Hoo baby, we’re in the holiday soup now – it’s the final weekend before the Christmas holidays, and the festive is about to go. off. Like most folks, I’ve got a lot of social engagements over the coming days, and time has gone all whackeroo. I swear it was the beginning of the month just last week (it has been, as Counting Crows might say, a very long December.)
I’m actually feeling pretty neutral about the holidays; relaxed to a fault, even. Save a few stocking stuffery-type things, Mr. Finger Candy and I have no gifts for one another. It’s kind of a bummer not having pretty presents wrapped up under the tree, but not remotely a bummer when you consider that instead of jewelry or video games or a new coffee maker (shame that, as we kind of need one) we’re gifting ourselves with another trip to Disney World in February of the new year.
Last weekend we hosted my husband’s family for our annual Christmas get-together, and then tonight my mom and dad are hosting another family event that is sure to leave us all desperately wishing for Santa to bring us pants with elasticized waistbands, because my mom does not know the meaning of the word “moderation” when it comes to a holiday meal; if you don’t stagger from the house (with leftovers!) offhandedly contemplating a wee pit stop at the emergency room, she has apparently failed as a mother. 😉
Then this weekend we’ll be dropping in on our friends’ holiday open house, where we always have a nice time catching up with folks we haven’t seen in years. And speaking of, I’ll be capping off the Christmas social season with an evening in the company of some ladies I’ve known since high school (and in a couple of cases, beyond.) We try to get together every Christmas, for brunch, or drinks at the pub, or this crazy random party we attend every year that brings out our very best-worst impulses to overindulge and spaz out on the dance floor to the Beasties and the Wu. Okay, so I actually really love that part. 😉
So we’ve got lots of fun stuff coming up this week, and I’m sure that will pull me out of this neutral zone of disinterest that I’ve been occupying since the beginning of the month. And I really hope it does, because so far the only thing about the holidays I’ve actually been able to fully get behind is our Christmas tree – I think this year’s edition is perhaps the nicest one I’ve ever decorated. I’m so glad I put it up early so the Weege could have a chance to loaf beneath its twinkling lights; she loved the Christmas tree.
I’ve spoken about my tree before – it’s 15 artificial years old this Christmas, and we have history. As in I have been electrocuted twice whilst lighting it, plus all of the bottom branches are broken, so a full quarter of the tree is held up by, well, itself. And one year I really super overdid it on the twinkle lights (2,100 of them; how proud Clark Griswold would have been) and nearly suffered a nervous breakdown for my efforts. These days I stick to a much more manageable 600 or so.
And with the exception of maybe a dozen or so ornaments, every decoration on this tree is of something edible – fast food, candy, baked goods and other sweets. It’s such a beautiful tree, and every year it proves to be just about my favourite thing about the holidays.
I purchased a great load of these ornaments over 15 years ago at a 75% off sale at a local Christmas shop, but we’ve amassed far more since as gifts (nearly every one of those Starbucks ornaments) and random retail finds. My favourites include a glittery glass t-bone, The Christmas Pickle, and that wee rasher of bacon dangling tantalizingly over the photo of our cat, Weegie. New additions this year include some squashy – yes, squashy! – cupcake and donut ornaments, the cool pewter ornament we got at the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam dessert party at Disney, and two small photo tributes to our dearly missed kitties, Weegie and Porky.
And because it’s just what I do (or it’s what I did – I really have no idea what this blog is about any more) I whipped up a glittery Christmas mani inspired by my tree, nail charm ornaments and all. It’s a whole lot of high maintenance look, but then again, so is the tree! Here I paired those little charms (from Daily Charme, all) with KB Shimmer’s Get Clover It. Very merry, indeed. 🙂
Finger Candy 
Your ability to transform an inspiration into nail art is endlessly impressive, case in point, this creative yet accurate christmas tree mani. I hope you continue to be inspired to do so for years to come, and a Disney nail art blog sounds like a joyful thing to read. Hoping your Christmas was merry and you enjoyed a bit of fun letting your holiday blahs go as you caught up with friends and family. I received your Christmas card on Christmas Eve and it is up there in the annals of greatest Christmas cards ever! I’m so happy we are friends, thank you for another year of friendship, I hope we have many more adventures to share with each other<3
Aw, thank you so much, friend, I hope you had a nice one as well (it really wound up not being quite as sucktacular as I was sure it was going to be.) And I’m so glad you liked the card! Up in the annals of history, huh? Well, I guess that’s better than being up in anything else with that vague configuration of letters! 😉 Also so glad that it got there – holy smokes, Christmas Eve? I sent that maybe three full weeks before Christmas? As always, postal service, you so awesome.
