Christmastime

It's no secret how much I love Christmas. Always have, always will. (I must have been 3 in this picture with my dad?)

Today I took my tree down. I've had it over a month, and it would drop a handful of needles at the slightest touch. There's something cathartic about taking it all down -- I think it's because I'm scared of clutter, and I was starting to feel like there was too much going on in my house. An old friend came into my house a couple of days ago, as he's in town for the holidays, and commented on how my house has "really filled out" since last time he was over. That alone made me want to take a trip to the Goodwill (not to shop for once, but to purge).

Anyway, this year my roommate spent three weeks after Thanksgiving in Australia, and so I took it upon myself to add a touch of  Christmas around the house. All around the house, actually.

There's honestly nothing that makes me happier than sitting in front of the tree at night, with the lights twinkling, Willie Nelson on in the background, sipping mulled wine with a friend.

Did anyone else grow up sticking cloves in oranges? That's the smell of Christmas for me. I can't ever get enough.

Now it's all over and a new year is about to begin. I could not be more grateful for the changes I've made in 2012 and for my incredible friends and family. In the words of my good friend Emily Katz, "oh it seems to me, that I might be, the luckiest girl in the whole wide world."

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While that would be a good note to leave on, I can't not share this photo. I'm not sure how old I was here. Maybe 5? Julia, my older sister, got a boombox that Christmas and I didn't. Hence my face. Anyway, I hope you had a very merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy new year. Thanks for reading this thing. xo

Snowflakes in the Air

So there are actually no snowflakes where I am (yet). But this weekend I'm headed up to the mountain to stay in a cabin with a few friends, and I'm really hoping for snow. Just two days after Thanksgiving, which came early this year, my dear friend (and fellow Christmas fanatic) Jen and I drove out to the Mount Hood National Forest and chopped down our Christmas trees. Since then I have barely left my house. All I want to do is sit (on my new leather couch) with a friend, in front of the tree, with a warm drink in hand.

I've been listening to Christmas music since Halloween - seriously - and compiling a list of some of my favorite songs. In my family, we have few traditions, but those that we do have are significant. I cannot remember a Christmas in which we didn't listen to the Willie Nelson Christmas album, Pretty Paper, as we first open presents in the morning. We also listen to it while decorating the tree, and last year I finally invested in a record of my own instead of borrowing my mom and dad's. Nothing says Christmas in the Parker household more than Willie Nelson.

You can hear my Snowflakes in the Air mix here. Enjoy it with a warm drink.

Pretty Paper - Willie Nelson Skating - Vince Guaraldi Trio Baby, It's Cold Outside - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Sufjan Stevens Aspenglow - John Denver Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky I'll be Home for Christmas - Frank Sinatra River - Joni Mitchell Song 3 - John Fahey White Christmas - Bing Crosby Christmas Time Is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? - Ella Fitzgerald I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun - Beach House Silent Night - Willie Nelson Listen (Listen, Listen) - Wintersleep Peace Carol - John Denver and the Muppets Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing - Sufjan Stevens Home Alone - John WIlliams Let It Snow - Dean Martin Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire - Nat King Cole Wallflower - Agnes Obel

1974

Last Friday was my mom and dad's 38th anniversary. Ever since I moved out of the house, I never really paid too much attention to their anniversary. I always thought that it was something that the two of them should celebrate and recognize together, and that it wasn't really anyone else's business. There have been some milestones that I knew deserved celebration, like their 25th year together. That was the summer after my junior year of high school, and my sisters and I planned an elaborate semi-surprise party for them at the park where they were married with as many people as we still knew who were at the wedding. I can't remember at that point taking any time to reflect on how it felt for them to be there with all of their friends and family, 25 years later. Thinking about it now, it seems like it might have felt kind of crazy for them.

This year, however, I've been thinking a lot about my mom and dad's marriage. My mom was 20 and my dad was 24. They had been together for a year and a half before getting married. (I learned this as I read through their wedding album, which I sneakily took from their house to scan photos.) I've wondered many times how in the world they could have ever known at that young age, and after being together for such a short time, that they were the ones for each other. I don't think I've asked them this, but I don't think I need to either. What I've come to understand is that they didn't really know. They were just committed to making it work. Really committed. The second half of the 80s and probably the entirety of the 90s were rocky. They fought a lot. But they made it through.

We certainly weren't wealthy growing up, but we had everything we needed. My mom and dad have always shown my sisters and I so much love. And they still do. It's because of them that I truly believe in love and marriage. In fact, last November I was in Brooklyn visiting a good friend and she was telling me that her boyfriend's parents were asking if they'd get married. She told me that they said they weren't in a rush, and also that they were somewhat turned off by the display of a wedding. I told her a little bit about what I think of marriage, based on what I've witnessed with my parents. We had a good conversation about it, and afterward I think she thought a bit differently about getting married. A couple hours later I had to drive up to Connecticut. Halfway there she texted me to say she and her boyfriend talked more about marriage after I left and decided to get engaged. In May I went to their wedding on Cape Cod, and it was not only a celebration of love, but of commitment, too.

Over the weekend I was at my parents' house (as I had to return their wedding album without them knowing), working in the wood shop with my dad. I started to think of him as the guy in these photos for the first time in my life. As someone I could relate to and who I might even be friends with.

Just a few minutes ago some friends stopped by and I showed them these photos. My friend Shawn said, "any one of these people could be our friends."  I guess as I've been thinking about my mom and dad's wedding, and their 38 years together, I keep thinking that not only do I want to be their friends, but I want to be like them, too.

____________________ All photos are scans from  my parents' printed photos from 1974.