Trees and Presents

Yesterday we finally put up our tree. It's fake and small. It's even shorter than me, which kind of flatters me to no end. My mom wanted to keep the decorations on the silver side, since the upcoming year will be the yea of a steel rabbit, or something. So we have silver-ish ornaments and garland, with a little splash of color. And of course we have to have a red star, an allusion to Red October. That's a joke, of course, so we keep putting it up because it's funny. I don't expect non-Russians to understand.

I also finished gift shopping today. I wasn't going to get anything for my future mother-in-law because she's gone all Jewish since she got married. I got her a Hanukkah gift from Harry & David, but New Year's is too big of a holiday for me not to get a gift for a close person. She loves peridot and, coincidentally, I was passing by a little jewelry shop today. So I went in and came out with a beautiful peridot necklace. It has a cute onyx ball and peridot and garnet vines that look like grapes. I'm sure she'll love it. Here it is: