just around the corner

Just about every year my mom and I will take a trip to STATS to look at all of the beautiful ornaments, decorations, ribbons and trees. It really isn't Christmas without that outing of ours. I know this because one Christmas she went without me because I just couldn't make it that particular day and she needed to go asap, so that year, it just wasn't the same. 


Even if we don't buy much, or anything at all, we still love to walk around the store and get inspired by new items or new decorating ideas. We also check out the adorable Department 56 Snow Villages. Jeff, my mom's bf has a collection. He is currently working on getting all of the pieces for the "Christmas in the City" village. He sets it up in their back room every year (except this year, of course, since we'll be in New York). My favorite is the Dickens' Village Series (pictured below).


I took about a billion photos, but I didn't want to bombard my blog with all of them, so I chose to feature a few of the ones that stood out the most to me.

 i love anything miniature, 

so i get a little giddy when i see these

 just LOOK at that wall of ornaments.

and that was only ONE wall!

 i picked out that wreath for my door 

and we both chose that ribbon for my mom to attach.

she made that bow in less than a minute.

i'm serious.

I'm actually starting to get a little blue that this year will be different than any other Christmas I've had. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely excited to go to New York and have my very first White Christmas, and my first Christmas married to David, but there really is no place like home for the holidays. 


As much as the holidays seem to bring me such an overwhelming bittersweet feeling*, I adore the holiday season and especially Christmas, being home and with my remaining family members, is such a comfort. 


I wonder what it will be like to wake up in a hotel room on Christmas morning, looking out the window at snow**, meeting up with everyone in my mom's hotel room, with no presents to exchange, going to a Catholic church for mass and having Italian food for dinner. I can't complain, though, because the trip will be our gift and I'm a lucky girl because I consider Wednesday to be the start of our eight day Christmas. It's just that when you're used to the comfort of knowing what it will be like, the unknown seems so unpredictable and, well, adventurous, I suppose.


I do admit that I have been looking forward to this trip all year long and knowing that it's just 2 short days away is getting me anxious and nervous and excited. This will be a Christmas we will never forget.


*My dad's birthday was on Christmas day and I have cherished Christmas memories with him when he was still alive, and my grandparents always made the holidays so special. It was sometimes hard to walk around my house when my mom was decorating with all of her many trees and wreaths and garlands and not hear my papa singing Bing Crosby Christmas songs at the top of his lungs, or watching Meet Me in St. Louis with him. Judy Garland's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" makes me teary every time I hear it, missing my papa and grandma.


**Let's keep our fingers crossed that we will have a window to look out of and that there will be snow falling when we look out of it.