List #168: Things I Love About the Holidays 2: Christmas In My Home

Though this isn't the first holiday that I have spent alone, it is the first holiday where I am in a house (well, apartment) that is mine, all mine, and in the United States. And then though I feel restless a good amount of the time, I'm more settled than I have been at any other point in my life. I have a cat for goodness sake.

I have to admit, it's been a blast.

There's garland hanging from the archway between my dining and living rooms. 

This was done out of necessity to keep my favorite ornaments high out of the cat's grubby paws. 

There are stars hanging in my front windows. And my Nutcracker collection lines the shelf. And today I put together my first Christmas tree. Artificial and prelit. A Santa topper and vintage glass bulbs from boxes my has kept through time.

The tree borrowed from a friend.

I have no desire to leave the twinkling sparkles of my living room. And now that the cat isn't climbing the tree, he doesn't seem to mind it either. And for all of this, in a world of my own, I am thankful.