Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2023 /

Sending you all warm wishes for a very Merry Christmas! I haven’t been around much, this is a very busy time of year at work, and then on weekends there are parties and visits and so on. So I’m behind. I’ve read and enjoyed some of your posts, but have been too lazy to comment. I’m hoping that this upcoming week will slow down a bit and I can catch up.

In the meantime, look at our ridiculous Christmas tree (which I love, btw). Our living room is TINY and there is no other place for it, so we bought the thinnest entryway type tree we could find. You can see that it would be very difficult to find a real tree that would fit here.

Our ornament collection started when I moved out on my own, and my friend Janet was working at Macy’s in San Francisco for college money. At the time, they decorated an entire floor with Christmas things, with an aisle down the middle and little ‘rooms’ with various types of ornaments, so there would be a Disney Room, a Silver Room, a Blue and White Room, a Musical Instruments Room, etc. Janet got me the employee discount and I shopped my head off. Above are my most favorite ornaments. Of these, only grumpy Donald getting coal in his stocking is from that first Christmas. The horses are just beautiful to me, they remind me of my Breyer horse toy collection when I was a kid. I bought them at the feed store where we used to buy Mulder’s kibble. The baby is Maya in her first Halloween costume. Mulder is the best dog (not a good picture of the ornament, sorry). And the deer hunter, I picked up on a work trip to Minnesota, which included an outing at the Mall of America, which was a lot of fun. We have a mishmash of ornaments, with no real theme, which is just how I like it.

As always, so many of the things we really wish for are not sold in stores. Peace on Earth is much on everyone’s minds this year. Good health is something we can gift ourselves, to a certain extent. Family and friends, near and far, are to be cherished. Looking at the tree, however, it does appear that we found a few items in the stores, doesn’t it?

Have a very Merry Christmas, and I hope it will be the perfect combination of fun and quiet, whatever it is that you want the most.

24 Comments

  • nance

    December 25, 2023 at 9:57 am

    Merry Christmas, J! I love your tree and its ornaments, especially The Deer’s Revenge LOL. We don’t do Theme Trees, either (although I have so many cow ornaments that it threatens to become a Theme Tree).

    I made it all the way this year in Whamageddon–hooray!

  • Melissa

    December 25, 2023 at 10:15 pm

    Merry Christmas! What a good solution for a small space and it looks great. We had to move one of our chairs to fit the tree in which confused our dog because we had to move his mat. I think he will be happy when the tree is put away.

  • Daria

    December 26, 2023 at 11:20 am

    “so many of the things we really wish for are not sold in stores” – so, so true. As people in other parts of the world are suffering, it seems petty to not be grateful for everything we have, every day…
    Merry Christmas Julie!

    • J

      January 1, 2024 at 5:50 pm

      Oh Margaret, you and I are very similar, right? I cried too much putting the treee up this year and had to go take a shower. Taking it down was easier.

  • Lisa's Yarns

    December 27, 2023 at 9:23 am

    Merry Christmas! Your tree is very cute and just perfect for that space! I love the stories behind the ornaments. I have tried to buy an ornament on trips as it’s so nice to have a reminder of fun trips when decorating our tree!

  • Jenny

    December 29, 2023 at 5:44 pm

    That is a skinny tree!!! But it looks beautiful. Yes, in addition to wishing for peace on earth and good health, we did find just a few items in stores. Love the gingerbread cartoon.
    I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying this time “between the years!”

    • J

      January 1, 2024 at 5:51 pm

      Thanks Jenny! Yes, it’s been a busy week. I remember fondly the years I have been able to take that week off. Not this year for sure. Though my husband did and he loved it.

  • Anne

    December 31, 2023 at 4:04 pm

    I could not love your tree more, Julie. It’s perfect for your space! Glad you took a bit of time to breathe after the crazy run-up to the holiday… and hope it was a wonderful week for you and yours. 🙂

    • J

      January 1, 2024 at 5:52 pm

      Thanks Anne! Yes, our space is so limited, we have to be very careful when we buy a tree. This one works for us.

  • San

    January 5, 2024 at 10:02 pm

    I love your skinny tree. I also love that I am not the only one working with limited space. You found a great solution. Happy belated Christmas, I hope it was a good one 🙂

  • Tobia | craftaliciousme

    January 11, 2024 at 8:06 am

    Very late to comment and so a merry christmas feels wrong to type. I hope you had great holidays and even better start into 2024.

    I agree peace would be a nice thing to hang up on the tree and from there to spread around the world. Could someone please invent it? I’d by shares to support.