Oh Christmas Tree

Taken with the Retro Camera app.

Christmas Toys

One can't help but have a moment of panic pre Christmas about whether your child(ren) have enough...does the pile seem big enough?  Is there a fair amount of diversity (clothes, toys, games, crafts, electronics, etc.)?  I experience this each year.  Mitch definitely had more pressies to unwrap this holiday from previous holidays...although this year we thankfully did not have to assemble anything!  No train table or kitchen.  Those were the big gifts of years past and it makes sense to let them stand alone with a few items flanking it.

There is also the moment after the first round of gift opening that you wonder -- yikes, there is too much.  Where is this all going?

Suffice it to say that he made it out well - just enough.  We are sorting through some older outgrown items and donating to friends and Goodwill and making an Ikea trip later this week for a storage bin.  All in all, I am pleased as I am positive he is with his loot.

My Favorite Things

A repost from Piccadilly's blog from this week.

A fellow blogger recently posted about how she'd been inspired by one of my favorite movies, Love Actually, and the words "Love really is all around." She let those words be her guide as she decorated her house - specifically her Christmas tree - for the holiday. Stenciling those words on ribbon she encircled the entire tree in the ribbon and adorned it with handcrafted framed ornaments of her family.
It got me thinking. If I had the time to do something similar, what would it look like?  Most likely "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.  Then I thought - in lieu of ribbon - I'd write a holiday blog post about my favorite things, especially at this time of year.

Classic Movies
I am watching Meet Me In St. Louis as I type.  My Pop Pop introduced me to classics with the Sound of Music around the age of 5 so it's no surprise that I love that movie, and tons of others, and feel the need to watch them all one right after the other during these relaxing post holiday days.

Cocoa and Lights
A cup of cocoa and a stroll through a park, Macy's Light Show, or even South Philly looking at all the lights (and plastic praying Blessed Mother hands) goes a long way, especially with a 3 year old in tow. I love white lights most of all, especially when entire streets are lined in them.  Cue a little Celtic music and it's the most romantic setting.  My son is entranced with all lights (and scary blow up Santas, etc.) but it's OK...it's all magical to him and experiencing the holiday through his eyes is joy.

Vintage
My love of vintage runs the gamut but this time of year I especially love gorgeous vintage dresses, old photographs (in general but mostly of my family), mid century ornaments, and Christmas albums on vinyl.

Handmade
It was something of a lean holiday in this house but it made me grateful for my artistic side.  For years I've given paintings from various classes, b/w photographs taken and framed, and most recently, hand crocheted scarves and dishcloths.  Needless to say, a few daycare teachers received Trader Joe's coffee, cookies, mugs and a crocheted dishcloth.   I appreciate all handmade goodies, be it jewelry, little ceramic magnets and stones, ornaments, pottery, you name it.  And I love spending time hunting for that perfect handmade item for the artists and creative folk in my life.

Italian cookies
My Grandmom nails pizzelles as well as her lemon cookies.  I experiment with ricotta ones but I have yet to try the pizzelle iron.

Pointsetta
Red, white, and tons of them.  My Pop Pop would get them for my mom every year and they would adorn the house.  Flanked with evergreen swag and red bows, it's so classic Christmas to me. And it ties into my next favorite thing.

Nature
I know it's dreary out and we almost never get a White Christmas but I love nothing more than bits of nature brought indoors this time of year -- pine cones, green, berries.  If it was up to me I'd have THE Charlie Brown tree (I'm not a fan of fat bushy trees).  Brandywine River Museum has an annual "critter sale" - critters made from all natural elements, assembled by their volunteers - and I have a dog, squirrel, and bear and they are the coolest and simplest ornaments. There's also a bit of hope that shines on December 22, the first day of winter, knowing we gain a little more light with each day until June...always worth celebrating.

These are just a few of my favorite things...and if I look around I can see a little piece of each in my holiday decor, mood, and spirit.  Piccadilly wishes you all a wonderful holiday season and Winter Solstice.  May you find the time to rest and recharge, be with your friends and family and to quote one of my favorite bands, "Be here now." Enjoy and be grateful for the gift of the present moment.

By Chrissie

Clusters of Low Hanging Fruit

It's a bit of a Charlie Brown tree standing at just about 5 feet tall.  I bought this artificial tree about four years ago.  It's supposed to be seven feet tall but the middle part never fit correctly so we simply put the top part on it and called it a day.  It's seen it's share of Christmas' with lots of ornaments, few ornaments and I believe it was last year that I never got back to the attic to get the ornaments and it had lights and pine cones. 

This year Mitch helped me decorate and hang the ornaments.  There was a lot of low hanging fruit and clusters of the fruit too.  I made one attempt to correct the lopsided look of the tree due to the ornament placement.  It did not go unnoticed. One trip to the bathroom and the boy quickly righted my wrong and moved his ornaments back to their original places - bottom left, clusters.

I had also spent about 10 minutes the evening prior setting up this adorable wooden railway around it, thinking not only did it look old fashioned and cool but that he'd love to come down, see that and play with his trains the following morning. Not so.  He noticed it and perhaps for a brief 30 seconds considered liking it.  He then set about dismembering it and rearranging it elsewhere on the rug.

And so it goes.  Happy holidays.

Thanksgiving

I had a moment yesterday to get outside and really enjoy the gorgeous crisp fall afternoon.  In between preparing a turkey and aromatic stuffing and tidying up the place for the family, I escaped for about an hour to go for a short two mile run.  Sans my iTunes, it was me and the sound of the pavement and the wind blowing. With all my traveling this fall, I was happy to sneak in a run at a hotel's gym, a walk outside with the dog, or a visit to the gym for a spinning class.  It was like therapy to get outside in my gear and move.  I saw the last of the fall foliage set against a backdrop of a cloudless blue sky. I stared longingly at a tree outside the church and considered for a moment myself at 20, curled up underneath with a text book or a file of photography contact sheets, the Smiths playing from my disc man.

