Be Merry.

Around my rockin' pad, it's another Stick-Tree Christmas. Meaning, I didn't shell out for a real, live, chopped-down tree. I opted instead for a glass vase full of lights and painted twigs to serve as my Christmas tree. I'm sort of a proponent of stick trees or other uses of twigs in design, because they have such a lovely texture, make interesting shapes and are completely organic and natural.

But the true point of my post today is thus -- Merry Christmas. I'm off to Arkansas to celebrate with my father's side of the family... And while it certainly will have many of the same Southern fried favorites as pictured below, my dad will celebrate his 55th birthday this Christmas, instead of his third, as he was gathered with his mother's side of the family, in 1955 (the chubby kid next to the boy in the cub scout uniform).