Why I Oughta...

There is ONE upside to this whole being out of our place because the owners of the house are home for Christmas stuff: I don't have to remove the tree.  My post-Christmas funk starts in earnest today, but the house construction will give me something to focus on for the next few months.

Last night, Indiana Street in Elmhurst looked like a winter wonderland.  With the big snowfall, we went out to clean the sidewalks and driveway and while I was out there, I snapped this photo of our Front Yard Tree.  This is the seventh Elmhurst Front Yard tree that I've posted on the blog and the second one in front of Vic and Equation Boy/Man's house down the street from our old place. Although you may not be able to tell, this year's tree is a really nice-sized tree in terms of height.  I put one strand of C9 LEDs on it, but Nat didn't think it was bright enough, so she went out and picked up two more strings of C9 LEDs and now there's 150 lights on that thing. Here's the post showing our 2015 tree out front of Equation Boy/Man's house. Here's the post from our 2014 tree out front of our old house (sad face). Here's my post from our 2013 tree . There's no snow in the photo of our 2012 tree . Here's my post from our 2011 tree .

This year, we went back to our normal variety of tree:  the Fraser Fir.  And we sized it a bit more appropriate for the space.   Here's last year's post showing the tree we brought home that was a Douglas Fir . And, once again, we put up our tree, not in our house, but in the house of Equation Boy/Man and my sister Vic, who are graciously putting us up for another holiday season. If you look at last year's post and scroll down you'll see a photo of the Babe putting our angel on top of the tree.  In the background, you can also see the trim casing that sits above the opening between the family room and dining room.  When you look there, you can clearly see that the angel is sitting *below* that casing - meaning the tree was short. Look at the photo above.  The angel - who is MIA - would be sitting well above that same casing.  Much better sized.  The angel?  I *think* I know where she is, but will have to wait until next weekend to know if we found her or not.

A few weeks back, I picked up this ornament case and these 14 vintage Christmas ornaments at an Estate Sale in Elmhurst.  It was the same sale where I picked up this hobnail milkglass pitcher and this vintage White Sox book .  Quite the haul... The ornament case was found where most Christmas stuff ends up - buried either on the floor under a table or in the basement.  When I opened the case, it was totally full, but I pulled out the ornaments that I didn't want that were newer and the seller at the sale was glad to keep them to try to sell to someone else.  We see these type of ornaments all the time at sales and most of the time they want anywhere between $2 and $4 a piece for each of them. Sometimes they're not even really that old, but just look old.  And each time, I usually pass. Both, because glass ornaments like these aren't destined to last super long on our tree with the three savages roaming around and shaking the tree, but also because we have a tree ful

A few weeks back, Nat and I stopped into Affordable Antiques in Naperville to just poke around.  On that day, we came home with exactly nothing.  But that's not because there wasn't some interesting things to see there.  There were.  I think that we just weren't in the mood to actually buy anything.  Between the housing situation and the numerous unknowns ahead of us, it just isn't a time in our lives to be able to bring home treasures. One of those treasures that I came across was this lovely vintage Christmas Angel tree topper.   I've posted about other Angels that we have here .    This one priced at $36 seems pretty steep to me, but she is pretty awesome.  She's in great shape, but has had her 'cone' under her tinsel skirt rebuilt, which for purists might be a problem, but is totally fine for me.  She has the usual pipe cleaner-arms, but it is her skirt that makes her shine.  She's not destined for our tree, but I'm sure she'll find a

Same tradition - different house.  Here's a photo of the Elmhurst front yard Christmas tree that we put up at Equation Boy/Man's house where we've been living since August.  (Equation Boy/Man took that photo above, btw.) I've posted about these trees before here on the blog, but this is a really nice Elmhurst holiday tradition.  Each fall, the Elmhurst School District runs a fundraiser where you can buy a tree for $19.  It is organized by a block captain who puts out the order forms and collects all the money.  They then 'host' a little get-together on the Saturday after Thanksgiving where all the trees get dropped off for the neighborhood. Our street does a really good job of participating - maybe the best around town?  Anyone else want to stake the claim as best front-yard-tree-street in Elmhurst? Here's the post from last year's tree out front of our old house (sad face). Here's my post from our 2013 tree . Don't seem to have posted

