How do you holiday?

Looking for Santa.

We are holiday-ing like this:

• Open gifts with friends Christmas Eve day;


• Buy a last minute piece to go with the holiday gifts I purchased for my two aunts, my brother and my uncle;
  
• Go to Christmas Eve dinner with Aunty L, Uncle T, Aunty Maka, Uncle Lou and the Bambino at Fancy McFadden in Paradise Island - we're going to a fancy restaurant for dinner which is great but it totally stresses me out when I have to get all gussied up for anything these days;
  
• Christmas day - open presents with the Bambino;
  
• Go to Christmas brunch with family (Nana Patty and the bunch) in Kailua;
  
• Go to Christmas dinner with the same family we will be having Christmas Eve dinner;
  
• Day after Christmas - sleep. Read. Write. Work on some freelance jazz.

Actually after Christmas I intend to come up with a plan where I don't buy people Christmas presents anymore except for my parents and the Bambino but still send the usual holiday card. Why do I need a plan? Because I know I'll probably end up spending money on other people anyway.

I'd really like to celebrate my Christmas like THIS.

Or like how we did in Boston. Lots of fun family time and no going out to fancy restaurants or having to split time between family. Knowing that good times will be had because everything is relaxed with a dash of chaos but the good kind. The kind where we sit around singing carols but mix up the words because we each have different carol song books.

And it's grand.

But I still look forward to spending time with our loving family here. It will be our first Hawaiian Christmas.

And you know who will be in town for Christmas on the beautiful island of Oahu in a wonderful town called Kailua?

Our President that's who.

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka Obama familia!

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka to you all!

GIVEAWAY: Before the Break of Dawn Early Bird Special

Right now most parents are thinking about what to buy their kids for school - backpacks, pencil holders, and/or sustainable lunch bags. Singletons are thinking about how to wind down their summer, maybe with a last minute trip to a spa in San Francisco. Soon-to-be married couples in Hawai'i are thinking whether or not if it's cold feet.

But for those who love to plan? What are they thinking about? Maybe that during the Labor Day sales they'll snag some great deals for this year's Christmas or Hannukah gift. Or what kind of holiday card they want to send out. If you're a planner and already thinking about how you want your holiday card to look and say about you then this is the right giveaway for you!

Invitations by Hope, by Hope Ithurburn, is a "full-service paper design company that allows you to customize every detail of your special event or announcement."

When Hope sent me a sample of her creations I was curious and excited. The card sent was enveloped with gleaming durability (no Postal worker could damage it) and stamped with elegance.

What was in store for me when I opened the envelope?  A stylish and merry holiday portable pocket belted with words that gently sang, "Let it snow, let it snow." This thing has layers! The actual greeting card slides out of the portable pocket with snowflakes that trickle down the cardstock - leaving the last snowflake to gently pop calling out for you to touch it with the family's greetings below it. Textures! This card is an experience!

The detailed, delicate design could make one quite eager and ready for the winter holiday season. Everything about Hope's designs and website is chic and inviting - heck maybe even Dooce and her daughter, Leta, would love looking at Hope's website with the enlightening music playing in the background. And with that I offer you the giveaway.

Hope is offering 20% off 5 lucky persons holiday cards purchase ordered by October 31st, 2009. The five winners will be selected randomly using Random.org's True Random Number Generator. Just leave me a comment telling me what song is playing on her website.  Click HERE to get to her website.

Extra entries -

• Become a follower; or
• Tweet about this (don't forget to leave me your twitter ID).

Please let me know you did these by leaving me a comment.

The contest begins today Wednesday, August 27th and will run until Tuesday, September 1st. Winners shall be announced on Wednesday, September 2nd. I know that seems obvious but hey, it doesn't hurt to announce it.

Some of you may think that I'm crazy to be posting something about the holidays before Halloween Labor Day. Well, I am a little crazy and there's no place like the present to be thinking about the future. Right?