If you put it up, eventually it all has to come down......

Wow! The Nordstrom’s Espresso Bar’s hot chocolate has nothing on Starbucks! Instead of warm, frothy, chocolate-y goodness, there is a thick, scalded chocolate after taste, but yet, out of apathy, I continue to drink it. Chocoholic! I wish the Starbucks at the mall had the cozy, warm and welcoming seating, and more importantly an electrical outlet, like their more popular accommodations, instead of counter top service only, because otherwise I would be there. I suppose it makes sense though; sip on a tasty beverage while you peruse the shops. My second choice was to sit in the Ladies Lounge with all of the nursing mothers. Been there, done that. Besides, there is no window in the Ladies Lounge, understandably. At least the Nordstrom’s Espresso bar has a window, so it has that going for it…which is nice.

You must be wondering……Vanessa, if you are at “The Mall”, your very most favorite place in the entire world, then why are you blogging and not browsing? The answer is simple; I believe that I have looked at and touched all of the available merchandise and goodies, made as many purchases, exchanges and returns as humanly possible, and now I must wait for the new and exciting merchandise to make its debut come spring. I promise you Mr. Bernanke, I am a patriotic gal and have done more than my part to stimulate the economy this Holiday Season. My method is always: one for you, one for me (two for me, three for me….that is of course how one accumulates…..MORE).

Why does the time pass by so quickly in such a whirlwind of activity? It seems like I was just putting up my beloved Christmas decorations yesterday (because I was. We didn’t even get our tree in the basement with all of the kid’s ornaments up until Monday the 21st! Amanda wanted a real tree and this one turned out to be so pathetic that I’m too embarrassed to have even recorded it for the sake of posterity).

I had all of these grandiose ideas about making this Christmas extra special. I wanted to watch Christmas movies, make cut out cookies from scratch and decorate them with frosting and beautiful candy confections. I wanted us as a family; Chuck, Nicholas, Amanda, Wrigley and myself to pile in to our SUV, sing along with Christmas Carols blaring from my I-Pod, drink hot chocolate (from Starbucks) and drive around looking at beautiful, twinkling Christmas lights. You know, like in the olden days.

But, alas, this was not to be. We had numerous hockey games, near and far, a gymnastics meet in De Kalb, school projects, work projects and a great 14th birthday party for Amanda. Our family just so happens to be at the pinnacle of its busy time, stealing moments to share together. I think that is one reason that I crave tradition. I love to be surrounded by the happy memories of our past as we create new ones.

In order to get in to our attic when we first moved in to our home we had to shimmy through an access panel via a tall ladder that had to be brought up from the garage. Getting out the holiday decorations was a complete chore and a two man job. One of us would shove boxes through the scuttle hole, and the other unfortunate soul on the opposite end would have to catch them, with dust and insulation flying in to your mouth and sticking to your clothing. Then there was the matter of stacking the umpteen million boxes in the guest room, the hallway and Nick’s room. Of course it was a total mess, until the day that we installed…..attic stairs. Ah, the civility and simplicity of it all. Pull down the stairs, unfold the ladder and voila, easy access to the attic. So now the only hassle of decorating for Christmas is finding the time.

To me it is so important to cultivate a warm and nurturing environment for our family. I believe that is one of the ways that our children grow up feeling secure, loved, safe and special. I put a small tree in both Nicholas and Amanda’s bedroom.

Forever Amanda’s bedroom was a warm, buttery yellow with red accents and she had a great red and white tree. Now Amanda’s bedroom is green with pink accents, so we have started over with pink, glittery ball ornaments, gigantic multi-colored lollipops and pink beaded jewel garland as a base. We filled in the tree with ornaments that have special meaning to her and have been collected over time. She has several gymnasts; on the balance beam and in various contortions, Sponge Bob and his funny friends, a red cell phone (hello…like mother, like daughter), a Chinese food take-out box (love of food is a constant theme in our household), Starbucks cup (just like Buddy the Elf….we love hot chocolate, and maple syrup!), and what groovy girls tree would be complete without the obligatory peace sign?

Seeing your children grow up is bittersweet. I was really sad when it was time to pack up Nick’s toys until I thought about using some of them on his Christmas tree in his room! Nick has these great G.I. Joe sized hockey dolls that make a fantastic base for his tree. Wayne Gretzky of course is a wonderful tree topper alongside his Chicago Cubs fuzzy dice, and you’ll find other greats like Mario Lemieux, Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr and the like scattered about the tree. What do you do with all of those buttons you get with your photo packages when you take your team pictures? Why not put them on your themed tree? It’s fun to pull them out every year and reminisce about our younger days! The rest of Nick’s tree is covered in hockey, baseball and sports ornaments and his very favorite, Homer Simpson (such refined taste!).


Being a complete and total hoarder of all things I don’t have room for my formal tree in my Family Room. A number of years ago we flip flopped our Living Room and Dining Room because our Living Room was much larger. Think outside the box. We love it because now we don’t have to put our Dining Room table on an angle in order to extend it to seat ten. However, there is no room in our new Living Room for our large tree, so I put our formal tree in our Dining Room. It is fantastic!

As you can see, everything starts with a good basic color scheme or theme. This tree has enormous red, sparkly ball ornaments; red velvet ornaments with gold braided trim; red, glass, Christmas tree ornaments with gold glitter accents; coordinating sage green, glass, Christmas tree ornaments with gold glitter accents; and gigantic gold, glittery dragonfly and red, glittery butterfly ornaments as a base. Many of the ornaments that I have collected for this tree are red and green in nature, but my favorite part of this tree is my special ornaments. I have a huge collection of Gone With the Wind ornaments because that is my favorite book ever, and I love Scarlett and Rhett! You will find several of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, and I have I Dream of Jeanie, Lady Diana and James Dean. I am a huge movie and pop culture fan (but please don’t ask me about anything smart like fractions or state capitols. My pea brain just doesn’t seem to care. If I have to choose between watching the News and Entertainment Tonight, Mary Hart will win hands down every time)!

Scattered about my tree I have several Court Jester monkeys and one sits at the top for a bit of whimsy. If you are from Chicago, and love Marshall Fields on State Street, then you will appreciate my Uncle Mistletoe, Frango Mint box, Clock on State Street and Marshall Field’s is Christmas shopping bag ornaments. It is so very festive to enjoy our Christmas Eve dinner, celebrating with our family, while we sit by our tree.

My favorite tree though is the little one I put in my kitchen. It is predominately covered in snowmen that I have collected over time, but there are some very personal ornaments that represent everything that I love. There are; a pair of hockey skates for Nicholas, an ornament that Amanda made at Girls Scouts fashioned out of the plaid fabric from her school uniform, a Chocolate Labrador and a green ball that says “Wrigley” for our baby, a chef for our love of eating good food, a stone garden urn that represents our love for enjoying our deck together for meals and outdoor movie nights and a House of Blues ornament from a wonderful trip we took as a family to Disney.

Now, as you can see, as the More is More Mom™, I really love stuff. The only problem with taking out all of this stuff….is putting it all away! Don’t be surprised if you see these trees in February donned with hearts. Very Festive!