~THANKSGIVING LIGHTS~

It a quiet night here and I love that. The cold weather seems to bring that on. And it is a chilly 44 degrees here in the upper Midwest. I love it! But please don't ask me how I feel when it is in the single digits! I'm not a happy camper. Lights like these above make me happy. Candles can't keep us warm, but they make our hearts warm and our faces glow. Everything is softer and more gentle with candlelight. I like to burn a big old Yankee candles during the day to fill my home with amazing scent. In the evening...when I know we are staying in, I burn a lot of tea lights and votives just for ambiance. I like the tiny little light and flicker they give...alone or in groups.
I did a little more holiday shopping online this week and I am making a good size dent in my shopping and that always takes a lot of holiday stress off me. So many bloggers are saying that they like to have their homes decorated and shopping done so they can enjoy the whole holiday season without pressure and you know...that is smart advice!! I'm doing a lot to make this advice work for me but first, I wanted to talk about holiday shopping online a little briefly because I consider myself a little {ahem} experienced in this area. Actually, it is about mistakes you can make when you think you are getting a deal that would never have happened if you were in the store.
Never buy a candle online. That involves sniffing and maybe someday we will be able to that through a device on our computers. Who would ever think that Pomegranate Tea would smell so awful, but I ordered a huge pillar from Kohl's and I thought it smelled horrible. Think: Couldn't sell, big markdown. Ironically, I also bought a big hurricane for it and plopped the candle in. It melted all over and there is no way to get the wax out. That's the end of both of those deals.
I consider these above a good mistake. I was expecting something much smaller...described for tea light candles, they are quite generously sized. I can also fit a votive in these. I bought some for the lakehouse, too, as they are on clearance. 99.9% of what I order online is on sale or clearance. But in any event...always check dimensions and size.
I packed up a lot of my fall pieces today and kept most surfaces down to a bare minimum with company coming {including babies} on Thanksgiving. I am liking the editing...it gets to be too much considering this has all been out since mid~October. Is anyone else ready to get the shovel? lol!! Getting Christmas ready will be a lot easier without as much packing up the fall.

Tomorrow I am off to the Holiday Market in Morris, Illinois. I am hoping to meet some bloggers I have never met before and do a little more shopping. I'm hoping they have a lot of hot chocolate {maybe mixed with a little Bailey's ;-D}. I'll have my camera so look for a great post next week! Hope you are having a snuggly Friday night! :-)

Bottles and candles are from Wisteria.