A Cozy Striped Sweater and a Funny Christmas Memory

Now that Halloween is over, I can finally start decorating for Christmas! Yes, I know that we haven’t indulged in a delicious turkey dinner just yet (don’t forget the green bean casserole!), but for some reason this year I’m ready to ring in the holiday season a little bit earlier than usual. I think it could have something to do with the fact that we didn't really decorate our tree last year…allow me to explain.

When Freddy and I celebrated our first Christmas as newlyweds here in Scottsdale 4 years ago, Freddy wanted a real tree, and while I had grown up with fake trees I was open to getting a real one because I thought it would be fun! We went to Costco because they were cheap and we were broke newlyweds on a budget! When you buy a tree at Costco they are rolled up so you can’t really see the shape of them until you get it home and undo all the twine. The other fun thing about buying a tree from Costco is they don’t come pre-drilled with a hole in the bottom of the trunk to put on a tree stand. Of course we didn’t realize this until we got home and didn’t have a power drill…so Freddy used a screw driver and a hammer to try and make a hole that would fit onto our tree stand. This process took almost 2 hours (no joke!) and I immediately tried to block it from my memory afterwards.

The next two Christmases we lived in Austin, and we found the cutest Christmas tree farm called Papa Noel’s, and they had all different kind of trees to choose from. I’ll never forget our first Christmas there, picking out an adorable Nordman Fir which was just about as tall as me. I loved that little tree so much! This brings me to last year…when we got our tree at Costco because as I mentioned, I erased our first experience from my memory entirely. We bring the tree home, and realize for a 2nd time that “oh yeah, this tree doesn’t come pre-drilled.” insert face palm emoji And I should also note that in our 4 years of marriage we still have not bought a power drill, and at that moment I was prepared to go to Target to buy one. But Freddy insisted that he could use his handy screw driver and hammer trick to make a hole appear. Again, 2 hours later and the tree was barely sitting on the tree stand, so we had to partially lean it against the wall. The whole ordeal was so mentally draining (not physically, Freddy did all the work obvi) for me that I was so over that tree and I didn’t even want to put ornaments on it! I haphazardly strung some lights on it and wished that the Christmas season would end quickly so we could get rid of that tree.

Since this experience is still fresh in my mind, mark my words we will not make the same mistake a 3rd time! This year we have every intention of finding a cute Christmas tree farm so we can pick one that we love, that is pre-drilled, and will sit perfectly on our tree stand without having to lean it against a wall! I’m seriously so excited! And when our tree is all decorated I can’t wait to marvel at it with a cup of hot cocoa and Christmas music playing in the background while wearing this cozy sweater. And I can guarantee you that I’ll be making a similar expression to the one you see below. #winning There’s something about sweaters that make me feel like the holiday season has truly begun, because it makes me think of all of my favorite things like snuggling up on the couch, drinking hot cocoa and spending time with family. Even if I have to wear sandals with my sweaters because it’s still too warm, I’ll take it! xo