put your brave face on: Have yourself a fancy little Christmas.

Tonight some friends and I grabbed our candy canes and headed to the ritzy part of town where residents own the stereotypical mansion on the hill, complete with turrets and horses. (Yes, horses. They even have "Horse Crossing" signs on their streets.) These houses are usually professionally done and beautifully lit. (I would guess they are also beautifully unlit as well. They're typically huge with tall windows, big balconies, and grand entryways.) The most amazing house we saw is done by a family who decorates their entire house in Christmas lights and then sets the whole thing to music. You can even tune into a specific radio station to hear the music and see how it's timed to the lights. As we sat across the street, surrounded by other cars and looky-loos, we noticed people going in and out of the house as though it was open to the public. And, lo and behold, it was! So we went inside and were even more astounded by what we saw. The entire house looked like Christmas threw up all over it. There were Christmas trees, ornaments, wreathes, garland, villages, fake snow, lights, stockings, Santas, and various other wintery themed decorations covering every.square.inch. It was incredible!