Bootses

CHRISTMAS CARDS

'Tis the Season! Since I intend to occupy a good percentage of my swapping efforts over the next couple of months with Christmas Cards, I thought I could give others some ideas of which cards appeal to me most when I'm selecting my own boxed cards to send each year.

Honestly, I greatly appreciate any card in which someone takes a moment of her/his precious time to hand-write a message, sign, package, and drop into the mailbox. A super duper big THANK YOU and a smile in advance to each and everyone who sends a card this year. :D

** “Merry Christmas” sentiments are FABULOUS! I prefer this phrase over “holidays” or “season's greetings” if given a choice.

** Religious cards with Wise Men, Nativity scenes, etc, and sentiments such as “blessed” and “rejoice” are totally welcome. The birth of Christ (and the origins of Christianity) is a major reason for this holiday. However, please do not “wax poetic” about your particular religious practices or beliefs, thank you.

** Classic/Traditional images are preferred over ones more modern. One of my FAVORITE companies is “Caspari”. If you wish, you can Google them and browse their Christmas card selection for examples.

** I do not particularly like the cards with just sentiments on the front I prefer my cards to have images on the front and the sentiments inside. The only exception is...

** My favorite sentiment associated with Christmastime is “NOEL”. “The First Noel” carol is one of my top 5 favorite Christmas songs. Also, my stocking has “Noel” multiple times across it.

** Glittery cards are OK However, I prefer ones with only small amounts, please. That stuff gets messy.

** Funny cards are OK. However, as stated previously, I adore more traditional cards vs. modern. I tend to peg funny = modern.

** Cartoony and whimsy are wonderful. Peanuts, Rudolph, etc, are lovely. I'm a total kid at heart.

I'm a 30-something living on the East Coast of the United States, in a house in a suburban neighborhood, located about 1 hour southwest of New York City and 1 hour northeast of Philadelphia. There are three major shopping centers (malls) each about 30 minutes away. I live central to everything and close to nothing.

At the moment, I'm momma to two rescued guinea pigs: Cornelius "Munchie", a 6 year old white haired, and Fudge, a 5 year old mix of chocolate shades. Both are very happy, very spoiled animals. I adore animals and grew up with a variety of pets including a dog (a Siberian Husky), hamsters, gerbils, mice, fish, and frogs. I am allergic to cats, but still pet them.

I have collections of siberian huskies, guinea pigs, and sea life. I also love and collect make-up. I also enjoy candles.

In my spare time I enjoy reading, scrapbooking, taking photos, shopping, acting like a kid by playing with fingerpaints, and playing games with my family. I attempt to be as crafty as can be, although sometimes I just settle for reading a book and sitting in front of the television.

I'm a disciple of the Project Life memory keeping system of Becky Higgins. 2012 was my first year of Project Life - and while I still have several holes to fill to complete the year -especially from the holiday months - I love it and will continue to take pictures, print them, and slip them into the album with a little journaling.

In October 2012 I began cake decorating classes. I still have 2 more months of classes to take sometime in 2013, when I can. It's so much fun and I'm having a blast learning the skills and figuring out how to use all the items associated with the craft. Although, I will never become professional enough to bake for profit. It's all personal pleasure to me, and a chance to share with friends and family.

Currently, I work in a little mom-and-pop card, stationery, and gift shop. We cater to those who still understand the value of a handwritten message sent via snail mail. Ever since I was a youngster I've loved handwritten messages and puting together care packages for my friends. It gives me so much joy to send things to others.

One of my lifelong desires is to experience and learn about other cultures. I'm fascinated by and majored in history, love to travel, and want to see and know about how people live life in other places. After spending a year studying abroad in Santiago, Chile, and traveling throughout South America, I have a deeper appreciation for how people are different and yet what is important in life is essentially the same.

