It's Been a Week!!

 It looks like we last visited a week ago...back when everything in my house was orange and brown and smelled of fall. I am having a hard time believing that it has been six days and I am still not done with my decor swap from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I have had a few interruptions but that isn't what has really slowed me down. I think I am consciously slowing myself down so that I can enjoy all of the season but I am also changing some things up a bit and that takes more time.

I bought a number of "real feel" garlands and branches this year to swap out with my very "tired" ones of years past. As much as I love the new ones, I have come to realize that they hang differently and it took me awhile to grasp this concept. Once I did, I just hung them as they wanted to go-mostly falling to the front-and shoved the lights in and let them fall in their own way as well. That took some time. I changed a few other things with my lighting-I'm trying to use "timered" lights wherever possible-but we can talk about that as we tour each room.

So, I snapped these pictures as I was just beginning last Monday morning. My plan had been to bring you along on my journey but then, life got in the way. I ended up with a handyman at my house pressure cleaning all of the drives, decks and brick pathways ALL day Monday-literally until dark-and then a hair appointment and some errands on Tuesday so I was already running a bit behind on my usual "hit the ground running and don't stop" kind of routine. Lol But, again as I said, I am determined to enjoy each step along the way this month and so, except for remembering to take some pictures and bring you along, I proceeded. Let the strip down begin.

I've shown you this chest many times before. It is one my husband and I got at an antique auction many, many years ago and I still love it so much. It is the most beautiful shade of green which is probably why I was drawn to it in the first place but the surprise was that it holds SO MUCH! Almost every bit of the smaller decor pieces for both the living room and kitchen fit in here. It makes decorating just a tad easier and, since I start in those two rooms, it makes me feel as if I am just rolling right along. Lol

Yesterday was marked off for the Historic Homes Holiday Tour but, because some severe weather threatened all afternoon and we were going to be on the golf cart, we decided to skip it this year. I was looking forward to it and was a bit disappointed until I realized that it gave me just the perfect amount of extra time to get EVERYTHING autumn still piled all over the place packed up and put away and now all I am down to is the elephant in the the room.

So everything is decorated except the tree and that is on the docket on this rainy day. I am going to put on some Christmas music and get going. I actually only brought out my container of "special" ornaments. My trees in the past have always needed two boxes of ornaments-one of the specials and one of just plain balls. I always started with the plain balls hung back into the tree as a good background and then the specials more out front but, again, this is my first real feel and they are different. Just by looking at it I am pretty sure it will not accommodate all of my ornaments-maybe that's why I have put it off so long. But today is the day and I am off. I will say that I have absolutely NO regrets about buying this tree. Its ease of set-up and lighting far outweigh the number of ornaments I can get on it. Honestly, if I had not set it up so quickly. I would have bought a tree turning stand-which is what I will probably do next year. I actually thought about dismantling it this year but it is heavy and I just never got that far. I think if it turns, I will be able to get all of my meaningful ornaments on and visible-but, we will have to wait until next year to see. Lol

The longest journey begins with the first step-so, I got on two of my very favorite specials-a Christopher Radko Pediatric Cancer ornament from the year my granddaughter was receiving treatment for liver cancer and a Waterford heart from my husband for our 50th anniversary which was two days after Christmas. No matter the size of my tree, those two ornaments are a must front and center. Now it's on to the rest.

And, just an observation after seeing this picture-this tree looks as close to my favorite fresh tree as I have ever seen!!

I am hoping for sunnier skies tomorrow and maybe I can get my photos and start our tour for this year. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.