Family Stories: Vintage Christmas

My mom and Joan decorating the Christmas tree at their home in Cerritos, California in 1981.

My mom and Santa. See more santa pictures.

The family Christmas tree in Palos Verdes, California in the late '60s.

My mom in Palos Verdes in the mid '60s.

My mom's little Christmas tree. Notice Davy Jones on the wall.

Elsie preparing the table for Christmas dessert.

My mom and her bear on Christmas. That little rocking chair is now at our house.

Christmas dinner with my mom's sister Betty, her daughter Cheri and her husband Bob.

My mom and her step-grandfather, Mr. B, in front of their Palos Verdes home.

Vintage Christmas balls in the living room in Palos Verdes and the couch that I still dream about. My mom has the lamp and coffee table. Elsie always put her Christmas cards on the coffee table, and my grandmother continued that tradition with the table was in her home.

Joan and my mom in Alaska in 1957.

Merry Christmas

Thank you for the love and support you've shown Gerald and Joan in 2013.

From our family to yours, we wish you the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years!

Family Stories: 1960s Christmas

My mom in front of her Christmas tree.

The mantle decorated for Christmas at my great-grandmother's house in Palos Verdes, California.

My great-aunt Betty (Joan's older sister) pouring tea to go with the fruit cake. I love the Christmas table decor. I have those birds in my dining room!

Betty, Elsie, Betty's husband Bob, their daughter Cheri, and my mom enjoying Christmas dinner. Joan was taking the picture.

My mom and Joan on Christmas morning. My mom still has that awesome chair and its mate. The bird candelabra on the right is in my dining room.

My great-grandmother Elsie and Joan reading Christmas cards.

My mom and Joan on Christmas morning at my great-grandmother's house. Those fireplace pokers are now beside our fireplace.

Christmas in the Country

Jonathan and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary yesterday. I have never had regrets about our Christmastime wedding, as December is our favorite time of year. It also happens to be the first full month that we spent as a couple (back in 2003), so many of our relationship firsts took place around the holidays. For our sixth anniversary we decided to take the weekend back to the basics. We cooked at home on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and ate things we never buy (baked brie in puff pastry with honey, pecans and apple; pizza margherita with real mozzarella and fresh basil; organic strawberries; chocolate; pink champagne). On Friday night, we lit our fireplace and had a picnic on the living room floor. On Sunday, we had a candlelit dinner in our dining room. Coincidentally, it was our very first meal in that room.

For several weeks, we had planned to spend Saturday in Arlington and Covington, two towns we discovered in the summer and wanted to revisit at Christmastime. Our first stop was Arlington, which has a really quaint downtown with an awesome antique shop housed in an old general store. Next we drove to Covington, which has an amazing town square with several coffee shops, antique stores and two old theaters. When we arrived, the first thing we saw was a horse-drawn carriage. Next we saw several people dressed in 19th century clothes. Then we saw kids dressed as characters from A Christmas Story, out promoting their play at the Ruffin Theater. Once we were inside the first antique store (and saw more people dressed in 10th century garb), we realized we had stumbled upon Covington's Dickens' Christmas. All of the shop owners were dressed up, and quite a few of the townspeople were as well! It felt very festive and fun. We finished off the day with a visit to the Collierville Square to see their Christmas lights at night.

Here are some iPhone photos from our adventure...