Tag Archive for: Christmas

Holiday Giveaway! by Misa Ramirez

/in /by

Christmas traditions center around the magic of holiday stories. It’s a Wonderful Life, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, Olive the Other Reindeer, Gift of the Magi, 101 Questions about Santa Claus, The Christmas Box… I could go on and on. What better way to celebrate than by means of a holiday giveaway!

This week, I’m giving away one of the following

(winner’s choice!)

  • ~a bag of books
  • ~signed copies of Living the Vida Lola and Hasta la Vista, Lola!
  • ~or a $20 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble

All you have to do is download a copy of ONE of the three e-books I have available, then leave a comment here that you did!

That’s all it takes to be entered into the drawing!

You don’t need an e-reader, remember! Downloads can also be read right on your computer in PDF form, or you can download the Kindle or Nook app for your computer.


For extra entries, help spread the word!:

~tweet this post (and let me know you tweeted)

~Facebook the post (and tag me @misa.ramirez and/or @Author-Melissa-BourbonMisa-Ramirez/)

~download more than one of the books ~ one entry per book/story!


As always, thanks for loving books and reading!!

Hop on over to Books on the House for book giveaways EVERY WEEK!

HaPpY HoLiDaYs!!


(Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win our Stiletto Gang holiday Amazon giveaway!)

* note: prices for Cursed and The Chain Tree have not yet been reduced to $2.99 at B&N, but soon!

My Christmas Traditions

/in /by

We’re talking about our Christmas or holiday traditions this week.

I’ve had so many over the years (remember, I’m the ancient one of this gang) starting with my childhood tradition of waiting until Santa came and then not being able to get into the living room and our gifts until our folks woke. Believe me, we did everything to wake them up.

I better back up a bit, we also went to family friends to go Christmas caroling and have homemade clam chowder and mulled apple cider.

On Christmas morning, after we opened all our gifts, we headed over to my Grandparents for dinner and more gifts.

When our kids were little we did much of the same, heading down to my parents the night before Christmas, and the same routine. We veered off course a bit the year I was expecting my third child at any time–then everyone came to my house for Christmas dinner. Not sure if I was the one who cooked. Baby arrived on the 28th.

One year I had to work a split shift and the kids opened their gifts before I got home. I was really unhappy. We ate dinner out. The only Christmas dinner we ever had in a restaurant.

When most of my family moved up here, grandparents had passed away, we had Christmas Eve at our house complete with Santa and a gift for everyone, including the ladies I was caring for by that time.

We soon out grew even my big old house and held Christmas Eve in the rec room where one of my nephews and family lived in a mobile home park. I think we were probably up to about 60 people by then.

My sis and her entire family moved to Las Vegas and that ended our Christmas Eve get-together.

The adults at our church always have a Christmas party where everyone brings one ornament and we kind of fight over them and of course we have goodies to eat.

Another tradition that’s been going on probably about 20 years is the writing critique group I belong to will have dinner together in one of the nicer restaurants, spouses invited.

Hap and I retired from the care business, but we still have family around. So this is what happens now: Son and his wife and his two grown sons and another grandson who lives with us will have a nice dinner Christmas Eve and open gifts.

On Christmas Day I’ll cook a big turkey and some big containers with dressing, candied yams and green bean casserole and take it all over to the church. This is our second year to invite anyone who has no place to go for Christmas dinner–no charge. We had a great time last year and are expecting an even bigger crowd this year. Posters have been put up all around town. My son and his wife, granddaughter and her fiance have already volunteered to help.

So Merry Christmas to you all, and be sure and enter our contest.

Happy Holiday $$$ Giveaway

Win a $70 Amazon gift certificate from the Stiletto Gang! Just leave a comment on weekday posts starting on Friday, December 17 and ending Friday, December 31, 2010. Each comment earns you one entry per day. Following the blog and Tweeting about the contest can earn you another two! So that’s up to 12 chances to win! Winner will be drawn randomly on January 2, 2011, and announced on the blog on January 3, 2011. So happy reading! And good luck

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Christmas Memories

/in /by

My family moved around a lot when I was growing up (my dad worked for IBM, aka I’ve Been Moved). So every few years, we celebrated the holidays in a different place. My mom was good about keeping up traditions so that Christmas was Christmas, no matter where we lived. Sometime after Thanksgiving, she’d pillage packing boxes marked “Xmas Stuff;” and once she got going, there was no stopping her. The scent of evergreen permeated the house as she wrapped boughs of it tied with red bows up and down the banisters. Other decorations crowded table-tops, bookcases, mantles, and the piano. Mom’s mix was eclectic: an elaborate nativity set from Italy, trees made from tuna cans, sculptural metal angels, and paper-mache snowmen. No surface remained free of holiday cheer.

