In praise of Wisteria & shopping online

I love shopping online. It's 10:30 and I just made a major dent in my Christmas list. Times must be hard. It's a little more than a week before Christmas and the sales are incredible. You must go check out http://www.wisteria.com/. Their holiday clearance sale is amazing. And I didn't even come close to buying all the things I wanted. Here's a peak at what I couldn't pass up:

First I fell in love with these charming little ornaments, handmade with antique silver beads. I wanted them for myself, but since this is the season for giving, I refrained. I also think they would be beautiful stitched to a stocking.

Earlier in the week I wondered what to get our godchild, Kyra, for Christmas. What could I get her that would have a lasting impact and not just clutter up her house (like mine)? An ornament seemed a thoughtful, yet easy gift. Since she's only one year old, by the time she leaves the nest she'll have a nice start on her very own tree. Fabulous. I could start a tradition and ease the pain of thinking up an idea for the next 20 years. These days I am all about streamlining.

Then I had a brainstorm: why not start and carry out this same tradition with my nieces! And then what about my daughters? I can't leave them out in the cold. My two nephews are on their own. One day they'll have wives and you know how women are. I can just hear it: "Some old aunt is going to tell me what ornaments to put on my tree....." I'll spare them the drama.

Anyway, that's how much of my Christmas list was conquered in about 30 minutes. Starting this year, I plan to get each kiddo something fun, like the Hannah Montana wig I got Aschlen last year. She clutched it to her chest and with all the emotion of an Academy Award winning actress, almost whispered, "I needed this." Obviously I was filled with joy because I had nailed the perfect gift.

The kids won't care about the ornaments, or understand their significance, at least not now. But after their mothers do a good job raising them, hopefully one day they will appreciate my crazy aunt Christmas legacy. I think I am getting old and nostalgic.

Originally I thought I would get a range of ornaments because there were so many beautiful contenders on sale. These beautiful glass ornaments in green were in my shopping cart for a while:

Although they are stunning, the lightbulb went off that everyone should get the same ornaments. That way, when I'm long gone, having worn out my broken down earthly body, there will be similarities among all my girls' trees. One Christmas, many years from now, won't it be cool when my niece Aschlen passes by little Piper's tree and remembers "the year crazy old Aunt Sami gave us these ornaments?" That will make me very very happy from my afterworld perch.

Having snatched up at least 8 sets of four ornaments for just $7.60 a set, (what a bargain!!!!), I couldn't pass up this handy contraption designed to contain all those Christmas cards currently in a pile on our buffet. Several lucky families are getting this:

At $14.50, and 41 inches tall, I think this Christmas card holder is amazing. Can you tell none of my family members read this blog? I'm giving away all my secrets.

And check out this wreath! At $14.50, I mean who could pass this up? It's made from birch wood. I must say, however, that this bow is ghastly. What the heck?

I don't know who is getting this wreath. I decided to buy it for that "just-in-case-I-forgot-someone" present and if that never comes up, I can keep it for myself.

Praying to catch a Christmas groove

Does the Christmas season suck the life out of anyone else but me?

Yesterday, as I dressed wine bottles in raffia and tulle (yes, I have declared they do go together), I wished aloud for the Christmas spirit. The husband agreed and wished he would "catch" it too. Here's a look at the bottles I was "dressing."

We called them Real Estate Survival Kits, since the husband operates a mortgage company & most of the gift receivers are our favorite realtors. Accompanying each bottle of wine is a box of crackers, cheese and some chocolate. Isn't that a well-rounded meal for anyone in this crazy business? The best part is I can't take credit for the idea. The husband thought it up all by himself. I just helped with the packaging.

Getting back to my whine: I love Christmas, or let's say I have always loved Christmas in the past. For the past few years, I haven't been myself and the Christmas season just plain wears me out. In the old days, I wrapped presents with amazing amounts of creativity. I've even painted my own wrapping paper for heaven's sake. Custom-made name tags are not out of the question. I'm just not into those pre-printed To: and From: tags you tape on the side of the box. This year, I haven't wrapped a single present. In fact, there is not one present under my less-than-stunning tree. That my tree could be less than stunning is distressing because usually it is stunning. Last year I declared it would be "vintage-only" after I stumbled upon a very charitable but clueless estate sale operator in Odessa of all places, who asked me to haul off "all that Christmas junk."

This year I just ran out of steam and decided not to sweat the small stuff, letting my three-year-old daughters help me with placement of any and every ornament in the box. Let's just say there's a community of little snowmen, all together, in one place on the side of the tree where the girls could reach if they stood on the arm of the big leather chair. It's a wonder no one was seriously injured. Let me also say that on that day, I really, really disciplined myself and had to fight off having a glass of wine beginning at 11 a.m. I finally gave in to the pressure at 5 p.m. but was quite proud of myself making it that long. The husband was deer hunting, if that tells you anything. Texas translation means I was alone with the kids all weekend.

Here's a peak at the vintage wreath I picked up in one of my favorite re-sale shops for $12. It's about 4 feet wide and as tall. We decided it was a great place to tuck all our Christmas cards at the husband's office. Actually this wreath does make me Christmas-happy.

Today we're going out to play Santa and deliver all the pretty wine bottles to the friends we work with all year. Hopefully the "giving" part of Christmas will put me in the mood and lift me from this overwhelmed funk.