I mentioned in my last post how sad it is for the holidays to end. And nothing amplifies that feeling more than coming home from a two-week Christmas marathon with my family on January 4th and having the looming knowledge that yes, I will have to un-decorate my joyful Christmas mantle.
This was me and W's second Christmas living together AND in LA. And since we (and of course by we, I mean I) are not ready to grow up and have our own Christmas, we usually take a two week vacation to the East Coast to be with our families.
But this year, I had a job that I committed to for the holidays, and instead of skipping out on December 16th like last year, we stuck around until December 23rd (and I died a slow death in retail.)
So anyway, I came home from work one day and W had surprised me with this adorable skinny 6 foot tall Christmas Tree! He figured that since we were going to be here for so long before Christmas, that we might as well get festive. (I'm sure he didn't use that word, but still cute, right??)
I just need to squeeze this in before I go on. When we moved into this apartment in August, I was iffy about it; it didn;t have much character to me, it has an outdated kitchen and dark carpet. But I LOVED the mantle. So from day one, it was my baby. To the right is a picture of it from the day we moved in.
So even though I update it as per the seasons, the awesome map print stays. I think it's a good backdrop. It has a lot of open space so it doesn't mind having some smaller things in front of it, and it's simple enough that it doesn't take over the space, but acts as a focal point. Also it blocks a lot of that dark sponge-painted brick. (yeah, I don't know whose idea it was to sponge-paint it...)
Ok, back to Christmas!
So after the tree, I got all crazy and child-y about decorations. I kept talking about "ON MY NEXT DAY OFF CAN WE PLEASE GO SHOPPING FOR CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS OMG." And being the sweet guy he is, he came along while I ran down the aisles like a hyperactive child.
Ok, first of all, Michael's (my favorite place in the world, obviously.) is the only place I have ever heard of that marks all of their Christmas stuff 50% off three weeks before Christmas. And what is it with Target these days? They have the best little collections. I drooled over their Christmas home collection. And actually, while we're on the topic, they had this ceramic stag head that was crazy and ridiculous but that I felt oddly attracted to; a couple weeks ago my mom found it at her Target in New York and bought it for $6... it's en route as we speak (YAY.)
So anyway, they had so many plaids, knits, luxe textures, mercury glass, ceramics, and I wanted to buy it ALL. But I restrained. They had a white ceramic knit textured vase that I wanted so bad but I held off, and found one exactly like it at Michael's on clearance for $3... what? The only thing I splurged full price on at Target (other than the necessities like stockings and ornaments) was the silver owl. I felt like I needed it. And I'm so glad I did, because I love how it looks with the white ceramic.
Alright this post really wasn't supposed to be a Christmas post. It's supposed to be about transitioning out of Christmas mode.
Obviously I didn't want to pack away ALL of my amazing Christmas finds until next year. And other than the obvious things, most of it wasn't Christmas-specific anyway.
Remember the ceramic knit-textured vase from Target that I didn't get? Well, fast forward to post-Christmas clearance and guess what? Now I have two ceramic knit-textured vases. What? They're different shapes. Quiet.
W must've thought I was being so ridiculous setting everything up. I moved things around, swapped things out, searched around for little trinkets that I never thought about putting up there, took a million steps back, cocked my head to check it out, and I was so serious about it. (Although he's already aware that I'm crazy, so I'm sure he wasn't surprised.)
I have some go-to mantlepieces no matter the season. I always use fake flowers (too cheap for real ones, plus they don't stay alive long enough.) The picture is a photo that W's photographer brother-in-law gifted him. I think it's perfect there because it adds color and interest without taking up too much space aesthetically and physically. The genie bottle I got at the Christmas Tree Shops for probably about a dollar, and the wine bottle has an awesome sugar skull on it that I love. (I had dried roses in it in for Halloween. It was cool.) That little silver bear guy was something my mom and I found at Pottery Barn outlet when I was home after Christmas for half off- and it was just one of those things that I was drawn to. We think it's supposed to be a shot glass, but I just think he's cool.
So even though un-decorating after Christmas was really sad and depressing, having nice things to replace it with made me feel better. Also, full disclosure- I don't decorate for tacky holidays like Valentines day, so don't ask. I might change things up here and there, but I like it this way! It's bright and happy and even though I have dark carpets and ugly sponge-painted brick, it brightens up my whole apartment and gives a focal point as soon as you walk in. Having a place to keep trinkets also gives me a reason to buy those useless pretty things that I always want (W would disagree about that being a benefit, though.)
I hope I've inspired you to brighten up your gloomy month of January with something pretty! Have a good week kids!
-C