But before any counting down of days ‘til Christmas could commence, we had to do two things: (1) Bake my great-grandmother’s shortbread cookies (that had at least 150 ingredients and all had to be iced in appropriate colors), and (2) Get a real tree. The cookie part was almost easy compared to the tree trip. Mom had to bundle up three kids in enough layers to nearly render us immobile then we’d pack into the station wagon, bound for the nearest lot. My dad would grab the first tree he saw and ask, “How’s this?” A half hour and two dozen trees later, my mother would nod and say, “That’s it!” She always liked the biggest, fattest balsam that took eons for them to tie up. Once home, Dad stuck the tree in a bucket and prayed the water didn’t freeze overnight. The next day, he’d stuff it into the stand and put the lights on, and Mom would spread the skirt beneath. Ta-da! Let the tree-trimming begin!

Hanging the ornaments was a huge honkin’ deal. My mother made sure the whole family was present before she put out eggnog and placed a holiday album on the stereo. While my sibs and I unearthed equal parts hand-made doo-dads and delicate glass baubles from the tissue stuffed cavities of cardboard boxes, Nat King Cole crooned of chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I loved glass birds with clips for claws so I could stick them on the ends of branches, like they’d flown in and were just resting. I adored silver orbs that reflected every color in the rainbow. But one pair of ornaments remained the most special for years: a burlap man and woman my sister and I had named “Speed” and “Trixie,” after the characters in Speed Racer. Every Christmas, their ink faces rubbed off a little more and their yarn hair disappeared, but Molly and I couldn’t wait to place them on the tree next to one another so they could chat about Spanky and Racer X.

Once the ornaments were up, it was tinsel time! We were tinsel-flinging fools back then. Despite Mom’s instructions to put it on one piece at a time—“like a dripping icicle”—we’d toss fistfuls at the higher branches and see what would stick. By the time we’d finished, our tree looked gaudier than a Vegas showgirl.
We had our big family dinner on Christmas Eve. The menu echoed our Thanksgiving meal: turkey, spiral ham, green bean casserole, corn casserole, cranberry mold, and fat black olives that my sister plucked off the garnish tray and stuck on each fingertip. After dinner, we opened one present from a far-away relative before we put on our coats to attend Christmas Eve service. I loved to warble with the choir on “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and sit in silent awe as the star vocalist belted out “Ave Maria” and “Oh, Holy Night.” Once home and sleepy, we’d set out cookies and milk for Santa, glance at our empty stockings, and head up to bed. Before I nodded off, I’d listen for reindeer on the rooftop (I swear, one night, I heard them!). At the crack of dawn, I’d awaken and fling on my quilted robe as the rest of the house slowly roused. My dad would bark a reminder not to go downstairs until he had his camera ready.

While Dad played Spielberg and Mom sipped coffee, my siblings and I tore through whatever Santa had brought, usually something like Tonka trucks, games, and trains for Jimmy; stilts, a slide-making kit, and a baseball mitt for Molly; a rock tumbler, dolls, and books for me. Always books. My favorite part of Christmas, once the chaos had ended (and it was always over quickly), was curling up somewhere quiet with Nancy Drew, Black Beauty, or Laura Ingalls Wilder. Bliss!

Much about the holidays has changed since my childhood as my husband and I strive to keep life—and Christmas—simple. We don’t go heavy on decorations and never get the biggest tree in the lot. I don’t bake shortbread cookies with 150 ingredients, and I’m not much for turkey. But, as long as I have a pulse, two things will never change: the pleasure of being with family and the joy of un-wrapping a book. Honestly, was there ever a better gift?

Any favorite Christmas memories you’d like to share?

P.S. And don’t forget to leave a comment today and on each weekday post through December 31 to be entered to win a $70 gift card at Amazon! See the right-hand sidebar for details. And good luck!

Holly Jolly Christmas!

/in /by

No fair. I have the Christmas post. Pressure!

To make up for last month’s long post, I’ll keep it short this time and simply wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.

May you enjoy your family and friends, get some rest and good eats, and enjoy a few laughs at these links.

Happy Holidays,
Rachel Brady

Confessions of a Last Minute Shopper

/in /by

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – again.

