12 Days of Christmas--Medieval Style Contest continues

by Marsha Ward

Somehow I think I missed announcing that a group of friends and I joined Joyce DiPastena in a neat holiday giveaway. Beginning on Christmas Day, we started giving away a gift a day for 12 days, running through January 5th. Today is Day 7, so get over to my blog to see what's still up for grabs. Go read the Rules, and then enter for a remaining day, or all of the ones left.

The winner of the Day 6 $25 Scentsy Gift Certificate from Kellydawn Zollinger is Jobie Marshall of Oregon. Congratulations, Jobie!

A Few of My Favorite Things (And a Chance to Win a $20 Barnes and Noble Gift Card)

My friend Kimberly Black recently blogged about a few of her favorite things. With Thanksgiving just around the corner I thought I’d follow suit. So here they are: a few of my favorite things in no particular order. And at the bottom of the list are instructions on how you could win a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card!!!

1. Dentyne Fire gum.
2. Nic’s Sticks nail polish pens-It’s like nail polish for writers! I’m much better at holding a pen than a brush, so I have these in pretty much every color including my current favorite-midnight blue
3. Sun Kill Moon-Perfect writing music. And my husband loves that the band name was inspired by Sun Kill Moon the boxer.
4. My pillow-top mattress and flannel sheets-Luxuries I’ll always be grateful for. My dad grew up very poor, and he never had sheets until my mom—his high school girlfriend—bought him his first set. The story still makes me cry.
5. My Gilmore Girls box sets-It’s hard to find a show you can watch over and over, but this is so genius, so intricate, that even after multiple viewings there are still things I miss.
6. Victoria’s Secret Pink sweats-I’m addicted. I wear them much more than jeans. I don’t care if Stacy and Clinton say you shouldn’t wear sweats out of the house.
7. My sister-She makes me laugh when I need to laugh, lets me cry when I need to cry, and still remembers playing Saved by the Bell with our Barbies and buying the first cassette tapes that were all ours: Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.

8. Pink Grapefruit-The Sunflower Shop (our area’s answer to Whole Foods) down the road has specials where they sell 10 for $1. I take my reusable totes and buy like 30 at a time and eat a grapefruit with every meal for ten days straight.
9. The Community Pool-Passes are only $13 a month, so I go a few times a week and enjoy the water and watching the tween birthday parties—complete with cute swimsuits, cute water tricks, and cute-lifeguard watching.
10. My hip hop dance videos-I love dancing, and this way the people in the class can’t see me, but I can see them!

So what are your favorite things? Write your answers in the comments and if we get the comment number up to 20 by the end of Thanksgiving day, the names of everyone who left comments will go into a hat, and we’ll pick a random winner who will win…a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card just in time for Christmas!

FARWORLD Blog Tour

By Tamra Norton

Far be it from me to pass up the opportunity to get a free book...especially one I know that each of my seven fantasy-freak kids (and I mean that in the most loving way) will likely devour...as long as I get to read it first! :)

Here's the link to J. Scott Savage's contest over at his blog: FIND YOUR MAGIC. He can explain it better than I can, but I'll not only be reviewing the book later in the summer but interviewing Mr. Savage himself. (I may even go as far as to interview his wife and daughter to get an inside scoop on the man. Hey--I live to please.) I'll also do some sort of contest--maybe J. Scott Savage trivia. Here's a little tidbit to whet your appetite. Mr. Savage is exactly one year and one day my senior and we both grew up in the lovely state of California, and we both think that James Dashner obsesses way too much over the smell of feet. What can I say--J. Scott and I, we're practically fraternal twins. Okay, not really...

Now do I get my books, Mr. Savage?