No Tree Skirts Allowed

Happy December!

It’s here, we’re smack in the middle of it- Holiday Season! (insert appropriate song here)

Now for some of you- you thought jingle bells, some of you are hearing angels sing, and the rest of us are hearing the theme from Jaws.

So, I wanted to do a quick lil holiday check in.

If you’re like me, the to-do list is growing, and the countdown is shrinking- its go time people!

Holiday cards- check. Christmas tree- check.  Cookies- check. Wreath on the door- check.

I had a split second of feeling pretty good about myself… followed by my next thought…

What about the tree skirt??!

That’s right, that pretty, little skirt you use to hide the oh-so-terrible-tree-stand, as if your tree magically waltzed into your house fully dressed to the nines, straight out of the women’s section of Neiman Marcus.

Now, full disclosure, I’m not a complete heathen- I’ve been using a festive long piece of cloth for years that’s ever so delicately fluffed up and wrapped around the stand.  And I always thought it was perfectly fine, maybe even cute.  That is, until I had a moment to breathe… which of course must be immediately filled with another holiday to-do that needed to be done.

Luckily, in my holiday panic- my better half wandered in (don’t let him hear me say that ?), and asked what I was doing, as I had at least 10 tabs open with tree skirts for sale, tree skirt patterns and of course Pinterest.

He asked- what’s going on? And when I told him, he didn’t respond with words (at least not at first) it was simply a look. The look you know means, you’ve lost it- come back to Earth/ WTF/ You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Why are you doing this to yourself?”

I immediately knew he was right (although I didn’t immediately admit it). I envisioned my options: a full Saturday taken up by scissors, patterns and sewing machines- which to be clear is not my ideal Saturday unless real inspiration hits. OR I could take a deep breath and do pretty much anything else on that Saturday.

It was true, there was no need, my long festive cloth was perfectly fine AND even better, it didn’t require a check box that needed checking.

This got me thinking… about how its so easy to get caught up in things that are unimportant, in the name of holidays, in the name of…practically anything.

But at the end of the day- that tree skirt isn’t going to be what makes my holiday season epic. In fact, I will either resent it, or completely forget how it consumed an entire Saturday.

The best holidays, just like travels, are the ones you carry with you long after the tree comes down.

They change your perspective, remind you what’s important and connect you with the people and things you love.

So maybe double check that to-do list. 

Are all those things really necessary? Do the cookies need to be made from scratch?

Or maybe something’s missing? Like a night with your bestie that you haven’t seen in forever?! Or some quality time with mom?

What if this year, you make your holiday to-do list your holiday to-feel list?

One great way to do that is to take in all those twinkly lights around town. See the city lit up in a whole new way. No planning required.

Carpe DC has teamed up with Georgetown Glow to help you do just that.

So that’s ten holiday event tabs you can close on your computer- check. A phone call to your bestie- double check.

And whether you come enjoy the city with us for an evening, or find something else to get into- please, no tree skirts allowed!