and it begins!

let’s start with one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies, the holiday (personal reminder: add to netflix!):

‘it’s christmas eve and we are going to go celebrate being young and being alive!’

now, i know it’s not actually anywhere near christmas eve but that’s just the way i feel as soon as mid-november hits. to me, that’s when the holidays start and joyous thoughts of love, thanksgiving, family, friends, gifts and decorations start for me. personally, i welcome the holidays to take over my life which means matt and i are already wading through tons of half finished decorations, numerous notes of holiday recipes, lists of gift ideas for all of our family members, candles, fabrics, garlands and wrapping paper- and we haven’t even started the gift shopping yet!

so yesterday when fed ex arrived with some decorations i’d ordered i could tell that matt was seriously over it. like in a ‘i’m so over this i’m about to ban the christmas music you started listening to last week from ever playing in this house again.’ and that is serious. i caught all of this from his fleeting look of exasperation when he took my package- it was in that moment that i finally realized i was out of control. from my spot on the couch i could see six tabs of holiday recipes open on my browser, a half finished garland that was obviously going to be too short for it’s intended purpose, a barely started homemade gift on the kitchen counter, and two home design magazines full of ideas for christmas decor. i’d lost my mind and my poor husband had been sitting quietly watching his wife’s madness take over his tidy organized life.

so yesterday when matt headed out on our weekly post office/bank run i stayed behind with the intention of tidying up. as soon as he left i grabbed my projects and ran for my little closet jewelry studio. as i carefully placed my different projects out on my desk i could feel distraction creeping in. i saw a scrap of pear green silk and fought off all of my immediate desires to turn it into an ornament. i saw a gleaming red glass decanter and started daydreaming about how that could transform our bathroom. the final straw was catching site of my stash of vintage lace practically begging to be worked into a fresh wreath with some cranberries. as i felt my resolve to clean slipping away, i quickly stashed a few more incomplete projects into the closet before allowing myself to plop down and allow myself the luxury of wrapping the one gift i have purchased so far. it was a nice sense of satisfaction when i put the gift on my dresser- one down. i can’t say that the craziness is gone but i certainly feel more like i’m controlling the holidays rather than them controlling me. plus, matt’s back to neat and tidy and i can tell that he’s starting to get excited about the holidays rather than resenting them for driving his wife to insanity. and really, i couldn’t ask for more, than him being excited with me to celebrate holidays and being young and alive!