For the longest while, I wasn’t sure what direction I was going with the family Christmas tree this year.
I do have this vision of a ‘tree forest in the snow’… however my mind’s eye could see was anything but a faux tree. Quite the opposite! I love my faux Christmas Ikea tree but I visioned many real trees of all shapes and sizes, as well as some big branches resembling full trees!
I know. That would be expensive so that won’t likely happen. But I could dream.
But then the rain came.
And then my son wasn’t available. And I wasn’t going to haul this thing in the truck myself.
So at long last, with a big ‘ol sigh, I just brought up the faux tree, and started adding lights.
Half way through, I ran out. Half the light strings were burnt out… how does that even happen while in storage?!
No matter, I put more white mini lights on the list and resolved to finish another day.
THEN my son became available. And I knew exactly what we were going to do.
By golly, we were gonna buy lights… LOTS of lights. Then go get a real tree as well as finish decorating the faux one! How forest would that be?
And oh yes, we did exactly that.
Blame this year’s Christmas fireplace mantel. When the evergreen branches were placed, they smelled so forest-y spruce fabulous, I was ruined where faux is concerned.
Who am I kidding here?! I JUST LOVE REAL TREES. The end.
The day before I was to pick up my kiddo, I read about a new-to-me tree farm from my friend Cindy’s Instagram feed. Social media can be so powerful for the right reasons…
So I check out where this place was, which ended up being right where I was driving anyway. PERFECT. Pine Meadows Tree Farm, here we come!
And of course, as we walked through the building first, the pre-cut hanging trees were my son’s personal favs (so he wouldn’t have to cut anything down)
Where’s the adventure in that?
“Oh, we don’t know how long they’ve been cut… let’s just get a FRESH one so it lasts longer!”
Silence.
“Then we’ll get in pizza! It’s been so long…”
Works every time.
Plus… I wanted a more imperfect, quirky look anyway.
So we he grabbed a saw of choice, a big ‘ol wagon and head into the field.
What a GORGEOUS day! After days on end of rain, this was such a welcoming sight.
As we walked down the driveway, my son darted for the right and picked one right away.
What?! Noooo! The wheels on the wagon didn’t even completely rotate yet! This was a big family outing, right?!
So I followed and inspected. It was very nice… but a little too perfect. I was delighted it was NOT the one to prolong the day, when I spun around and ‘saw it’.
My jaw opened. I held up my hand towards my son. I needed a moment.
Because this was the very tree I dreamed of for my ‘forest!’
Tall, quirky, a little charlie brown with a dash of lush.
“Ohhh ohhhhhh…..’ but then caught myself.
“Let’s just walk a LITTLE longer…”
“BUT MOM. But you LIKE this one!”
Drat. I couldn’t lie. I did. It was perfect. So so perfect.
So I took a 30 second spin in the field to ‘see the entire farm’ from the spot where I stood, bid our search a farewell before we even got warmed up, and asked the boy to cut that baby down.
In a sole parent – single person’s life where you just do everything yourself, this was a treat to watch, as I busily warmed up my hands on on the steaming cup of apple cider.
“Mooooomm, can you help?”
“Oh my goodness, LOOK! You’re nearly done!”
🙂
BIG DRAMATIC ENDING anyone?
Atta boy!
You pretty little thing you! I was stoked! And as short as this visit was, it’s still another notch for the ‘ol memory bank, which never EVER gets old.
I know my kiddo is growing up. However I secretly hope he’ll always be near enough to help his ‘ol mom find ‘the one’. It’s our thing.
Thank-you son, for your muscle power and loading that tree in the truck!
And thank-you tree farm, for providing one chunk of my Christmas tree dream forest for this year’s theme.
While the lights are already up on this beauty (and my goodness.. it is perfect!), the room is still not complete. I’ve been waiting for a shipment of paint to finish a small project in the room that just arrived today… so fingers are crossed the reveal is coming soon!
AND as soon as the rain stops again, in order to take decent pics…. I can only hope!
I have loved our little faux Ikea tree over the last two years. It served it’s purpose well, especially when I took off for vacation one Christmas. And while I am using it again this year as a secondary feature, nothing but NOTHING beats the real thing. So I hereby announce, if I am home for Christmas, I will treat myself to the real deal.
So, did you go real or faux this year? Or… BOTH like me?! 🙂
Here’s some past hunts for real trees over the years:
Finding the tree at Mayfair under vacation protest – 2015
Finding the Christmas tree at Mayfair – 2014
Finding the Christmas tree at Windsong – 2013
Thank you for sharing your story, your son, you and the beautiful tree. Memories of Christmas with your kids is something I’ve always treasured.
We debated faux vs real this year too. We looked and looked at faux trees but couldn’t agree on any. Our 16 year old wanted a black tree so she could go all Nightmare Before Christmas and, while I wasn’t completely opposed to it, my husband was totally against it. Plus finding a pretty faux tree that looked good and didn’t break the bank was even harder. We just didn’t want to spend hundreds! Long story short we went witha real tree. Our daughter picked it out and it is beautiful. We put itin it’s stand and then put that in an old galvanized wash tub. It looks great! So happy we went with real!
You had me chuckling the whole way through this post. I was a single Mom for many years with my now 23 year old son. I love that the mention of getting something to eat motivates them always (lol). I think there’s a special bond between Moms and sons that never goes away. I went with a fake tree this year. I did the internal battle with a real tree, but then the perfect spot in my living room is right next to a heating vent, so I rationalized the fake one would work out there better. I did pick up an old antique wood crate that I used for its tree skirt. Maybe next year I’ll do real if I can find a better place for one. Oh yeah, I have a small fake tree in my kitchen every year – I gotta have my kitchen tree with mini cookie cutters and rice lights!
Such a positive post Donna! Thank you for sharing you sons pics- I laughed and I swear I could hear my daughter’s voice tone -‘mooooooom, can you help?’ :))
Waiting for the big tree reveal. Have a nice productive day 😉
I love that tree!!
Sadly here in South Africa the real ones are few and far between. Well where we stay anyways, So faux it is. We haven’t decorated a store bought one in a long time though. Somewhere along the line this lazy ass of mine decide that packing everything away in January was just to much trouble. We do try to make a Christmas tree every year from whatever stuffs we have lying around though.
Love your son’s face when the tree had all been cut down. LOL. I think my son would probably do the same unless I ask him to cut it down in a virtual world. Silly sausage, where’s the fun in that.
Best comment EVER. hahaha Yes, kids don’t have any issue moving their fingers around remotes or phones, do they?
I love your way of doing Christmas by the way… My trees have lights but barely no ornaments… things are getting a little simpler each year here as well it seems!
Real when we’re home. Sounds familiar huh?
How I miss the days of going for the tree! The real tree! I haven’t had a real one for so many years, I can’t even remember when. I want one every year but humbug doesn’t want one so I never get one. Unfortunately, I’m the one that does all the decorating. I was in Lowe’s this year and fell in love with the lights on a tree but since they didn’t have the lights for sale, I ended up buying the whole tree. We really do love it but I still want real…lol.
Love what you’ve done with the place this season!