it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The balsam fir in all his glory!

My attempt at an artistic outdoor decoration. Our local garden shop inspired me...my version looks a little bit like their display...ha!

beautiful balsam fir

Picking out our Christmas tree usually requires a few tours around the nursery examining multiple candidates. Our trip on Saturday was over in minutes, however, because we bought the first tree we looked at. He's a 6ft plus beauty -- nice and full, and smells delicious.

So we've got the tree up at home, but he's yet to be decorated. I'll be sure to post a photo once he's adorned.

Now if only holiday cards were as easy...

holiday preparations

I've officially taken down my fall/Thanksgiving items around the house, and now I am starting to get excited about decorating for Christmas. We're going to get our tree this weekend, which is always fun. We've decided we need a tree that's a little bigger than the tree we got last year...I'm sure the perfect tree is out there for us.

I know a lot of people who have themed trees, but ours is just a hodgepodge of ornaments we like...from our childhoods, gifts from our wedding, ornaments we've purchased each other in recent years. It's nothing extraordinary to look at, but very special and meaningful to us. I can't wait to decorate!

Our dining room window will be getting a new piece of stained glass I purchased at our Festival of Trees fundraiser. I'm sure there are a few more items still to be purchased. This is our third Christmas in our house, which is hard to believe, but there are still things we'd like...maybe a few outdoor decorations for this year.

Tell me your favorite Christmas decoration. Maybe I need a version of it at my house too!