{ Advertising Shmavertising }

While shopping at a popular toy store this month, I noticed various signs along the aisles advertising, "SAVE NOW" by texting a certain code to the toy store's phone app.  I figured why not give it a try? I texted the code only to receive a reply text message from the store saying I had signed up to receive text messages alerting me of sales and promos. Urg! That annoyed me b/c I can't stand junk e-mails and texts. I assumed that at any moment I would receive a text saying, "SAVE NOW" with some sort of Willie Wonka style golden ticket that would allow me to save on my current purchase. No such luck. Zero-Zip-Zilch-Nada. During my shopping experience a sales lady walking down the aisle looks at my basket and says, "It looks like you are spending more than a $100. Would you like a coupon for $10 off today's purchase?" To which I respond with, "Sure. Thanks!" I still had not received a text with some sort of special savings on toys. Nevertheless, after loading the basket with a few more toys, I go to the register feeling super special with my $10 Off Coupon. The clerk rings everything up and gives me my total. I present her with the store coupon and she tells me it doesn't apply to pretty much everything I bought i.e. Barbies, Wii Games, DS Games, Ipod speakers, etc. URG! But, in her best fake Customer Service 101 smile, she says that I can purchase $65 more of the "eligible" toys, i.e. cheezy boring toys my kid will never play with, in order to get my $10 OFF. Okay, this makes ZERO sense to me. I tell her no thanks and she responds with an "Okayyyy" and a sort of huffy sigh as if I am making some huge mistake. I try to remain in the Christmas spirit which means I ignore all this, say thanks, take my purchases, and leave. 

I received my first text from the store's app this evening at 10 p.m.-----a chance to "SAVE NOW after Christmas on all skateboards and gear." The fine print---"Online Purchases Only" Neither of which we need.

Sealed With a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 25 }

"Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!"

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 24 }

It's Christmas Eve! Time has flown and yet, stopping every day to blog a 25 day countdown has helped in making me stop to ponder the moments before they fly by faster than Santa's sleigh. Today has that special sense of sacredness to it. My daughter is in the children's choir at our church. We went to a very special children's Mass this evening in which she and her choir mates sang like cherubim on high. I love how formal and traditional a Christmas Eve Catholic Mass can be with all the priests of our parish, the deacons, alter boys and girls. The blessing of the manger and the Baby Jesus was especially beautiful. Afterwards, we went out to eat and had an awesome Italian dinner of mussels, clams, pasta, hazelnut crusted trout, wine, and dessert. We came home and watched A Christmas Story while Saylor kept an eye on the clock and with each passing minute her anticipation grew. In her new Christmas pajamas, coat, and slippers, she scattered food outside for the reindeer, left her shoe by the front door(a Danish Christmas tradition), and left cookies and milk for Santa. And, as if things couldn't have been more perfectly well timed, far off in the distance, as far as possible, but still visible, a flashing light was slowly moving across the sky at the same exact time that Saylor went outside to search one last time for Santa's sleigh and listen for his sleigh bells. The timing could not have been more perfect! She saw it and she hurried off to bed in a fit of giggles, squealls, and blissful excitement. This is our 5th Christmas away from family and friends in our Texas hometown of Houston. I sometimes get very nostalgic and melancholy during holidays being so far from loved-ones, and yet, at the same time, it is nice creating Christmas traditions and memories with my husband and daughter in our corner of the world.

Merry 24th Day of Christmas!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{25 Days of Christmas---Day 23}

"He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more! And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And then - the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of *ten* Grinches, plus two!" from Dr. Seuss--How The Grinch Stole Christmas. This is my favorite part of the story. Such pretty words and so true too!

Merry 23rd Day of Christmas to You!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 22 }

Warm winter boots. And Ed Hardy ones to boot!

Merry 22nd Day of Christmas to You!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.



{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 21

Paper garland. I cannot think of one time in my childhood when I have made this. I've made tons of things and yet, I don't ever recall making a simple paper garland. Every year I see it in magazines, in my daughter's classrooms, etc. and I always think that it would be enjoyable to do and then time slips away from me (especially in December) and I never get around to making it. So this year, I cut out pretty paper strips, grabbed the stapler, turned on a Christmas movie, sat down with my daughter, and we paper garland the afternoon away.

Merry 21st Day of Christmas to You!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 20 }

Is everyone as baffled as me that Pillow Pets are the most popular toy at the moment? My kid and the kids of my friends all have one on their Christmas list. My daughter asked Santa for the Lady Bug Pillow Pet. How many times while out and about have I told my daughter to use her stuffed animal as a pillow when she gets sleepy in the backseat? Hence, a stuffed animal pillow. Why didn't I think of this concept and sell it for $19.99? The same goes for Snuggies. I've been using my robe as a blanket for years.

