inspiration diary: December // holiday edition

our NYC-apartment-sized tree...shorter days means earlier holiday lights in the house!

i've outgrown many things since my childhood, but not Christmas. 

i start to get a bit giddy around mid-November. then, after Thanksgiving, it really begins. i'm not referring to the gilded shop windows on 5th Avenue – as breathtakingly beautiful as they are – but rather to the corner tree and wreath 'shops' that pop up every other block all over NYC. oftentimes you're walking down the sidewalk running errands or coming home after work, and you can't help but pass through several cheery aisles of wreaths and balsam firs. big, majestic ones fit for a cathedral-ceiling upper east side penthouse, medium NYC-apartment-sized versions like the one we brought home this year. even Charlie Brown miniatures. and the scent of balsam fir is divine.

this year i also decided i wanted to send real, snail mail holiday cards to friends and family again. sometimes it makes me sad that we live in such an overly digitized world. there's something just so uniquely wonderful in the act of sitting down, writing a personal note and well wishes to those you love, and sealing and stamping the envelope to take to the post. in addition to doing a little to support the postal service, i've always loved receiving a card in the mail with the unmistakable handwriting of a faraway friend. (do we even recognize each others' handwriting anymore?)

i was listening to NPR the other day and the program hosts invited listeners to call in to talk about the best gift they ever received. one woman told a beautiful and moving story about a pair of diamond stud earrings that her father had given her mother years before. when her mother passed away from illness, her father re-gifted those precious earrings to her one Christmas. and now, whenever she wears the earrings, she loves telling this story to others.

so i wonder, what was the best gift you've ever received? what are you preparing / planning for the holidays?

P.S.: i'm a quarter of the way through The Goldfinch, and it is the perfect winter/holiday read. i had no idea it was such a quintessential New York novel, but it's been a delight to revisit my city through Donna Tartt's intricate narrative...