Deck the Malls

What a busy month this has been so far! Winter has definitely arrived in Chicago. Here is a recent view of the garden...

... and here is the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago, all lit up for Christmas and Hanukkah. Here's a fun fact: the Merchandise Mart is SO big, it has it's own zip code!

This Saturday, we went to the stores and malls to do some Christmas shopping.

I think we're done, and that's a relief! Look, there's Santa!

The stores were packed, and the parking lots were full, so going back would be a major headache.

Sunday was "Put The Christmas Tree Up Day."

I've declared it as such because it literally takes me ALL DAY to just get the tree up and decorated.

I began at noon. I know, I should have started earlier.

Here it is, going up in stages. There are 11 tiers of branches on a 7-1/2 foot tree.

This year, we ran into a few snags. When I finally got the tree put together, I dragged out the box of lights. I started stringing them onto the tree, when I came across 2 major strands that were not working!

It was 4:30 by this time. We hopped in the car and drove to the nearby Ace Hardware and bought 2 new strands. As we were approaching Ace, Terry noticed a car on the other side of the road losing control, spinning out, jumping the curb and hitting some evergreen trees. We stopped to call the police and waited until they arrived, then continued our shopping.

When I got home and opened the first set of lights, it did not light completely! A faulty set! The other set was fine, so I got that one put on the tree.

The entire tree fits in these two bins

By this time it was too late to go back to Ace, which closes at 5:00. So we drove all over the area looking for more Christmas lights.

Menards, Target, Home Depot all were out of lights! I couldn't believe it! Luckily, I decided to pull into a Walgreens on the way home and they had some left. Whew!

Once I got all the lights on the tree, it was time to take a break and eat dinner. I made us a yummy asparagus casserole. Mmmm! It warmed our cockles on such a chilly evening!

OK, so this is no Tablescape Thursday-type photo! Just my everyday dishes which do not match the tablecloth. And my everyday husband Terry. Nothing fancy going on here!

After dinner, I went back to the tree. I got the rest of it all done by 10:45 on Sunday night!

I'll leave the rest of the tree photos for the next post. I did manage to pull this angel out of storage for our table centerpiece. The rest of the Christmas decorations will have to wait for another day!