City Girl cuts down a tree

As a jewelry designer, at this time of year if anyone asks me to do anything, I generally say No. My plate is full with orders and an increased work schedule, and when I do have down time, I generally want to spend it vegging out in full recovery mode.

For more than 5 years I haven't done much holiday stuff other than acknowledge the mayhem and play my part in it. I don't decorate anymore... I get my fill of Christmas music by working retail and add good spirit to the world by filling orders as quickly as possible.

My sweetie is the type of person who can't wait to get through the holidays for other reasons. The two of us sound so grinchy... but we really just want the mayhem to die down so we can be quiet, simple and peaceful again.

This year brought a special curve ball: for the first time in 25 years, my sweetie's father wants a traditional Christmas, tree and all. To him that says "simple pleasure" at a time when he's staying home to focus on his health.

Rather than rushing around to just "make it happen," I saw this as an opportunity to get a real Christmas tree. As a city girl most of my life, I've bought trees from tree lots and big box stores and assembled them during the bleak artificial tree phase of childhood. I've never had a chance to cut down an actual tree!

Cue visions of backwoods hiking in knee deep snow, axe slung over shoulder...

Here's what really happened:

McBurney's Tree Farm in Cedar Ridge, CA

Thanks to the Outside Inn's blog Innside Nevada City, I was able to find a tree farm a mere 10 minutes away and opened at 9am, which worked perfectly for my busy schedule.

That's the one!

Sky was the official tree picker. I've learned over the years that everyone has their idea of what a Christmas tree looks like... I wanted him to pick what would evoke those fond memories for his dad. My only request was that I got to cut it down :)

Here comes "I'm the Evil Twin/Spencer" to help us with tree wrangling.

Maybe I'm too excited?

Executing close-cropped cutting.

It was a fun morning, and Sky's dad is happy with the smell of fresh cut white pine wafting through the house. It was fun for me to revisit the simple pleasure of being out with my sweetie, doing something meaningful for someone else, and then having a quiet tree trimming party with a couple of friends. Just enough festivity to bring the spirit of the season to heart.

I wore my muddy knee proudly all day.