North Pole Party

Good Wednesday morning!

The Gallery Pic is from last night's Christmas Talent Show at the high school. It takes a lot of guts to stand up in front of your peers and sing. I do want to give kudos to the audience. They were excellent... to every single act. I love it when kids have fun and are supportive of each other! Love it!

ANNOUNCEMENT! ANNOUNCEMENT! ANNOUNCEMENT! - Two days after I announced the Guestbooker at the bottom of my page was WORKING PROPERLY, it broke! Yep! BROKE!

Anyone else who wants to enter the Christmas Dishrag Contest (yes, the name is going to stay the same) must let me know via Facebook, e-mail (mfaulkner1306@charter.net) or just come by the house and throw a rock through the window. I'll get the message!

You can still leave one comment per day. (If you leave four comments, your name goes in the bowl FOUR TIMES.)

I will draw the winner next Friday morning, December 9!

What is the prize? What is the prize?

I knew you would ask. I will be giving away a BEAUTIFUL, HOMEMADE Christmas Dishrag... PLUS, a bottle of Bath and Body Works Vanilla Bean Noel Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap. (See picture below.)

Hurry up, Guys! There's only two days left to enter... and you know you want that dishrag!

RANDOMNESS #1 - I don't know about you, but I LOVE to see the Neiman-Marcus Most Expensive Christmas Gift List each year. It just boggles this simple 50 year-old chick's mind.

I'm going to share two a day the next five blog posts. They are, in a word, unbelievable!

1. His and Hers 2011 Dancing Fountains
Price - ONLY $1,000,000

From 1983, WET has been a pioneer in the field of designer fountains, and the best example is perhaps the DUBAI Fountain, the largest of its kind in the world.

They have managed to create a million dollar version of their latest creation... a dancing fountain with robotic features. The special nozzles spray water in such a fashion it looks like a couple dancing to the finest of western art forms, sometimes as a couple or even as dance rivals. They will be enchanting you with their bows, twirls, whirls and sweeps with grace barely seen anywhere else. The charitable aspect of this sale includes the donation of $10,000 to the WATER.ORG organization, which works providing clean potable water to developing countries around the world.

2. International Flower Show Tour
Price - $420,000

Coming March 2012, each guest along with 9 companions will be on the special tour vacation of the exotic destinations around Europe to witness some of the world’s finest flowers and sustainable horticulture.

With the trip beginning in Merges, Switzerland, one can witness 300 tulip varieties with the backdrop of Lake Geneva, and later relax at the luxurious Hotel Laussane Palace & Spa. After that, the next destination will be Athens, Greece where the guests will witness the Kifisia Flower Show of more than 2,000 varieties of plants and flowers from around the world.

Next in line is Avignon, France, where the Altera Rosa Festival is held to showcase 30 new rose varities each year. Then off to London, where the Chelsea Flower Show will be on display. The illustrations will suggest how traditional and ancient horticulture designs can be blended with one another.

Mind you, you will stay three days and two nights at each destination, with gourmet meals, private transportation and concierge service. The charitable part of the vacation is the $5,000 donation towards the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, which promotes sustainable horticulture.

This is only the beginning! I'm giving Mikie the list in its entirety, but he may have to get me two things because it's just so hard to choose!

RANDOMNESS #2 - I know you're wondering about a couple of things, so I'll just answer those questions here and now.

1. "How many Christmas Cards did you get yesterday, Enchanting Belinda?"

I'm glad you asked. I received three. That brings my grand total up to SIX cards on December 6. Things are looking up! Only 74 more to go!

2. "You say you want 80 cards this year. Do YOU send out 80 Christmas cards, and if so, where is mine?"

I am sending out about 125 cards this year. (The list gets a little bigger every year. Mike is thrilled, I tell you!) I ordered my cards from Shutterfly, and they arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I addressed 30 last night, and those will be mailed today. (I don't wait until I finish every card before I mail. I send them out as I go along!) Your card will be in your mailbox within a week!

3. "It's Wednesday, and you haven't said one word about Pinterest. What's going on? Are you one of those people creating boards, but NOT doing anything about it?"

As a matter of fact, I am "Pinteresting" today. I'm doing a little Christmas project involving Christmas ornaments, magnetic strips and a refrigerator. Hopefully, a picture will be forthcoming. (I'm also planning on making the Nutella cookies in the next day or so. I'll let you know how those turn out!)

What? No more questions. That's okay. I need to finish this up and start addressing more Christmas Cards!

Wednesday Wisdom

"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." Oren Arnold

"Christmas is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." Dale Evans

"The only blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart."
Helen Keller

North Pole Party

I don't usually do this, but this party is too good to not share. However, you need to SEE the decorations and other ideas...

I want you to go to www.kellehampton.com and scroll down, down, down to the post entitled "Party at the North Pole" dated December 3.

Just take it ALL IN! It is so good, so simple, so fun and so perfect if you have little ones.

WARNING! - This post was so good, it even showed up on Pinterest the day it was posted! Not bad!

Have a holly, jolly Wednesday! It's Encouraging Wednesday, so make a list and start calling, texting or e-mailing people who need a special word today. It may be the "happiest season of all," but so many are hurting. Be sure and reach out to someone TODAY! It will be time well spent.

I'll be back in the morning with a lot of Blog Linkage, a Date, Randomness and so much more.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda