It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I had a wonderful day with the baby, my Stepsons, Auntie L and Brooklyn. It was our first snowfall of the season, and I have to admit that in the past weeks, I'd been on the fence about whether or not to go full out with the holiday decorations. In Vegas, we didn't decorate for any of the Christmases we celebrated, so it would have been easy to just succumb to the clutter of still unpacked boxes to justify another unadorned Christmas. However, Auntie L and I began to make a dent in the clutter, which encouraged me to go ahead and get into the spirit of the Holidays. So today, I went to Target and bought ingredients for Christmas cookies, and then I went to the grocery store and local bodega to stock up on food for our possible snow-in, and then I went to the my neighborhood "dollar" store and got decorations and a small, imitation tree. This is the first tree I've bought that isn't real, but with the snow storm and all, I wasn't sure I'd get out to buy a real tree this year, and the box it came in is pretty small, so I don't think storing it will be an issue. Plus, I really hate vacuuming all the loose needles come New Year's when the tree's on its way out the door. Anyway, the boys and I spent the evening putting the tree together (which reminded me of my Grandpa, that was his self-appointed job every Christmas - I take after him in a lot of ways), decorating it, listening to Holiday music, and we even had hot cocoa (I found this DELICIOUS ground chocolate for hot cocoa, it is like drinking a candy bar) and chocolate chip cookies made by Auntie L. This is the first Christmas tree for the baby and Brooklyn (and Auntie L's first NY Christmas tree!). I hung additional lights and garland and a wreath around the living room area. Brooklyn even has her own stocking. I took her out in the snow, she didn't seem to mind it much. Last year, Vegas had an unexpected and unusual snowfall, so this wasn't her first time in snow, although there is definitely much more out here than in Vegas, and it is definitely colder. Complete digression, but I love that there's now a Target here in Brooklyn (there wasn't when we moved to Vegas). And I LOVE that the escalators have special rows for your shopping carts, so that you push the carts up onto an escalator conveyor belt contraption and the cart rides up the escalator beside you, so WILD! The vibe in the Brooklyn Target is definitely NY - no casual shopping, a definite rush in the air, although that could have been because these are the final shopping days before Christmas, hence a store full of last-minute shoppers. Ah, I love Target! Ah, I love the Holidays!