Violet & Julia’s Christmas in Wainscott
As many of you know, Drew and I have two new additions to our family: Julia and Violet, who arrived on October 19. And they said to usÂ
ÂHey, even though we are only two months old, we want Christmas this year, and we want it in a big way!Â
Actually, they wrote it on their monogrammed stationery.
We took the request very seriously, and we got to work.
First, we put up a big boxwood wreath on the door, and we wound lights all around the Japanese maple outside.
But they said that wasnÂt enough!
We brought home an eight foot tall tree, which was just barely big enough to please them. They said, ÂBy the way, guys, we donÂt want Santa Claus and snowmen! We want a tree thatÂs beautiful and exotic. Why canÂt you do a tree thatÂs more like the fabulous one by Jennifer Boles at The Peak of Chic? Violet and Julia have a lot of free time during the day, and they spend it reading blogs. JenniferÂs tree upped the ante on us!
We started by collecting a boatload of ornaments, from San Francisco to Sag Harbor. But was that enough for Violet and Julia? No! They wanted pagodas! They wanted lanterns!
They wanted peacocks! (Jennifer had peacocks and pagodas, and so, naturally, Violet and Julia wanted them, too. Kudos to Jennifer for telling the girls where to get those hard-to-find pagodas!)
Because Violet and Julia are beach babies, they wanted whales!
Oh, and they wanted sparkly ginkgo leaves. As they told us, ÂCome on, Dads, what tree is complete without a few sparkly ginkgo leaves? They were right.
They agreed that the final result is a jewel of a tree, and it only took about a week to complete!
Now, of course, like us, Violet & Julia felt that no living room fireplace is complete without a proper garland.
The feel that Violet developed for the fireplace was ÂWainscott woods meets the ocean, complete with boats, sea creatures, mushrooms, and wildlife, all wrapped around white pine.
There are birdsÂ
And sailboatsÂ
And an octopus!
Even the stone dogs got boxwood wreaths of their own.
Finally, for the fireplace in the family room, Violet and Julia insisted that it was to feel like the North Pole. Well, Wainscott meets the North Pole, with a bit of the Natural History Museum and the Central Park Zoo thrown in for good measure.
The garland is made of intertwined white pine and boxwood, and has shells and pinecones and more shells and penguins! Julia loves penguins, and said we must have a few. Well, four, to be exact: one for each of us. ÂHavenÂt you read And Tango Makes Three? Julia said.
Yes, Julia, we have.
Afterwards, we all ate gingerbread. Well, except for the girls. They had milk.
Julia: ÂI am extremely concerned, as I see nothing in this blog post about presents.Â
Violet: ÂI like looking at the lights.Â
Presents! We forgot about presents! Clearly, itÂs going to be a busy week.