That's where roommates Wendy Packard and Heather Marszalek set up not one, not two, but three Christmas trees in their apartment before Thanksgiving.
Packard, 31, owns two of their trees (both fake, one has a gold and red color scheme, the other blue and silver). Each tree has 60 ornaments.
Home isn't the only place for the holidays. Packard listens to Christmas music in her car and workplace--even during the summer.
"I play the Mariah Carey Christmas album in the summertime," Packard said. "Especially when it's really hot, it makes me feel cooler. Like the snow is closer."
Marszalek, 29, looks forward to buying a real fir each year and dressing it in gold and red ornaments.
"I've always loved [Christmas]. When I was in school, I was the kid who wore a Santa hat every day before Christmas break," Marszalek said. "It's the time of the year when people are the most generous, in the best mood. It just makes you feel good all the time."
Packard and Marszalek are among Christmas fanatics celebrating the holiday longer and harder than even Starbucks and Macy's because it combats the cold shoulder of winter.
And even though Packard and other holiday X-tremists get frosty glares when they blast Christmas music in their cubes, their type of cheer is spreading across the country.
Americans are expected to spend an average of $51.99 on holiday decorations this year, up from $49.15 last year, and the most in the history of the National Retail Federation survey. The retail trade association also reported in mid-November that 52.8 percent of survey participants already had started their holiday shopping, up from 51.4 percent last year.
Steph Colpo of Lincoln Park starts getting into the Christmas spirit in October.
She said her boyfriend recently visited Macy's and was horrified by how many Christmas decorations were up so early.
"He was like, 'Oh my God,'" said Colpo, 23. "I was like, 'Will you please take pictures for me?'"
Colpo hopes to maintain this spirit on Christmas. While she's happy to be swapping Chicago's cold for New Smyrna Beach's warmth for the holiday, Florida Christmases tend to be more faux than snow.
"I was kind of bummed. Christmas in Florida sounds not very ideal but my mom said she has two Christmas trees down there, garland, wreaths ... It will still be Christmassy," Colpo said.
Colpo already has made her home and work Christmassy. At work, Colpo listens to pop Christmas tunes on Pandora. While at home, she baked cookies while decorating her small apartment with a tree.
"I feel like I'm definitely one of those people who will prolong taking down my decorations. I don't really have a holiday hangover when it's over. But when it's over, it's over," Colpo said.
Marszalek and Packard never want Christmas to end.
Packard is so obsessed with the holiday that when she visits her parents' house in Virginia, she and her sister watch a homemade VHS tape from the '90s of various Christmas specials from Charlie Brown to Garfield to Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. She watches "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" year-round.
"If Christmas could go through February, I would be fine," Packard said. "When I have to take the decorations down in January, I hate it. It's bad."
Two years ago, Marszalek left her Christmas tree up through February, but it's still not the same as it is in December.
"Once the holiday season is over, come Jan. 1, I can't stand the cold. It's pretty sad and depressing," Marszalek said. "You don't have anything to look forward to for the next three months except snow."
Spending Season
Americans are expected to spend $586 billion on the holidays this year, up 4 percent from last y ear. Here are other findings from the National Retail Federation.
$749.51: Anticipated holiday spending per person, including gifts, decor and greeting cards
$421.82: Anticipated spending on immediate family
$100.76: Anticipated spending on candy and food
$75.13: Anticipated spending on friends
$51.99: Anticipated spending on decor
$28.66: Anticipated spending on greeting cards
$28.13: Anticipated spending on pets and community members
$23.48: Anticipated spending on co-workers
$19.54: Anticipated spending on flowers
tswartz@tribune.com | @tracyswartz