faux fir

This being our first Christmas in Boston (every year since we've been here we've returned to California for the holidays) we decided to get a tree. Growing up, from second grade on - I'm assuming because finances were a little tight that year and because we moved around a lot - we invested in a fake tree that we'd assemble every year. After high school, I continued the tradition with a small tabletop tree that my Dad gave me for my first Christmas on my own. Neal and I continued to decorate that little tree each year until we made the cross country move; then the tree was left behind in the garage sized pile of things we sold on Craigslist or donated to Goodwill. This is our first tree as a family, our first tree in Boston, and my first real, live tree in about 24 or 25 years!

So where do you go to get such a tree? My hair stylist recommended we go to Lambert's, a produce market just down the hill from us that makes tasty sandwiches year-round and sells Christmas trees during the holidays. So we bundled up and made our way to the parking lot full of color-coded trees that ranged in price from $30 to $70. The experience was a little anti-climactic, I have to admit. I'm not sure what I was expecting; it's not like we were trekking into the woods to chop down a tree ourselves. I guess I thought we'd walk around, hot cocoa in hand, until we found the perfect tree, just knowing it was our tree the moment we saw it. They'd sold out of smaller trees the day before and since it was a smaller tree we wanted, we were advised to choose a less expensive tree and have them chop off the bottom foot or so. The cheaper, pink-tagged trees weren't even on full display but stacked against a fence at the back of the lot. It was all kind of boring, actually, and I spent the several minutes it took the guy to trim, package, and strap the tree to our car checking out their other holiday offerings.

Now that the tree is trimmed, however, I find myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. As for decorations, if it were up to me, I would have gone with clear lights and very minimal decorations. But Neal prefers colored lights and if you're going to decorate for Christmas, you might as well go all out. So colored lights - in the shape of pinecones no less - and a set of red and green, some with glitter, balls it is. We have a shoebox full of ornaments that we've collected over the decade plus we've been together and a vintage tree topper on its way, from this Etsy shop. I'll post a pic when the tree is officially finished, which will likely be right before Christmas day.

On a sidenote, when I was searching for Lambert's website, I came across this restaurant of the same name in Missouri, known for its "throwed rolls." Here's a video that shows a guy throwing rolls at the restaurant's diners.



Weird, huh? Apparently, they throw rolls at you in the Midwest.