PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

'Tis the season to travel; to the mall, to the Post Office, to Grandmas, to your therapist. Yesterday I was on the road by 6:30 AM, on a plane by 9 and after a few bumps and a $9 stale airplane sandwich, landed on a much warmer coast for a few days of holiday fun with my family. As I walked into my parents garage in sunny southern California I noticed striking similarities to our home in the Hudson valley, 2,900 miles east. My Mother's holiday decorations, while strewn across her garage floor, were totally organized! Before I hung my clothes with care, I headed into the family room where a 9' tree stood totally bare. As we unpacked ornaments from Target plastic bins (one of my holiday tips from last year..pick them up early when they're on sale for $5 at Target, Home Depot and Walmart) I was reminded why I love this time of year as much as I do. It took an SUV, two air trains and two airplanes and eight hours to get me here, but as I decorated the tree it felt like time had stood still: the silly McDonald's ornament I insisted on keeping when I was three looked better than ever, the delicate Korean ornaments my mother has moved from house to house for the last forty years stood proud on our tree one more time. I look at decorating a tree the same way I look at designing a living space: it should tell a story about the people enjoying it. While I love sleek, modern interior design a white tree with red and green balls just doesn't do it for me. If you gave me an ornament twelve years ago, it's on my tree today and every year I remember who, what, when, where. One of my favorite holiday ornaments arrived on my doorstep in Hollywood in 1995. Fresh out of college and depressed as hell to be living on the corner of Crack and Meth, my mother sent me a little holiday cheer. A German-made, large-scale indoor/outdoor train (LGB). It's fifteen years old and looks brand new because after the haste of the holiday season, I take time to make sure my ornaments and holiday trimmings are safe and sound until the next holiday comes around!

ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS:

After the holiday has passed, the guests have gone home and the ham has digested, you'll most likely want to throw your tree out with the ornaments attached. If you're like me, taking the tree down is about as exciting as attending a wake, but if you take care of the things that are so rare, next year will be full of cheer! Pick up plastic bins, wrap your ornaments in bubble wrap (tissue and paper towels remove glitter and other details) and purchase a can of air spray (used to clean computer key boards) to clean your more precious trimmings.

TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Packing ornaments with care: Two hours

COST: Plastic bins from Target: $5/each, air-spray: $6

STRESS LEVEL: Ho Ho Ho: LOW