Hello Y’all

I hope you had a great week! This past Friday 11/18 was the first day it felt like Christmas was finally around the corner. I woke up to a deceptively bright and early sun accompanied by a very cold breeze. Not falling for that ‘sunny view’ from my window though 😀 Having lived in Ohio prior, I cannot tell you how many times I got dressed in the morning based off of that ‘sunny view’ from the window only for me get out the front door and turn back around for a complete change of clothes…the freeze was real! 😦 😦 The lessons learned from those episodes of silliness never leave you. Unfortunately, there were quite a few people lightly dressed today, hunched over and shivering as they literally sprinted to lunch. All that could have been avoided.

The Holidays are here and we all know that after thanksgiving, its literally a race to Christmas and then the New Year.  A time of family, lots of fun, presents and food. A time where all diets are off until the first week of the new year …at least in my world ha ha! 😀

When it comes to Christmas decorating, we all have our likes, personal preferences and family traditions we keep up with or at least try to 😀 Its a time of the year where for some individuals, they just can’t wait to get their hands on some Christmas themed decor. A few others literally look for the path of least resistance; how to pull off a fully decorated home, front yard and a few trees with the least amount of effort. Sound like you?

A friend of mine has a one foot tall Christmas tree where all the decor….and yes I said ‘ALL’ of the Christmas decor in that home goes on that tree. She just cannot be bothered with the stress of bringing out, putting up and taking down all that fluff when she could be spending her time with family doing something else more fun 😀 Another friend has an already decorated tree that comes down from the attic once a year and after the festivities are over, up it goes – back into the attic with a sheet thrown over to keep dust off of it. Imagine having ALL of your Christmas decor done in ten minutes or less!

On the other hand…some of my friends were ‘born’ to decorate. I kid you not. Their inspiration especially during the holidays go into something bordering between ‘amazing to a tad bit overwhelming’ to the ordinary simpleton; turning out homes so beautiful and intricately decorated you would almost believe they had some imaginary help from a couple of Santa’s elves to pull off (on one particular occasion) decorating three Christmas trees, a 2 story house and the front yard.

I am reminded of a trip to Brunswick, OH a few years ago where we drove by one of the most beautifully decorated neighborhoods I have ever seen just before Christmas. The neighbors take those competitions very seriously from what i learned and what exactly do they win? – Bragging rights for having the most beautifully decorated house for the next twelve months I think I’ll pass on that please 😀 😀

But as fun as this all is, the end of the year is a time for taking stock. It’s a time to ask yourself questions like: How much you’ve grown, what you did right and what you need to improve on. It’s also a time to plan and be strategic for the New year. To aim as high as you possibly can so that you’re still within a successful range in spite of life events that we have no control over.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and let me know what tactics you use to get through decorating this season – for the carefree among us; and for the amazingly creative readers please share what tips work best for you.

Ciao until next time!!

Periwinkle Starr