O Tannenbaum: The Older Years

I'm sure most of you will recall the Open Letter to Future Lauren that I penned last year, urging myself to consider forgoing a real tree and all its associated ills for a fake tree. Well, it is with some-but-not-as-much-as-I-thought* sadness that I report that I have finally bitten the bullet and purchased a fake tree. I haven't really been truly sick since I started school (*knocks wood*) and I really wanted to keep it that way. Plus, even though I haven't been "sick," my sinuses have been unhappy with me to varying degrees ever since I started school, which I attribute to all of my time spent around various hairs, fur and hay. I definitely cannot afford to be felled by my annual January sinus infection so I asked Robert to do a little research into what kinds of fake trees are out there. Ultimately, though, we were limited by time and money so we hit the pavement one weekend and found ourselves a pretty darn decent tree at a reasonable price. The selection of faux trees is sort of annoying because for some reason manufacturers think that people who want fake trees also want pine cones or glitter on their tree. Maybe some people do but I certainly don't. I also don't want fake snow, a combination of fabric and plastic branches or a tree pre-lit with both big and little bulbs. I just want(ed) a plain tree, damn it! But they were few and far between. We did wind up having to buy a tree that was pre-lit with white bulbs (not my fave - they look too sterile to me) so I made Robert promise either take the white lights off or add colored lights to the white lights when we got home. He did (of course) so we grabbed the box and made for the checkout line.

Here's how the tree looked fresh out of the box:


And here's the finished product!


Let's take a little closer look, shall we? First, with flash:


Now, flash-free:


Up close!

In all honesty, the tree looks just fine and I have enjoyed not being sick. I haven't gotten to enjoy any hot chocolate in my phlegm-free state but I have indulged in some caramel apple cider and it was GOOD. :o) And even just walking past tree lots while going into stores made me realize the fake tree was a good move - I could feel my nose and eyes start freaking out as people were shaking their trees to get'em on their cars. It's not necessarily a tree we'll have forever but it was a good decision for this year and even if it only lasts a few more Christmases we'll have gotten our money's worth. And Christmas just isn't Christmas without a tree! I just hope someone out there buys what would have been my Charlie Brown tree...

* Aside from a fake tree just being a general bummer, we bought that super awesome tree stand last year and now we can't use it! Suckballs.