I’ll not be home for Christmas…you can count on it. I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams this year. That is the reality of being an on-camera journalist. Sometimes, you must work holidays so that your viewers who are home for Christmas have something festive on their television screens to enjoy!
My family and prepared for this going into the holiday season. On the week of Thanksgiving, family came to visit me. My mother, bless her, cooked an entire feast, not excluding any of season of giving’s classics: delectable sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, stuffing made from scratch, and a Turkey covered in bacon (yum!). She adorned my dining table with gourds of all shapes and sizes and proper china. My parents, brother and I ate together when my morning reporter shift finished at 12pm. This holiday was worlds different from our extended family gatherings of thirty at my aunt’s house every year, but alas we are in a pandemic, and I work a full-time job. While abridged, our family’s Thanksgiving celebration was intimate and special in its own way.
A plethora of leftovers fueled us the following day while decorating my apartment for Christmas (this came after a crazy morning of covering Black Friday at a mall!). Since I would not be receiving the week of Christmas or New Year’s off either, my parents and brother were gracious in helping me make my apartment equal parts festive and fashionable.
We dressed my tree in ornaments of gold and white. Each beloved ornament was placed to the tune of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and if you’re a Vartan, Josh Groban’s Christmas classics.
We Vartan’s are a sentimental type, so certain tree trimmings hold certain significance for us: a gold and white metallic Big Ben rests on a branch to represent my year spent abroad in London, which will forever be the city of my heart. A crystal nativity also rests on a cluster of pines toward the tip of the tree, to represent the true meaning of the holiday: the birth of Jesus Christ. A ballerina symbolizes one of our favorite Christmas traditions: attending the San Francisco Ballet’s performance of the Nutcracker, which we will unfortunately not be able to do this year. These are just a few of the ornaments that warm my heart as my tree lights up first thing in the morning.
Other than the tree, we ‘decked the halls’ with other elements of the season: golden reindeer on a gilded, looking glass tray on my marble TV stand. On the coffee table, my mother filled a golden-rimmed marble cake tray with leftover ornaments. My bedroom received the holiday treatment as well, with a nutcracker (another ode to our favorite holiday tradition) a red Christmas blanket, and two festive pillows. Suffice to say, Christmas in the Krischic crib is in full swing!
Of course, I had to match a dress to the merry garnishes around me. This green and navy houndstooth number basically looks like Christmas wrapping paper, which is felicitous when this ‘80s dress was given to me by its previous owner, my mother (shocker). The shoulder pads and fake pockets with gold buttons, are fun finishes like a bow on a present. I chose this green to match the shade of my emerald sofa, which unintentionally made the space feel even more fitting for this season. Final festive frills include red pumps and lipstick for vintage gold hoop earrings to pick up on the buttons.
What is your favorite Christmas or holiday tradition?
Keeping it Krischic,
Kristin Vartan
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Keeping it Krischic 
One response to “Christmas in the Krischic Crib – The Chic List”
I adore the dress you’re wearing.
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