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WAYNE FOR CHRISTMAS
A home’s holiday décor is warm on the inside, wild on the outside
WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER PHOTOGRAPHY BY MITSU YASUKAWA
M
aria Elena Simone has
fond early childhood
memories of celebrating
Christmas in Wayne.
Though her family
moved away when she
was growing up, she returned there to
raise her own children and to set up her
psychotherapy practice close to home —
and to enjoy the holiday season in her
native town, passing the traditions she
loved growing up along to Ashley, Ava and
Mason, now 18, 12 and 8, respectively.
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HOLIDAY 2018 WAYNE MAGAZINE
“We kick off the holiday season by seeing the
Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall
the week after Thanksgiving,” she says. “Baking
is a big part of it, too. We make cookies and
gingerbread houses.”
The entire family helps to dress up the home,
she says, with the kids playing a large role. “This
year, Mason added his own special touch,” she
says of the Christmas light projector that covers
the exterior with swirling red and green lights. The
seasonal colors, garland around the front door and
wreaths, both real and imaginary, give a hint of
the holiday décor awaiting visitors inside.
WARM
WELCOME
(Right) Simone
bought the Christmas
deer figures when
her children were
young. “I go for a
monochromatic
look, which you see
throughout the house,”
she says.
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