Tartan Scarf (Also available here!) / Fair Isle Sweater (Also here) / AG Legging Jeans / Hunter Boots / Emma’s Hunter BootsEmma’s Tartan Shirt (Also here) / Mitch’s Flannel Black Watch Plaid Shirt / Mitch’s Bean Boots (And these are mine!) / Mitch’s Jeans / Mitch’s Cable-Knit Sweater

If you’ve been following along for a while, you might remember this post: when we took Emma to get her first Christmas tree.

It was SUCH a wonderful day. So wonderful that we decided to make getting our tree at Saint Josephat’s market a holiday tradition for our family. We don’t anticipate ever leaving Lincoln Park, but if we do someday move elsewhere in the city, we’re definitely making the drive to get our tree there! It’s so fun creating our own traditions, especially now that we have Emma. 😊

Another tradition? Buying real. If you read this post that documented our adventures visiting a farm with the Christmas Tree Promotion Board, you may remember that the Larkin family recently learned why keeping it real is so important. First, growing, using and recycling real trees is environmentally friendly, as real trees are biodegradable unlike artificial ones. Second, going real provides business for farmers, which hits home for us since Mitch’s grandfather, dad and brother are farmers in Central Illinois. And third, finding the “perfect” real tree is a special experience for families, and one that creates irreplaceable memories!

Anyway, we marched over to the market this past Sunday sans jackets because it was 60 degrees outside. I definitely think that made the experience all the more special; we didn’t have to deal with the layers and mittens and hats and crying that usually comes along with freezing temps!

Upon arriving, we ran into Blair and Rob, and got to meet little Owen for the first time. (He’s the absolute cutest, btw!) It was surreal, as Blair and I took Oliver (her dog) and Noodle to Saint Josephat’s to get our trees my first year here in Chicago. And three years later, there we were with our babies in our arms! Our human babies! 😉 We’re lucky girls, for sure.

Anyway, we spent a LONG time wandering the market, inspecting all the needles on the ground, licking candy canes, and testing out every bench. (We love sitting on benches. I mean, benches are so cool. You can swing your legs and even lay down on them. They’re great.) Finally, though, we decided on the perfect 8.5-foot tree. We hadn’t planned on going that big, but Mitch fell in love with one particular Balsam, on account of its shape, color and smell… and he swore up and down that he’d be able to carry it. So home with us it went!

I’ll admit that the walk back to our house was a little touch-and-go for a while, but Mitch did a great job, and he successfully got it into our living room. A huge thank you goes out to the Christmas Tree Promotion Board, as the photos in this post are ones that we’ll treasure forever. We’re SO excited to share photos from trimming in the next few days, but in the meantime, we encourage you to go get your tree! And remember to keep it real. 😉

Shop the post:

Tartan Scarf (Also available here!) / Fair Isle Sweater (Also here) / AG Legging Jeans / Hunter Boots / Emma’s Hunter BootsEmma’s Tartan Shirt (Also here) / Mitch’s Flannel Black Watch Plaid Shirt / Mitch’s Bean Boots (And these are mine!) / Mitch’s Jeans / Mitch’s Cable-Knit Sweater

In collaboration with the Christmas Tree Promotional Board. All opinions are my own. As always, thank you so much for supporting the partnerships that keep Kelly in the City up and running!