Christmas Spirit

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now my most favorite holiday is less than a month away.  The weather is getting colder, the first snow fall has fallen today in Chicago and the spirit of Christmas is EVERYWHERE.   'Tis the season to be jolly and everywhere you go, you can see and hear the joy of the holiday season. 

Ever year starting in November, the city becomes alive in a different way this time of year and you can just feel the energy and happiness as you walk the streets of downtown.   The famous Macy's window boxes are decorated, the main streets are lit with Christmas lights, and stores are busy with holiday shoppers.  Every year since I was little my family would take a trip after Christmas Day to stay in Chicago for a night.  I truly believe that is what really made me fall in love with Chicago was being little and walking up and down the streets especially at night.  It is truly stunning.   

With my new apartment having a lot of space, I decided this would be a perfect time for me to purchase my first real tree as an adult.   Sunday I went to Home Depot to buy my Christmas tree.   After an hour of inspecting Fraser Fir after Fraser Fir I finally found my tree.   I was grinning from ear to ear because I could not wait to get it home and start decorating my house.

Over the years I have started a tradition that wherever I travel I MUST buy a Christmas ornament.  Shot glasses are fun but you can only have so many.   Ornaments on the other hand are memories and represent the places you have gone.    This is my first year where my tree is filled with ornaments I have been collecting over time and ornaments that I have received growing up as gifts.  What is there not to love?  As I hang each ornament on my tree, each one tells a story and has meaning.   To me that is just a little part of the Christmas spirit.

From the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art May 2010

My other favorite part of the holiday season is spending time with the people I care about and love.   With holiday parties to attend, weekend visits from friends- it is during this time that I am reminded of how lucky and blessed I truly am.   My life would feel so empty if I didn't have my family, friends, boyfriend, and colleagues.  They all make life worth living and make me the person I am.  So this Christmas I am even more full of love because for the first time in a long time I am bursting at the seams with the Christmas spirit and it is because I have so much to be thankful for.

Do you have any holiday traditions?   How do you get into the holiday spirit?   What is your favorite part about Christmas?

Christmas is a necessity.  There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.  ~Eric Sevareid