Christmas Bliss: A Book Review

Mary Kay Andrews is back with another Christmas read, and so are two of my favorite characters: Weezie Foley and her best friend, BeBe Loudermilk.  

You might remember this author and these colorful characters from my review last year of Blue Christmas, which will still always be my favorite Christmas book to read each year.  In fact, I'm reading it again now!

While this isn't exactly a sequel to Blue Christmas, Christmas Bliss does take place once again at Christmastime in Savannah.  Readers will remember antique shop owner, Weezie Foley, who is about to get married to her longtime beau.  And we find her best bud, BeBe also makes a return to this book as well, and she is about to give birth to her first child.  All sounds ideal, right?  Wrong!

Weezie decides to make a last minute trip to New York to surprise her husband-to-be, who is there working in an upscale New York restaurant.  But with her wedding just days away, she must leave most of the last minute planning to her wacky mom, her flamboyantly over-the-top neighbors, and her very pregnant best bud.   

Despite a few twists and turns along the way, Mary Kay Andrews once again delivers another quality Christmas read, especially for fans of these characters, as I am.  So if you are in the market for a good read to put you in the Christmas spirit, take a peak at this one, or better yet, start first with Blue Christmas and then crack into this one.  Either way, you are in for a treat!

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Cushion Daze

Yesterday in our homeschool we had a cushion day, which simply means that between our regular curriculum and the Thanksgiving/Christmas studies that we are about to begin, we are taking a break and getting caught up on everything. Mostly, it is a lot of reading because it is the end of the month, and Charlotte has a reading goal every month. In other words, it's crunch time for the book it program.

I like to spend my cushion days like this:

Or maybe this:

At any rate, it involves a lot of socks!

Anyhoo, as usual, Charlotte was still in bed, yesterday, well after everyone else was up. With blankets piled high atop her, I began to let her in on my super exciting plans for the day. We would set up shop in my room. I would move the radio in there, put the big pillows on the bed and we would snuggle up and read with warm beverages. She slowly eased her covers down, and said, "I'm listening..."

I borrowed these pillows from Charlotte and Emma's bed, but they work so well to read in the bed by, I may just have to keep them. I love a European square. These aren't quite as squishy though. They are almost like floor pillows.

Here, our tunes share a space on my sled with my shoes and the pillows that I had to take off the bed. This sled we used as kids. I recently brought it over from Daddy's house. Most of the year it resides in this corner of my room displaying a small collection of shoes, but pretty soon it will be standing tall next to my Christmas tree.  

After Emma was born, we listened to the radio nonstop. A few cds here and there, but mainly, KLOVE. It's a great station. I highly recommend it. In fact, at the beginning of the year, they always issue a 30-day challenge to listen to their station. I took that challenge a few years ago, and haven't really listened to anything else since then.

So back to my bedroom oasis.  Drumroll, please...

Remember when Mary from Little House on the Prairie went blind? Well, that's how I feel, and now that Howard has installed this convenient little light, I can pretend that I'm not blind! Thank goodness people don't go blind like they did in the old days. One day you would be fine, and then Bam! you're Mary!

I'm not there yet, but I really am very happy with my little nook.

ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas Starts Soon!

Can you believe it?  And I, for one, am ready.  I LOVE Christmas movies, and ABC Family does a great job in corralling them up for us each year.  In case you haven't seen this year's schedule, here it is.  (You can click on the image to make it even larger.)

And this year, they have added a new feature that I've personally already signed up for.  You can register to receive text alerts each day to remind you which movies are on tap for that day so you don't miss any of your favorites.  You may want to give it a try too.  Head on over to ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas Facebook page to sign up for those alerts. 

Now that just makes me want to light the fire, turn on the Christmas lights and snuggle up with a cup of hot chocolate and a good movie.  How about you?