from falling down...or tipping the tree and shmooshing all my Lucy ornaments, but I got it! (btw ,shmooshing is totally a word; just look it up...) Check her out:

Christmas around the house: Day 2

Growing up, my parents always made sure my siblings and I understood the bigger picture for Christmas. It was not just a holiday to get together with the family, open presents or play in the snow- it was a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Every year when we'd start decorating, pulling out the nativity scene was always a big deal. One of the kids would get to hide baby Jesus. (Just go with me on this). So the whole time leading up to Christmas, the nativity would be without the baby.

Why? Because he wasn't born yet.

So on Christmas morning, which ever kid hid the baby, would bring him downstairs, set him in the manger and we'd all sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

It was one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Which might sound funny because you'd think the presents would take the cake, and they were always wonderful...but knowing that it was actually someone's birthday made it more of a celebration!

When I setup our nativity scene this year, the hubs got to hide baby Jesus. (Last year I might have misplaced him...)

Christmas around the house: Day 1

The hubs and I are HUGE Disney fans and for our wedding we got a huge Stitch statue. (I don't know if statue is the right word...I hear statue and think something bronzed sitting in the middle of a park with pigeons on it. Okay, so maybe its not a statue...whatever it is, its big!) So every year while I'm putzing around the house hanging ornaments here and there, the hubs pulls out the colorful lights and wraps them around Stitch. Here's the result:

There's one in every crowd

When I was eight years old I knocked out half of my front right tooth. How'd you do that Erin? When I was swimming (I grew up in south Florida) one night, I came up to the side, a little too close, and POP, there went half of my front toof.

My parents took me to the ER, where they looked at us and said, "uhm, you need a dentist..." I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but that night, around 11pm I ended up in a pediatric dentists chair, getting a new front tooth.

I remember coming home with my parents and my brother and sister were both equally impressed that this self-inflicted wound was fixed so fast.

Flash forward to 9th grade, I need braces. Should be an easy thing right. Slap 'em on, get tortured from your siblings for a year and a half, "brace-face", get 'em off and have beautiful, straight teeth. Well, all my teeth cooperated except one. The man-made, front right tooth. It kept turning funny, so my orthodontist had to bend the wire funny to compensate.

When I got the braces off, my teeth were perfect. For like a year. Then the trouble-maker decided to take a turn, and has stayed there ever since.

My bionic tooth held up all the while I had braces, straight through high school, problem free in college and then I get engaged.

Its like the tooth KNEW this was an important time in my life so it needed to make its presence known. Yes, I'm convinced my tooth has it in for me. I go in to the dentist for my 6 month cleaning and part of it pops off. Right there, in the hygienists hand, she's holding part of my tooth. "Uhm, Doctor?"

He re-bonds my tooth, and sends me on our honeymoon.

Again, everything is fine for a few years. But then Easter, '07, my tooth decides to take a vacation while I'm enjoying my Easter basket. So in between bites of my Charleston Chew (ever had one? Yeah...they rock my world too) I realize part of my tooth is on my tongue. Craaaaap.

Fast forward to two months ago, I have strep throat. I'm trying to open the throat spray and its Erin-proof. I use my fingers, nothing. Scissor, nada. Knife, almost cut myself. So I think, "just bite it open".

Here's how I KNEW I was sick- I NEVER USE MY TEETH TO OPEN ANYTHING because I have a man-made tooth. I know my tooths limitations. Did I listen to myself? Hellz no, I use my teeth.

And there it was. Part of my front tooth on my tongue. Again. Now, imagine, I cannot swallow, all I want to do is crawl in bed and sleep for a few days, and I've got part of my tooth on my tongue.

So I go and get it fixed. I hang my head in shame when my dentist asks "how'd this happen, Erin?". The whole time I was explaining to him, I was rolling my eyes at myself, because I KNEW I shouldn't have done it. Whatever.

And now, as I'm typing this I'm running my tongue over my smooth, freshly buffed tooth, because YET AGAIN I busted off a shard on Sunday night (and got it fixed yesterday).

Here's the thing, I don't have bad teeth. I've had fillings in like, two of my teeth and one that constantly needs attention. I'd get a veneer, but then I might put my dentist out of business, and I like seeing him and his staff. They are friendly.