I'm a gigantic sports fan. However, I'm not as interested in memorizing stats as simply enjoying the games and learning the rudimentary rules. My favorites are Major League (professional) baseball, both the NFL and college levels of American football, and college basketball. My teams are the Yankees and Phillies in baseball, the Packers and the Colts in the NFL, and the Big Ten collegiate conference. Nevertheless, I will watch almost anything; the Olympics are fantastic for the variety of events televised. In the mornings, I tune into recap shows on ESPN rather than the depressing news presented by the local networks. I'm hoping to join a Fantasy League for the first time this April, just to see if it's something I actually like.

I'm also a Big Ten girl. I have degrees from The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Indiana University-Bloomington. Both part of the Big Ten collegiate conference.

I enjoy The Big Bang Theory, The Middle, and Raising Hope as well as property hunting or decorating shows like House Hunters, Love it or List it and Property Brothers. I also enjoy series such as Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, True Blood, Dexter, Mad Men which showcase not only a depth of good writing, but also talented acting. I used to watch more reality (trashy-trash) TV, but have mostly reduced that to Big Brother during the summer. Upon occasion I will watch an episode here and there of shows such as Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, and Top Chef. Also Hoarders or Hoarding: Buried Alive. I'm trying to use them to kick my own hoarding habit. It does make me immediately wish to go clean something.

I watch cartoons. I'm seriously an adult kid. Pretty much anything Disney; my favorites are Eeyore and Tinkerbell (fairies), and The Lion King. My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic. Also some anime: Full Metal Alchemist and Pretear are my top 2. Kind of excited to see the new Sailor Moon when it comes out.

My father likes to watch a bunch of shows from his youth, and loves Antenna TV and TV Land. Since I often join him in the same room, I've grown particularly fond of Leave it to Beaver, Andy Griffith, Bachelor Father, Father Knows Best and Hazel (which they seem to have recently eliminated from Antenna TV, much to my dismay).

I read. Quite a bit. I would estimate that I average roughly 50 books a year.

Mostly, my reading tastes have verged on the fiction side since graduating from school several years ago, now that I have time to read for "fun". I primarily find myself reading series. Once I discover a group of characters I like, I want to read more about their continuing adventures. I'm ridiculously tough to recommend for, since I often do not enjoy books in similar genres. I will not necessarily "like that" simply because I "liked this". Odd. I know.

Recently, I've been enjoying paranormal/science fiction, especially vampires (although I'm really attracted to the werewolves, who always seem to be involved in vampire fiction).

Currently, I'm working my way through Lynsay Sands's Argeneau/Rogue Vampire series, MaryJanice Davidson's Betsy Taylor or "Undead" series, and Kim Harrison's "The Hallows" series with Rachel Morgan. In an effort to get more use out of my Nook, I'm borrowing books from these 3 series from the online library. Which means that oftentimes I'm on hold and cannot zip through any set of novels without having to bounce around.

Also during 2013, I finished up through the current Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel "Affliction", by Laurell K. Hamilton. I found her Merry Gentry series about a decade ago and have read all of the current novels in that group. Multiple times. Adore Merry and her "entourage". Now that I'm reading the Anita books, I see quite a few parallels.

In addition, over the Summer of 2013, I blazed through "The Black Dagger Brotherhood" novels by J.R. Ward. Now I get to feel the suspense of waiting for the next volume due out in 2014.

In 2011 and 2012 I read all of the novels currently in the Eve Dallas series by J.D. Robb.

I've also read Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris (and many of her other works such as Aurora Teagarden and Harper Connelly), the Stephanie Plum and Diesel serieses by Janet Evanovich, the Dark Series by Christine Feehan, and Cat and Bones ("Night Huntress") by Jeaniene Frost.

Other authors I read include: Stephanie Laurens, Johanna Lindsay, and Julie Garwood, who write a variety of historical as well as modern period fiction.

I'm working on branching out, because while I enjoy watching well-written and thought provoking television/movies from time to time, I've tended to get trapped into reading non-think, fluff, romance works as of late. HOWEVER, I have read the first two works in the Song of Ice and Fire series (The Game of Thrones) as well as books on the best-seller lists including "The Help".

