Christmastime...for the first time

YAY its December!! First things first though, I threw Roberto a surprise birthday party. I had to be ultra sneaky about it, but in the end it worked. I burned my gourmet attempt at iced lemon cake and the 99 cent store balloons were extra cheesy (complete with phallic symbols and hearts) but he was very very surprised, which was the point =) This is the first time I ever threw a surprise party for anyone, and yes it felt very fuzzy to make someone you love so happy. He looked extra happy when beating the crap out of the pinata I bought (seriously who does not love a pinata, I don't care how old you are).

engaging in the senseless torture of flamboyant animals, I'm sure a naked PETA ad will come out of this

But on to the title of this post. This weekend Roberto and I bought and decorated my first Christmas tree EVER ( and I mean ever). Sure I was exposed to Christmas trees, I mean I saw them everywhere growing up as a child and I would occasionally be granted an opportunity to hang up a singular ornament while in Girl Scouts. However my Muslim childhood relegated my Christmas experiences to "new years" presents and me smuggling in a sadly bent pine tree branch and decorating it with crayon colored paper ornaments ( this was in 4th grade, the reality of this incident is actually sadder than the image in your head).
It wasn't that my parents were anti-Christmas. I mother actually loved the holiday. She loved the parades and the carols, but the actual celebration was well, not celebrated. This is similar to the upbringing of countless other Jewish and Muslim kids...but hey at least they had a menorah and 8 days of presents.
Now I am not saying anything about being Muslim as opposed to Christian. Yes, we had Eid and I got to celebrate the deep celebrations of the Islamic Faith that haven't become commercialized. And perhaps Christmas has in many ways become a commercial holiday that has more to do with presents and Santa than the celebration of Christ (if anything, the Christmas tree and yule log itself have pagan origins).

Whatever...I always wanted to celebrate Christmas. With the tree....more than anything I wanted that tree!!

And here it is (::oh Angels I have heard on high::)
me decorating my tree with freshly bought Walgreens x-mas ornaments! Roberto and I decided to go with a red and gold motif this year...

(notice the cheestastic smile and pose)

And finally, Juanita, our minority angel, tops the tree
The Walgreens around my place had almost exclusively black santas and minority figurines...I love Oakland.

Now I'm still debating whether or not to tell my mother, because she'll probably think that I converted and that it's all Roberto's fault. Don't worry moms, its all in good fun!!!

Disclaimer: my mother does not read this blog, she has yet to gain the ability of basic internet usage.