December Love

The first of December seemed like a great day to start a brand new blog. I've been wanting to start anew for awhile now. In fact, my last blog post from my first blog was written over three months ago. I wish I knew exactly what happened, but I think my disinterest stems from feeling like I "had" to write another post. I have spent quite a bit of money over the years on my original blog with hosting fees, blog design fees, and general blog maintenance so I had to monetize it as best I could. After awhile, I found that more and more of "me" was taken out of my blog, and I was just writing one sponsored post after another. Now I'm not knocking sponsored content by any means, but I do feel like I started saying yes far too often, and my "personal blog" started to become less and less about my life and my family.

Last Year's Christmas Tree - 2014

So that brings me to today, December 1st, 2015. It's not exactly a new year, but it's the start of a new month...and the funnest month of the year, in my opinion. There's so much to love about December - from the holiday gatherings, to the festive lights and decorations seen throughout the neighborhood, to holiday shopping and cocktail parties. It is absolutely a magical time. I honestly get so bummed mid-January when the streets go dark again when everyone puts their holiday lights away. Winter in the Chicago area can be downright gloomy and depressing, and the absence of holiday lights kind of kicks that off for me.

One of my favorite things to do in the weeks leading up to Christmas is driving around, trying to find the grand holiday light displays. We haven't been out yet this year since I've been sick since Thanksgiving - and being pregnant on top of that hasn't helped. Hopefully we can see a few new ones this year though. Here are some pics of displays we saw last year. So beautiful.

Naper Lights at Naper Settlement in Naperville, IL

Mooseheart Holiday Lights in Aurora, IL

Gorgeous Home in Geneva, IL

Illuninations at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL

Holiday Lights in Rosemont, IL

Zoo Lights at Brookfield Zoo

The video is from the Larsen Light Show in Elburn, IL from last year. This enormous single-family home puts on the best display in the area, and probably in Illinois - hands down!

I don't know how much I'll be able to get out - having twins in about a month and a half hinders movement a bit - but I will try to see a couple of new displays. Stay tuned - I'm sure I'll post them here.

I hope you'll stick with me on this new blog journey. While I can't promise that I'll never monetize (a blog has to evolve at some point, after all), but I do promise that I will bring you a more authentic me and share with you all the craziness that is sure to ensue next month.