As I get older the holiday seems to come around faster and faster. Between my day job, family, and writing, I can’t seem to find the time to just sit and think. Or plan. Or shop.

For the past month I’ve picked up odds and ends, but my major gift shopping will be done in the next two days. Yes, I’m one of thooooose people – the most pitiful of creatures – a last minute shopper.

I wasn’t always this way. Ten years ago I would have had all my gifts purchased, if not wrapped, by the end of the first week of December. But as it got harder and harder to find gifts that friends and relatives would actually like, I began delaying my shopping. I caught the procrastination bug.

Note: I stand in awe of those people who have that special shopping gene – you know, the people who shop all year long for gifts, storing them in a closet for the big day when they’ll be given to their intended recipient. Actually I’m in awe that they have an empty closet to keep those gifts in for twelve months.

Okay, back to me –

Adding a complication to my suffering is the fact that I’ve never liked crowds. I don’t enjoy people invading my personal space, pushing and shoving to get merchandise, no matter their holly jolly holiday mood. My worst nightmare is being at a Wal-Mart on a day when a snow storm is predicted to come rolling in. Everyone stampedes to the store to stock up on groceries, toilet paper, ice scrapers, rock salt, dvds, and batteries. The only shopping carts left are the ones with wonky wheels – not that you can get a shopping cart down the packed aisles. And the checkout lines? Expect at least 30 minutes in the check-out line. (I’ve learned to carry my beloved Blackberry and check e-mail during the wait – it keeps me calm.) Can you imagine the crowds with a “white” Christmas? The same stampede with the added pressure of choosing gifts?

Enough of my whining, back to happy shopping themes –

My favorite seven places to shop are:

  1. Amazon – No lines, great selection, and they always have Evelyn David books.

  2. Barnes & Noble (the brick and mortar stores) – Great coffee and Evelyn David books.

  3. Lowes – Gifts for guys (and ladies who know how to use a hammer)

  4. Bath & Body shops – Love the body splashes. The only downside is they’re located in malls and finding a parking spot at a major mall is almost impossible this time of year.

  5. Overstock.com – Unique items and reasonable shipping costs. Love their dishes.

  6. iQVC.com – A little bit of everything. Cute jewelry.

  7. Wal-Mart – You really can’t beat their prices if you’re on a budget (and these days who isn’t?) But make sure you go on sunny days, midweek and midmonth.

Two questions for you:

  1. Where do you like to shop? Tell us your favorites.

  2. If a sales clerk fails to remove the defective (defective in that it didn’t sound an alarm when you left the store) security device from some article of clothing you’ve purchased for someone – do you really have to go back to the store and have it removed? Can you just gift wrap that coat (including the sales receipt) and let the recipient deal with taking it back to the mall? I mean really, isn’t it the thought that counts???

Happy Holidays!

Rhonda
Aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David
http://www.evelyndavid.com/

Christmas is Coming, Tra La Tra La

/in /by

Thought I’d show off one of great grand-daughters in her Christmas finery. Her daddy brought her to church yesterday and I thought she looked really cute. She’s six going on sixteen. She has beautiful curly hair and informed me that she’d straightened it.

That reminded me of when my girls were young they wanted their hair to be straight (no one really had curly hair but they wanted straight hair like the Skipper doll) and so they took turns ironing each other’s hair, putting waxed paper over it and ironing it with a regular iron. Things are much easier nowadays to make oneself beautiful.

Frankly I think Kay’Lee’s hair looks great curly, but I’m only her great-grandmother, my opinion doesn’t count. We took her and her dad out to lunch after church and she seemed to know everyone in the restaurant, her school bus driver who came in to get a to-go order, a fireman who was standing outside with other firemen when we went in, and others who came in. (That’s sort of the way her dad is too.)

You may have guessed, I just wanted to write something a bit lighter than what we’ve been reading and hearing lately. I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday time and for those who celebrate Christmas, I hope you’ve finished decorating, bought most of your gifts and have your Christmas cards ready to go.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Happy to Be Back

/in /by

It seemed weird not to be writing a blog for the Stiletto Gang on Tuesday. I’m glad to be back in the groove and hanging with my young gal pals.

