My tree is still up, so it must still be Christmas, right?

Just wanted to post some pictures of our holiday home.

Welcome


Most people come in the side door, though


Our tree




I love bubble lights:

Every year we say, “This is the best tree EVER”. And every year we are right! I am of the “put everything you own on the tree” school. Here again, is an example of my ‘collage’ style of decorating – if a few look pretty, then dozens will be fabulous!

We actually have more than one tree (of course). Here’s a little vignette that I put together when The Child was a little girl:



It’s a Teddy bear tree with miniature ornaments and a merry band of bears caught in the midst of adorning it, complete with the poor fellow teetering on the star.

Another tree is the one that The Child gifted me with a few years ago:

It’s an Oz tree with green lights and a sparkly ruby red skirt for all of my Oz ornaments.




I treasure this one so much – both because of the giver and because I finally have somewhere to display my ornaments. They ended up getting lost in the myriad of ornaments when I put them on the big tree. Now you can see and appreciate each one.

Some of Mr. Kim’s Christmas village collection:





These are charming, but hard to display to their full potential in a small house. I once knew someone who set up her village under her tree, but I love the pile of vari-colored packages and bags under there, so our village just gets spread around everywhere.

Even the kitchen gets bedecked with elves in the window, plate racks with Christmas themed china, a little tree adorned with lemons and Banshee’s cabinet:


Our centerpiece:

Pristine and perfect. It is sadly spotted and be-crumbed now. And surrounded by all the clean serving dishes that need to be packed away – SOON.

The living room:




Avaricious collectors that we are, we ALSO have a treasure trove of Santas:



These, too, are spread all over the house – two of my favorites are in the dining room:

This painted ceramic tableau is one that I painted when we lived in Indiana. I have always loved the hominess of the scene – Santa perusing his list, the elves busily at work and the Mrs. bringing in a sustaining treat for everyone.


This cooky jar is one that I really treasure. My great aunt Antonia Terelli (Tut – pronounced like ‘put’) had a ceramic shop in Little Rock. In 1969, when I was 10, Aunt San and Pop Denson ordered one of these for every individual family in the Terelli branch of the family. We all got these cooky jars on Christmas Eve at their annual celebration. On his book that he’s writing in it lists “Aunt San, Pop, Marty (Momma), Kim, Teddy and Chuckie (cousins)”. Each jar was personalized for the family that it was going to. Setting this out for the last 40-some years has been a wonderful ritual. Momma and Ted spend Christmas with us now, so last year she gifted it to me! Aunt San and Pop are gone now, but looking at that cooky jar I can remember beautiful Christmas Eve parties – Aunt San’s cold buffet with her delectable sugar cookies and fudge (which I still make every year), being blinded by the lights on Pop Denson’s big movie camera (you saw spots for the first quarter hour in the house – and if he wasn’t ready for you, you had to troop back outside and do your big entrance again) and the sheer VOLUME of our big Italian-Southern American clan. I remember going out into the clear, cold night – with snow, if I was lucky – followed by “Merry Christmas”, “We’ll come by tomorrow and see your Christmas” and “I’m gonna call you and ‘Christmas Gift’ you before you even get the sleep out of your eyes!” (Do you know this tradition? It’s good luck if you can say ‘Christmas Gift’ to someone before they can say it to you – if you talk fast, you can ‘Christmas Gift’ a whole room full of people in one breath – especially if they all have their mouths full of ham biscuits!) Some nights, before going home, we would circle through Washington DC and drive by the magical decorated windows at Lord & Taylor, The Hecht Co. and Woodward and Lothrop – beautiful stores! If you went to the Pageant of Peace at the Mall before Christmas you would see the reindeer. But on Christmas Eve they were gone – off at work! These memories are exactly why I do my Christmas Eve dinner and celebration for family. After growing up with such a wonderful tradition, what else could I do? I couldn’t bear the thought of a quiet, contemplative Christmas Eve. I needed too many people, too much food and a raucous, riotous party!

I’ve done my darnest to spoil The Child rotten (another cherished family tradition – Aunt San used to joke that other people’s children might be brats, but ours were just overtired or hungry), so she has TWO stockings. The regular one for Santa to stuff with candies and trinkets and a big tangerine in the toe:


And this one for the overflow:


So – a belated Merry Christmas from me, with much love and appreciation!


Up next - the FOOD!!!