O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Maggie and I are going on our fourth Christmas in Chicago together. Yet despite this, we’ve never gotten a real Christmas tree. We’ve done the wreath, the fake tree, but never found a reason to go out and buy a tree. They were selling trees 1.5 blocks away from our building. We found our reason this year.

After combing through the trees, we found the perfect 6-footer. Our living room in our apartment is larger than most, but we didn’t want something too huge. I think we both had visions of the Griswold tree just having its way with our living room.

This tree had a little too much going on for our liking.

When we finally selected our lucky tree to take home, they netted it and we did what all good city girls do: picked it up and started walking down the street. Despite not having too far to go, that beast was a lot heavier than I thought.

And we’re off! Thanks to sixty-degree weather, we weren’t bundled like usual

The tree’s weight was the least of our problems we quickly came to learn when we got home to put together the tree stand. These arthritic hands couldn’t hang. And Maggie turned her running gloves into gardening gloves and then into workman’s gloves as she tried, and succeeded, to screw all of the pieces together. Then the crowning moment came when we placed the tree and it was actually straight. Maggie quickly turned into Martha Stewart decorating the tree to perfection.

And I must say, after all the work, it’s well worth it. The smell of our apartment is fantastic and waking up or walking in and seeing the tree just lifts your spirits.

**Don’t worry, our building has a tree recycling program where they come by and pick up your tree when you’re done. Another key factor for our decision.**

Intense Sunday Nights

I have a select number of shows I simply cannot miss. But for the most part, I’m a-okay falling behind a few weeks and catching up on a cold, rainy Saturday/Sunday. Homeland is not one of them. If I miss it on a Sunday, I feel like I’m missing the most important news in the world.

If you haven’t heard of Homeland or watched it, it’s time. This show brings an intensity to Sunday nights you never knew you needed. I get so sucked into the plot lines and characters that I really think Abu Nazir is a terrorist out there and we’re trying to catch him. The minute you think you have the show figured out, you realize you don’t. The show continues to surprise and delight, even on its less thrilling episodes (note: that is practically an oxymoron).

But it’s not just the watching of the show I enjoy. Over on Grantland, Andy Greenwald writes thrilling recaps and analyses after every episode. It’s the highlight of my Monday to read and then discuss with BLB over afternoon coffee. As the second season wraps in 3 weeks, this Christmas/Winter season is the perfect time to catch up on the series. You must start from the beginning and I can assure you, when you have all the episodes at your disposal, it will be hard to walk away.

It’s television like this that makes me so happy and grateful there are Americans out there who could careless about the latest Real Housewives or MTV reality show. People appreciate the detailed, dramatic script peppered with some lightheartedness. And I for one, cannot get enough.