Feels Like The First Time: Holidays at Disneyland

Last weekend we were invited to experience Holidays at Disneyland, where Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure are transformed for the holidays. We've been lucky enough to have been guests at the park during this magical time before, but as I've mentioned my kids never, ever get tired of it and squeal at the spectacle as if it's their first time. If only they could bottle that emotion and apply it chores – I'd love to see that enthusiasm when I ask them to empty the dishwasher.

So if my girls get that excited after seeing it a few times, imagine how fun it was this trip when we took one of my daughter's friends for his first ever trip to Disneyland. I KNOW. My older daughter couldn't make it, so it was my 13-year-old, her BFF (another Disneyland veteran) and their first-timer friend on this trip. Seeing someone take their first Disneyland adventure is exciting – it was like watching one of my babies take their first steps, except this time I didn't cry and scream at anyone to grab a camera. Well, maybe only a few times.

Who doesn't get goosebumps when you walk in and see the giant Christmas tree on Main Street? I tried to get a picture of all the kids in front of it, but they had already taken off running to the Haunted Mansion. Which of course has been given a Christmas makeover and is now Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas with Jack Skellington and his crew. The first-timer (for lack of a better moniker) loved this one, although he admitted it wasn't as scary as he thought it was going to be. I told him the real terror was coming up, when I left him alone with the two 13-year-old girls and I took off to get some dinner. (At the Wine Country Trattoria, of course.)

Taking his first ride on It's A Small World would have been special enough during any other time of the year, but it was that much more enchanting when the ride has been transformed for the holidays. Although, being a 13-year-old boy, he wasn't going to get as excited about this ride as *some of us*. But I know he was screaming inside.

I don't think anything sums up the magic that is Disneyland like Sleeping Beauty's Castle, and especially when it's lit up for the holidays. The three of them just stood and stared at this for awhile, and you now it's mesmerizing when it holds the attention of three teenagers and they're oblivious to the cart full of churros and Cokes just a few feet away.

The Believe In Holiday Magic fireworks are one of my favorite parts of the day, but unfortunately they were cancelled on this night because of the severe winds we'd been experiencing for a few days. They did go on with the famous snowfall on Main Street, though, and I got to see the excitement from my place in the line at the coffee cart. (There is something so ironic and metaphoric about that last sentence, my life going by as I wait to buy yet another cup of coffee. Oprah, call me please.)

Aside from some of the rides being transformed for the holidays, the entire park is decorated and the shops are stocked with seasonal items. My daughters wear their Santa hats with the Mickey ears every Christmas – like their time at Disneyland, they seem new every year. As for the first timer - he declared his first trip to the Magic Kingdom "THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" I know he meant it, too.


Holidays At Disneyland will be going on until January 8, 2012 – check the website for park hours and special activities.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Tweet Pin It

Tranquilli Regali Jewelry: Not Your Momma's Keepsakes

When my oldest daughter was born, a friend's aunt gave me a 'mother's locket.' It was a gold-plated, oval-shaped pendant with 'MOM' spelled out in curlique letters and small pearls surrounding a space to put a photo of my baby. It was a keepsake of the miraculous birth of my first child.

It was the ugliest thing I had ever seen.

Of course I never told her that, and I did keep the pendant. In a drawer.

Which is why I was so excited when my friend Michele came out with her own line of jewelry, Tranquilli Regali, and among them keepsake items that I would actually wear. In fact, she'll be making me one using a photo of my two daughters, now 12 and 14, but she told me first she needs a photo of the two of them really close together. After she said that we both just laughed and laughed and realized how impossible that would be and I told her she would just have to make me two separate pendants.

I've known Michele for a long time. Her husband and mine have known each other since high school and are in a band together, and they were one of the first of my husband's friends I met when we were dating. Obviously he ignored their advice to 'get out while you still can.'

Michele spent 21 years at Disney in event planning before starting her own jewelry line, and moms everywhere should breath a sigh of relief – keepsake jewelry that you can actually wear.

Here's her business in a nutshell, in her own words:

As a mom, I always found it hard to find custom personal jewelry pieces that represented my children. It was rare to find anything other than engraved pieces, and I could never find jewelry that would incorporate their photo. So after all these years of purchasing overpriced, mediocre personalized jewelry, I decided to start my own line. School spirit is huge at my son's school among the parents, so in the line I also incorporated custom pendants and key chains with the school crest, the student's sport and jersey number.

