Pumpkin Seed Brittle - the Perfect Hostess Gift

In preparation of hosting our first Thanksgiving, Nick and I flipped through a bunch of magazines and blogs for inspiration. While we have our schedule and menu ready to go, a recipe for Pumpkin Seed Brittle from Bon Appetit caught my eye.

Brittle

Happy Holidays!!

Hard to believe it is already Christmas!  With all the wedding planning going on, it's needless to say that Christmas sort of snuck up on me!  Luckily Nick LOVES Christmas and decorating the tree.  So even though things were a bit hectic, the Sunday after Thanksgiving our tree was up, lit and decorated.

All Lit Up!

A Tree of a Different Color

Nick and I found a Christmas tree with multi-colored lights that we could agree on!  Granted, it is 12 inches tall and ceramic, but I consider this a win!

Vintage Tree

This is one of those 1950's trees that most grandparents owned, including mine.  My grandmother Carlson did not have a real tree, and as far as I know, she did not have a fake tree meant to look like a real tree, instead she had one of these guys that you just have to plug in.  Hers was probably two and a half feet tall, a giant compared to mine, but hers was the ONLY tree...as in even the presents were placed around it.  I used to think her tree was a bit funny (OK I will admit I think I may have used the word tacky), but last year I saw one of the antique stores on Charles St. had them in their window display and they looked really fun.  They had white and green trees, some with multi-colored lights, others with just a a single color.

Close Up

This year in the window, they had the little guy in the picture above, only one foot tall, making it the perfect decoration for a side table.  Since the real tree is reserved for white lights only, I thought this would be a fun COLORFUL addition.  I showed it to Nick and he actually liked it too, which I was totally surprised by, but excited.  Not wanting to miss the moment of approval, I bought it, brought it home, set it on a mirrored side table, and turned it on.  All the little colored lights are reflecting everywhere, making a surprisingly large impact for such a small tree.

Unlit Tree

While I do not EVER plan to make this my only tree (sorry Grama), I do take back every snicker or comment I made about these trees in the past.  These trees have that sense of nostalgia that make it a bit more than a mere decoration, but certainly are a fun addition.

Also, quick note about the antique store that I bought this from....Twentieth Century Limited is my new favorite place.  While a bit overwhelming (even according to the shop keepers) there are some amazing finds in there, including vintage Chanel jewelry!  The store is like your grandmothers jewelry box, if your grandmother had great taste and needed something new and different for each day of the week.  This is the perfect place to find a one of a kind piece that sets off your outfit and really makes it memorable.  However, be prepared to spend some time looking...the walls of the store are lined with cases containing hundreds of items.  You really have to take the time to look at the pieces separately...but if you do, you will walk away with something amazing.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree! Thy Leaves Are So Unchanging

On Tuesday night Nick and I went in search of our Christmas tree.  We were trying to get one in Beacon Hill, otherwise we would have to rent a car and that is just too much work!  During the day, I called Top Shelf, which is at the Charles Street Circle as they had trees in the past, and sure enough, they did this year as well and were open until 10, perfect!

We walked on down to Top Shelf, all bundled up, and when we arrived, there were NO trees and I started to panic.  All they had were topiary trees that were max 2.5 feet, which was just not going to work.  Looking lost, the sales guy came up to us and even though we felt dumb, we asked if they had any regular trees....Sure enough they did, the trees had been put away for the night in the back alley behind the wreaths and the swags (8 is not THAT late but they were more than happy to dig it all out for us). 

To put a little perspective on this, I grew up with a living room that had a cathedral ceiling in one area, so we always maxed out the height of our tree.  One year we actually had one that was 14 feet tall...needed to nail the tree stand to the floor and have guide wires, but it was awesome.  In general though, our tree was about 10 feet.  As a result, I have fairly high expectations when it comes to the size of my tree...even for someone who has not had one her own yet!  With 20 foot ceilings in my apartment now....I wanted to go for height, but was somewhat realistic as I had to help carry this home and needed it to fit in the elevator!

So we went for the tallest they had...8 feet.  I was a little worried about the bottom because when it was wrapped up it looked a bit thin, but figured it should be all good.  In general, the tree looked nice and full and had a nice tippy top for a tree topper!  On Tuesday night, we brought it home set it up and resisted putting on the lights so that is could "fall" appropriately.  My mother always stressed the importance of allowing the tree to fall...it stuck with me, she must be proud!

Turns out the reason the tree looked a bit iffy on the bottom is because the majority of the tree is super full!  The tree is a bit shrub-like and totally started to encroach on the sofa...this is the first time I actually trimmed a tree, or else it was really going to take over the entire living room!  Even with a normal tree we would have had to shift furniture around, but with this one, we had to really rearrange and totally crowd one side of the apartment...but regardless, the tree turned out AMAZING.  It has tons of lights and ornaments. 

Lit up for all to see

Nick was very adamant about having white lights on the tree...no colored lights, he hates them.  Me, I love colored lights.  I grew up with the bigger bulbs in all sorts of colors that were mixed in with bubble lights (my absolute favorite!).  I think they make the tree so much more fun!  As a compromise, we decided that I would get to pick the tree topper....and he would get his white lights.  Right now we have a temporary topper on the tree...

Since I get the topper, I am going to make it the most fantastic, colorful, glittery, sparkly thing that could ever be used to top a tree.  My plan is to make it so amazingly tacky that I can convince him to put some bubble lights on the tree, and for every bubble light I can put on, I will take the gaudiness down a level.  But until then, I am on the search!

Finished Product!

The tree came together really well...but it was a good thing it was in a corner, because we did not have enough ornaments to do the whole tree!  We had just enough to cover what people would actually be seeing.  Regardless I am really happy with my first real tree.  Also, its only December 9, and there are already presents under the tree!  Definitely more fun that way...but really there is nowhere to hide presents in such a small place, so it forces the wrapping to be done early...I'll take it!