NYC Top 10...#9 Christmas decorations

 

You probably know by now that I'm pretty into Christmas, so needless to say I was very excited about seeing New York all lit up and festive! Since we didn't arrive until Christmas Eve, I was worried we might miss out on some of the Christmas displays and decorations, but I needn't have worried. What I discovered was that Americans kind of celebrate the "holidays" more than Christmas itself...for example, they all say "Happy holidays!" rather than "Merry Christmas!" (even on Christmas day itself), and this continues on through New Year as well. And there is a real sense of it being the whole period that is a celebration rather than just one day. I loved this! Not only because it meant Christmas decorations (and music!) were still in shops well after Christmas, but because it did away with the post-Christmas blues by continuing the celebrations after the day had passed. It sort of seemed less wasteful, too, as if all that decorating and consuming wasn't just for one day...although by the time we left the (still very pretty) fir trees were piling up on the street verges, which was kind of sad.

But the decorations...well, as you can see they were amazing! From the massive Rockefeller tree and mass light displays on big stores like Cartier and Tiffany's to crazy blow-up Santas in people's front yards, a (usually real) wreath on every door and fairy lights, fairy lights, fairy lights everywhere, it was a constant source of delight for me!

The best part of all, though, was seeing Christmas wreaths, fir trees and holly bushes with a fresh coating of real snow after the blizzard. It was Christmas as it was meant to be!

*******

Also, just letting you know that all the Christmas items are now on sale in the online store - some things are 50% off! Take a look here. I'll also be adding quite a few more things to the sale section in the next few days so check back!