A Holly Daze...that is what I am in...

The very first holiday step for me is decorating the front door...traditions are so important to me this time of year.  We have to get our wreaths from Terrain...there is another one in between the garage doors.  And my husband will finish today by washing the windows and putting candles in all of  the windows and a spotlight on the front door...the window washing is so totally his idea.  And oddly...something he loves to do...armed with a huge bottle of Windex and rolls of paper towels...he does one window at a time.  He washes the window and then installs the lovely candles. Then we will turn them all on...actually they turn themselves on when it gets dark...and we take Lucy outside and look at the house...shiny clean windows and glowing candlelight.  I have been spraying Pier I's Christmas scent all through the house for weeks now...I love it...it is subtle and makes our entire house smell Christmassy...and piney...a lovely fresh pine filled scent...it is my addiction.

Tomorrow is pulling bins out of the crawlspace day...and Sunday is getting the tree day.  We go to the same Christmas Tree Farm that we love...every year...Schmidt's...they have two reindeer...live ones to look at in wonder.  And popcorn and cocoa and wonderful handmade wreath-y things to attach over your mailbox.  So far I am leaning for one giant tree to put in the sunroom...but our discussion is ongoing right now about two smaller trees...one in the dining room and one in the living room...we will decide over dinner tomorrow.

Are you in the midst of your holiday prep?

OMG...I need this book...and there are more!!!

Don't you just want to sit down and read this book? Or find a very small person that you can share it with...
There are more books in this series, too.  They look just as appealing as this one does.

And just look at this one...you just know the illustrations inside will be wonderfully funny.

This is the time of year to make stuff...

Ok...I am not 8...but I want to make these and tuck them all over the house.  Thanks to the lovely and talented people at Martha Stewart...I can...and I think I will...only because I have not one empty jar anywhere in my entire house...I will have to go out and buy some...but it still looks like fun, doesn't it?  Here is the link if you want to let your crafty side glisten and glow for the holidays.

Not lingering with this book...

Linger is such a good book...I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing.  I am in the woods walking, I am smelling the woods, I am hearing the sounds of the wolves in the forest...I love this book.  It is just so beautifully written.  I am nearly half way through and I can't imagine waiting until next year for her next book.

Finally...this challenge has my name on it...

Since everything...well almost everything I read is on my Kindle...this challenge was made for me.  I don't have to post the books first and I can change my mind about it...I love it...you should grab your ereaders and join in on the fun!!!

You can go to The Ladybug Reads Reads for more information and the spot to link to...

Dead Beautiful...a quick review...

This is one of those delicious YA Paranormal books that begins in an ordinary way and then ends with a huge BANG!!! Renee Winters is a typical high school student just beginning to explore her independence and her first boyfriend. She lives in a really neat California coastal area and loves her friends and her school and her life. Then…tragedy upsets her family and she is left in the care of her grandfather. She has not seen her grandfather since she was a small child. Before she knows what is happening she is whisked away by her rather wealthy and eccentric grandfather to Maine…first to his home and then to Gottfried Academy… which will be her new boarding school. Just before school begins she stays with her grandfather in the huge palatial home where her mother was raised. She discovers that her mother’s room has remained untouched and is filled with her mother’s clothing, books, and all of her other possessions. This is extremely interesting to Renee as she discovers that there are huge gaps in her knowledge of her mother’s early life. Oh…she also learns that both her mother and father attended Gottfried Academy. There are even more secrets surrounding this discovery.

So…just as Renee is making these discoveries about her parents she is sent to school where her new life literally becomes one huge mystery. Everything at that school is subject to many questions and Renee has them and is thought to be quite outspoken by her peers and teachers. The school is old and odd…lots of funny rules and restrictions and lots and lots of unusual students. She meets a magnificent looking fellow student named Dante who at first tries to avoid Renee but later can not stay away from her…literally…she is his “soul mate”. Enough said about that… There were enough mean teachers and weird students and mysterious deaths in this novel to keep me interested and sort of on the edge of my reading seat.

I loved reading this book. It was wonderfully unique and different. I had ideas about where the plot was headed but I was enjoying reading this book so much that I loved the slowness the author took to get me there. The writing was lovely. The story was a new one. The ending literally took my breath away. I do recommend it to you, highly.