The Tree
Good morning, you festive, full-hearted tryers.
It was a decision made like most decisions made this year - I had a plan, then time was a flat circle and then I had no time and energy to DO the plan and blah blah blah - THUS - I found myself without a Christmas Tree deep into the holiday season.
After too many days hatching myriad of plans, I finally wrangled a tree into my house this past week. It’s funny because you THINK getting a tree is the hard part, but when you see that empty tree in your house there’s this … expectation of the holiday spirit that goes along with what comes next. The vision of decorating your tree - the fairy lights, the music, whatever traditions you have to go along with it. But this year… that threshold of merriness felt a bridge too far. And as the week passed, I found myself giving the tree a wide berth like it was some kind of mysterious icy puddle that I had step over.
On Friday, I crawled through my work day and finished with really more of a whimper than a bang. The music playing was just that Spotify wrapped playlist they generated of the tracks I’d listened to the most this year. I had no adorable seasonal hot beverage nor any intention that tonight was the night I was going to decorate the tree.
I’d walked into the living room to just move the tree, because the boxes of gifts my sister sent had arrived and it was becoming quite a pile. A pile that reminded me I wasn’t going to be seeing some of my favorite people in the world this year. I Tetrissed the presents and moved the tree to the Official Christmas Tree Location that we all have in our houses. Once the tree was where it was supposed to be, I told myself I was just going to get the tree skirt that my grandmother knit out of the Fancy Ornament Christmas Storage Thing I bought a coupla years ago.
I got the tree skirt out and placed it around the base of the tree. My stocking was right there. So, I dug into the bin and found the Heaviest Stocking Holder in the Fucking World and set that out, and hung my stocking. I don’t know if I knew at that point that I was doing this - maybe I told myself I would just unwrap the ornaments or hang a couple - but in about 30 minutes I’d fully decorated the tree to the wafting tunes of random movie scores and a whole lot of Taylor Swift.
It was imperfect, kind of melancholy… but truly wonderful.
And I think… that’s my Holiday wish for you this season: May it be imperfect, kind of melancholy …but truly wonderful.
Happy Holidays everyone.
Each Monday morning, I’ll gather:
❤️funny tweets
🤩stuff to watch, read and listen to
🤝great follows on social media
🌈 music to soothe
🕯calming things
*****
Please think about finding your local food bank and give whatever you can spare. If you’re in LA, here’s a place to start or here.
❤️
🤩
My Movie Score Club made a Holiday Score playlist for your your files.
Obviously, I’ll be watching the Christmas Classic - The Muppet Christmas Carol.
I love this Netflix series, The Holidays Movies that Made Us. It tells the Behind the Scenes stories of Elf and The Nightmare Before Christmas. (Thank you to Yolanda for this one)
This is a big one. So, my favorite version of my favorite Jane Austen novel is finally streaming.
There’s also a new season of Song Exploder on Netflix and it’s SO GOOD.
🤝
Follow Rami Kim for beautiful ceramics.
Or maybe follow Simon Levin for beautiful ceramics.
Or what about follow Ching Yuan Chang for beautiful ceramics?
🌈
🕯
Dear lord, everything from Greentop Gifts is SO CUTE. (thank you to Nicole for this one)
My ongoing quest for all Project Dry Wintry Skin continues - and Amina came through with three solid recommendations that she swears by: THIS balm, THIS hand cream or maybe THIS hand cream.
So, I follow Gabriella Karefa-Johnson on Instagram - she styled THAT VOGUE COVER - and she mentioned that when she’s looking to do a very low lift make-up look she turns to ONE specific lip gloss. So, I DMed her begging to know what the gloss was. THIS IS IT.