One of my biggest regrets about our house is that there is no fireplace. No fireplace in a New England home? I know, crazy. When we were house shopping fireplaces were pretty high on my list but I compromised because our house has an amazing backyard view, a huge deck and two full bathrooms which makes having guests much more convenient. I tried to compensate not having a fireplace with having a chimenea. No one up here knew what a chimenea was so I think it may be a Southern/Southwest thing but I finally found one up here this summer and it has been happily installed on my deck since July.
However, the weather turned from lovely and warm to this:
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| My first blizzard on 12-27-10. We ended up with about 14" |
As you can see, the chimenea is not only not accessible but also a bit impractical since I am fairly certain all my important extremities will fall off if I sit out there long enough, even with a small fire. I have been mourning the tragedy of not having a fireplace ever since it got cold. I went home for Christmas and my mother surprised us with an electric fireplace! I have always thought they were extremely cheesy and don't look realistic but I realized that technology has come such a long way. They not only look very realistic but also can put out heat, you can adjust the flame level, and do all sorts of cool stuff. We shopped around quite a bit and we finally settled on one we liked at Lowes. It has ceramic logs that really help with the illusion and also a grate in the front, just like a regular fireplace. After purchasing our new addition, my lovely husband was able to assemble it within an hour and just like that my wish was granted! I now have a wonderful fireplace that is almost always on and putting off a romantic firelight glow.
I absolutely love it and I am so happy that I have a mantle to display our wedding pictures and to hang stockings on (which I never did this year but will definitely do next year!).
I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Weekend. I am happy that Logan actually has the day off so we going to watch some Sooner football and eat our black eyed peas (for luck), spinach (for prosperity) and also ham and macaroni and cheese because they are delicious. My family has been doing a similar New Year's Day meal for as long as I can remember and once again, since Logan and I are on our own, it is up to us to carry on the tradition. One of my favorite parts of being married has been creating our own traditions that someday our children will pass on...we always buy a Christmas ornament when we travel, we celebrate Valentines Day on February 28th because it is when Logan proposed and it's double as romantic (get it 14+14=28...I know we are kind of nerds), we build a gingerbread house on our anniversary (12-19) and we always kiss goodnight....just some examples. I think I will have a few New Year's resolutions this year but I am still not sure on exactly what I want to do. I know resolutions are kind of silly but it is a chance to improve and start fresh which I always love. 2010 has been a good year for me...I traveled to Asia on a mission trip and spent weeks traveling all over Europe with my wonderful husband, hiked up a waterfall, played in the deep purple green waters of Martha's Vineyard, moved to a new state, relearned how to play Warsaw Concerto on piano, bought a house, and my favorite, celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary. I know that 2011 will be just as special and exciting.
The days are long and the years are short,
Steph
I love that you guys have one of these! I bought one this winter as well since I wanted a space heater in my living room (http://youngandrentless.blogspot.com/2010/11/baby-its-cold-outside.html). You guys obviously bought a much nicer one than mine, but I think they are so awesome (and think how much less work it is than a real fireplace)!
ReplyDeleteDo be careful hanging stockings on it though, the instructions with mine said specifically not to hang anything on the front because of it being a fire hazard.