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.

The Holiday Stroll...A Beacon Hill tradition

One of the things I most like about Boston is how it seems like a series of small towns.  I will give you that the downtown/financial areas do have their large buildings, but really most of Boston has that small town vibe.  Beacon Hill and Charles St., in particular, really exemplify that feeling.  When you walk along Charles St. you really could be on any traditional main street anywhere in the US.  You know your neighbors as well as meet and know the owners and staff at the shops, to the point where some of them actually become your friends.  I find it difficult to walk into some shops and NOT have a conversation with the person assisting me.  They know Holly (my dog) and of course want to say hello to her, and once that is over (as she is the priority) they will ask after me.  I think that is one of the best things about Beacon Hill and Boston in general, because I am sure the same thing happens over in the North End, South End and Back Bay.  They are such close knit communities within the big city.

Last night, this small town ideal was in full effect.  The Beacon Hill Holiday Stroll was upon us...somehow the people in charge of the Beacon Hill Holiday Stroll are able, year after year, to select a date that happens to be the same night where the winter weather really settles in...and this year was no exception.  During last nights 25 degree weather, people from Beacon Hill were out and about in their winter finest (and hopefully warmest) strolling along Charles St. enjoying the holiday party.

During the evening of the stroll, Charles St. closes to cars and the shops stay open to 9 and offer the strollers treats and drinks.  Some stores even have sales (thanks Crush!).  The shops along Charles St. always have a lot to offer, regardless of the season, however, they are a bit small.  So the only downfall of the Stroll, is that you really have to work to shop.  On the night of the stroll I generally prefer to go in and browse but really just enjoy the treats they are offering...plans worked pretty well so far!

In Crush but dressed ready to take on the cold!

During the Stroll there was some big Charles St. news...for ages we have been waiting for Curly Cakes to come to open.  They have been teasing us for almost a year now with a sign in the window saying coming soon, but it came to the point where we thought they would never come!  The bakery is inspired/the brain child of Todd English's daughter Isabelle...who happens to have curly hair.  Last night though, the doors were open and they were handing out free samples!!!  Not one to ever turn down a free sample, we went in and sure enough, there was Todd English handing out the cupcakes with his daughter!!!  The place was packed so it was difficult to move about...but Todd himself made eye contact with me and held up a tray so I could take a sample...I must have looked the most hungry!  Verdict is the cupcakes are tasty and he really is a handsome man...

The other part of the stroll and really the reason for the street closing is the strollers and others join in for the Christmas Tree lighting at the corner of Charles and Mt. Vernon.  The tree is pretty tall...hard to see in this picture, but it does reach the top of the building!

Beacon Hill Christmas Tree

Also, throughout the Stroll there are carolers dressed up in Victorian era costumes singing...no matter how cold it was or how are the wind blew. 

Carolers singing under the tree

Also along the street there were horse and carriage rides and people selling carnival type trinkets to play with.  The atmosphere is just a lot of fun and just another reason to love Beacon Hill.  With the Holiday Stroll now passed, it really does feel like the Christmas season is here!

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!

Florida Sunshine

This past weekend Nick and I were in the Palm Beach area to visit his mom and enjoy a little sunshine.  The weather was supposed to be high seventies so I packed some nice sundresses, but I definitely got an F minus in packing.  The weather started out nicely then just got progressively colder, even by Florida standards....I had to get a sweatshirt, that I ended up buying and wearing it all the time.  At night it literally got down to forty degrees.  However, on Friday, we managed to get some enjoyable time along the beach.  We drove through West Palm Beach and up along the coast and looked for our prospective future houses...

Future House (looked nice enough)

It seems as though an original architect of a Florida house thought an Italian villa style house would be fun and interesting, then everyone decided this was the best idea ever...so almost every house along the coast is the over sized Mediterranean style mansion!  It cracked me up...sometimes though there would be some overly modern mansion thrown in the mix.

Estee Lauder's house with The Breaker's in the background

After our drive up the coast we parked across from Worth Avenue and went for a walk along the beach.


For a Boston girl, in December feet in warm ocean water, big deal!

We started out walking up the beach and it was great, nice walk in the sun and the sand, then we finally go back...turns out we were walking with a nice tail wind.  When we finally decided to turn around, we had to walk directly into a head wind, which made the trip back a little more tricky, but still really beautiful.

Artistic photo with an Egret

I generally take photos all while standing, just point and shoot.  However, while watching photographers, amateur or professional, taking photos they always seem to be squatting...so I gave it ago with the photo above.  Honestly, I must admit, it does look a bit more artistic if I do say so myself!