Wow, 3 weeks before Christmas? Honestly how does Canada manage to get anything done? Thanks again and that’s definitely a-n-n-a-l-s.
Christmas provided a little band-aid on some family issues but now it’s been ripped right off. Hoping for a less stressful new year, starting it with a raging cold, so it can only get better right? Lol.
Ah, yikes, I’m sorry to hear the family band-aid removal was a rough one. Why do family relationships have to be so hard? My mom was just lamenting that the other day. I think because we don’t choose our family the way we do our friends, and sometimes just having a bit of DNA in common with someone (or being married to someone who shares their DNA) isn’t enough.
And eff that stupid head cold. I’ve been sick since we got home at the beginning of November. Knock on wood, but it seems to be getting a little better now, but I’ve had this huge, raspy, phlegm-y cough for about seven solid weeks now. It was going away, then the stuff with Weegie happened and then it came roaring right back, where it has resolutely stayed. I hope yours moves on much faster. Rest up and laugh along to some B99 – Hitchcock and Scully are good for what ails you.
The family stress is of the variety where there’s nothing I can change about it except my attitude. I just need to hold on and get through it, especially the next year. So far, I’m holding it together with my choices and reactions. Thank you for your thoughts.
But oh, the magic of those baby-faced walking ineptitudes, Hitchcock and Scully. Have you ever seen two grown men with more infantile faces and behavior? I’m obsessed with B99, there’s no denying it. I look forward to nearly daily viewing and methodically restrict my bingeing so I can keep watching that much longer. I actually watched network television when it switched to NBC last week, it’s good to know that pretty much nothing changes in season 6 bc the formula is hilarious and when it isn’t producing laughs of the pee my pants variety, it’s being adorable.
Have you seen season 3, episode 6 In the Woods? I’m usually impatient when a series takes it’s characters away from their day-to-day surroundings, but it was worth it because the sinkhole scene! I’m laughing just recalling the visual. Also the moment of Holt and Diaz acknowledging their emotions was brilliant<3<3
I hope you're feeling much better buddy, my husband gets those lengthy raspy coughs and I claim his TB is back. I finally asked his family about it over the holidays and they said he's always been bronchial, his mom has pulmonary bronchitis, his dad and cousins are bronchial, apparently the whole family is v. bronchial. So that's something to look forward to as we age.
I love that episode! Terry’s delivery of “Stink Puddle?” is so great, I say it all the time. And I SHOULD hate Charles, because I’ve disliked Jo Lo Truglio in everything he’s ever been in before B99 AND Charles is pretty obnoxious, but he’s just so endearingly sweet.
I – and I suspect also you – live for flashbacks to Hitchcock and Scully’s days in the ’80s – NYC was basically the Purge and they were doing a lot of coke and diet pills. And then having a bunch of divorces and heart attacks, as you would! Have you seen the episode where they go to a cop convention out of town and Scully meets a She Scully? It’s priceless. Actually, I love that entire episode – it’s a bit The Hangover-ish in nature. 🙂
I love that Terry’s delivery is 1 of 2 extremes, 100% consternation/exasperation or 100% pleading from weakness. Each character’s unwavering knowledge and commitment of who they are is a winning aspect of the show, it kind of IS the show.
Even Boyle, who I love, but I get it–he is intentionally over-the-top ridiculous in the weirdest way.
Watching the show (Canadian?) The State in the 90s was my thing, I will always be fond of those characters. I loved the appearance of Ken Marino in a B99 episode I saw recently.
Nope, haven’t seen those Scully and Hitchcock episodes yet, The Hangover isn’t a far leap from most episodes though.
I did live for the operation Beans episode when they flashbacked to 80s Scully/Hitchcock busting a drug operation when the drug lord finally caught up to them in the present.
That Show:)
I’ve never seen The State, or even heard of it, actually. But Ken Marino (now forever CJ) is awesome. Anytime I enjoy something really great now, I gleefully will shout out, “Ooh, that’s gonna leave a mark!” CJ’s an amazing cute nimrod.
