Putting up the tree

I usually like to keep this about food, but I don't have any food to share today. Last night I made a Moroccan Couscous dish and it was NOT picture worthy. Not even close.

On Thanksgiving Day my sister and I were watching a TV show about extreme restaurants. One of them was this place in Taiwan called Modern Toilet and they served the food out of dishes that were shaped just like toilets. Their most popular meal? The chicken or beef curry that looked a whole lot like poo. When I finished making dinner, well, let's just say it wasn't far off from the look of the chicken curry from that show.

So, tonight I'm sharing my main project for the day: putting up my Christmas tree.

I don't always put it up this early, but I figured I had better do it when I had the time. I haven't had it up in two years! Two years ago I was working 65 hours a week on average between working at my day job and my evenings/weekend job at Kohls. I was working so much I couldn't find enough time to put the tree up. Last year, I was at my parents for most of December while I was packing up to move at the end of the month.

I'm in and out this month with a short trip to Chicago for work and dog sitting for a week, but I can enjoy it for most of the month.

There are a few things I love about my tree. First, a lot of it is handed down.

There's my gram's tree skirt she made. My mom made one just like it for our tree growing up. My sister has that one and I have the one that was always under my grandma's tree:


It's not exactly my taste, but it reminds me of being at Gram's on Christmas Day, and that's what's important. (Note Bella under the tree.. she has a fascination with it.)

Then there's the angel on top. I don't think my mom used this one every year, but we topped our family tree with it for a while at least:

Besides the handed down decorations, I love the ornaments my grandma bought me every year. I don't think I have them from birth on, but pretty darn close. These are my favorites and have the year marked on every one of them. I always put them up high so the cat can't rip them down because they're irreplaceable -- most are limited edition Hallmark ornaments, but some are one of a kind ornaments she found at craft fairs.

Two of my all-time favorites:

My very first ornament from my first Christmas


The Santa ornament that goes down the chimney. How fun is that?

The rest of my tree is pretty typical: cat-friendly beads that Bella won't tear down or choke on and cheap glass ball ornaments that I get from Meijer or Target.. basically ones I'm not sad over if they break. It's still looking a little bare, but I wanted to decorate it with what I had before buying more.

I should be back tomorrow with some actual food, but I hope you enjoyed the distraction!

Have you put your tree up yet? What are your favorite parts of your family's tree?