This Year's Christmas Tree!

    I shared my annual Christmas photos on the blog earlier this month, so today it's time to share this year's Christmas tree in my apartment! I can't believe that we are so close to the holiday now. 

Photography by Kate Greer

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Skirt c/o // Top // Earrings // 

     Last year, I did very girly decor on my Christmas tree. All of the ornaments coordinated, there was a lot of sparkly ribbon running through the tree, and an over-the-top tree topper. I adored last year's tree, but knew that type of decorating just wouldn't be practical for my first year with a pet! I decided to do something a lot more traditional for this year's Christmas tree. I purchased a gold star tree topper and a huge container of Christmas ball ornaments at Hobby Lobby this fall! The colorful balls that you see all over the tree were all shatter proof, and I can attest that they really are- Delilah has knocked many of them off of the tree and they've all been fine. 

     As far as the more unique ornaments- I owned many of them in years past and could hang them on a mini tree! It was kind of fun to let all the different ornaments that I've been collecting and gifted over the years have their spotlight on my big tree. I even hung up one of my little Starbucks mugs on the tree this year- a fun tribute to my large mug collection and love of Charlotte!

    I have received some Instagram DMs this season asking how Delilah has done with the Christmas tree. I set up my tree really early each year (first week of November), so she's been around it for awhile. Pretty much from the day that it went up to around Thanksgiving, she was obsessed with the tree and always attacking the lower ornaments or trying to climb it. Thankfully all the ornaments have been without damage, but unfortunately Delilah did damage some of the branches when she'd try and climb it. I was able to teach her to stay away from the tree using a few tactics. The first was a good ol' fashioned water spray bottle. If I caught her with the ornaments or in the branches, I'd say firmaly "DELILAH! NO!" and spray her with a little water. She eventually became kind of immune to the water bottle, so I bought a non-toxic pet repellent spray from a local pet store, and I'd spray the tree twice a day. Eventually that started to work, and now she ignores the tree completely. We'll have to see what she's like next year, hopefully she will remember that it's not there for her to play with! 

     One thing I did notice back when she was attacking the tree is that it seemed to be fine with it when I wasn't home... I think she really only would mess with it when I was home! Delilah is smart and I think she knew she wasn't supposed to be up in it, so she would do it to get my attention when I was cleaning, blogging, or doing other things at home! Silly girl. 

     Hope that you enjoyed this look into this year's Christmas decor. Next month on the blog I'll finally be sharing a full tour of my Charlottesville apartment, which I'm really excited about! 

     I also hope that y'all are enjoying this last week before Christmas. I'm only going home for a few days this year (I start my new job bright and early on December 26th!), but I'm still looking forward to it, as I haven't been in Maine since Memorial Day Weekend. Next week though after Christmas I'm excited to share my year-end recap posts on the blog, they're always some of my favorites to write!

     God Bless,

      xoxo Annaliese