I've had a love affair with jewelry most of my life. My maternal grandmother loved jewelry and always wore a lot of lovely pieces. Even as she got older, she was always decked out in her jewels. To this day I still think of her whenever I hear the tinkle of a charm bracelet .

The unusual, hard to remember name: 'Tranquilli' Regali Fatti a Mano, came from 'Tranquilli', my maiden name, and 'Regali fatti a mano' meaning 'Handmade Presents' in Italian. 

But mom keepsake jewelry doesn't make up the entire line – there are some beautiful vintage-inspired pieces and as she mentioned, a line of pieces to show your school spirit. She even has – and I can hear some of my friends squealing now - keepsakes of your pet. Me, I refuse to get a piece of jewelry with a photo of my cat until the lazy bum learns how to bury his own poop.

The holidays are fast approaching, so check out Tranquilli Regali and give your friends the gift that keeps on giving. And that won't end up in a drawer. Also, place your order in October and a portion of your purchase will go to Breast Cancer Research.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tweet Pin It

The Holiday Celebration at Disneyland Saved My Family From A Day Of Angst

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving we were invited to Disneyland for the Holiday Celebration for Parent Bloggers. I know it sounds like a crazy time to go, but it actually worked in my favor since it prevented me from sitting around and obsessing about the 30 people that would be coming over to my house for turkey and the eight-pounds of mashed potatoes I was going to have to prepare.

Eight hours spent having fun instead of vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, barking at the kids to clean their room and nagging my husband to clean off the patio! I know they all missed that holiday tradition, but I got plenty of yelling in on Thanksgiving eve. Everyone wins!

This is our favorite time of year to go to Disneyland. Sure it's a little crowded, but it's worth it to see all the beautiful decorations and it really gets me into the holiday spirit. It's hard not to be festive when you're standing in front of a thousand-foot tree. This one is right at the entrance to Main Street, and there are tons of people in front of it posing and taking photos for their holiday cards. I tried to get my daughters to pose for one but they wouldn't, so I took a picture of some family from Iowa and they'll be on our card this year. I'm sure they won't mind.



Also, check out Sleeping Beauty's Castle that's all decked out for the holidays. It's even more breathtaking in person, and the best part is it's open for the walkthrough. This was the first time my daughters had been through it - the last time we were there the line was too long. Priceless Disneyland Tip That Makes Me Sound Like An Expert: Go towards the end of the evening, when Fantasyland seems to clear out.



We got a late start, mainly because we were exhausted from a party we threw at our house the night before. Have I told you we're insane? We like to plan multiple events, back-to-back, just to see if any of us will collapse from the frenzy. But it all worked out, because we had just enough time to ride a few rides before we headed on over to the banquet for the wonderful party the Disneyland people had put together for all of us. There was lots of amazing food, but I had to take a picture of the dessert tray. I'm not really even a big dessert fan, but I was fixated on these. After I took this picture I went over to the buffet table and had a huge slab of roast beef. I didn't take a picture of that.



I finally got to meet Allegra Gonzalez and her three beautiful daughters, the winners of my Disneyland VIP giveaway. A friend of mine knows Allegra, and she told me she knew we'd along and she was right. They're a great family, and it was good for me to see how cool, calm and collected someone with three teenagers can be - Allegra has 13-year-old twins and a 15-year-old. It gave me hope for my future after all.



One of the things my 11-year-old was the most excited about was a demonstration put on by Disneyland's pastry chef. I'm not kidding - she had talked about it ever since we got the invitation, and she probably would have gladly missed going into the park if that pastry demo had gone on all night. So you can imagine how excited she was when the chef invited her onstage to help make a yule log! Forget the Jonas Brothers - she was helping a real live pastry chef roll out dough. I'm sure this is how Rachael Ray got her start.



My girls were also treated to complimentary hair-makeovers at Studio 365. Twenty-five minutes, three packets of extensions and several gallons of hairspray later, they came out with truly glamorous, and big, hair. I had to break the news to them that not in a million years would I ever be able to re-create these hairstyles:



And what Disneyland visit would be complete without a ride on It's A Small World? It's been decorated inside and out for the holidays. Honestly, I never get tired of this ride, even though my girls insist it's only because it's air conditioned and I get to sit down for an extended period of time. Maybe so, but I seem to remember us all humming the theme song for the rest of the night.