We had a most extraordinary Christmas holiday time. We open gifts on Christmas Eve after our dinner. I do something different nearly every year. This year I cooked a turkey and all the stuff that goes with it because I hadn’t cooked on Thanksgiving. Our guests were my youngest son (who is not so young), his wife, grown daughter and two grown sons, my middle daughter and her husband, and the son of my youngest daughter who has been living with us. This was his first Christmas in five years–and it was great fun seeing his enjoyment. His mom had sent his presents home with us at Thanksgiving, and of course we also had gifts for him. He’s had his troubles over the years, but things are finally looking up for him.

Christmas day was a smaller group, and except for the fact that I cooked a standing rib roast, everything else was left-over from the day before–still yummy. Granddaughter’s boyfriend joined us this time. We all watched a movie after dinner. Then hubby and I went over to another granddaughter’s house who has three kids and an extra young man living with her and her husband. We had a good time admiring the kids gifts and visiting with everyone.

The following day, hubby and I used a couple of the movie tickets we’d been given and went to see the Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. Good, good movie even though the theme is really death and dying.

Just to explain something about our family, we’ve always taken people in. Back when we had all of our kids at home, we had a foster boy for a year-and-a-half. At various times our kids brought home other kids whose family life wasn’t so great who ended up living with us for different lengths of time.

We raised one of our grandsons from the time he was 11 until he was 20 because his mom was not doing well. Now we have another.

Long after my middle daughter’s two kids were long gone she and her husband became the legal guardian for a teen-aged girl. There oldest daughter, the one with the three kids and her husband have taken in several teens over the years. A couple of boys from a foster home and gave them a place to live until they went into the service. Unfortunately, in California when a foster child reaches 18, they’re booted out on their own. Most of them don’t have families to go home to.

I’m proud of my family–and glad they are willing to share their homes with young people who need a place to stay. Of course everything doesn’t always turn out hunky-dory, but that really doesn’t matter. They did what they needed to do at the time.

That more or less brings you up-to-date on the Meredith family saga. And yes, I did make a New Year’s resolution, to spend more time on my work-in-progress and less fiddling around with blogs.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Holiday Crunch

/in /by

Is everyone beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed like I am?

Some of what’s happening with me is my own fault. I say “yes” when I really ought to say “no.”

We did cut down on Christmas decorating this year because of our three cats. Last year they thought we’d brought them a new toy and they managed to completely denude the tree of all ornaments and broke a lot of them.

I’ve got a bunch of gifts on the bed in the spare room that need to be wrapped. Yes, I know, I said was giving everyone money, and I am, but for those who’ll be over here Christmas Eve, I want them to have a few presents to unwrap.

Saturday I was holed up in the back room of an antique store from 9 to 5 with my books, hoping for people to stop by, chat, have some cookies and hot cider, and maybe buy a book or two. That actually worked out better than you might think. A tour of homes decorated for Christmas was going on and many people stopped at the antique store between houses. There’d been a good article in the local paper about Kindred Spirits, my latest, and I also sent out some invitations.

Next Friday and Saturday I’ll be doing the same thing in the back of Porterville’s Art Gallery on Main St. Hopefully I’ll have some newspaper coverage for that too, I’ve taken the information to the reporter that I have a relationship with (she’s a friend) and a copy of the book. I’ve sent out invites to people who live down there, so we’ll see. But all day, from 10 to 5 is tiring and things pile up at home when I’m gone like that.

I just received an order via PayPal from a book that I just sold the last copies of on Saturday. I’ll have to go up to our local gift shop where I have my books on consignment and get one back so I can mail it since it’s for a Christmas present. (I have ordered more, but they won’t get here in time.) While I’m at the gift store, I’ll resupply what they are out of and give them copies of my latest.

I have a bunch of books I need to review for a writer’s organization I belong to. Truly, I don’t mind doing it, in fact I usually enjoy the books, but it’s going to be hard to squeeze it in with all that’s going on right now.

And guess what, hubby and I decided to play hooky this morning and go see Australia. We went to breakfast first then headed to the movie which started at 11:30 a.m. A warning, it lasts for three hours though I can assure you it doesn’t seem that long. It was a wonderful movie, like an old time epic Western. Watching Hugh Jackman take a shower was quite a highlight.

So now I’m home, trying to play catch-up while my chili-beans cook in the slow cooker. (Put them in early this a.m. before I left home.)

Seems like I don’t ever really get caught up.

Though I’m putting the finishing touches on another Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery–still reading it to my critique group–I really need to start putting together another Rocky Bluff P.D. novel. Have some ideas, but that’s about it right now.

So, I’ll try to finish up a few things before dinner. Hope you all are more organized than I am at this point. But do take time out and enjoy yourself like we did today.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com