I grew up in Dallas, Texas, a city that never really gets snow in the winter. But Texans love Christmas. So, to compensate for that lack of white at Christmas time, they go nuts with Christmas lights. And in my family we turned Christmas-light viewing into a nightly event.

Most nights between Thanksgiving and New Year's Mom, Lisa, and I would pile into the car and drive a few streets of our neighborhood in search of the best Christmas lights. And, frankly, we didn't have to go far. Our neighbors entertained us with thousands of strings of tiny, twinkling, colored, clear -- every Christmas light imaginable. Now my husband and I do the same -- drive around looking at our neighbors' beautiful homes all decked out in lights. Generally we listen to Christmas music, too (What Wondrous Love is one of our favorites -- we both sang on that recording).

These photos were taken in Florence, Italy -- another city that loves Christmas lights! Of course, there was no driving in Florence. The streets in the historic center are all pedestrian streets which is perfect for Christmas-light-looking and window shopping at the same time!

So, grab a string of lights this weekend and make your neighborhood beautiful!

And if you popped in from Photo Friday , cheers!

Just a reminder...
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