my inner grinch

I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

It's my favorite time of year. But this year, I've been a little "ba humbug." Maybe it's that I felt like the season snuck up on me. Maybe it's that I'm tired of all my decor. Maybe I'm just tired of pulling it all out, just to put it all back up in 3 weeks.

I did all I could do this year, with about half my regular decorations. I normally have 5 trees. Don't make fun. I love a good tree. Silver, white, regular old green. They each serve a specific purpose and I love them all. But this year all I could muster was the big tree and the kids trees. I let them decorate their own.

I'm going to show you some of my favorite things to stare at three weeks a year.

These sweet angels. They remind me of my childhood. And they hold taper candles in their heads.

My mantle changes every year, depending on my mood. This was the quickest and easiest mantle I could pull off this year without opening another box from the attic. It's not amazing, but I don't care. Ba humbug.

And then there's this little ditty I picked up over at jane(dot)com. Have you been there? Oh you MUST. Fun deals abound. I'm only slightly embarrassed to say that I frequent this site daily. Because you have to.

And anyway, then my attitude toward Christmas started changing. I wandered into a local store we have called Two Hip Chicks and found these:

Dar.Ling. snowflakes. A pair! And I hung them in my living room windows. Then a little feeling of Christmas began to bubble up inside me.

And the snow started falling. And I grabbed the Braum's eggnog and the Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum and headed for my favorite chair by the fire.

Of course I sprinkled in a little nutmeg.

And now it's official. Bring on the Christmas season.