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Mariah Carey brings TODAY home for the holidays

Mariah Carey has a pink room in her home full of Christmas trees festooned not just with standard ornaments, but with real, live pink peonies. That's just one tidbit TODAY's Tamron Hall picked up Wednesday when she was given a rare peek into the house Carey shares with husband Nick Cannon and their two children, Moroccan and Monroe."They're just live flowers; you can smell them!" Carey said, dress
Mariah Carey
TODAY

Mariah Carey has a pink room in her home full of Christmas trees festooned not just with standard ornaments, but with real, live pink peonies. That's just one tidbit TODAY's Tamron Hall picked up Wednesday when she was given a rare peek into the house Carey shares with husband Nick Cannon and their two children, Moroccan and Monroe.

"They're just live flowers; you can smell them!" Carey said, dressed in a cream negligee and robe, as the two sniffed the tree's decorations. "We did them because it matches the room."

Speaking of that room, Carey says it gets very little use — even though it's beautifully appointed with shiny pink pillows, a TV and fireplace, and those trees. "Nobody's ever really in here," she explained. "It's really for things (like) archived photographs ... personal items in here that are special to me. The kids don't even know this room exists yet."

But back to the reason for the seasonal visit: "Miss Christmas" (as Cannon calls Carey) also talked with Hall about her instant holiday classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You," a song that was released almost 20 years ago, which she wrote on a "little tiny keyboard." 

"There was an idea from the label; the record label (said), 'Do a Christmas album,'" said Carey about the tune's genesis. "All I Want" was the "first song I wrote," and she said she "wanted to make the most festive song, that would always make people happy."

"Christmas and singing, even in difficult times as a kid ... those moments got me through," she said.

That said, not every member of her family may have felt that way — Carey held up a framed photo of herself as a child smiling next to Santa Claus, and admitted, "I think my brother punched Santa in the face when he was little. We've been through a lot together, Santa and I."

And check out what Hall and TODAY producer Eric Jackson tweeted and put up on Instagram about the show's visit!

Fun+morning+on+@todayshow+with+@mariahcarey+and+@tamronhall+at+Mariah's+place!+pic.twitter.com/D1GxVASwSs

—+Eric+Jackson+(@JacksonEric)+December+11,+2013+

.@tamronhall+having+some+fun+inside+@mariahcarey's+house!++@todayshow+pic.twitter.com/yfqYVXsKz6

—+Eric+Jackson+(@JacksonEric)+December+11,+2013+

She+was+fantastic+RT+@ReynoldsMV1:+@tamronhall+@MariahCarey+@neimanMarcus203+Very+Funny+interviewYou+ladies+looked+great!+Tamron,+as+always.

—+Tamron+Hall+(@tamronhall)+December+11,+2013+