Christmas Eve: Here Comes Santa Claus

Here comes Santa Claus

This is Christmas Eve. Cookies and milk will be set out for Santa and NORAD is tracking his progress.

Christmas Eve means something different for each of us. For some of us, it is a day of gathering family together. And last minute preparations; shopping, baking, and gift-wrapping after getting excited children tucked into bed. 

For some of us, it is just another day. Many careers are in the helping professions and people are scheduled to work on Christmas Eve (if that is you, we thank you). Maybe some of us don't celebrate Christmas and never have. Perhaps the kids have flown the nest and Christmas isn't as exciting as it once was. 

There are literally millions of ways to experience Christmas Eve. No matter how differently we celebrate this day the one thing we often have in common is the music. We have a favorite Christmas classic - that song that brings us good memories. We can all sing along, and sing together, the most familiar of the holiday songs. There are songs that bring us to tears and others that make us laugh. 

This video compilation of Christmas songs is the perfect background music for the day. I was fortunate to stumble upon it during a search for something else. I am enjoying the 3 hours of music and accompanying background visuals that change with each song. It is playing on my Roku TV as I write this (By the way, Here Comes Santa Claus by Elvis is at 1:19:04).

Personally, I love the story that Santa Claus circles the globe with his sleigh and flying reindeer. The mystery and magic of "here comes Santa" is such a fun thing.

This is Christmas Eve. And whatever that means to you the Review This writers wish you the very best version of Christmas Eve possible. 

Related Link: The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) monitors objects in space; including Santa's sleigh. Get your updates here.

Photo Credit: Santa Claus photo courtesy of Pixabay and CC0 creative commons

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DIY Battery Gift Storage Hack

When You Have to Add Batteries to a Gift but Don't Want to Put Them Inside the Item, Try This Hack

During the holidays or special occasions, we purchase gifts that require batteries once in a while.

Purchasing batteries in bulk is convenient and affordable. However, when you have to include four or more batteries in a gift, batteries purchased in bulk must have a package to put them in.

It's not recommended to put batteries inside the item you've purchased, as the batteries can begin to lose their charge from that point. Also, it's always best to keep the batteries separate if you're buying a gift months before you plan to gift it.

Of course, you could individually tape each battery onto the inside of the box. However, that's only sometimes convenient.

You can use another easy hack to store batteries inside a gift. Check out this hack I used to include batteries for a remote control car purchased for a grandchild:

Gift Card Holders - A DIY Hack to Store Batteries for Gifts

At the dollar store, purchase a package of gift card holders. You'll typically be able to find them for multiple occasions throughout the year. In this case, the batteries are for a Christmas Gift.

This Gift Card Box Holds Six Batteries

This remote control car needed six batteries. I lucked out in that one gift card box that holds six batteries. If you want to give extra batteries for future use, simply fill another gift card box with six more batteries.

Tape the Gift Card Box filled with Batteries Inside the Item's Box.

Depending on your gift, find a place to tape the gift card box filled with batteries inside the actual gift item's box. Tape the gift card box to the item's box to prevent it from flying around inside.

So go ahead and get batteries in bulk and add them to gifts whenever your heart desires. Get your gifts early, add the batteries, wrap them, and keep them until that special occasion comes along.

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River Street Sweets – Savannah Candy Store Review

(c) Wednesday Elf

The Sweet Taste of Savannah!

On historic River Street in Savannah, Georgia you will find a candy store that has been renowned for their world famous pralines for 44 years.  Everyone who walks into River Street Sweets will be enticed to try a sample of the pralines or fudge or other candies on display. 

A simple taste of these delicious handmade candies will also find you purchasing a bit of this, a little of that…. and of course a few pralines. So many sweet treats to choose from.  One whole wall is filled with every flavor of saltwater taffy you can imagine.  I have yet to go into the store without leaving with at least a few tasty tidbits. 

Oh Fudge – How River Street Sweets Came About

Chocolate Fudge - River Street Sweets

Stan & Pam Strickland had a gift shop on River Street called The Cotton Bale where they sold knick-knacks and Christmas ornaments.  In 1978 they were at a gift market trade show in Atlanta with their daughter Jennifer and son Tim looking for new items for their store .  Tim, age 11, found a fudge pot and begged his parents to put it in the store.  

