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Each holiday season, the Chicago-Sun Times has a fantastic program called “Letters to Santa“. The Sun-Times partners with local social service agencies, homeless shelters, and schools in poverty-stricken neighborhoods to find children who will receive little to nothing this Christmas. The children write letters to Santa listing a few presents they would like to receive. The Sun-Times then matches the children with readers who want to “play Santa”. The reader buys a $25-$30 present off the child’s list and sends it as “Santa”. It’s such a great way to make sure that a child receives something special for the holidays.
Growing up, I always spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in the kitchen with the other female relatives in my family. We gossiped and laughed over pots and pans on the stove and roasts and pies in the bake. The male relatives were crowded around the television, watching football. After dinner, the women retreated to the kitchen, where many dishes would be washed and leftovers stored. The men, on the other hand, would go back to the television, for more football and relaxation. I never questioned the fact that holidays meant days of preparation, cooking, and cleaning for women– it seemed that it was always done that way. But does that make it right?
I posted on Wednesday when I ordered our holiday greeting cards from Snapfish.com. They arrived in 2 days even though they said it would take 5-7 business days. I’ll be addressing them tomorrow so I can start spreading the holiday “joy” asap! Here they are:
Valid only until tomorrow, December 1st, 30% off orders of $30 or more. Just enter coupon code: AFFORDER30.
What is the perfect thing to do with wedding photos hot off the presses? Why make a photo greeting card of course. Last year Mr. Onion & I bought our first couple holiday card with a few engagement photos from Kodak Gallery. While we were happy with the product and the customer service, we ended up having to go back and forth with them for too long to make me happy.
This year I decided to see what Snapfish.com had to offer and I just fell in love with this hip retro style green card that was a perfect color contrast for the candid photo I picked of us right after our ceremony. The card is under their “holiday chic” section. Coupon Code Below!
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With the holidays and my birthday right around the corner, I can’t help but dream of goodies. 
Though this year is a tough year for Mr. Canary and I because we’re (finally!) closing on our first home together. It’s probably going to happen in December or early January, so we are hoarding all our nuts like squirrels for the first big condo payment. Therefore, material gifts are going to be the last thing on our minds– not that having our home won’t be an amazing gift in and of itself! We’re really excited for a physical and tangible symbol of the start of our life together. So instead of a crazy gift exchange (Mr. C and I are always finding ways to top each other’s gifts) we’re going to dinner at Bouley (which I’ve been dying to try) for my birthday and Christmas. Not too shabby.
But if I had an ultimate wish list (also inspired by Miss Penguin’s post on the boards), here’s what would be on it…
Wedding idea: Perfect for a snap-happy bridesmaid or groomsman to capture any “off-color” moments.
My friend and foe - Mr. Turkey
This weekend, almost a month and a half before Christmas, SIL Hummingbird and I whipped out our calendars and began organizing The Trek, the annual holiday ritual which sees us traveling across the Golden Horseshoe to various family functions.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I really want to have holiday cards mades with pictures of our wedding. I brought this up to Mr. Lily and he said that idea is puke-y, overly romantic, but he would let me do it. The question now is, where is the best place to get this done? As I mentioned in my last post, Sony Imagestation closed down. They were my go-to place for prints and cards. My experience with Shutterfly has only been mediocre. Ditto Snapfish. Has anyone made cards elsewhere that turned out nice? Also, are you guys making cheesy cards like me… and does it make your boyfriends/FIs/husbands want to gag?????
I’m less than 6 months to the wedding date… and I’m starting to freak out! Yes I have plenty of time, but I still have my freak outs, one of them being… getting FIT. 
At the beginning, several days after getting engaged, I hit the gym religiously. Since then I’ve fallen off the bandwagon, and in a bad way. One of the things that helped me lose weight was portion control and exercising regularly. I’m trying to get myself back to healthy and fit again, but approaching the holidays… it just makes me nervous.
My BM’s sister turned me on to subscribing to Hungry Girl and it rocks.
Hi everyone!
I got back from LA at 2 am last night after a very, very turbulent plane ride. I love my hometown, but it’s good to be back in NYC.
Recently I had dinner with Vane of Brooklyn Bride, and we got to talking about blogs, weddings, swaps and more. She’s organizing a holiday card swap right now, so go over to her site to check out the details. I’ll definitely be participating - it should be a lot of fun!
Deciding how to split up the holidays is a common point of contention among newlywed couples. It’s difficult to imagine not spending a special occasion with your loved ones and newlyweds can often become embroiled in bitter battles with in-laws over who gets the new couple for the holidays.
Mr Peony and I were at a Barnes & Noble over the weekend and saw a display of Christmas cards (is it me or does Christmas seem to start earlier and earlier each year?). Immediately I was reminded of our very first fight…
Mr Peony and I hardly ever fight. We bicker over little things and constantly tease each other, but we’ve had very few actual fights in the course of our relationship.
Two years into our relationship, I suggested that we send our Christmas cards together that year. We had already been living together for a year, and everyone knew we were in a serious relationship, so I just figured that this would be the logical choice. Many other couples we knew were doing it when they had been together for shorter periods.
However, Mr Peony was vehemently against it. He believes that Christmas cards should only be sent together after marriage. He thinks that sending out Christmas cards together is a tradition that should be shared between family, not boyfriend-girlfriend relationships.
Mr. Hummingbird will tease me for my holiday related cheesiness (today is Thanksgiving here in Canada), but considering what has happened these last few days, I can’t help it.
As I am sure you know, many couples send out holiday cards that have a picture from their wedding their first year together. It’s a great time to start your list of recipients now, and put that massive spreadsheet from the wedding guest list to use! I just finished designing ours and am debating between two styles, and was hoping you can help.
Thanks!!!
It’s that time of year again, when the question starts to arise: who are you going to spend the holidays with??
For the first four years of our relationship, it wasn’t an issue. Mr. Peppermint and I said our goodbyes as we each spent time with our respective families. However, one of the first questions after our late October engagement was what we were going to do about Thanksgiving and Christmas of that year. It was such an exciting time (after the engagement) for us and so special to be able to share these special days together and with each others families. We ended up splitting both (the day of in Southern California, and the days surrounding in Northern California).
Well, now that it’s that time of year again, we have to do it all over! However, the one major difference is that this year, our month of December will be crazy! We will have both families together for the week of the wedding, then we’ll be on our honeymoon for 11 days and be back just a few days before Christmas! Splitting both holidays (Thanksgiving & Christmas) between two places seems like it might add a lot of stress, as well as the cost of the flight might be hard with all that’s going on… I don’t know what’s best! Whatever happens, though, this holiday season promises to be crazy (and I mean that in the best way possible) for us Peppermints!!
Is this a hot topic for you & your significant other? Where are you spending your holidays??
Our first dance song is “Kiss the Girl” from the Little Mermaid, one of my all-time favorite movies. I was just perusing the Hallmark store online, and saw this:
It’s from that exact scene in the movie, and I loooove it!! When you wind the key on the ornament, the tune plays and the boat spins. How cool is this?
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