The evening ended with one of Disneyland's impressive signature fireworks displays, and then 'snow' falling on Main Street as White Christmas played. What an awesome day. Thanks to Disneyland for treating my family and our guests to a magical, angst-free day! I didn't think once about those mashed potatoes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: disneyland | california adventure | holidays at disneyland | parent bloggers event disneyland

Tweet Pin It

Hello Friend! Fresh & Easy On My Doorstep

A couple of weeks ago I came home from running errands and found two big boxes on my doorstep. I've mentioned before about my paranoia and how I once mistook a package from Apple for an explosive device sent to me by an evil entity, so you can imagine my suspicion at discovering two mysterious parcels waiting for me. I had my iPhone at the ready, prepared to call 911 at a moment's notice. Actually, I was going to use my Bomb Diffuser 2.1. Yes, there's an app for that.

So you can imagine how relieved I was to discover the two boxes were actually from Fresh & Easy - they had come in peace, and were not an attempt on my life. I love it when my day starts off with a positive.

The nice people at Fresh & Easy had put together a sampling of some of their holiday products for me to try, so I changed out of my bullet-proof vest, called off the bomb-sniffing dogs and got down to business. Here are a few of my favorites:

Cranberry and Nut Popcorn Clusters - I'm not a huge fan of caramel corn. To me, most of it tastes like Cracker Jack but without the benefit of the toy. But this stuff has me hooked, probably because it's not as sticky-sweet as most others I've tried and the dried cranberries and nuts give it a nice twist. I wouldn't mind finding a toy buried at the bottom of the cylinder, though.





Gourmet Belgian Biscuit Collection - Somehow, calling these cookies 'biscuits' make them sound so much more civilized. And less fattening. And easier to eat several of them without getting that gluttonous, I-ate-too-many-cookies feeling. These are very good, and a nice accompaniment to my late-afternoon cappuccino and also a nice addition to my girls' lunchboxes. Although they call them cookies, not biscuits.




Chocolate Mint Thins - Okay, I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I bit into one of these and discovered they were not similar to the Girls Scout's Thin Mints like I was expecting. Instead of a minty wafer inside, they have a minty cream - think of a thin version of a Junior Mint. But leave it to the kids to save the day - my youngest sandwiched one of these between two graham crackers and created the most delicious little sandwich cookie invention, ever. They even came up with a name for it - the Minty S'More. I didn't have the heart to tell them it sounded like a stripper name.

I also received a nice bottle of Ogio Prosecco Spumante (champagne to you and me) that I gave away as a gift. The packages arrived shortly before we were leaving to see my nephew perform in a college production of Sweeney Todd, so I thought this would make the perfect after-performance gift. I forgot the campus was dry, though, which would explain why he looked in the bag and said, "Thanks for the cookies!" before hiding it under his coat. I'll have to ask him what he thought of the Prosecco - I just hope he didn't drink it out of a beer bong.


I loved getting the holiday gifts, but I do my everyday shopping at Fresh & Easy, too. Here are my staples I pick up there regularly:

1. Parmesan and Garlic Pita Chips - My 13-year-old's favorite. Since going vegetarian, she often asks for these, some hummus and cut-up veggies in her lunch. It doesn't get any easier than that.
   
2. Maple Pecan Granola Clusters - The. Best. Granola. Ever. Even for a non-granola person like me. I use mine to top my yogurt and my 11-year-old eats it straight out of the bag, like potato chips.
   
3. Thick Sliced Bacon -BACON! THICK SLICES OF IT! That is all.
   
4. Hummus - See #1.
   
5. Fresh Mozzarella - I slice it up and use it to top roma tomatoes and basil for our favorite caprese salad. But I also eat it straight out of the carton, like potato chips. I'm sure you see the theme here.
   
6. Restaurant Style Salsa - We eat chips and salsa at some point almost every day. Sometimes we'll go through two containers of this in a week. They call it restaurant-style, but I think it tastes even fresher than what you'll find in some restaurants. You know the ones.

