Have a special man in your life who needs an extra push to dress up during the holidays? Are you tired of his old frumpy jeans and t-shirt? His lack of excitement and cheer? Well I've found some great options that any man would be happy to wear and in an instant...they will free their inner Santa. Look no further then Orvis.Com Their catalog arrived in the mail today, announcing a new store location in the Cherry Creek mall.. I was pleasantly pleased with their very "distinguished" looking clothes for men. High end flannel, wool and leather goods. Soon my mediocre thoughts, turned to pure excitement and I knew I had to share these prized articles of clothing with my online Christmas buddies. Now, I ask, if the website is flooded with orders and you are unable to complete your order, please be persistent and check back. I'm sure, after the initial rush, the Orvis elves will catch up and be able to process your order. Let's start with pants first. These lovely Embroidered Holiday Bozeman Cords are amazing. Personally I'd buy the Green cords with candy canes for my husband.
If candy canes and wreaths aren't your Santa's thing, then these Tartan Trousers might be a good option. A little less subtle, yet still festive.
Now, if you think your Santa will be a little Bah Hum Bug with either of those choices, I guess you'll need to play it safe with the Green Wellington SuperCord Pants.
If your Santa is feeling a little casual, Tartan Shirt in Royal Stewart or Red Plaid, is perfect to keep him hip, yet comfortable.
We all know, it can get hectic during the holiday season, so this Reversible Wool Tartan Vest is a great piece to have available for your Santa, when he needs to jump from casual to dress wear in minutes.
If it's a little chilly in the Man Cave aka: Workshop, they have a gorgeous Red Cashmere Cardigan to layer and complete the ultimate Christmas look.
I'm super excited to share these options with my husband and I thank Orvis.Com for making my holiday attire shopping so much easy this season. With my husband out of the way, I have more time to find the perfect Christmas dress for myself.
I was looking for Christmas tree inspiration and thought I'd share some of my favorite PINK theme Christmas trees and decorations. I personally don't have a pink Christmas tree, but I find them absolutely beautiful.
And last, but not least, I wanted to include this dress for inspiration. Because we should all have a pretty pink formal to wear, as we decorate our house to be Pretty in Pink!
Some think it's a bit early to start planning for activities during December, but when it comes to stage productions and purchasing tickets, now can be the perfect time. No only do you get better seats buying them in July, it will also help with your holiday budget. Having such a large purchase out of the way, always feels great. Most tickets for December productions have been released, so if you haven't checked what's playing this coming season in your area, take a few minutes, talk it over with your friends and family and get those tickets purchased! Here's what we have listed in the Denver area for 2014. Some are national tours, others yearly traditions for those in the area.
How many extra cards do you end up with after completing your Christmas Card list? Do you toss them? Do you donate them? Do you put them aside thinking "I'll use them again next year?" Well this past week, I was reminded by a few friends on Facebook of a great program, to honor our military heroes; Holiday Mail for Heroes. I'm not exactly sure at what point I stopped doing this, most likely when I became a mom and my attention was turned elsewhere, but in my early 20's I would always include military service men and women in my Christmas card list. It's awesome to think about them year around, but during the holidays it can bring a definite sparkle of cheer, during a difficult and lonely time for many. So this year, I've decided that all of my extra cards are going to be sent off. I don't know how many that will be yet, but however many, I've dedicated myself to mailing them to the Holiday Mail for Heroes program. Nothing says you care more, then taking a few minutes to hand write a note. Sending cards, letters and thank you notes is something that doesn't happen often enough these days. Emails and typed letters are great, but hand written letters can become a treasure. Your holiday card should be addressed to the following address and the deadline date is December 6th. Holiday Mail for Heroes P.O. Box 5456 Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456 Here are some additional guidelines listed on the Red Cross site.
Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country.
Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:
Ensure that all cards are signed.
Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.
Only cards are being accepted. Do not send or include letters.
Do not include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos: these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
Please refrain from choosing cards with glitter or using loose glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.
If you are mailing a large quantity of cards, please bundle them and place them in large mailing envelopes or flat rate postal shipping boxes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.