Merry 20th Day of Christmas to You!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ For the Teacher }

So I totally snagged this idea from my friend, Julie, over at Jam-n-Jilly.blogspot.com . It's organic sugar infused with perhaps one of the best things on the planet--vanilla beans! Julie is always showcasing such wonderful yet simple ideas on her blog. So when it came time to think of a perfect gift for my daughter's teacher, I remembered her organic vanilla bean sugar post. I really like this and the sugar is perfect for adding to coffee or in Christmas cookie recipes.....plus, anything infused with vanilla bean makes me feel fancy shmancy. This little gift is so easy peezy lemon squeezy. Just get a pretty storage jar, fill with organic sugar, and add vanilla beans (I used 2). Decorate the jar with something pretty and a label. I used a pear-flavored candy cane to top off the jar. My daughter's teacher totally loved it.

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 19 }

Who cares if the snow was man made. Who cares if it was blown over the kids via a snow machine. To my daughter it is SNOW---pure, simple, magical.

Merry 19th Day of Christmas to you.

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.



{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 18 }

Without purposely doing so, it has become a little tradition of ours to go to a Live Nativity every year as part of our Christmas outings. I love live nativities and the re-enactment of the little town of Bethlehem and the night Jesus was born. It is quite endearing to see the surroundings transformed into the town of Bethlehem and people dressed up in period clothing as merchants, beggars, villagers, etc. Of course, at the time of Jesus's birth, the great census was taking place. So we as visitors all get to play the part of distant travelers who have arrived into the City of David to be "counted" for the census.

This little girl, who was part of the live nativity, looked very much the part of a local village child. It is as if she stepped right out of a Pre-Raphaelite painting.

Merry 18th Day of Christmas to You!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.



{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 17 }

One never knows where the Elf on the Shelf will be sitting each morning.......assuming a certain someone has a good memory the night before. Happy 17th Day of Christmas! (I'm so tired, I almost put Happy 17th Birthday.)

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 16 }

Guess what I did this evening?---yup, filled out Christmas cards to drop in the mail manana. I must say, self adhesive stamps are one of the greatest inventions ever. On the flip side, I can't get over the fact that each stamp is 44 cents. Geesh!

My daughter created the artful angel at school. I think it is so adorable and I love the Christmas carol paper she chose for the angel's dress. I think the angel is singing, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm yours!"

I love filling out Christmas cards and recalling old friends and neighbors and loved ones near and far as I flip through my address book. I was also in luck because one of my all time favorite Christmas movies was on this evening---White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney which was perfect for an evening spent filling out Christmas cards. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas with every Christmas card I write........

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.



{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 15 }

It's that time of the year where we are bundled up, heated car seats on, heater cranked up full blast, and Christmas songs

playing on the radio.....and that's all before we have even pulled out of the driveway! Merry 15th Day of Christmas to you!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.



{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 14 }

More than all the ornaments, more than all the pricey Christmas displays, I think the little handmade Christmas arts my daughter brings home from school are the best. I love this little clay nativity of Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus.

Merry 14th Day of Christmas to You!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 13 }

Why didn't any of the 3 pigs make their house out of Gingerbread? These houses are so gosh darn hard to eat. The gingerbread walls are like cement. There is no way the big bad wolf would have blown it down. Merry 13th Day of Christmas to you!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 12 }

A winter's day walk on the beach in the coat that Grandma made.

Merry 12 Day of Christmas to you!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ Powder Room Ponders }

Inside the women's restroom earlier today: My daughter, the Queen of Fairies and Mermaids, pondered out loud, "Mom, I don't get those machines that say napkins (points to dispenser). Why would anyone pay 50 cents for napkins when you can get them free while washing your hands if you don't wanna use the hand dryer?"

 As we left the restroom, I could hear giggles from the other lady washing her hands.

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.



{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 11 }

Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World here in Florida is sooooo beautiful at Christmas time. The Fairy Godmother "flies" down, waves her magic wand, says a few Bibbidi Bobbidi Boos and then TADA.....the castle lights up with 1,000s of lavender Christmas lights. I want a fairy godmother. Merry 11th Day of Christmas!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.



{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 10 }

Christmas shopping ....which always has to include trying out a gabillion perfumes. Ah-ah-ah-CHOOOO!

Merry 10th Day of Christmas to you!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.

{ 25 Days of Christmas---Day 9 }

Reading together is our favorite thing to do. On this cold December night we read, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by the beloved Dr. Seuss. My little Queen of Fairies loves how I change my voice to match the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who. It is a Christmas favorite! I love snuggling in her bed reading together and tangling our legs up under the covers with each other. Sometimes Custard Kitty comes in and starts knocking things off the shelf with his tail and we have to stop and put him out of the room and then we get back under the covers and tangle our legs up all all over again and turn to the page where we last left off.

 Merry 9th Day of Christmas to you!

Sealed with a Kiss, Kirsten

S.W.A.K.