For 2013:
1) Anything YELLOW or INDIGO, or pink or brown. Since 2011 I've been fascinated by Numerology and like to dabble in keeping track of my personal numbers. For 2013 my personal colors are yellow for my 3 personal year and indigo for the 6 universal year. Also, my Life Path is an 8, so pinks and browns fit me anytime. 2) EXPERIENCE. My "One Little Word" or theme for the year. I'm attempting to stretch myself as far as possible this year and say hello to learning, trying, growing. No regrets. Putting one foot in front of the other. Items with the word printed, or something that offers me a chance to leap into an "experience" (new teas/foods, for example, or even stories of activities I should look into doing).

Anything which assists me to complete the goals I've established in my 101 Things in 1001 Days (Day Zero) list: http://dayzeroproject.com/user/Kairos For example, origami paper - to make 1002 cranes, links on Pinterest, things to try bakingwise, etc.

Virtually any animal (except cats and horses): Dogs - especially Siberian Huskies; Marine life - especially manatees, turtles, snails, clown fish; owls, cows, ladybugs, wolves.

Cartoons: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Disney: especially Eeyore, Tinkerbelle, and The Lion King. Some Anime: favorites are Fullmetal Alchemist and Pretear.

Pens and Pencils: unusual colors, types, styles - love using a variety - some of my current favorites are Le Pen, Flair, anything Uniball; always need black and blue, too. (Copic markers, too)

Stationery: animals (see above), trees/branches (ex. cherry blossoms, winter berries), stripes, simple/classic/traditional, fantasy, forests, water. bright colors, pastel colors, few flowers, kiddie, trains, circles or dots

Small notebooks/pads/journals with quad pages. Quad paper is uncommon in the US. When I was in South America, I fell in love with using this style paper and miss using it regularly.

Stickers: animals, trains, birthday theme, hearts, stars, seasonal,

Tea: Prefer herbals, black, roobios, white. Please no green or mate. I'm undecided how I feel about Chai. Bagged or loose.

Cake decorating items: For instance, but certainly not limited to: Icings, sugar sprinkles, disposable icing bags, cupcake liners (mini and regular).

Sports related: I watch way too much of the ESPN type talking heads. While I watch a variety of sports, I'm a huge baseball and American football fan. Favorite teams are New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies in baseball and Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts in American football. While I have access to items for the Yankees and Phillies due to living within the "area", I'm unable to purchase Packer and Colts items except online (or during infrequent trips to visit family in Wisconsin).

Hair accessories : I've just cut my hair to just above the shoulders (previously it was to my shoulder blades). It has not been this short in about a dozen years, so I do not have any cute barrettes or otherwise.

Balloons!

Coke rewards codes, unused, from under to caps or on the cardboard cases

For the guinea pigs: Cuddle cups or sleepy sacks. Liquid Vitamin C. Fleece blankets (1+ yards). Also towels (bath sized) and bedsheets, which can be older and previously used, with few holes, but washed and still in decent condition; these go underneath their fleece and basically just absorb liquid.

I very much appreciate the time, effort, thought, and expense that others put into gathering or creating items to complete a swap. Thus, each item received safely is worth something to me and therefore treasured.

That being said, please save the following items for someone who would be able to better use them:

coffee

cats - Not only am I allergic, but I'm actually sort of afraid of them because they are so mercurial.

horses

green or mate tea

comic book or super heros

jewelry (I wear stud earrings and anklets)

coconut anything

Friendship books, decos, or similar items

Cereal : Cheerios, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes

Snacks : Fritos, nuts, rasins, chips, pretzels, Chewy Granola bars, yogurt (Danon and Yoplait)

Candy : M&Ms, Snickers, Dove, Nestle (chips), Starburst, Skittles, Twix, Kit-Kat

Baking : Cake mixes, frosting, decorating items (eg. sprinkles)

Drink : Coke, Pepsi, Ocean Spray, Tropicana, Root Beer

Cleaning/Laundry : Tide, Bounce, Quilted Northern, paper towels,

HOWEVER: I tend to like to try new products. So I'm certainly willing to pick up something that looks interesting.