"I still believe in Santa Claus

Maybe that’s just because I’m still a child at heart

And I still believe in Old St. Nick

But then again maybe that’s the trick we need

We need to retreat to a world of make believe"

- New Kids on the Block

Albuquerque boudoir photographer - ccliberman photography I'm always ready to start decorating for Christmas the week before Halloween. Everyone else is carving pumpkins and putting the finishing touches on their kids' costumes, and I'm already mapping out where I'm going to put all my trees. Yes, TREES. Plural. My husband calls it the Faux Fir Forest. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. It's magical, it's beautiful and it's FUN! When I was a kid, I would start checking the stockings weeks before THE DAY, convinced that Santa would drop just one little goody in there to let me know he was coming. And before I was a busy mom, I started planning my color schemes and decorations in June. JUNE. You'll never hear me complain about holiday music creeping out over store speakers in October, or about Christmas lights edging out Halloween costumes. Santa's arrival at the mall makes my heart positively soar. But these days, after the trick-or-treat candy is eaten, the Turkey is carved and the gifts are bought, I just don't have much energy left for turning my house into a winter wonderland. Now, I'm lucky to get the trees up, the presents wrapped and the posole made by the time my family arrives on Christmas Eve. And just like Scrooge is famous for his "bah humbug," my traditional holiday greeting is quickly becoming "oh well, good enough."

But, this year is different. This year, I gave myself an early Christmas present. I started getting ready for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving. I bought new ornaments for my trees. I started designing our family holiday card. And I enlisted the help of my beautiful, adventurous, good sport of a friend (yeah, I'm sucking up a little. I kind of owe her) to help me create a cozy, snowy winter scene for my *business holiday card. She was even willing to shed 10 pounds sweating it out in a coat, hat, scarf AND mittens on a lovely, warm Albuquerque evening. And for her troubles, I served her up a steaming cup of good cheer.

Albuquerque boudoir photographer - ccliberman photography And since I'm so far ahead of the game, I'm going to really hammer home the point by putting up my trees this weekend. ALL of them. I'm going to start singing Christmas Carols, and playing all my favorite boy-band and Neil Diamond holiday albums. So, if you're feeling festive, come on over. The stockings will be hung, the cocoa will be hot, and I'll be the one in the Santa hat, hopped up on candy canes.

*Neither of these are the final image. That Christmas surprise will arrive via mailbox.