'tis the season: deck the halls {part four}

i finally got around to buying our lil' tree just this
last monday.
i'm pretty picky when it comes to trees:
it absolutely has to be a
'charlie brown' tree.
small, sparse, and crooked.
last year we had no tree because i was so very
sick and tired of the 'perfect parking lot' tree.

what do you think about our lil' tree?

there's nothing cozier than our christmas tree
lit up in the window while we sip
peppermint milkshakes {my new obsession},
listen to boris karloff tell us
how the grinch stole christmas
{and then how he gives it back of course},
all while we cuddle on the couch in the
softest blanket on earth.

'tis the season: at celia jane's {part one}

this is christmas eve circa 1950.

aunt connie on the left, my dear mother, dianne, on the right.

singing christmas carols on christmas eve.

aren't they so cute?!

grandpa newel always has a train around the tree.

the sight of it going round and round the presents

warms my heart.

{notice their tv...first one in the neighborhood, right mom?}

don't you love my mom's blue eyes?

we kids were lucky and inherited them.

it's the first thing anyone ever compliments me on.

i immediately tell them they are my mother's eyes.

{and those curtains! amazing!}

oh, the lovely celia jane!

red shoes, red lipstick, red nails all the time.

connie, baby margie, celia jane, and dianne.

the three sisters.

my mom is the only living sister.

it's really so sad that her sisters left us

at such young ages

{connie was in her 50's and margie was in her 30's}

i thought it was quite fun to see some

of the gifts they were given that year.

love the stockings hanging on the door

bulging with an orange at the bottom.

more vintage christmas photos to come in the next week!

hope you love them as much as i do!

'tis the season: deck the halls {part three}

my favorite decorations are the ones
i made myself.
isn't that always the case?

i remember reading this book about centenarians,
people who are 100+ years old.
good people.
this book inspired me.
one part, though simple and passes in the blink of an eye,
is about how mona breckner remembered
making christmas decorations: "paper chains and things."
it made an impression on me.
i wanted to make my own decorations rather
than buy empty plastic trinkets from a store
that i would throw away when they were no longer
cute.
if i made it, it will always be meaningful...

"remember that one year i finally found a use for
that old music book we bought at that thrift store?"

"remember how i traced each bird, and cut it all out by hand?"

these are my christmas peace doves.
they remind me of
forgiveness and empathy.

love my doves
{and the twinkle lights too!}

'tis the season: deck the halls {part two}

aren't all the ornaments & twinkle lights of christmas
just oh so magical?
i love when dusk comes and i can turn on
the little lights that have taken over our
little apartment.
these ornaments were once celia jane's...
yes, i stole them.
i couldn't resist a little nostalgia.

love the warmth of candles,
especially since we are without a fireplace.

i am a bit funny about my coathooks...
a home is never a home without a place
to hang coats and bags as soon as we walk in.
they welcome us and invite us to let our loads down.

and, of course, my favorite: the piano.
i really do need to name it don't you think?
it's so much a part of our family.

more decorations to come...

'tis the season: food {part one}

making christmas sugar cookies, originally uploaded by Ann Marie Whittaker.

a few days ago i made about a bazillion sugar cookies. they now are biding their time in the freezer until i'm ready to package them up for the neighbors. and maybe i put this song on repeat while i made the cookies...which means i probably listened to this song at least sixty times in a row. didn't get sick of it. good thing ceej wasn't home or he would have banned me from listening to it ever again!

'tis the season: deck the halls {part one}

SILVER-CHRISTMAS-GARLAND, originally uploaded by Ann Marie Whittaker.

decorating has always been the highlight of christmas for me...

but now it's an even bigger deal for me because it's hard to feel like it's christmas as soon as i step out my door everyday into sunny california weather. my mind has not yet adjusted, and so i need to seriously convince myself that it is indeed december, and christmas is right around the corner.

when night comes i turn on the twinkle lights, shut the blinds, turn on ella and bing singing christmas carols, and make food full of ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. only then do i feel in the spirit of things. i pretend that snowflakes are tip-toeing down to the ground, and that if i were to open my blinds i would be able to see the mountains of my childhood.

thank you, decorations, for making it look christmas-like...even if it only is in our little apartment.

'tis the season: music {part one}

do you remember the scene when beth comes down the stairs

on christmas day, fragile from scarlett fever, and she is surprised

with a new piano from mr. lawrence?

ever since that scene, christmas has not been the same without

a piano quietly playing carols at night in the warmth of a candle or small light.

i hope you enjoy this carol as much as i do.

and i hope you don't mind my out of tune piano

or the little creaks it makes.