It’s hard to get into the Christmas spirit when your living room consists of a couple of plastic-wrapped chairs covered in drywall dust.
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_1674.jpg)
Our first bit of festive cheer began with getting our Christmas tree. We always attempt to buy one from a local tree lot, but trees over 8′ are always so expensive. So every year we reluctantly go to Home Depot where supply is high and costs are relatively low. I think this year I chose the heaviest tree in the lot.
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_1632.jpg)
We weren’t quite ready to set up the tree, but we needed it for this year’s holiday photo.
Our photo shoot took about an hour, but we finally got a shot that wasn’t blurry or off-centre. I’m sure our neighbours enjoyed watching us run back and forth between the tree and the camera to make adjustments. Perhaps next year we’ll recruit a photographer to help.
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/bfb_7381_bella-1.jpg)
The final product looked like this:
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/untitled-1-01-01.jpg)
But without snow or furniture, it still didn’t quite feel like Christmas. Then we had the first real snow storm of the season and things were feeling wintery…
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_1643.jpg)
Eventually our living room was tree ready, so we dragged it inside and set it up. It was a heavy tree, so getting it inside and in its stand was a bit of an ordeal. It was also considerably lopsided.
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_1652.jpg)
We managed to smush the fat side against the wall and stand it up straight thanks to some awkward tree adjustments.
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_1654.jpg)
I think this might be the best tree we’ve ever had.
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_1672.jpg)
I added a few more subtle decorations, like a beer bottle filled with greens.
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_1749.jpg)
Our efforts outdoors were less magical. We had two strands of lights and no plan for how to attach them to the house so I made a wreath and called it a day.
![](https://cheznoustoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_1744.jpg)
Next year we’ll do better… and perhaps the awful green trim and matching mailbox will be gone…