Here's a short news clip, showing exactly how the program works.
Here's another video, showing deliveries in action.
It might be a little late this year, but why not host a card making party next year. And if you do, don't forget the children. It's a great learning experience and service opportunity for youth of all ages. As seen in the previous video, sometimes those homemade cards from the kids are their favorites and mean the most.
After watching several videos on Holiday mail for Heroes activities, I'm also going to commit to making my Veterans Day in 2014 more productive and host a card making party. So all my friends, mark your calendar and keep Tuesday, November 11th, 2014 open. Now, I'll end with a Hallmark happy moment. This didn't come to mind, until after I started this post, but if you've read my blog at all, you'll know that I'm a huge Hallmark Channel Christmas movie junkie. I DVR them, I watch them year around. November thru December, my dial pretty much stays on the Hallmark channel. I don't always watch them minute, by minute, but they are on in the background most of the time and just the familiarity of it all makes me smile. One of my favorites is The Christmas Card. I've watched this particular one, so many times that even my husband took notice last year. I guess I compare it to the Matrix or True Lies. No matter when those movies are on TV, my husband will be watching them. Last year, Hallmark did a viewer survey about which Hallmark Christmas movie was the viewers favorite and hands down, The Christmas Card won. It's not an award winning movie, but I think it's the spirit of that connection that so many talked about about in the videos I've shared. If you'd like to see a preview, check it out HERE :
I was reading an article today about a Norman Rockwell exhibit opening today, at the LDS Church history museum in Utah. It reminded me of a Christmas book my daughter bought for me a few years ago, that was titled with Norman Rockwell. My copy is dated 1977 and shows a bit of wear on the outer jacket.
It's not your typical Christmas book, with crafts and recipes, it's more like a compilation book of great stories, poems, music and photos from some great classics. It has writings from William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott and many more. In addition to all the writings, it has 95 Norman Rockwell pictures. When I pulled out the book, I realized, like many I've grown up seeing the photos of Norman Rockwell, but not really knowing the story or Norman Rockwell. So my goal tonight was to look up some history and research some of his Christmas paintings. I've come to the conclusion, I enjoy his silly side. I enjoy those silly moments in life he represents. Here are a few examples.
To me, these really represent the love and smiles that seem to flow at Christmas.
Some of my choices are repeated, but here's a wonderful slide show, that shows a large portion of his Christmas collection.
In Stockbridge, Massachusetts, his hometown, they even do a life like recreation every year of his famous painting "Stockbridge, Main Street at Christmas". You can also visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, where they house the largest collection of his work.
If you'd like to learn more about "America's Painter", here's a LINK to a great video from the Bio channel.
And last, but not least, of course in today's society, fans can find ANYTHING on Facebook. So if you'd like a daily dose of Norman, you can join the Fan Page.
Good job Governor Perry!!! Although Christmas has been recognized as a federal holiday since the 1870's, recently Texas school districts have been spending excessive time and money fighting court battles over how to express Christmas in the schools. These concerns even made it as far as the the Supreme Court, where such things were ruled permissible. I was very happy to read today that the Texas House and Texas Senate agreed this past week to sign HB 308. The new bill makes it clear that public schools and their staff are permitted to acknowledge and educate students about the historical and cultural roots of holidays such as Christmas, and Hanukkah and with school displays that can include Christmas Trees, Santa Clause, Reindeer, Menorahs, Nativity Scenes and more. My favorite quote came from Jonathan Saenz, attorney and President of Texas values "We hope that HB 308 will decrease the number of districts being naughty and increase the one's being nice".
Here is the entire video of the signing, if you'd like to watch.
If it wasn't so hot and humid in Texas, I might consider moving. It's starting to sound more appealing in so many ways!!
