Skip to main content

Decking The Halls: Fireside Memories

As Advent and Christmas season is among us, I thought I'd share my thoughts and joys via blog with different themes throughout the month. 

This is my absolute favorite time of the year, for a variety of reasons. 
1. The temperatures start to get amazing in Tucon. 30-40's at night. 60's during the day. Cool enough for tights, leggings, and sweaters. Warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. 
2. I adore Christmas music, decorations, lights, garland, and everything glistening.
3. The food!  The drink! An excuse to spend every weekend baking something new. Sipping Christmas themed cocktails or delicious red wine. Gingerbread, peppermints, fudge.....ahhhh

So for post #1, I share my favorite: The fireplace. 

Ryan and I have lived in 4 houses, and 2 apartments - and this is our 1st with a fireplace! I have dreamt of decorating a mantle for years - so am very pleased we get that in this home. 

Our fireplace was converted into a double-sided fireplace, so we can either enjoy the fire in the kitchen or in the "reading room" (as I call it - it's a second living space). Last night Ryan returned home from his 3 week trip in Vegas, and we had our 1st fire. 

I was not so keen on a wood-burning fireplace, due to the smoke. But it took quite nicely last night. 

As we sat by the fire, cuddled up on the couch with our furry Golden Retriever -- my heart felt very full. I reflected on the precious years of sitting by the fire with family around at my Mom and Dad's lake cabin. And I envisioned the many fires we will enjoy at this home in the years to come. There is something about a fireplace that just says "home", in my opinion.

This is the fireplace from the "reading room".

And here is the fireplace from the kitchen - where I decorated it  for Christmas. The decoration theme in our house is "Christmas in the woods" -- lots of garland, trees, and antlers. 

(Yes, we need to get a stocking for Miles)

I am excited to enjoy this mantle for the next few weeks a it is lit up and dressed with garland.

What is your favorite piece in your house to decorate during the holidays? In our old house, it was the bannister of the staircase!




Labels:

Comments

Lisa's Yarns said…
Your fireplace is beautiful!! I am envious that you have one. Our house used to have one but it was taken out at some point when the house was renovated. We are the only house on the block that doesn't have one. And i prefer wood-burning ones as they are more authentic and I love the smell of wood burning stoves when you go outside! I know they are more of a pain to take care of but I love the authenticity of them! Your mantel is gorgeous, too! I would love to have one to decorate some day.

We don't do a ton of decorating here as our house isn't really conducive to a lot of decorations since it's small and we don't have a banister, but I love our tree! We are putting it up tonight!
December 5, 2016 at 6:35 AM
Marlys said…
Looks beautiful! I, too, love a wood-burning fireplace but not the work in cleaning it, so that is why we opted for a gas one. But when we walk outside and smell Jack's burning, I miss that so much. It is so much fun to have a mantle to decorate for Christmas, I agree! Sounds like you had the perfect Sunday night to sit before the fire and snuggle!
December 6, 2016 at 7:24 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is your color?

Green My favorite color ever! I have to control myself to not purchase too many green things. If I had no control, my house would be green. My kitchen would be lime-themed. With greenery everywhere. My bathrooms would be green. My bedroom would be green. You would all feel nauseated-green after entering my home. (So I don't have a green-themed home) Many things I love are green, such as: Spinach (I eat it a minimum twice a day usually) My weding color was green. (clover green) Limes (I have at least one time a day) Grass. I love the feel of grass, especially since I see it so rarely in AZ (except in my neighborhood that has amazing landscapers with grass-galore) Palm trees. Any tree. Christmas trees. I love Christmas Green Beer. I think the green beer on St. Patty's Day tastes better. My favorite color of eyes. When I was in 9th grade, I so badly wanted to get green contacts. But they made me keep my brown eyes. Diet Mountain Dew (my guilty pleasure) Granny Smith...
3 comments
Read more

A weekend of the great outdoors

As I am preparing for my return to the real world tomorrow, I feel a strong sense of dread. As I won't have a weekend or free week for a long while! Instead of focusing on that.......I'm sharing a few snapshots from our awesome weekend! This weekend we were in Big Lake, AZ -- which is about 20 miles from the New Mexico border (just 5 1/2 hours from our house). (last weekend we were in Parker Canyon...which I will blog about another day) We camped from Friday-Monday, which was the perfect length of time. The temperatures were a great escape from hot Tucson. In fact...it was VERY cold at night. It was in the low 30's at night, 60's during the day. The trout fishing was incredible. Here's a few snapshots: Home Sweet Home for the weekend! Look at the giant tree I cut down!!! Wow!! (Okay, this was posed...) But...Ryan did teach me how to use a wood-saw! There were tons of dead/fallen trees lying around. So we cut all our firewood for the weekend! I felt very ...
7 comments
Read more

One Confused Lady

Yesterday morning was packed with a session of cross training.....rushed home to shower and get professional-looking....headed across town for an interview.....kicked butt at my interview...."bopped" over to our house to see the progress of the build......headed to the "design center" to sign more paperwork.... (Side note: I cannot get over just how much paperwork is involved in building a house. Holy Hannah. And we haven't even closed !!! Iy-yi-yi....Those lovely people in history who got law-suit-happy.....God bless 'em.) Yesterday was a good day! So here's a little humor for your Thursday. A little thought. A little depth.....( A little cynical rant ) Afterwards, I decided to head to one of my favorite places to peruse.... Target. But my experience at Target was far from fun, relaxing, or pleasant. Just confusing. Loud. Crazy. Despite many screaming children-temper tantrums.... Which is common and un-escapable. Although screaming chi...
7 comments
Read more