White Christmas

I live in the south and we do get snow here each winter, but never more than a dusting at a time and never on Christmas. I have always wanted to be somewhere where it snows at Christmas, and this year I got my wish.

We didn't travel anywhere, the snow came to us! This is the view of my back yard this morning. It started snowing yesterday morning, and by the evening as I was sitting down to Christmas dinner with my family there was a pretty white blanket on the ground. It wasn't enough to close stores today or effect traffic - this was more of a decorative snow but since there has not been a white Christmas in my city for 128 years, so this was very, very special.

It must be Italian!

Finally, Christmas has been ushered in properly!

For me, I don't feel the holiday season is 100% complete without the showing of A Christmas Story. Some people have a certain song or family tradition that gets them in the spirit. For me, it's this movie. I have previously posted about my love of this movie, and at long last here it is. It usually was shown on Thanksgiving, but in years past, I have had to wait until Christmas day or right before to see it. Finally, it's here. It's indescribably beautiful.

L'arbre Noir

Here is my little black tree that I have set up in a corner of my office. The color is a little off because I took this with my cell phone but you get the idea. I got the ornaments from Target and I love the bright colors. Fuchsia, turquoise, and chartreuse look good against the black background. Some ornaments are shiny, some a matte finish and the rest are glitter. Man, this is a really crappy picture. Let's see if I can improve.

This is a close up of the ornaments. The colors are still not as vibrant in the picture, but you can see at 12 o'clock a chartreuse ornament with red glitter, at center a hot pink ornament with blue glitter and hiding a 4 o'clock, a fuchsia ornament with a gold glitter snowflake. Very Dr. Seuss.

Black is the new green

I finally found a black Christmas tree. I have wanted one for years, before I ever saw any for sale. Not that I am anti-Christmas, I just thought that it would look chic. Green has been done to death and the other colors like pink or blue are cute, but I'm not a cutesy person. I wanted an eye catcher. I need to find some ornaments for it. I was thinking lime green or light pink.

Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra

One of my favorite movies has been adapted to the stage. A Christmas Story is being put on locally and my husband doesn't know it yet but we are going. This is one of those movies I look forward to seeing every year and if it is played as a marathon usually on Thanksgiving or Christmas, I can watch it over and over and over. If I were one of the stage actors, I would feel a little intimidated. Fans of the movie, like myself, know every scene and line and though the play can't be a carbon copy of the movie, I expect it to come pretty close. Some scenes have to be spot on, like this one:

The Nutcracker

My guilty pleasure: listening to the Nutcracker Suite in its entirety. I love it and will listen to it any time of year but at least now, I can play it without the use of earphones and funny looks from people in June.

Ahoy

My husband I have booked another cruise. It will be our sixth and it's all we can talk about. It's not tomorrow, but it might as well be seeing how excited we are. Just tonight, I made a vow to increase my shrimp intake at dinner each night. We are addicted to cruising because it is the easiest vacation to take. You pay the price for your trip, show up to the boat and let yourself be entertained, stuffed and catered to for the duration all while visiting beautiful and culturally interesting places. I know cruising isn't for everyone and if someone has tried it and it wasn't for them, I won't try to change their mind. But cruising is definitely for us.