Adult Peer Pressure

It is December 4, 2009 and we have yet to decorate for Christmas!
(GASP!)
This may not seem like a big deal but seriously, even the family on our block who we thought were Jewish have lights and decorations up. We found out Dad is Jewish, not mom & the kids.
It's not that we are slacking. I have been actively searching for the "right" decorations for our porch. Being the first Christmas in our home, we want to do it classy, we want to do it nice, and we want to do it right, whatever right means, of course!
What we don't want:
This:


or This:

Though I worry that if given enough time and money, Bry may just turn into one Clark W. Griswold

and turn our house into a something like this:




I have spent the past week searching high and low for good looking garland with lights to go on our front bannisters. One would think this was an easy thing to pick up. But no! Apparently I like expensive stuff, and so to buy this garland for the entire porch it's looking to cost over $250. That's just the garland!
Our list also includes candles for the windows, at least, it used to include candles in the windows. That was struck from the list when both Bry and I on two different shopping trips were unable to pic up the "right" kind. We wanted battery operated white candles. I got one at Lowes that flickers like a real candle and is too orange. Meanwhile, Bry picked one up at K-Mart that is too blue and dull.
I never thought trying to find the things we wanted would be so difficult! Bry researched and found the ones that are "it" but cost nearly $20 a pop. Multiply that by all the windows and that's a whole lotta moola!
I wanted cute little toparies to go on either side of the front steps. After describing what toparies are, Bry was all in. Of course, he wants LIVE mini-trees, because why would artificial do?

So now, here we are, owners of one of the few naked houses on the street. Hopefully, we can pull something together this weekend when we are planning to decorate.