Never, ever, ever in my entire life have I suffered from Holiday Depression! Now maybe there was a moment in my teen years when I didn’t think “Santa” was going to bring me a shiny new cd player or something, but nothing of this caliber! For the first time EVER I actually cried while opening Christmas boxes… it was completely tragic.
I typically dig out all 20+ (who’s counting) tubs of decorations joyously on Black Friday while some crazies are out shopping. I have Christmas music blaring and a fully lighted and decorated house by Saturday. This year I was missing “home”, friends, family, and decorating was oddly depressing!
This would also be why it’s taken me so long to suck it up, finish decorating my house, and find a few happy words to write about how I survived…
So now that I’m sorta satisfied with the overall decking of my halls, I thought I’d bounce back and share some pictures….
We use a pre-lit tree and I currently own way to many color combinations and sizes of glass balls to decorate with… this year I’m extra proud of myself because the only new Christmas decoration I purchased was a stocking for our newest family addition, the Crawler. Yes, this is completely A-typical. I normally acquire way too many new things every year which is how I end up with all those tubs…
See, cute pink trimmed snowman stocking, huh? Another complaint with our new house is no fireplace, which also meant no good spot for stockings! This year the only thing I could come up with to hang them on was a coat rack, its working. I haven't decided if I love this spot but it is functional.
I read somewhere (and I’m full of regret that I can’t remember which blog it was on about clustering ornaments) I tried this in 2 different combinations, bronze, champagne, blue and red and silver. Love the effect!!
Tiffany blue and red is my prominent color story in the living room… so I carried it around to anything looking un-cheery. It’s somewhat ironic to me that while suffering from the Holiday Blues, I came up with a blue inspired theme that started my decorating. Sidenote: If you look closely you can also see that I haven’t dusted yet… Good one Megan!
I think I was unknowingly trying to decorate all my accessories that I loved in our old house. So my screen got holiday-ified too! (No, holiday-ified probably isn't a word but if I only used real words I would be very limited.)
But soon I started running low on blue decorations and I opened two tubs of holiday dishes… so I started breaking all my decorating rules and modified the color story to red and GREEN in the kitchen… I know I live on the edge! :)
Yes, I did empty my hutch of most of my pottery collection to make it work with the rest of the business in the room. (Pottery is now hidden away in every available spot in the entire house!)
Notice anything about these candle holders?? I started turning them upside down. I like the way the “foot” cradles the candle holder. Didn’t remember that I had done it until my hubby questioned why they were this way. Because, hubby, that's why!
This year both the kiddos got a tree in their room basically because I have a strict ornament policy on the big tree: They must match, They must be orderly, They can only be whatever I choose them to be. SO that takes a lot of fun out of ornament hanging for my son. His tree is exactly what a 3 year old boy’s tree should look like – a fiber optic mess! The Crawlers tree is fitting for an 8 month old girl who’s mommy hung her ornaments, so that’s the one that got photo’d.
So I finished off the day by hanging some of my dominos that I painted after reading the shanty2chic’s blog… I have been scooting them around the house singing Van Morrison’s Domino, unsure of where I needed a domino. I finally decided around the Vegas poster art! DUH Megan!
I’m pretty sure that I’ve beaten my Blues since the house is now cleared of tubs that are still really full of decorating goodies. But all main living spaces including, of course, the main bathroom, are feeling festive! Now, this being said I'm happy with my results but not completely celebrating them... but given my frame of mind its better than the decorations remaining in the tubs!
I also called all four Mommies that I know in this town (yes, sadly that's it)and scheduled a Girl’s Night without husbands and children. And I threw out all the leftover yummies from Thanksgiving so no one got food poisoning and I would stop eating them!! I think the key to this holiday survival was in part due to my tasty stuffing leftovers that I stuffed myself with. AND a good amount of bourbon in my holiday glass didn't hurt either.
First of all, blogger angers me with it's lack of copy and paste allowance! I wrote a long comment, then lost it all while trying to log in. Grrr... Let's see if I can remember what I said:
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry you are feeling the holiday blues. Again, I wish I lived closer. But I am definitely coming to visit in January, after the holiday travels and craziness. And hopefully you'll be here for New Year's?!?! I am very glad you reached out to the other mommies and are getting a much needed and well- deserved night out!
I'm not feeling the holiday blues so much as NOT feeling the holidays. I'm trying and hope some get-togethers will help. I've decided not to decorate my apt this year because my apt is just too small.. I think more decor will be too crowded, plus I'm really tired of unpacking and repacking things up again. I've had my fill of that this year (as I'm sure you are too.. So kudos to you for decorating so completely!). I found a pic just the other day from a year ago when I was in town for Thanksgiving weekend last year. You and I were standing in front of your Christmas tree surrounded by a handful of kids. You were pregnant with your Crawler and I happily had two little ones. It's crazy to look back (like in you other post about your old house) and see how very much has changed in just one little year.... That pic made me cry.
But fear not, your holiday blues will clear up soon and before you know it, you'll be in your groove in your new town with lots of new friends and it will be sunny springtime with plenty of out-of-the-house activities to keep your sanity!
I know I say this all the time, but you are so talented and creative a fantastic designer (and decorator!). Your children are lucky to grow up not only a family full of love, but also a home full of memories and traditions! They will always remember the wonderful holidays in the most cozy home. What a great legacy you are building for them! Well done!
Well, despite your holiday blues, everything looks so lovely and you should feel content knowing you created a beautiful holiday atmosphere. I love the color combination you used. So interesting and the bright blue really pops. Thanks for linking to FFF this week.
ReplyDeleteI love the coat rack as stocking holder; what a creative way to solve a common problem!
ReplyDeleteJust know that you're not alone. I moved from Raleigh to SC in 2006, for 1 year, after my husband took severance (I was a SAHM too). My husband didn't like his job in SC. So, after exactly 1 year, we moved back to NC, but not back "home". My husband and oldest daughter like it here, but I don't. Problem is, my husband likes his job, and glad he does, but it looks like I'll be "stuck" here for a while. Then afraid if my kids grow up here, they will want to stay. When I go back "home", I get very sad. So, I feel your pain. I'm hoping that one day it will resolve itself for both of us!
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