Looking through my closet could make me depressed.  Everything seems a bit outdated.  Since I do proabably at least 60-75% of my clothes shopping online, I started looking for some websites that carried pretty clothes for good prices.  I was tired of the same old websites: I wanted something new and fresh.  One place I found was Heavenly Couture.  They have lots of unique junior clothing and contemporary clothing.  One of the best things about this particular website is that everything is $17.95 or less.  You can’t beat that, and it is a good way to experiment with buying clothes via the internet.

Look at this Pink Scoop Neck Flared Top.  The retail price is $59.00, but Heavenly Couture has it for only $17.95.  I like the longer length: it is mid-thigh length.  I think it would look great with jeans or any kind of slacks.  Pink is one of my favorite colors, and if I wear this top with some jeans, I think it would be perfect.  Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think this might look really good on my daughter-in-law.  She always dresses so stylishly, and I could see her wearing this.

Another top I found is this Diamond Buttons Cardigan.  I love the color and the half-sleeves.  The length on this is just right. and  I like that extra coverage.  This would be perfect for my daughter who is a young businesswoman.  The neckline is modest, but the color and style is still young and stylish.

 I enjoyed browsing through the Heavenly Couture website.  The accessories, basics, tops, sweaters, skirts, denim, dresses, shorts, jackets and outerwear are great, and they’re still only $17.95 or less.

You might recall that a few weeks ago I wrote about playing my mother’s piano while I was visiting her at Thanksgiving.  RT listened to me play the piano then, and just a couple days later my son sent me an email telling me about how much he enjoyed listening to me play the piano when he was growing up.  So pianos have been on our minds lately.

This morning I heard a truck drive up in the driveway, and I told RT’s mother (who’s spending a couple weeks with us) that I hoped it was the things I’d ordered from Lands End.  I went outside, and RT was there.  He smiled at me, and said, “Merry Christmas.  Here’s your Christmas present.”   The men on the truck brought out a beautiful piano which they brought inside the house and set up in the library. Below is a photo I just took of my Christmas present.  It’s a wonderful Baldwin piano.  I immediately played “Silent Night, Holy Night” which is the only song I have memorized.  Then I spent about an hour going through boxes in the barn until I finally found the one with my collection of hymnals.  And I’ve played the piano off and on all afternoon.

I called my daughter to tell her about the piano, and Sweet Stuff answered the phone.  Her mom was in the shower and so I told Sweet Stuff to tell her mom that PawPaw had given me a piano for Christmas.  I told her that when she comes to visit she can play it.  I taught her one simple song a few months ago, and she still remembers how to play it.  My daughter called me later to tell me that Sweet Stuff was beside herself with excitement.  She plays the simple little song I taught her whenever she visits anyone who has a piano.  She wants to take piano lessons now that she can practice on my piano. 

This week I am writing about seven Christmas traditions that I am thankful for:

(1) Christmas stockings - I love planning and shopping for items to go in everyone’s stockings.  It’s just fun.

(2) Christmas Tree - There’s nothing more beautiful than a pretty Christmas tree.  Everytime I look at our Christmas tree, I like to squint my eyes so that only the lights stand out - and they look softer and beautiful.

(3) Colored lights on the Christmas tree - While all white lights look pretty, there is just nothing more Christmasy than colored lights.

(4)  The star that our daughter (now almost 33 years old) used in a pre-school Christmas play 30 years ago.  Each year it is the star at the top of our Christmas tree.

(5) And next to that star on top of the tree is the angel our son made in school 25 years ago.  So we have a doubly wonderful tree-topper each year.

(6) We have always had the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve.  Everything else has to wait till Christmas Day.  It’s always fun selecting the one gift we want to open early.

(7)  Christmas caroling…There is absolutely no music more beautiful than Christmas music.  “Silent Night”  “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”  “O Holy Night” “ Hark the Herald Angels Sing”  ”Mary Did You Know?”  “Away in a Manger”  - along with the more secular “Christmas in Dixie” “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” and “Tender Tennessee Christmas”

We draw names in our very large family (over 50 people!), and sometimes when someone draws the name of an adult male, there’s a little groan because men can be so difficult to buy for.  It’s not that they are unappreciative, but it’s just hard to know what they’ll like.  Here are some suggestions that should be helpful - or at least give you some ideas if you’re shopping for a man.

(1)  The Kindle is the newest electronic gadget to have.  It’s the new wireless reading device.   It’s really cool, and if your man is a techie, then this will make him happy.

(2)  You can’t go wrong with an iPod.  If your man doesn’t have one, it’s a great gift idea - especially if he really enjoys music.

(3)  Here is something I absolutely love - and so does RT.  My Keurig single-cup coffee brewer brews a k-cup of RT’s so-strong-it-would-choke-a-normal-person coffee one minute, and the next minute it brews my so-mild-RT-can’t-drink-it coffee the next.  It’s the one coffee maker that keeps us both happy.  Plus they have hot tea and hot cocoa k-cups now - so the it covers all bases.

(4) One of the best inventions of mankind is the cordless drill.  Before RT and I remarried, I had a DeWalt cordless drill, and RT had one, too.  So now we have two which was absolutely wonderful when we were putting in doorknobs, towel racks, blinds and other jobs around the new house.  We’d put a drill bit in one and a screwdriver bit in the other - and we were a team getting everything done.

(5) Many men have TV shows they particularly enjoy - or TV shows that they’ve heard about and thought sounded good but never watched - or TV shows that they like so much, they enjoy watching reruns of shows they’ve already seen.  Sometimes we start watching a show in its second or later season and wonder what that first season was like - how the story and characters were developed up to the point when we started watching it.   If any of those scenarios are the case, then a DVD with a season’s worth of shows is a great gift.  We never could afford to have HBO, and so we never watched “The Sopranos” when it was on its regular run on TV.  Now, though, we can buy the DVDs and see all the shows.

