Christmas is almost here and most of us are already preparing. Setting up the decorations, shopping, planning parties, and just getting in the Spirit of the Holidays. I love this time of the year so much that I start planning for Christmas the day after Halloween. I know, I’m one of those holiday freaks. If I could have my house like The Griswold’s, from The Christmas Vacation, I would. But I made a promise to my neighbors I would never take it that far.

In order for me to get in the spirit of the Holidays and start all the preparations, I start listening to Holiday Music, literally the day after Halloween. I can’t get enough of it. So I wanted to share with you my 15 favorite Holiday Soundtracks. I would’ve added like 50 more but I had to cut it off at some point. There are so many choices out there that it’s hard to pick my absolute favorites, but I did my best. This list includes some of my favorites from the past and some new ones just released this year. I hope that you’ll check some of these out and that they will become some of your favorites as well. You can get these at Amazon, iTunes, or your local Walmart or Target.

New Releases This Year:

1. What A Night! A Christmas Album by Harry Connick Jr.

Image Source: Amazon.com

2. A Swingin’ Christmas by Tony Bennett

Image Source: Amazon.com

3. A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas by Kristin Chenoweth

Image Source: Amazon.com

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I’ll admit, I was tempted to title this post “These Boots Are Made For Walkin”, but I respect my readers too much to subject you to the expected. That’s why I am sharing a new site with you! Originally I was going to list boots from several sites, but found so many I loved from YOOX. It’s a fabulous site with great prices. Beyond boots they have clothing, jewelry, handbags and shoes all for women, kids and men. You can search by price, color, and size. When you click on an item you can read details and zoom in to view a close up. Also pay attention to changing the color options and size of each product. I’m excited about boots right now for winter so I went through and picked a few of my favorite finds under $200. I actually have the Fornarina Snakeskin boots and I love them! You can wear them tall or scrunch them. Be sure and checkout their fall-winter sale section for savings up to 40% off!

Cafe'Noir

Bruno Premi

Pompili

Fornarina 2

Bruno Premi

Links: Cafe’Noir-$185, Bruno Premi-$149, Pompili-$174, Fornarina-$164, Bruno Premi-$160

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Thanksgiving is almost here. Which means there’s a lot of planning and preparing that needs to be done. With all that work, it helps to have some good kitchen tools. So I chose six of my favorite must haves to help prepare with the Thanksgiving feast. I found my items at Williams-Sonoma. Most of the following items are Williams-Sonoma exclusives, and can be purchased at their store or online. You can also shop around and find similar items at places, such as Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, or Macy’s.

Turkey Roaster

The top of my List would have to be the All-Clad Stainless Steel Roaster with Rack. What I love about this Roaster is that it is Stainless Steel for easy cleaning. It has very large sides, it’s deep so that reduces splattering. Then the handles which help for easy lifting. Wonderful!

Retails for: $159.95 - $199.95

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CHOOSE YOUR CHARITY, THESE ARE SOME OF MY FAVE AND WHY.

With Thanksgiving and holidays approaching, this is the time of year where people reach out in a spirit of good will to each other. I have been reflecting on some charities that I have been involved in that not only do change the world but have changed me for the better in one way or another. I share these with you in case you may wish to try some of them and see if they might enrich your life as much as they have mine. There are millions of charities in the world but I am recommending the following right now. The criteria is I that have had to have some personal involvement with them and I have seen personally how much they can help and change people’s lives. I hope that if you get involved with any of these fine organizations that you will be uplifted also as you see how much they enrich both yours and others lives.

Special Olympics This was probably one of my most favorite organizations. It made me believe in a better world, in the best of people and in a brighter future. I have never worked with people who were so warm, positive and inspiring. I worked both as a coach (power lifting) and later as a Director for the Winter Games. I was always in awe at the childlike innocence, purity and joy of the athletes. I remember after an athlete would do a few sets of weights, he’d put them down and excitedly go”Did you see me? Didn’t I do well? I did a super job, teacher! Hey, did the rest of you guys see-I did perfect!” Everyone would start high- fiving each other. Usually the same enthusiasm was shown irregardless of how good or bad they had been-they were so proud of their effort. Then their friends would try. The whole time they would yell encouragements to each other and whenever someone completed an effort everyone would start cheering and jumping up and bragging to each other about how good they were. I can’t ever remember any mean-spiritedness or negative outbursts ever to anyone. I was so happy to see people celebrate for everything that they or their friend did-even an opposing team. They genuinely loved themselves and each other and were proud of the attempts made by anyone. I only wish everyone could display that sportsmanship and goodwill to others-it certainly is heartwarming. If I can find the video of Special Olympic race and post it here, I will. That is their whole spirit and it always made it a joy and honor to work with them. I aspire to take such pride in my efforts-even when I fail. If I can ever emulate the genuine love and joy that they have for the success of their fellowmen, I would consider myself blessed. more…

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I was at the store and saw some candle holders and thought how clever it would be to instead of put candles into the candle holders, use them instead as utensil holders. I set them next to my stove and filled them with spatulas, whisks and spoons. What a great idea! Then when I am sick of them in my kitchen I can use them for their intended purpose and put candles in them. Decorating is all about being creative. Unique touches show off your personality.

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We all have those times in our lives when we are so overwhelmed with everyday life, we just can’t imagine when and how things will calm down. That is my current status, since ummmm last month! Every week, more and more things keep happening that contribute to more chaos! I don’t see an end. There are kids to care for, husband to tend to, business to be done, cleaning to do, errands to run, mouths to feed, friends to see and oh, take care of myself! I am so stressed that I actually went out the other day for a few hours in flip flops (nothing wrong with that, right?). I took the kids from here to there, talked to many people, and then after a few hours looked down at my feet and realized I was wearing one sparkly flip flop that was mine and one plain black flip flop that was my husband’s, and it was several sizes larger than the other one! I cringed when I realized that I had been walking around like that for hours! What did people think?

