If you ever want to see a spirited debate among coworkers, ask for a show of hands for who puts their Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving. The after-Thanksgiving crowd will ask why rush the season. The “before” crowd will say some variation of, “Why not start the most magical time of the year early?”

I’m Team Before all the way. The tree goes up in mid-November, shortly before or on the 16th as part of the 30-ish day countdown to my birthday in December. I love the brightness and life that gets breathed into the holidays, and I look at it this way: why not infuse joy and magic into my home a little earlier?

I’ve spent the last few years debating if I wanted to upgrade my Christmas tree. My first tree when I moved in here in 2015 and used again in 2016 was the tree I used in my college dorm, a little three or four foot tree I bought at Walmart because it was lavender. I picked up a glittery white star as my topper that never actually fit, a silver glittery tree skirt and some miniature ornaments. I think they were little candies and snowmen.

After 2016 I decided it was time for a big girl tree, so I gave my old tree and the ornaments to a coworker for her daughter and hauled tail back to Walmart. The upgraded tree was the traditional green, six and a half feet tall and pre-lit, which I figured would be the saving grace of lazy women who hate untangling light strands. With a bigger tree I came to the realization I didn’t have a lot of ornaments. Or a tree skirt. Or a topper.

Out came the credit card. I ordered my skirt from Kohl’s, a cream and gold satin that Marina loves to lay on. My topper is a gold crown with imitation pearls, blue and magenta stones. I went a little cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs when I bought my ornaments. There’s blues, metallics, white and tons of glittery ornaments from Hobby Lobby. I might have gone in with a theme in mind, but whatever it has been was completely forgotten once I saw all the shiny stuff.

For five Christmases, the old tree has been dressed up to the nines and seen a lot happen in my apartment – it’s stood through happy days, and has also stood during some dark struggles. But at the same time, I was feeling ready for a change. Don’t get me wrong – green and white Christmas trees are beautiful. But they’re traditional and at heart, I’m not a traditionalist. I like twists on the classics, unexpected designs and pops that can breathe a different life into things.

I wanted to finally upgrade to a girly pink Christmas tree.

But this was definitely a want and not a need. I struggled for a while if I should upgrade the tree to something I’d wanted for a long time, or keep my old one for sentimental (and economic) reasons.

Imagine my surprise when I was talking to Mom in late October about whether or not I should buy the pink tree of my dreams, and she started speaking in code. Mom has a unique way of communicating whenever I’m thinking of doing something and inadvertently guess a surprise she’s been sitting on. Her response to my pondering was a jocular “Oh, you ass.”

Now’s probably a good time to tell you all that whenever Mom and I call each other an ass, it’s always meant to be goofy and we’re both laughing. I always thought this was normal mother-daughter communication, but based off some horrified looks I get whenever I tell stories about my mom and me goofing off, I’m going to assume it’s not. I’m digressing.

Yesterday morning Mom and I met up to have breakfast together. She brought the tree out in her car, so after we ate we did the switcheroo of the tree for some stuff I picked up for her at the store and dog toys Sammy already destroyed. The tree was an early birthday present, and I was so hype to get home and get it out of the box.

Mom told me she couldn’t remember which shade of pink it was, which was fine and honestly made the ride home more fun, since I could speculate. Would it be a blush pink? A soft baby pink? In my head I was imagining all these soft, bright, girly colors.

I got home, got the box open and … It was pink. Pink pink. It was bright hot pink, admittedly a shade I didn’t really imagine. I got tree out and put it up, spreading out the branches from top to bottom. All I could think to myself was, I have Patrick Star in my living room.

Then once the branches were spread and the tree fluffed up, I stood back and took a good look at it. Reader-friends, the box did not do my tree justice.

What stood before me in my living room, in all it’s bubblegum glory, was gorgeous. I didn’t even need ornaments on it, although I did plug it in to make sure the lights worked. The tree lit up was even better. I put the crown topper on top to pull it all together, and then after taking in how majestic it was, it was time to get to work on my ornaments.

I took my time picking out ornaments and deciding what would go where, as well as decorating my side tables and media center. It turns out the big pink Christmas tree not only brought new life into my apartment, but the colors tie in with the decorations I already have. It’s a winter wonderland in Barbie Goes to Candyland in here.

I love it.

And so my reader-friends, I spent my Sunday welcoming Christmas into my home. As well as nursing some DOMS in my core. But mostly welcoming Pink Christmas.

Thanks for visiting my section of the internet!

Yours in running and life,

Allison