Now it's Christmas time here in Champaign IL. Against the odds, Champaign has gotten several inches of snow, with more on the way. Since this makes for an extra- Christmasy feel, I've decided to go for broke and get my first Christmas tree. It's a real tree -- I bought it from the tree lot, at the custard stand on Kirby Ave. This meant buying a stand, lights, and decorations as well (hence the phrase "going for broke": it adds up pretty quickly). It also meant setting all this up. Between me and my friend Suki, we got it all done, a week before Christmas. Here are some pictures.
In case you didn't believe me, here's a picture from the balcony of my
apartment. (This is a night picture, but -- as with most of these
pictures -- I used the special "night vision" setting on the digital
camera which makes it appear unnaturally bright.)
And here's the tree. I still need to get a skirt (no, for the
tree), but other than that it's basically done.
Here are the ornaments I picked out:
And here's the aftermath of having a fully decorated tree in my house for
the very first time:
