*Lighting of the Tree*

I'm always interested in checking out the different ways people decorate their Christmas tree. Between the tree embellished with ornaments that have been in the family since the 1800s to the very stylized trees, I generally find the more simple and tastefully adorned ones the most beautiful. I'm truly happy I haven't seen any trees with multicolored lights; I can't believe I used to like them when I was younger. Then again my sensitivity to the tackier things in life wasn't as strong.

This year I decided to decorate our tree at home in a more simple way than usual. Since my mom's favorite color is lavender, I decided the only colors would be from the purple roses and then only three other pinkish/purple ornaments (because they're ridiculously sensitive, and I broke the other ones). The rest would be crystals and silver in color. I have to say there's nothing like the vibrant green color, fresh smell and softness of a real Christmas tree!

I got the fake hand-me-down tree this year for my apartment in Dubai, and it's just an ugly bush in comparison. At least the lights still fade on and off in a pretty way... Buuut you know why it's always great having a tree around right? When there's a tree, there are gifts, and who doesn't love those ;)

I remember in Boston a couple friends and I would always make our way to the Commons to watch the extravagant Lighting Ceremony of the tree, which really wasn't that extravagant at all because it was so short lived. People dressed up for it and there was a live show; basically the energy was great. I mean if my friends and I who aren't even Christian were genuinely happy standing in Boston's cold winter weather to watch the tree light up for the first time, I can imagine the happiness of people who actually grew up celebrating Christmas and what it represents. We'd get there early to be in front and would be anticipating the lights with such excitement that when they came on we still had all that energy and had no clue where to put it. It's always all about the build up isn't it...

The lighting of our tree at home was nothing exciting like that; I haven't experienced any fun lighting ceremonies here. At the end of the day though, it's all about who you share it with, n'est-ce pas?