After the beach we walked up Worth Avenue, which is where all the rich and famous shop in Palm Beach.  The shops were kind of amazing.  They really had all the best things in the stores, they went straight for the glitzy sparkly items that we do not generally see in Boston.  Other than Tory Burch and Neiman Marcus we mainly window shopped, to walk into the stores would be too tempting.  For me, when I spend too much time in a place where everything is pricey, I get used to it and think it is normal and lose (maybe ignore) that little voice in my head that says TOO MUCH!  I managed to make it out with only buying gifts for others, I was very impressed with myself.

At one point during the weekend we went down to Delray Beach, where I used to go with my Grandmother, turns out it is home to the 100 foot Christmas tree!  All fake of course, but still fun to see.

The tree and me

As you can see, I am wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, the one I actually bought down there...Despite the weather, we had a really nice weekend, saw a boat parade with fireworks, did a lot of Christmas shopping and just relaxed.  All in all, had a lovely weekend in Florida.

Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson is one of those authors that when you read his books, you feel as though you are sitting across the table, sharing a drink and having a conversation.  Something about the way he tells his stories is just fun.  I previously read A Short History of Nearly Everything and somehow he was able to make learning about the origins of all sciences, from physics, to chemistry to biology, a fun read.  Granted, I am a the target audience, being a bit of a science geek, but still...had anyone else written this book, I am sure it would have been terrible.  Bryson somehow makes the such topics not only readable, but intelligent and entertaining.

In hopes of turning my book collection digital in the near future (576 square feet has only so much space) I am trying to read the books sitting on the shelves and NOT go out and buy new ones.  Harder than it sounds.  However, when Nick moved in, he brought lots of new books for me to read!  One of which was Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island, a story about his travels in and around England and Scotland. 

Bryson was born in the US and lived here through college, at which point he went traveling through Europe, found his wife during his travels and really has not looked back until only recently.  Before Bryson moved back to the States with his family he decided to do a tour of  the island to prove that it is in fact "a small island," rather than, as the British people believe, a big place where traveling from one city to another is a day's excursion that takes much planning.

Again, Bryson story telling is impeccable and fun.  While walking along the southern coast of England, he is describing the Highcliffe Castle and the sorted story of the man behind Selfridge's department store.  However, during this story, Bryson goes on a bit of a tangent about walking in sand.  On its face, it really has nothing to do with the plot of the book itself, but his description of walking on the beach and the lasting effects of sand, like finding it everywhere for the next two weeks is something that everyone can relate to.  In fact, the tangent just becomes another comical anecdote within the overarching story.

This is definitely a fun read for anyone who has traveled in England and Scotland...but also provides some great recommendations for places to go in the future that are a bit off the beaten path.

Cocktails and David Yurman

The Junior League of Boston (yes I am an active member) held a cocktail party last night at the David Yurman store in Copley Place.

The relatively small store was completely full.  They had plenty white wine and champagne for all (no red, they are not THAT crazy!) as well as the BEST passed hors d'œuvre.  There was a mini truffle burger with a mushroom puree, a pistachio shortbread with a carrot puree, cucumber topped with a bit of fresh fig, bit size grilled cheese with a layer of crab meat.  The serving plates were black trays with an unobtrusive deep purple cala lily.  Everything was a tasty bite size, so no trying to act proper while shoving an over sized bite into your mouth!  Needless to say, between the food and drink, I kept my eye out for all trays that passed me.

The David Yurman store is fairly small, but was jammed packed last night with eager Junior League shoppers and their guests.  I tried to get a picture of it all, but the bright lights that you wish would follow you permanently and make your jewelry sparkle made it difficult to take photos, but here are two...

Kate Moss watching over us all

The store also had about 10 sales associates on hand to indulge our every whim.  There were many sparkly pieces for us to admire and try on.  Numerous times they pointed out if we wanted to see something in a different color etc, to please ask because the drawers were filled with alternatives.  Once I did see a drawer being pulled out and it was like a dream come true, like going through the best jewelry box!  The staff was really friendly, pulling just about anything out for us to try on, no matter if we planned to buy or not.  Although, for me, once it is on my body, its hard to say no...especially with shiny sparkly fun!

Ten percent of the proceeds from last nights event did go the Junior League of Boston and I did find some really beautiful pieces for me as well as friends and family, but somehow I managed to control myself and walked away empty handed.  We will see that sticks or if I am drawn back into their store!