Two more things...

I am thankful for a fun night spent with friends at the Angel Tree lighting in Lawndale. There was snow, sledding, hot chocolate, Christmas music and the whole evening just felt like Christmas is already here. Which it kind of is!

 

And I'm thankful that when we found our house, it came with a fireplace. I LOVE my fireplace, and how cozy everything feels when it's lit. We had our first fire of the winter a few days ago. There was a little experimentation over the weekend, while we tried to figure out a way to build a fireplace surround mantel (the gas key is in the way and the wall is at an angle so we can't make the mantel too big), and we are in the rethinking phase at the moment, but for now, I LOVE my fireplace, even without a mantel to decorate. Although I am thinking something like this, painted white or stained a darker color, might work:

And if it does, I can't WAIT to decorate it!