Let's Play... Page 56

Today, a little book-y game called 
Page 56...

  1. Grab the book closest to you. NOW!
  2. Go to page 56.
  3. Find the fifth sentence.
  4. Write that sentence as your comment and tell us the book's title and author
  5. Don't go looking for your favorite book--just grab the closest one.

Let the games begin!



Don't forget...
Passports with Purpose:  Buy a $10 raffle ticket benefitting Heifer International
More info: http://tinyurl.com/aknpwp

I Heart... Christmas Lights

I grew up in Dallas, Texas, a city that never really gets snow in the winter. But Texans love Christmas. So, to compensate for that lack of white at Christmas time, they go nuts with Christmas lights. And in my family we turned Christmas-light viewing into a nightly event.

Most nights between Thanksgiving and New Year's Mom, Lisa, and I would pile into the car and drive a few streets of our neighborhood in search of the best Christmas lights. And, frankly, we didn't have to go far. Our neighbors entertained us with thousands of strings of tiny, twinkling, colored, clear -- every Christmas light imaginable.  Now my husband and I do the same -- drive around looking at our neighbors' beautiful homes all decked out in lights.  Generally we listen to Christmas music, too (What Wondrous Love is one of our favorites -- we both sang on that recording). 
These photos were taken in Florence, Italy -- another city that loves Christmas lights!  Of course, there was no driving in Florence.  The streets in the historic center are all pedestrian streets which is perfect for Christmas-light-looking and window shopping at the same time!
So, grab a string of lights this weekend and make your neighborhood beautiful! 
And if you popped in from Photo Friday , cheers!


Just a reminder...
Passports with Purpose: Buy a $10 raffle ticket benefitting Heifer International
Win a fabulous prize! More info: http://tinyurl.com/aknpwp

Link Love, Lunch, and Laughs

Travel bloggers have been really busy this week writing about all kinds of exciting spots on the globe.  I tend to do my blog reading over lunch, so here's where I've spent my lunch this week.

  • Czech Republic/Slovakia/Hungary:  Jay Caauwe went on a three-country pub crawl in a 9 hour period and lived to write about it.  Fun.  Funny.  Fascinating.  Check it out on TravelBlissful . 
  • Paris:  Amazingly, I've never been to Paris.  It breaks my heart.  But every day I do check out ParisDailyPhoto so I will feel at home when I do actually make it there one day.  And I loved Eric's photo of the African baby this week.
  • Ephesus:  I've always wanted to go!  And this week BrilliantTips is writing about it.  I love the obligatory photo of the public toilets. 
  • Venice:  My poor, beloved Venice is underwater again.  When will they stop arguing and just finish those crazy seawalls?  Well, at least the wakeboarders had fun in Piazza San Marco.  Check out eternallycool.net.
  • Home:  Mother of All Trips blogged about just being home for the holidays.  Lovely!  

And a bonus for all of you who, like me, have had a rough week and need a good laugh...

Wedding Wrecks:  I don't remember exactly who told me about Cake Wrecks, but people do some truly appalling things with cake and frosting.

Oh, by the way, did any of you lose your 8 foot-tall Lego man ?  I know where he is if you did.

Don't forget Passports with Purpose !