Our first Christmas Tree!

Well, it's not really our first.  We both had Christmas trees when we were kids and living at home, but this is our first "together" tree.

In the past, we never thought of even putting up decorations probably because we always traveled in December and partly because we didn't own any.  I moved all the way from Montreal to San Francisco and all I brought was a giant luggage.

After we got married, I started collecting random ornaments here and there during our travels, I also started making some during my holiday "crafting" phases - but still no tree.  Hubby and I couldn't agree on whether to buy a real tree each year or buy an artificial one and be done with it.

Well, this year - after 11 years together, we finally picked up one from Home Depot.  I wanted a tree and I wanted one where I didn't have to deal with all the pine needles falling all over.

The trees are really "advanced" now.  The last tree I put up was when I was 15 - haha. I had to stick each branch in individually.  Now....wow... they just open "down" like an umbrella. And the needles look real to me :)

I didn't realize how fun it would be to have a tree.  I think I have forgotten all about it since it's been over 20 years.  Now that it's finally up, I'm so happy.  We actually have two trees, I have a little one that I put next to my sister's urn, she loved Christmas and we started the tradition of exchanging ornaments each year until she passed away.

Our tree all lit up at night.  I'm still missing a topper but I can't seem to find the right one.

A shot of my home made tree skirt :

And here are some of my favorite ornaments:

 I made a series of these stuffies in 2009  and now I finally get to put them up!

 This didn't start out as an ornament, it was just an experimentation in felting but it ended up looking cute on the new tree.

 My new purchase of 2011 from Macy's.  They were having a 60% off sale. I love myself a good deal.

 This is one of my favorite and oldest ornaments.  

And last but not least, my favorite ornament my sister <3 gave me, it was also the last one.  She knew about my love for crafting.

Our little angel :

 Our Lego snow globe :

My "Happy Holidays" garland that I got at a steal from Anthropologie. I look forward all year to putting this up just because it looks so crafty.

Up close :

 A fresh holiday arrangement from our local flower shop that I picked up today :

Christmas decorating was so fun!  I think I'm obsessed now.