Blueprints & Baking: O Christmas Tree

I love Christmas.

I start listening to Christmas music in August. I buy any decoration that is properly covered in glitter. I bought my first tree and started collecting ornaments when I was in high school.

For the past 8 years I've even had a Christmas-tree-decorating-tradition: Sean, one of my best friends, has come over to my house for almost a decade and helped me decorate my tree. We have dinner and watch Christmas movies and hang all things sparkly from my tree.

He is also the only person that I know that can put the star on my tree. It's way too heavy and takes roughly half an hour of maneuvering to get it to stay up there. But it's made of solid glitter and I love it. So every year Sean ~~bitches and whines~~ takes my direction and somehow manages to wedge that star on top of the tree. It's why I keep him around.

Maybe slightly to the left.

But alas, this year my tree tradition has been broken. I sold my house, packed up all of my things, and moved to South Carolina last week. I'm in temporary housing for a few weeks and while the weather is already a tremendous improvement, I am missing my Christmas tree. It just doesn't feel like the most wonderful time of the year without the glow of lights in the evening.

So I will reminisce here about years of Christmas past.

When I bought my first house in 2011, I received the Christmas decorating gift of a mantle. And I've had some fun with it over the past few years.

Also - if you need some (almost) free entertainment this holiday season - pick up some of these 3D Christmas glasses. They turn each Christmas light into a different shape (I chose the reindeer version).

I'm also a huge fan of driving around looking at Christmas lights during the holiday season. I am way too lazy to actually put lights on the outside of my house, so I really appreciate the effort that others go to to provide my entertainment.