The Most Wonderful Time of the Year @sloanebcollins #PlottingPrincesses #amwriting #fudge #traditions #MFRWorg

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  I love the lights, the trees, the food, the traditions, and the spirit of the holiday.  I made the decision the last couple of years to not decorate due to lack of time and four cats who know no boundaries, and I really miss it.  The cats were restless last night, and I kept hearing things banging around in the kitchen so I finally investigated.  One (or more) had gotten a side drawer open and found a small Christmas tree ornament and was batting it all over the tile floor.  I hadn’t even realized it was in that drawer! 

Even though there are trees up and the store is decorated at work (my office is at the Neiman Marcus flagship store in Dallas), there are lights up in the neighborhood, and Christmas music is on the radio, it just hadn’t been feeling like Christmas is next week.  Until I got home last night and found that the annual Tin of Fudge and Cherry Mash had arrived.  My sister-in-law makes THE best fudge.  I ripped open the package, saw the gorgeous Christmas tin, took the lid off, and there it was.  FUDGE.  NOW it feels like the holidays have arrived.

#Sherlock's #Christmas Spirit @lsfabre #mfrworg

In “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” a Christmas goose leads Holmes and Watson on a merry chase from one vendor to another to apprehend the stone’s thief and determine how the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle wound up in the bird’s crop in the first place. (1)

The American public might be surprised to know that while a goose served as the Christmas bird in this story, many Victorians chose to feast on turkey instead. The American bird joined the Christmas tree and crackers to become part of British holiday celebrations during the 1800s. Although the turkey was imported into the country beginning in the 1500s, the Victorians introduced it as a replacement for the traditional goose. (2)

Michelle Miles: Christmas Traditions

Every year, the day after Thanksgiving we head out to find our perfect Christmas tree. This year, we debated on whether or not to get a fake one. I was sort of leaning toward fake and flocked (because I love alliteration) but neither my husband nor I could bring ourselves to spend upwards of $300 on a fake tree.

I know, I know. We could save it for future years. But the biggest problem with that is we have storage issues and I don't think we really want to rearrange the entire garage to store a fake tree. Or even put it up in the attic storage space.

This year, Friday was rainy and cold and windy. It wasn’t exactly the best weather to get out and look for a tree. We decided to hit Lowe’s first and see what we could find. All the trees were wet because it had been raining for the last twelve hours or something crazy like that. We wandered around in the garden section looking at trees and freezing our bums off. We stopped to chat with one of the workers there who had been loading trees most of the morning. Granted, it was midday and there weren’t many people out there but there were a few here and there looking for trees. We knew we only had about an hour before it started raining again to get the tree home.

Not finding anything we couldn’t live without, we headed back inside and looked at the fake trees again. But again… we just couldn’t pull the trigger on that. Back outside, and shivering we were heading out when suddenly…there it was. The perfect tree. We snapped it up and got it home before another downpour.

Isn’t it pretty?

Michelle Miles: From Halloween to Christmas in 2.3 Seconds

It’s hard to believe it’s November already.

You know what else is hard to believe? That Christmas decorations were in the stores in September. At Hobby Lobby, they started putting them up in JUNE. Really, Hobby Lobby? School hadn’t even started, for gosh sakes.

Hubby, kid and I were in the mall this past weekend – ON Halloween, mind you – and we noticed they were starting to put up Santa’s workshop. You know, where all the kids can sit on his lap and tell him what they dream of for Christmas.

You know what I dream of? No Christmas before Halloween.

The Scandal of Holiday Creep

The holiday creep is back. No, not that guy who hangs out at my local hardware store and offers to carry my bags for spare change (yes, I’m a softie and I always let him), but the slow push to make the purchasing period for the December holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza begin well before the first frost is on the pumpkins, or the hay is in the barn. 

The signs are everywhere: red and green decorations in the local chain stores; advertisements on the television with bright red cars plowing their merry way through the snow; gorgeous magazine layouts with tips for holiday decorating; and stacks and stacks of catalogues jamming my mailbox. And just last week, while empty candy wrappers from Halloween were still blowing across the lawn, the neighbors had a professional company come install their Christmas lights. Me? I haven’t even ordered a Thanksgiving turkey! 

My first reaction to this year’s holiday creep as a mom and harried head of household, was the frostiest of cold shoulders—I’ll get to the holidays when I get to them, and not a minute sooner, thank you very much! I will not be made to feel guilty because I am not out on a buying or decorating spree, instead of sitting at my desk writing the books my readers count on. 

But then I had a terrible revelation—I’m part of the problem! I have a Christmas e-novella, THE SCANDAL BEFORE CHRISTMAS, which became available in mid-October.