Runs are amazing, whether I have music or not.  My head is cleared and I get perspective.  On Thanksgiving Day, I had a moment to reflect on my blessings -- my family, sweet son, home, friends, colleagues, work, and characteristics the Lord has bestowed on me like fight, determination and perseverance.  And of course the ability to recognize that things happen for a reason and we are all part of His master plan.

It'll get chillier now with December waving his hand at us but I hope I can squeeze in a few more late fall runs before snow falls.

 A recent sunset on a warmer November day.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

I posted this on my myspace on Christmas Eve and the aftermath of sorting through the photos on December 26 sends chills up my spine. The photo was taken at my mom's (Aunt Betty's) on Christmas Eve...right before my cousin Hannah left.

Christmas Eve
Every so often a holiday season comes around and I actually have my act together - decorations hung, projects completed and gifts bought and wrapped well before Christmas Eve sneaks up on me. This was one of those years. As I left the fumes of Pink Nail Salon in Broomall late Saturday afternoon, I realized I was finished. Whoo Hoo. What a far cry from previous years. For some reason my head went back to 1997. I distinctly recall framing a Nick Santoleri card of Barberlin Hall (at St. Joe's University) for my grandfather. He had studied there back in the day. I'm imagining I must have been working today - Christmas Eve (you know, time and a half is a big deal) so by the time I arrived home from Deck the Walls, it was time to get dressed - out of my grey cords and white zipped hoodie and little retro sneakers - and get over to my grandparents house. The framed card was not wrapped. I dragged myself and my unwrapped gift over there and stashed the gift on the second floor. After dinner I scurried off to wrap it and not a minute too soon. It was for him and he was in the living room below announcing, "Time to open the pressies!" Quickly I taped a bow to the front and tore down the steps and dropped it on the top of his gift pile. Some time later (because it always took Nana and Pop Pop the longest amount of time to open their tower of gifts) my mom nudged me and pointed to Pop Pop. He had opened the gift and was staring at it with nostalgia and then looked over at me and said, "Thanks, Chrissie...this is great!"

Four years later after he passed away my grandmother handed me a few things. "You gave these to Pop Pop and he'd want you to have them." Within the stack was the framed picture of SJU. I had forgotten about it. He'd kept it in his Media law office. I held it for some time and then looked on the back where I had written, "Dear Pop Pop, Merry Christmas, Love Chrissie" and beneath it the date: 12/24/1997.

Of course now it means more to me than that Christmas I gave it - since I studied there and in many ways was his gift from beyond to me. I have it with my tassel from graduation day next to the framed letter he wrote me in 2000 congratulating me on my time at St. Joe's and wishing me well on my trip to Greece.

Tonight when we go to my mom's house for Christmas Eve I know it isn't quite the same as when we went to Nana's for all those years. It was his favorite holiday though for bittersweet reasons: his mother passed away on Christmas Eve. Being around his immediatate family took his mind off his loss. I think for everyone there tonight this evening has a similar aura. But then there is Hannah, my 8 year old cousin, born only 18 months before he passed away. Hannah tells us, "I see Pop Pop all the time at Aunt Betty's house." So I have faith he is with us, especially on Christmas Eve.

Sad Sight

Every year I find this the saddest sight after the holidays. For us, this happened sooner than later: December 27.

The Holiday Party

I prepare for a small gathering. Months went by and with wedding plans, ill members of the family, house projects, the time was never quite right. I finally decided to just do it. For two weeks I've been spanking my house into shape, painting window moulding, touching up areas, washing curtains, you name it. The more I do, the more I find to do. The more things seem like they will never look put together. I suppose it's always a work in progress.

I discovered a great place in Old City - Fosters Urban Homeware, right on 3rd St. Many moons ago I was in there and while some things are quite mod and plastic, some things, like the fabulous Wallbands, have resurrected the whole wallpaper/border idea. I cannot wait to paint the living room and go to town with these wallbands - vertical and horizontal. How fun.

Speaking of furnishing places, I've come to the conclusion that bridal registries are no fun. We all think they are - Yay, pick out all the great stuff I want and everyone buys it for me! No. First off, as cool as that bar code toy looks, it's excitement wears off very quickly when you wonder around Macy's and scan 10 things and realize you must scan about 150 more things and the departments don't have what you want anyway. So then you resort to online shopping which is much easier, but alas, the online stores don't carry absolutely everything either. In fact, I feel like the online stores, while convenient (I have added to my list at 11pm), have the tiniest selection. And who wants to choose between Ralph Lauren sheets and Donna Karan? Not me. Or why do they only carry 3 desk frames? That are all brushed stainless steel? By Kate Spade for $100 for a 5x7?

Just give me nice Egyptian cotton sheets and a quality black wood frame, please. And no designers.

Finally, you realize that as much as you love that copper bottom 10 piece cookware, it's $700. And even the 7 piece stainless set is $400. No one in this family has that kind of money to drop on a shower gift for me. And then come back to a wedding and bring another gift. So in reality, a bridal registry is nothing more than managing the needs and price points of department stores and people. Something like registering becomes a business.

In spite of all the managing I've been doing lately, I found time about 6 weeks ago to fix up the yard. Rather, my friend Jocelyn was in town for our friend's wedding and she and Vince got all dirty in the soil, pulled weeds and mulched. I went to Home Depot and purchased the 15 bags of mulch. Here are some photos of our yard with the fabulous mums that have since died with our first frost and first snow.