I have to confess that ever since Fresh & Easy came on the scene I've been shopping less and less at Trader Joes. I suspect this will continue to be true through the holidays, since around this time the parking lot at Trader Joes gets pretty heated and intense, and I have no desire to die for a box of organic couscous. Also, the Fresh & Easy website has coupons ($6 off a $30 purchase!) and who doesn't want to save a few bucks during the holidays? Hey, those iPhone apps aren't going to buy themselves.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: fresh and easy supermarket | holiday gifts | trader joes | what is up with the trader joes parking lot

Tweet Pin It

EA Games Winter Gaming Wonderland: Our First Holiday Party of the Year!

A few weeks ago my daughters and I went to the EA Games Winter Gaming Wonderland event. This was the first holiday-themed party we were invited to, so the excitement level was high. Let's face it - once you have kids, the holidays and video games go hand-in-hand. Like juice boxes and pretzels. Know what else goes hand-in-hand once you have kids? Room cleaning and whining. Just thought I'd get that in there.

EA Games throws a great party - besides the huge room filled with numerous gaming stations and big screens, they have things to make the adults happy, too. Like food catered by Chipotle.



While my daughters and their friends battled each other in Harry Potter and Hasbro Family Game Night 2, I got to nosh on some tortilla chips and killer carnitas that I didn't have to cook. That never happens at home I can tell you that.

My youngest daughter and her friend spent almost the entire night playing Charm Girls Club, and after they were worn out they started hanging around the sno-cone cart.



A LOT. I told them twenty sno-cones was going to freeze their stomach solid and that seemed to scare them away for awhile. But then they drank a bunch of hot chocolate, which they argued had thawed their stomachs enough for more sno-cones. Damn them and their science!

The girls even made the local news that night, which was a huge thrill for everyone. Let's just say my youngest has learned the fine art of following the camera crew around and inserting herself into the shot. Is there a video game for that?

A couple of other games my girls and their friends liked were Littlest Pet Shop Friends and The Sims 3. I tried a little Harry Potter but it was too hard to play while balancing a burrito and a cup of coffee, and my daughter said I had to choose between eating and gaming. I told her that sustenance is necessary for skill, thereby throwing that science right back at them!

I lost the game, but I still had my awesome burrito. Everybody wins!

Thanks to EA Games for kicking off our holidays with a great event!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: ea games | chipotle | harry potter for wii | charm girls club

Tweet Pin It

Disneyland VIP Trip Finalists!

Thanks to everyone for your entries! Here are the five finalists - I will now leave it up to the all-powerful random.org to pick a winner tonight, and will announce the winner on my blog tomorrow morning. (Seriously, you all deserve to win so I'm glad it's not up to me!)


1) Scott, Christine and Malia Goldman
"Together we can show the world (well at the least the world within the Disneyland Resort gates) that half-Asian kids and their parents can do wholesome activities together that do not involve being launched in a Helium balloon."


2) Allegra, Casiana, Natalie, and Emma Gonzalez
"We have never been to Disneyland as a family...A day free from cares and being together having fun would do us a world of good. We could really use a day at the “Happiest Place on Earth.”


3) Elise Crane Derby & Family
I have just completed a week locked in the house with a sick kid, with what may or may not be swine flu. All I have to look forward to is sleeping through the night...So please please please pick us. World hunger be damned!"


4) Kimberly Kauer & Family
"If lucky enough to be picked, we'll laugh at your jokes and won't embarrass you by walking around while eating those giant turkey legs (unless you are into those, then we'll tell you that the turkey leg look works for you)"


5) Benjamin Chory and his mom and dad
"I really want to win the tickets to Disneyland. I really love Disneyland so much. I will be really good at the party."

Tweet Pin It

Get Out Your Cameras: I'm Giving Away 4 VIP Passes To Disneyland.

DEADLINE EXTENDED! You now have until 11:59pm on Wednesday, October 28 to submit your entries!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a cool VIP trip I took to Disneyland where my family and I got to check out all of the Halloween attractions and activities going on at the park. Well, I must have made a really good impression because the people at Disneyland have invited me to another event on Saturday, November 21 to preview their Holiday Celebration.

And the best part? I get to invite one of my readers and their family (or friends) to come along.

What you'll win: Four passes to Disneyland plus a special holiday party and VIP activities. Also, you'll be hanging out with me and my family all day but don't let that dissuade you - just try and concentrate on the good things.

