CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPPING

    I'm the kind of person who gets excited over the little things; the first snow fall of the year, the smell of the air when fall is around the corner, shiny objects, and of course-the holidays. I can never understand why we wait around for the holidays to arrive just to embrace the spirit and joy they bring. Why not celebrate all year? Why not leave the decorations up instead of putting them away and live in a colorful, decorated home full-time?

    This leads me to my point of today's post. I've decided that since I have my first official apartment, I want to keep it decorated for the holidays, all year round. Holidays like Easter, Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Christmas. It may be weird to some, but to me, holidays aren't just for gathering or socializing, but to create a place inside of your home that welcomes celebrations of all kinds, no matter how temporary they may be. 

    Life is better in color, when we can celebrate the little things, and the homes we live in should retain such enthusiasm and character. Having a special place that we can allow our nostalgic and child-like nature shine brings out the youth in us which is everlasting and I want to embrace those feelings, no matter how weird it may be. Celebrating is fun and what better way to do that than to decorate your home for the holidays?

     Inspired, my boyfriend and I went on a mission to find a nice Christmas tree. We're still in the process of decorating for Fall, but we wanted a Christmas tree soon since it would be part of our daily decorations. We shopped around on WayFair.com, which is an online home & furniture store. We took a chance on a Christmas tree that had no reviews, but was 7.5 ft tall, and on sale. It looked great from the pictures, but we couldn't know for sure; so we bought it. 

    The tree arrived a week later, sooner than expected. Since Dimitar and I both wanted a frosted Christmas tree, as we took the branches out to assemble, imitation snow got everywhere-which wasn't that big of a deal since I expected a mess from a frosted tree. As Dimitar and I assembled the tree, we realized the tree wasn't as full as the picture online showed. It was much smaller, less branches, and the base of the tree was missing branches that exposed the tree stand too much. I didn't like it.

Expectations

Reality

    From behind the couch, the Christmas tree didn't look bad at all. It was only when you were able to see the whole tree itself that it was obvious that the tree lacked branches. I wasn't impressed honestly,  but Dimitar insisted it was decent for our first Christmas tree. 

Tree behind the couch

    Well, the next day, I woke up and stared long and hard at the tree, and knew I needed to return it. So, we're back to shopping for trees and this time, I won't take a chance and play it safe with trees that have reviews and photos! I also know a thing or two now about  buying a tree that has more branches as well! 

    Here are a few trees that we're thinking about:

Best Choice 7.5 ft Snow Flock 1346 Branches

Yaheetech 7.5 ft Snow Flock 1284 Branches

Best Choice 7.5 ft w/lights Snow Flock 1346 Branches

    

    So, I hope this post was inspiring to you all to be more festive within your cozy homes and to live life celebrating the small things!