These photos are about the best we're going to do in terms of documenting our Christmas Tree this year.  Nat picked out a Douglas Fir for the first time after having gone with Fraser Firs for our entire time we've been buying live tress together. And...for the first time, we put that tree up NOT in our house.  But in Vic and Equation Boy/Man's house down the street in Elmhurst where we've been living.  The reason why these are the best photos I'll get is because we took our ornaments down from the tree and packed them up so the Swiss Family(!!) could come home and decorate their own tree.  We left the tree behind for them to enjoy.  We'll be opening our presents under the tree(s) out in Naperville which will be a really nice memory for Nat and I and (hopefully) the girls. It was a beautiful tree, if it was a little small.  Here's a photo of me picking up the Babe so she can put the angel on top of the tree.  I'm just a bit over six feet tall and

The plaza in the Elmhurst City Centre is all dressed up for Christmas with a big tree and a bunch of polar bears in the fountain. I took this photo on my way to the train this morning. I'm wondering...is this *the* tree for the City now?  We've gone to a tree lighting down by the Police Station on First Street in years past where the City had their official tree.  But...is this the tree they're going to light now?  Or still have that one down by the Police Station? That's one thing that the City Centre really lacks:  a real gathering place.  Would be nice to have a sizeable place - like a park of some sort - that is in the downtown.  I know...we have Wilder Park just a few blocks away, but that's NOT in the City Centre.

Our Christmas Tree met it's demise last week when I hauled it out to the curb.  But before it went, it was a fine tree.  In fact...I think it might have been our best tree yet. As usual, it was a Fraser Fir and we bought it from the same place down in Wilmington.  But...the height worked out great and it had a really nice shape. The tree dried out a bit this year.  The day we bought it, I filled up the chamber with water and then went to bed.  When I woke up, it was bone dry.  They say...you can never let your tree go dry.  The needles didn't totally fall off but as I was taking to the door, there was a huge trail of needles and clumps that I left behind. Note to self:  figure out a way to ensure the tree stays submerged that first night. Here's the post of our 2013 Tree .  We kept it in the same position once again. Here's the post (on google+) of our 2012 Tree Here's the post of our 2011 Tree Here's the post of our 2010 Tree

As we've done since we moved in, we participated in the annual Elmhurst front yard Christmas tree tradition where we - along with our neighbors and folks all across town - erect small trees in our yards and light them up for everyone to see.  It's a really nice tradition and we have a particularly active block as almost everyone had a tree up. The full story is here in this post on our 2011 tree - which shows the sad state of snow that winter and looked a lot like this year's would have if I snapped the photo around Christmas. Here's my post from our 2009 tree . Here's my post from our 2010 tree .  Here's my post from our 2011 tree . Don't seem to have posted our 2012 tree. Here's my post from our 2013 tree .

Here's our 2013 Parrillo Family Christmas tree.  I think it was the best tree we've ever had.  Had a nice shape.  As always, it was a Fraser Fir. Yes, yes, yes.  I know.  It is 2014.  And Christmas is over.  But, I have a bunch of posts coming that wrap-up Christmas.  Have some patience while I deposit these thoughts/images here. Here's the post (on google+) of our 2012 Tree Here's the post of our 2011 Tree Here's the post of our 2010 Tree

I don't seem to have posted on our Front Yard Tree in 2012, but above is the photo (made #autoawesome by Google) of this year's tree. The full story is here in this post on our 2011 tree - which shows the sad state of snow last winter.  We're already ahead of last year's total it seems. Here's my  post from our 2009 tree . Here's my  post from our 2010 tree .   Here's my  post from our 2011 tree .

We kicked off Christmas in our traditional way:  by cutting down perfectly good trees on a farm down in Braidwood.   Here's last year's post/photo .  Just took a little bit of shaving to get our tree in the living room.  Took about a foot off the bottom and it fit perfectly!

We packed up the whole clan and made our annual pilgrimage to Wilmington to chop down a few trees  to put up in our living rooms.  This year, we brought The Bird for the first time.  If you know where we post the family blog posts about the girls, you can see even more photos of the trip over there! This is one of my favorite family traditions and really kicks off the holiday season in a big way for the Parrillos.