What's new this Christmas?

In celebration of my first adult Christmas tree (which Conor faithfully toted home from Home Depot on his back for me) I took a thousand pictures of it with virtually every setting my camera had to offer. I have to say that it looks quite charming by the fireplace.

It was my grand idea to forgo the traditional Christmas tree stand in favor of a white ceramic planter from Ikea. It's all part of my new focus on multi-use, reusable objects. Is that redundant? It was also my bright idea to buy a package of logs to shim the tree into place since Home Depot didn't have any potting soil (which I had planned to reuse for plants on the deck this summer). I didn't realize that that was a lot easier said than done. Again, my resourceful and handy boy Conor came to the rescue and patiently worked it out for me after my 5 minutes of patience ran out. The end result was well worth it though.

The next dilemma was coming up with a creative (free) tree-topper. Who else to come to the rescue than the birthday boy himself? I think he looks pretty cozy nestled up there.

I also have to give a quick shout-out to my homemade door swag. I couldn't get a good picture in the tight hallway but you get the idea. Not bad for a bunch of boxwood from the supermarket, an old scarf, and a few grapevine spheres from a set of outdoor lights.

What are my daily distractions?

Aside from the boys tossing the football over my head on a regular basis? Here's a list of my top ten daily go-to websites (in no particular order) that I sneak off to when I need a break from finance and spreadsheets and phones and testosterone and etc. etc. etc.

Why are bloggers (legitimate ones I mean) so much cooler than me? It's definitely my latest "when I grow up" profession. It's not just the blogging but there seem to be such interesting lives going on behind the scenes too. There's definitely an interior design, DIY, art and decor slant to all of these so it may not appeal to everyone. I for one wouldn't mind being anyone of these people for a day or two. I feel hipper just knowing that they exist.

Design*Sponge: Four words...Before and After Thursdays.

Apartment Therapy: I love it for the ideas, the pictures, and the sheer volume of posts. There's always something new up here.

OnceWed: I know that this is a little outside of my current sphere of relevance but it's all so pretty!

Little Green Notebook: This girl is so cute and adorable and she puts up great projects.

A Beach Cottage: A little cottage by the beach in Australia. I don't know if all white is my taste but it's refreshing to look at and she always writes the cutest blurbs.

A Bloomsbury Life: I stumbled across this one today via another blog and then before I knew it, an hour had gone by. Oops.

Young House Love: This couple is so cute, organized, and possibly better than me, that I wan to puke. But their blog is fun and they have a cute house.

Sunday Suppers: I've mentioned this one before but I still love it.

20x200: I'm currently obsessed with Christian Chaize's photos of a beach in Portugal. Will it be a little Christmas gift to myself?

Evernote: Not a blog but it's a great place to keep track of all the gorgeous images and inspiration I find everywhere else.

What's the rant/resolution of the day?

I've never been big on New Year's resolutions. The whole idea of coming up with a list of your own shortcomings and the desperate ways you're going to promise yourself to be better has always seemed like a terrible way to round out the holidays. I also still have nightmares about Ms. Tanner baa-ing at us as 8th graders and telling us not to be sheep.

Whatever it is, I'm a bigger fan of being aware of your issues all year long and deciding to ignore or address them at will. That being said, I have a new...cough cough...resolution. I've decided that before I buy anything new, I will tailor, mend, or donate something I already own. Not to say that I can't stop by the mall after visiting the tailor at my drycleaner, I just realized that it's silly to want a new coat when I've got two at home that are out of rotation due to missing buttons.

I've always been a friend of the donation box when it comes to culling the wardrobe but, I've decided to take it one step further and finally get those pants hemmed, that skirt taken in, and those stupid buttons replaced. I made my first trip to the darling little woman at the drycleaner (she always great me, and everyone else I'm sure, with a "How ahhhhh you my dear?) tonight so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully writing my resolution down will afford me the level of guilt I need to stick with it.