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The halls are officially decked! Wheeew. I still have a few things to pick up – pine boughs for the sideboard, mistletoe for the kitchen doorway – but all in all, we’re in pretty festive shape. I usually do the tree lights by myself a day ahead of trimming with the fam. And hate it. So this year I did a novel thing…I let John and Nathan help me. So simple, duh, and of course so much more fun! Hey, innovations come late to us perfectionists, what can I say? John built a big fire, we put on our favorite Christmas tunes, Nathan unwrapped all the ornaments and set out his nutcracker collection, and I still got my perfectionist on by putting all the ribbon, beads, garland, and ornaments on by myself (luckily no one else has one ounce of interest, so I’m not bogarting the fun). Perfect!

And even more perfect? I didn’t make dinner! John and Nathan did a Bacio take-out run for their signature chopped salads (for John and me) and wood-fired pizza (for Nathan). Quite lovely, totally hit the spot. Turns out we’d worked up quite the appetites trimming the tree (and groaning through the less glamorous parts like hauling boxes up- and downstairs, carrying out loads of trash, hauling in loads of firewood, and vacuuming up pine needles and bits of paper)!

My ornaments inevitably get me reminiscing about Christmases past – my first homely (bare!) trees, Baby Nathan’s first ornaments, our first Christmas in this house, the many lovely ornaments I’ve received as gifts, my own collection of Santas. After all those trips down ornament-memory lane, I was ready to sip a cup of hot tea, put my feet up, and enjoy the absolute spectacle. It’s a ton of work – and so worth it!