Here's four easy steps to enter:

1) Take a holiday picture of your family. If you don't have one, use an old one. If you don't have an old one, ask some strangers that look like you if you can use theirs (JUST KIDDING.) Make it creative! (However - be safe. This isn't Jackass, so no shots of your kids in red pajamas running through the snow with their hair on fire.)

And remember - it doesn't have to be Santa and candy canes. I'm an equal opportunity blog open to all sorts of holidays - Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah - I think there's even one where the plushie fetishists celebrate the birth of Elmo.

Also - maybe you don't want to bring your family. Maybe you want to bring along three friends, or three co-workers, or three strangers you've just met in line at Costco. If so, include them in your photo. Just remember - you have to spend the entire day with them, so at least make sure they aren't going to steal your wallet. Or your boyfriend.

2) Write a brief paragraph (300 words or less) why you should be chosen to win the Disneyland giveaway. Again, get creative! But stay real. Alluding to Nostradamus predicting your win or stories of crazy mole people stealing all your Christmas gifts will get you disqualified immediately, as will any entry containing the sentence, "...and that's how winning the trip to Disneyland will help me end world hunger."

3) Join the Sweatpantsmom Fan Page on Facebook. It's easy! Just click here and click on 'Become a Fan.'

OR

If you're not on Facebook, don't panic - just subscribe to my blog instead. Also, easy! Enter your email address in that little window to the left and hit 'Subscribe.'

OR..do both if you'd like. Who am I to stop compulsion?

4) Send me your photo and your paragraph. Email it, along with your full name, email address and blog url (if you have one) to sweatpantsmom.holiday@yahoo.com by 11:59pm PST on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Please put your full name in the subject line. No 'anonymous' entries will be accepted.

(Yes, I know this doesn't give you much time to enter but I kept putting this off and forgot that the nice people at Disneyland needed the winner's name by October 27. So shoot me. But remember - if you shoot me, no one wins. In fact, if you shoot me, the terrorists might win.)

Here's the nitty gritty:

1) You don't have to be a Southern California resident to enter, but the winner and their guests must provide their own transportation to and from the park, plus arrange their own accommodations. You will receive a one-day parking pass as part of your prize package.

2) The winner and their guests must attend the actual event and be willing to remain with the group for the day/evening of November 21.

3) Entrants must consent to having their photos posted on Views From The Pants blog. The winner and their guests must give their consent to be photographed and/or filmed at the event by Disneyland Press Relations and/or me, and I don't carry any elaborate lighting or 'youth' gels with me.

4) This giveaway is non-transferable and may not be given, sold or donated to another party. In other words, don't try and give your tickets to the Heene family.

5) Leaving a comment on this blog does not count as an entry. You must complete all four steps above in order to be entered in the contest.

Once I have all your entries, I'm going to sit down with my kids, my husband and my cat and pick five finalists. Then I'm going to leave it up to random.org to pick the final winner. I'll post the winner on Tuesday, October 27.

If you have any questions, you can ask it in comments here or email me prior to sending in your entry at sweatpantsmom.holiday@yahoo.com.

Good luck! And hurry up and enter!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: disneyland holiday celebration | disneyland vip giveaway | disneyland blogger giveaway | christmas at disneyland

Tweet Pin It

Disney Photo Pass: Leave Your Photo Angst at the Gate

If you're like me, you're always stressing about taking the perfect photo. This is a problem, as I often miss out on having a good time because I'm always worried about getting the light just right, or making sure the shot is framed perfectly. This is probably why my husband banned cameras in the delivery room when our kids were born - I think he knew I would have held up the whole birth entirely until those lights were positioned just so and the doctor and nurses had all brushed their hair.

That's what's so great about Disneyland's new photo service, PhotoPass, which we just used on our last trip to Disneyland. Have your photo taken by one of the PhotoPass photographers in various locations all around the park, and he'll give you a card that's linked to your photos online. (There's no charge, and you are not obligated to buy any of the photos.) Create an account on the Disney PhotoPass website where you can view and share your photos, order prints or create keepsake items like calendars or mugs. You can also upload photos of your own - my kids have forbid me to post any photos of them online, so to create this an animated snowglobe greeting I used one of our cat Milkshake since he doesn't get to tell me what to do. Unfortunately the finished product can't be embedded but you can view the actual flash version, complete with falling snow, by clicking on this link.

