Tis the Season! (almost)



Mama & Russell

Today is my mama’s birthday.  She really is one of the best people I’ll ever know.  She is kind, strong, soulful, full of style, beautiful and brilliant.  Happy Birthday Mama!  I love you.
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I have always been one of those people who never understood why stores decorate for Christmas at Halloween. In fact, I have always been one of those people who holds some disdain for Christmas decoration of any sort, anywhere before Thanksgiving. Now, I get it. It's pretty simple really. It is no surprise that retailers do the lion's share of their business in the last quarter of the year so they need to be able to focus on customers not décor as soon as possible.  Still no excuse for Christmas at Halloween.   

I'm sort of kicking myself that I didn't start decorating the shop for before now. My stubborn belief that Christmas can wait its turn and give Thanksgiving its due is going to be the cause for me having to be at the shop late each night this week to get ready for Black Friday. (I really don't like that terminology, "Black Friday". I can't help but to think of the Black Death, which then makes me think about flea-ridden rats and ragged-voice men calling "bring out cha dead!". Not a very Christmassy thought.  According to Wikipedia the origin of the term "Black Friday" is not a happy one; it's bespeaks the chaos caused by all the traffic on that day.  I wish it had a different name like Forage Friday since that's what people do; they go out and forage for the best deals they can find and that makes me think of furry-faced little woodland creatures and Disney movies. At any rate, I'm letting this one go since I don't think I have a snow ball's chance in H-E-double hockey sticks of changing it.)

I love to decorate for Christmas once I get going. But I'm all Scroogy about it before I get started. I say things like, "I'm not doing anything this year. Nope, not a thing!  No tree, no nothing!" Whatever. It doesn't take much to get the door open, and once the door is open, I'm off and running full bore. Owner and I discussed the decor for the shop and agreed on simplicity, a few poinsettias. Well, that was a week ago before I opened the box of decorations and pulled out a bow, my gateway bow if you will. I'm like a junky now. I need to do Christmas and I need to do it big! In my mind's eye, I can see live garland and lights around the store front with big red velvet bows. I keep thinking "how can I get the ceiling speakers installed quickly so I can pipe in holiday carols?"  I see a trimmed tree in store complete with a train.  I'm rolling on Christmas decorating.  (Owner:  these are visions, not plans).  

I think most retailers do the decorating jig in an effort to create an ambiance that helps customer's loosen their purse strings. While I think increased sales is great side benefit of decking the halls, I'm operating from some internal need to create a beautiful scene, really to create a living dream where things really are all sugar plums and gum drops. And let's be real: this is the one time you can dance on the border of tacky, unleash your decorating drag queen and manage to make it look great. Now, that is fun!  It's kind of like the haute couture runway show of decor - you can do all kinds of crazy stuff that no sane person would ever live with day-to-day.

Last night I made my first batch of cookie dough. Typically, I wait for the weekend after Thanksgiving to transform my kitchen into a cookie factory. But this year, I couldn't wait. I have the holiday bug. Literally, I make hundreds of cookies each year. Iced cookies, spicy cookies, buttery cookies, all kinds of cookies! I love it. I'm not a cake maker, but I'm a cookie maker. I pop in Steel Magnolias or Love Actually, and bake, bake bake! Lucky customers of the Frame Shop and Gallery are going to be able to start enjoying them on Forage Friday, er Black Friday.

This morning, I am going to a have photos done for a Christmas ad. I'm going to be in a Santa hat (cliche'? yes; tiny cringe) with my head inside a frame (tiny cringe again, but my idea, and I think it just might work) surrounded by some of super fun framing projects we've done recently. I'm horribly unphotogenic, but I'm hopeful having a professional take the pics will erase for my inability to have a good picture made! Now, I've got to iron my plaid shirt which screams "holiday" to me, not to mention I am pretty much mad about plaid. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Decorating!