25 Days of Jubilation + GIVEAWAY

Welcome to Day 2 of 25 Days of Jubilation! From now through Christmas, different blogs will feature special posts and giveaway for the holidays. 25 Days of Jubilation is hosted by Cyndi at Dog-Eared and Bookmarked, Jacinda at The Reading Housewives, and Yani at The Secret Life of an Avid Reader.

The Christmas season is one of my absolute favorites. To me, just screams comfort and family. The cold weather has me begging for hot chocolate and a fire in the fireplace. For my 25 Days of Jubilation post, I thought I’d share ten of my favorite things about the holidays. They aren’t in any particular order; there just happen to be ten.

1. Christmas Music - I refuse to listen to Christmas Music before Thanksgiving, because I like to save it. Christmas music is special music, and should be savored.

2. Decorating – Oh, how I love Christmas decorations. I feel like my living room gets ten times cozier when the tree is up and the lights are on. It’s the process of taking down the decorations that I’m not all that fond of.

3. Mr. Darcy – This is my dachshund and he’ll always be a holiday favorite of mine because I got him on Christmas Eve 2010 .

4. Reading by tree light – I love going into the living room at night, curling up in my comfy chair, and reading by the Christmas tree. There’s something so relaxing and comforting about Christmas lights.

5. Friends and Family – One of my favorite family traditions is getting together on Christmas Eve for dinner and presents. There aren’t that many of us, so it’s a nice, small gathering.

6. Cookies – I love to bake, but I rarely do it because we try not to keep too many cookies and sweet things in the house. I use Christmas parties as a perfect excuse to get my bake on.

7. Christmas Movies and TV Shows – Nothing says Christmas like Bing Crosby! My Mom and I watch old Christmas movies together every year. We’re also big fans of the super cheesy ones that show on Lifetime. I love all the Christmas shows, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman. When I was little, my parents recorded all my favorites on a VHS tape and I watched it year round!

8. Comfort Reading – I don’t just like to keep my body comfy and warm during the holidays; I like to keep my brain comfortable, too. I find myself re-reading old favorites around the holidays because they feel like coming home. I’m also a sucker for Christmas stories that are released by authors like Nora Roberts or Debbie Macomber. They’re quick reads, and generally leave me feeling warm and fuzzy.

9. Christmas Crafts – My Mom and I are pretty serious crafters. I, personally, knit, crochet, sew, and do cross-stitch. There are always tons of adorable kits to choose from at Christmas . For the last 2 years I made stockings, but I’ve been working on a special project lately. You’ll learn more about that shortly.

10. Food – There are certain foods that are only easy to find during the holidays. One brand in particular is Hickory Farms. Each year they set up their booth in the mall and we stock up on beef stick, cheese, dips, and many other delicious goodies. To me, all holiday foods are comfort foods.

What are some of your favorite things about the holidays? Tell me in the comments! I love comments!

Now for the GIVEAWAY! As I mentioned above, I like to re-read some of my favorite books during the holidays. I would also like to share some of these books with three of you! I’m giving away:

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green - When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray - Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother's death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls' academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order. A Great and Terrible Beauty is an impressive first book in what should prove to be a fascinating trilogy.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know.

Included with the book will be a set of Cookie Ornaments that I made! If you already have these books, you could always enter, give the book to someone else and keep the ornaments! ;)

You can enter the Giveaway HERE. I’ve been having trouble getting html to show up un my blog, so the link will take you to the form for the Giveaway. You do not have to be a follower to enter. Tweeting about the giveaway will earn you another entry, just make sure @AnneShirley06 is is mentioned in the tweet. Unfortunately, the contest is open only to US residents.  You’ll be able to select a book preference or just enter for any of them. The contest will close at midnight, December 31, 2011.

Make sure you visit all the participating blogs to enter their giveaways and the grand prize at Cyndi, Jacinda, or Yani’s blog. Meredith at Mint Tea and a Good Book will be posting tomorrow. Christen at Goldilox and the Three Weres posted yesterday.