I remember having days when I would forget to wear a bra to school or wear my clothes inside out. Oh, and I have had several times where I get so caught up in getting the kids ready in the morning, that I forget to put mascara on. I put all the other makeup on except for that, and then I don’t realize how bad I look until late at night. And I hate it when I glance at myself in the mirror and realize that my make up has smeared around my eyes, making me look like I have been punched in the face. Then I ask my husband why he didn’t mention that I look like a football player. He often responds, “Oh, I didn’t notice.” Is he serious? Do I really look like that all the time? If I only had more time in my life to slow down and take care of myself…

Life is a crazy ride! But I wouldn’t trade it! I may not get much sleep and I may not make much sense, but I LOVE IT!!!!

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source:http://flickr.com/photos/didmyself/2369566320/

Having a bad day? Read on!

If you are having a bad day, check out the following sources and see if you just don’t feel better!

I want to share some of our favorite sites for you that always make me laugh and cheer me up when I’m having one of those days. They are fun to read. The first one my daughter told me about-

http://failblog.org/

It’s all about mess-ups and is super funny! Great to read when you have a bad day or have your own-mess-up-you won’t feel so down anymore!

Another one is:

http://rejectioncollection.com/

This was started by a writer who wanted a forum where people could share their own rejection letters with each other and laugh together amidst their misery. It’s for writers, artists and they even share some celebrities stories of rejection also.

One of my all time favorites is The Darwin Awards. I can never stop laughing at these. These are annual awards given in honor of some of the stupidest things people have done. They have alot of other funny real life incidents on their site also. It is at:

http://www.darwinawards.com

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credit: www.takegreatpictures.com

I have to share with you one of my favorite and most inspiring books-SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER. If you are into human rights you will love this book! I’m going to share with you quotes from Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi below who more eloquently describe the spirit of the book. However, anytime I want to find examples of the best of humanity and read about heroic human rights defenders who are changing the world-I reach for this book. It always gives me hope from seeing the courage of those who battle injustice and stand up for what’s right no matter what the cost. It also illuminated my eyes to the plight of many people worldwide and the some of the struggles they face that I wasn’t even aware of. A life changing book-one you want to share with everyone. This is a book that I will keep forever!

Speak Truth to Power gives us an insight into the power of the human spirit. It tells us why and how men and women all over the world struggle against oppression, injustice, and cruelty. There is horror but there is also immense hope in this world where dedicated people translate their commitment to human rights into action.
– Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Prize Laureate

You cannot kill an idea, you cannot imprison freedom. The lives of the common women and men in this book, heroes every one, inspire all who believe in liberty and justice. This book is a tribute to the human spirit and proof of the capacity of one person of courage to triumph over overwhelming evil.
-- President Nelson Mandela

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www.answers.com

One of my absolute favorite books is called Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl. It truly is an incredible book that has so many lessons for life. Lessons for living a real life. There is so much to learn about forgiveness, sacrifice, responsibility, and love. Mainly love. Love ties everything else together.
Anyway, I recommend reading this book for many reasons, but also wanted to share one of my favorite excerpts from the book. Frankl survived the holocaust and that is what the book is based on. He is a psychiatrist and analyzes in depth what the prisoners went through. It’s really an interesting and inspiring book. Here he talks about love and the most important thing in his life-his wife. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen or heard love as true or as beautiful as from Frankl.

“…for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth–that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world may still know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way–an honorable way–in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life, I was able to understand the words, “The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.” -Victor Frankl

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credit: www.amazon.com

This story is a humorous, powerful and empowering story about a woman who goes to Afgahnistan to help out. While there she gets involved with helping the local women as she starts a beauty school for them. You’ll laugh as you read about her struggles, cultural misunderstandings and universal women’s issues she discovers. It will make you laugh and cry and come away feeling inspired and in awe of women everywhere. This is one book I couldn’t put down. It is a fast and entertaining read that is empowering also! Let us know how you like it!

The following review was found on amazon.com

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
by Deborah Rodriguez (Author), Kristin Ohlson (Author)
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–In 2002, just months after the Taliban had been driven out of Afghanistan, Rodriguez, a hairdresser from Holland, MI, joined a small nongovernmental aid organization on a mission to the war-torn nation. That visit changed her life. In Kabul, she chronicles her efforts to help establish the country’s first modern beauty school and training salon; along with music and kite-flying, hairdressing had been banned under the previous regime. This memoir offers a glimpse into a world Westerners seldom see–life behind the veil. Rodriguez was entranced with the delightful personalities that emerged when her students removed their burqas behind closed doors, but her book is also a tale of empowerment–both for her and the women. In a city with no mail service, she went door-to-door to recruit students from clandestine beauty shops, and there were constant efforts to shut her down. She had to convince Afghan men to work side by side with her to unpack cartons of supplies donated from the U.S. The students, however, are the heroines of this memoir. Women denied education and seldom allowed to leave their homes found they were able to support themselves and their families. Rodriguez’s experiences will delight readers as she recounts such tales as two friends acting as parents and negotiating a dowry for her marriage to an Afghan man or her students puzzling over a donation of a carton of thongs. Most of all, they will share her admiration for Afghan women’s survival and triumph in chaotic times.–Pat Bangs, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

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