(6)  I read the story of Burt’s Bees products not long ago, and I already loved the stuff.  It’s great for your skin - both men and women.  This particular kit has grooming essentials for men - shaving cream, soap bar, body wash and after shave.   

(7)  I LOVE this cookbook.  When I was single, I gave it as a gift to some of the single men I know.  It’s a simple cookbook that men who are not accustomed to cooking can use with relative ease.  The directions are simple, the ingredient list is minimal, and the recipes taste good.  Great gift idea for any man who wants to start cooking for himself.

(8)  Okay, so this is probably not a male gift idea.  However, I love my paraffin spa so much that I decided to throw it into the mix here anyway.  If you’re looking for a gift for a woman, this is it.  I absolutely adore the way this makes my hands instantly softer and smoother.

(9)  I bought a webcam for my laptop a few weeks ago, and it has been so much fun playing around with it.  There’s just something about seeing the video on the computer screen immediately - and playing it back over and over.  I found I had a little bit of an actress in me - is YouTube in my futre?   Your guy will most likely want to start making his own YouTube videos if you get  him his own webcam.

(10)  Okay, now this gift is for the guy who already considers himself a good cook - or simply a connoisseur of fine pizza.  A pizza stone is the ultimate in making wonderful homemade pizzas.  You cook and serve the pizza on the stone.  It keeps the crust crispy and hot.  A perfect addition to any kitchen - for both men and women.

(11)  No matter your man’s interest, there is a magazine related to it.  A magazine subscription is a great gift.  I give magazine subscriptions every year.  I usually buy a recent issue and place the gift subscription card in it  - and then put the magazine in the person’s stocking - or in a gift box or bag. 

(12)  Every man needs a pair of Crocs for everyday wear around the house - or out and about.  They’re comfortable, washable and practically indestructible.  RT has one pair, and I have two pairs.  They’re the ultimate go anywhere shoe.

(13)  Every man needs a small tool kit - one that has the essentials for the home.  Well, every woman needs one, too.  I have one for the home and another one in my classroom at school.  I use them both quite frequently.  RT has his own tool kit that he uses often, too.  It’s so convenient to have everything altogether in one kit, and I have found that we go ahead and take care of little things that need done around the house when the right tool is near at hand.

My lovely daughter, Stinkeroo, is 32 years old - almost 33 - and it’s scary how much we think alike.  Last week I found a purse that I love on eBay, and so I bought it.  I bought it because it is very similar to a purse that she has - just a different style, but the same pattern/fabric.  Everytime I’ve seen her purse the past couple months, I’ve commented on how much I like it.  The purse I ordered arrived on Friday, and I love it as much as I thought I would!  So yesterday I called my daughter to tell her about it - only to find out that she had already bought the exact same purse for me as a Christmas present. 

Another example:  Last week we were talking and she said she’d found the perfect gift for my mother.  It turns out that her gift was exactly the same thing that I had already bought for my mother for Christmas.  I told her I’d get something different. 

Stuff like that happens all the time, and I feel a little guilty about it.  Now don’t ask me WHY I should feel guilty that I went ahead and bought the purse that I wanted - I had no idea she’d already bought it for me - or why I should feel guilty that I had bought my mother the same gift that she had bought her.  Still, though, I feel a little guilty about it.  Like maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to handle things sometimes.

I keep trying to convince myself that this is a GOOD thing - that we are so similar in nature and thoughts.  However, it does get to be a problem at times.

There’s no doubt that the iPod and iPhone are two of the hottest items this holiday season.  I don’t have an iPod, but I’d really like one.  Of course when you get such an expensive toy as the iPod, you want to have the right ipod accessories to make sure that your investment is secure and treated well.   The PDO Store has every accessory for not only your iPod and iPhone, it has accessories for Blackberries and Treos, too.  There are screen savers and skins, armbands and cases.  Whatever you  need to protect you “i”, the PDO Store has it.

I LOVE visiting art galleries. Maybe it’s because I have no artistic talent myself, and so I enjoy seeing the work of people who have talent and know how to express that talent through their art. In looking through art galleries online, I came across Park West Gallery in Southfield, Michigan, which has twenty-three different galleries - each one devoted to either a particular artist or style of art.  They’re currently having a fall sale, and I plan to order their catalog to see everything that’s available.  Park West Gallery is home to the largest collection of fine art in the world, and they conduct fine art auctions throughout the United States and Canada.

At this time of year, the news is filled with stories about pros and cons of using credit cards for holiday gift purchases.  There is pressure from all sides to spend money.  You have to decorate the house, you have to entertain, you contribute to your office holiday party, and there are the gifts to buy for everyone - from your own children and grandchildren to your mail carrier and hair stylist.  There is tremendous demand for your money.  It is easy to spend more when you can just swipe a card through a machine to pay for a purchase.  So if you must use credit cards, look for ones that offer services such as 0% balance transfers and 0% Credit Cards, and then make sure to pay off the purchases as quickly as possible. 

It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving, and that means it’s “Cyber Monday” - the one day each year that people do the most online shopping. I’m no exception. When I got home from my Thanksgiving travels, I knew I wanted to go ahead and get my Christmas shopping done. Once all my gift-shopping is done, I can relax and enjoy the holidays. For most people,  it’s always difficult to find Christmas Gifts for Mothers and Mothers-in-Law.  They always seem to have everything they need.  So the trick is to find something they will really like and enjoy.  So I started looking, and I found this angel. It can be personalized with up to five birthstones. Of course my mother had seven children. So I will look for something else for her. But I just loved this angel - what a beautiful gift it would be.