Make your own snowglobe here. You don't have to have a PhotoPass card - just create an account and upload your own photo of your cat or other cooperative family member.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: disneyland | disney photopass | disney snowglobe

Tweet Pin It

HP's Girls' Night Out Relieved My Stress AND Made Me Crafty, Too

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to an amazing event: HP's Girls' Night Out. To say that this invitation came just in the nick of time is an understatement; I was working way too much, and having anxiety attacks just thinking about everything I had to get done for the upcoming holidays. I wasn't really sure what this whole Girls Night Out was about, but to be perfectly honest they could have just invited me over to sit in a dark room and served me warm beer and I would have been overjoyed.

But they had much, much more in store for all of us. The evening started with some food and some good wine, and then an instructional talk by my friend, the amazing Tracey Clark who showed us how to take a decent photograph of our kids without cussing or throwing things, and then turn it into an unforgettable holiday card. Then came a truly moving presentation by Jen Lemen, who showed us how a chance encounter in a park changed her life, and inspired all of us to give of ourselves this holiday season. (I really wished I had brought some tissues, and I apologize to the woman sitting next to me whose sleeve I had to use.)

After that we broke into small groups and headed to several different craft areas, where we could make various gifts ranging from a mini-scrapbook to beautiful gift card boxes to customized food gift labels. Let me interject here by saying that I am not a crafty person. Sure I worked as an art director for most of my life, but when faced with a glue stick and a bolt of ribbon it may as well be a spark plug and a jar of mustard - I have absolutely no idea how they go together. But lucky for me they had people there to help us, and also detailed instructions with every project. They had all the materials there for us to use, but the best part is that these projects and more can be downloaded from the HP website, absolutely free. I would say that in these tough economic times, this is a great way to make beautiful, handmade gifts that are not only more personal than that fruit cake you were thinking of buying, but way cheaper.

Here are links to some of the HP Holiday projects you can make:

Gift Card Boxes
Mini Scrapbook
3D Holiday Ornaments
Holiday Cards
Labels for Homemade Treats
Gift Tags and Stickers

(But don't take my word for it. Check out HP's Creative Studio website to see all the things you can make yourself. )

Here's the kicker: Not only did this evening relieve my stress, it made me temporarily insane and gave me the crazy idea to have my own crafty-but-not-so-crafty get-together during the busy holiday season. But I think it will be just the thing for some of my harried, overworked girlfriends: I'm going to invite a few of them over, mix up a pitcher of cosmos, set out some materials I've downloaded from the HP site and we're going to get down and get crafty. Sure, there'll be those among us using our X-acto knives only as swizzle sticks and I expect at least one person will pull out their credit card bill and burst into tears, but I think everyone will be inspired and will walk away with at least a few homemade gifts. And a lot less stress.

Want to check a few more things off your holiday gift list? Check out my main blog and leave a comment there to enter an amazing giveaway, where you can win a gift bag filled with Nintendo DS and XBox 360 games!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thanks to Karen Cage for a wonderful, inspirational, stress-busting evening!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: hp girls' night out | hp creative studio | holiday gifts on a budget | homemade gifts

Tweet Pin It

Let Me Scare You By Mentioning Christmas

I'm not one of those crazies that starts shopping for Christmas gifts in October (my apologies to all you crazies who shop for Christmas gifts in October.)

I am, in fact, one of those crazies that starts shopping for Christmas gifts on December 21st.

But I'm determined to cross at least one thing off of my list early this year: my holiday cards. I'm getting a little tired of waiting until the last minute and then finally getting them in the mail on December 26th. Because then I usually have to make up an elaborate story to explain why my cards are late, about how our local post office got robbed and the only thing they stole were my cards and then the Postal Police discovered them in the trunk of an abandoned Geo.

I've decided to do small booklets like the ones I made of the girls' trip to AnimeExpo, only this time they'll be made up of family photos and some drawings. If you haven't tried out the HP Photo Creations kiosk at Longs Drugs, you should check it out; it's the first in-store photo processing thingie that I've tried and I'm totally hooked. Plus, you can shop for sodas and tampons while you wait for your order to be processed.

If you want to try it out, I've got a downloadable coupon here for a buy-one-get-one free calendar, courtesy of Maria Bailey at BlueSuitMom. It would make a great gift. And it's already October, so all you crazies can start your holiday shopping now.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tags: hp photo creations | christmas shopping | holiday cards | holiday gifts

Tweet Pin It