Operation Beans, snicker, snicker…”Chickpea, NOOOOOOOOOO!” Also, I’m kind of with Rosa – the Vulture is hot-repulsive.
So I gave Yoshi, the Red-Nosed Dino a try and I was nervous when I got powerful fruit punch vibes for about 20 minutes before it settled down. It wasn’t offensive, yet, I wished the pistachio was more present, but at least it attempts to stand up to the power of Raspberry sauce. Good news–my husband exclaimed how excellent it was and bequeathed most of the bag to him and his warmer in the basement family room,lol. Did I ever tell you that he and you have very similar taste in wax? Loves fruity bakery, hates patchouli/sandalwood. He also shares Will’s preference for coffee scents, so whatever you two are enjoying scent-wise is likely a slam dunk for him.
Yes, RG’s Raspberry Sauce is awfully close to fruit punch, but it – preemptive *wah-waaaahhh noise* here – pulls its punch (eh?! eh?!) at the last second. I don’t know what to tell you, I think my sense of humour may be broken. 😉
But in all wax seriousness, I find that Yoshi’s really makes my nose tingle. If I stick my nose straight in the bag, I sneeze. Gotta be the pistachio, because it’s the only scent it happens with, and I’m cool with Raspberry Sauce otherwise (as you know!)
But even if it’s not your bag, I’m glad your husband is getting great use out of it – fruity bakery lovers unite! Gots to stand in solidarity against the things that smell like moss and man (told you I was no good at evocative scent writing!)
As you know, I just got my SMT order, and I’m feeling a bit more positive about it now – it may look a bit mangled, and two of the scents are WRETCHED, but a few are slam dunks. So now that all orders are present and accounted for, I want to put together a little box of goodies for you – plus I think you’re all out of Ghost Stories by the Fire, and we can’t have that. I’ll see if I can find some slam dunks for your guy while I’m at it. That Cookie Bread one I was so hopeful about turned out pretty darn well, so you’re definitely getting some of that.
Sweet, thanks friend, but no hurry on the goodie box, my SMT order is finally on the way (part 1 actually, of 2). It was intended for Fall smellies but who cares, I just wanna know how it all turned out. A 2 scent margin of error isn’t too bad, to be expected I guess, I hope I have no more failures than that.
I agree about Raspberry Sauce drawing back at the last moment before knocking me straight out., It may never be my favorite scent type, but I can recognize it’s excellence, especially in elevating other notes. Oh yeah, cookie bread is so yummy, now I wonder if I used it in a scent creation? Think I’ll go back to our scent collaboration post and figure that out.
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I love that you were able to find some spots of sunshine with your friends and family this season. I am so sorry about your sweet kitty. I heart hurts for you.
Your tree really does look amazing. I love the candy corn garland and all the sweets. Glass ornaments are my favorite. Have you picked any up at the German pavilion at Epcot? That is my very favorite place to collect ornaments. Pricy but so so lovely. The mushrooms always get me. In Disney Springs there is a Christmas store too as I am sure you know, and my husband and I got a big Mickey head that we had custom painted there in 2004 for our “first Christmas”. We also went on to get two tiny glass Mickey heads custom painted, one that says “Savanna” and one for “Scarlette”. They do such a beautiful job and the paint has lasted years and years. Maybe you could get one in honor of Weege?
Thanks again, Julie. Christmas was hard, hard, hard, but it went better than expected. I think a lot of people were treating us with kid gloves, and we worked really hard not to drag our sad around with us – nobody wants those people at the party!
I was so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Did you call him Pop Pop? I called my grandfather Poppy (apparently before I was born he told my mom he didn’t care what I eventually called him, as long as it wasn’t Poppy. Ha! Sorry, Poppy.) My heart hurts for you, too – why does this (life) have to be so hard sometimes?
I love your Disney ornaments, they sound so special. 🙂 I haven’t been to the Christmas shop at Disney Springs since I was a kid (so I guess it would be pretty different now, if not in an altogether different place) but I’m familiar with the store in the Magic Kingdom, and you can get hand-painted ornaments there as well. It’s a very popular spot – and I believe it’s actually shop spelled with an E, The Christmas Shoppe, so you know it’s legit. 😉
I’ve never explored the Germany pavilion in any meaningful way, but that might have to change now. I remember your mushroom ornaments, they’re super cute. Usually I just get to the Werther’s caramel place on the corner and stop in my tracks with the smell.