“We hope
HB 308 will decrease the number of school districts being naughty and
increase the one’s being nice,” said Jonathan Saenz, attorney and
president of Texas Values. - See more at:
http://txvalues.org/2013/06/13/gov-perry-signs-merry-christmas-bill-into-law/#sthash.O9tdHTnS.dpuf
makes it
clear that public schools and their staff are permitted to acknowledge
and educate students about historic and cultural roots of important
holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and others, and with school
displays that can include Christmas trees, a Menorah, a Nativity scene,
Santa Claus, Reindeer and more. - See more at:
http://txvalues.org/2013/06/13/gov-perry-signs-merry-christmas-bill-into-law/#sthash.O9tdHTnS.dpuf
makes it
clear that public schools and their staff are permitted to acknowledge
and educate students about historic and cultural roots of important
holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and others, and with school
displays that can include Christmas trees, a Menorah, a Nativity scene,
Santa Claus, Reindeer and more. - See more at:
http://txvalues.org/2013/06/13/gov-perry-signs-merry-christmas-bill-into-law/#sthash.O9tdHTnS.dpuf
makes it
clear that public schools and their staff are permitted to acknowledge
and educate students about historic and cultural roots of important
holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and others, and with school
displays that can include Christmas trees, a Menorah, a Nativity scene,
Santa Claus, Reindeer and more. - See more at:
http://txvalues.org/2013/06/13/gov-perry-signs-merry-christmas-bill-into-law/#sthash.O9tdHTnS.dpuf
makes it
clear that public schools and their staff are permitted to acknowledge
and educate students about historic and cultural roots of important
holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and others, and with school
displays that can include Christmas trees, a Menorah, a Nativity scene,
Santa Claus, Reindeer and more. - See more at:
http://txvalues.org/2013/06/13/gov-perry-signs-merry-christmas-bill-into-law/#sthash.O9tdHTnS.dpuf
I've been working on my Christmas card list this past week and looking up potential Christmas card ideas. Today, I realized I hadn't looked at the new Christmas stamps for 2012. So, what do I think?? Overall, I really like both of them. The Holy Family is the first religious, Christmas stamp I've liked in a long time. It's simple and beautiful. The Santa and Sleigh stamps are fun! Much more festive then the Holly Leaves or single Christmas Tree Balls they've had the last few years. I'm not sure which I'll choose, but right now I'm leaning in a half and half direction. Both will be available on October 13th.
The Holy Family stamp celebrates Christmas
with a scene from the Nativity story that reminds us of the joys of the
season: family, togetherness, and the birth of the baby Jesus. It
continues the U.S. Postal Service’s tradition of issuing beautiful and
timeless Christmas stamps and will be a treasured addition to cards and
letters sent during this season of goodwill and sharing. Working together, art director William J. Gicker, designer Greg
Breeding, and artist Nancy Stahl created an evocative new image of the
Holy Family. The stamp illustration shows Joseph leading a donkey that
carries Mary and Jesus, guided by a star shining in the twilight of a
desert sky.
These Santa and Sleigh stamps portray Santa Claus flying through the air in
his sleigh. With a cargo of toys and gifts produced in his workshop by
elves, he lands on the rooftop of house after house and slides down the
chimney to leave presents for girls and boys of all ages. That’s our
story, and we’re sticking to it. Santa’s annual journey is joyfully captured in this block of four
holiday stamps, with two rows of two stamps each presenting a “classic”
image of Santa and his reindeer circling around snow-covered rooftops. Though his roots go much further back, the modern Santa Claus, the
giver of gifts, captured the American imagination in the Revolutionary
War era. At that time, understandably critical of English traditions,
people looked to the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas for cultural cues and
seasonal inspiration. Since then, Santa has become more popular, and is
today beloved by millions of children who write him letters, track his
progress on the Internet, and leave him milk and cookies as tokens of
their esteem. To their cards and letters and yours, these stamps will add a dash of
holiday merriment. Double-check your mailing list so you don’t forget
anyone nice! Artist Paul Rogers worked with art director Howard Paine to create
this block of four holiday stamps. These computer-generated images were
originally drawn in pencil on paper.
A Cherry on Top has another great holiday line by Basic Grey. This Christmas/Winter Line is called Nordic Holiday. Some of the papers look like a comfy sweater. I think it's great for the Christmas and Winter in general. Here are some of the patterns.