They finally agreed and a week later, on St. Patrick's Day, the first batch of chocolate mint fudge was made. It sold like crazy and soon it became obvious that candy was much more popular than the gifts they had been featuring.  Within six months, River Street Sweets became a full-fledged candy store.

Today, they are known worldwide for their gourmet southern sweets. On a visit to River Street Sweets you can watch candy makers dip pralines onto a giant marble slab Stan bought from a gravestone company. You can also see them stir glazed pecans in  huge copper kettles and see the 100-year-old saltwater taffy machine in action. They make their sweets in the stores and also ship them out around the world.

Come on a video tour of Savannah Street Sweets

The Savannah store is run today by grown-up Jennifer and Tim, while just down the street Stan "The Candy Man" operates Savannah's Candy Kitchen, the largest candy store in the south since 1990. 

If you cannot make it to Savannah, other River Street Sweets stores can be found in the Mall of Georgia in North Atlanta, in two places in Charleston, SC, and in Myrtle Beach, SC, as well as Key West and Lancaster Maryland. New locations will soon be coming to Texas, New Jersey and South Carolina.  You can also order them online from Amazon or through their catalog or website.  

Holiday and Gift Baskets

Office Party Basket - River Street Sweets

The wicker gift baskets are popular with tourists for taking home to friends & family.  They are irresistibly filled with delights such as pralines, bear claws, glazed pecans, hand-stretched peanut brittle, nougat log rolls and creamy chocolate fudge. Or grab a box of your favorite sweets (mine is fudge with walnuts). 

All candies sold by River Street Sweets are made using their own family recipes to make the finest and freshest handmade Southern candies around.  Not surprising, their best sellers are the glazed pecans, their bear claws and the oh-so-delicious pecan pralines.

How the Pralines are Made

A Sweet Treat you'll love. 

(c) Travel Review written by Wednesday Elf (12/22/2018)

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Broadcasting Christmas Hallmark Movie Review

When you mix Melissa Joan Hart, Dean Cain and Hallmark, what do you get?  An amazing romantic Christmas movie!

Broadcasting Christmas takes place at Christmastime in New York with Emily and Charley competing for the same job.   It isn't the first time they have both been considered for the same position either.  Both are television reporters who previously worked for the same station and who were previously romantically involved.  Actually, they were in a relationship until they were pitted against each other 6 years earlier for a different job.   The newscaster job that Charley subsequently landed. 

This Hallmark movie is available on DVD, or you can view it with Amazon Prime or as a subscriber to the Hallmark channel on Amazon.

Hallmarks' Broadcasting Christmas

 Broadcasting ChristmasCheck PriceWhen Emily hears that the "Rise & Shine" morning show is replacing one of their co-hosts, she is determined to get the job.  Unfortunately, when Emily contacts a friend at the network, is told that she really is not a reasonable candidate for the station since they are seeking a known "name" to fill that position.  In a rare moment of passion, fueled by years of struggling and desire to get a break, Emily makes desperate plea on the air to be considered for the co-host job.  Of course, the next day, she regrets that rash action and tries to apologize, only to find out that her plea is trending on Twitter and the stations viewers love it.  As a result, the network decides to give her a chance.

Emily will once again be competing with Charley and two other well known television faces.  It seems highly unlikely that she will be the one to get the job.  Plus, she will have to face her boyfriend from the past.  

When Charley got the newscaster job 6 years earlier, Emily ended their relationship, refusing to move to Manhattan with him so he could work at the job she wanted.  Not to mention, she would have to leave her present position and would not have a job in New York.

This movie might be somewhat predictable, but there are a few fun surprises.  It truly is a really sweet romantic movie with the perfect ending for the couple we all adore.

Broadcasting ChristmasCheck Price

Currently, "Broadcasting Christmas" is also available on Amazon with a subscription to the Hallmark Channel.  
 

More Movies REVIEWED ON REVIEW THIS!
Available with Subscription to the Hallmark Channel

 Debbie Macomber's Mr. Miracle Hallmark Movie Review Finding Father Christmas Hallmark Movie Reviewed Love on the Air Hallmark Movie Review At Home in Mitford - Hallmark Movie Review Midnight Masquerade Hallmark Movie Review

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Broadcasting Christmas Hallmark Movie Reviewed Written by:

 

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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Book Review

The book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is the story of an elderly movie star named Evelyn Hugo who has decided to allow an author to write the story of her life. A tell all, no holds barred. For reasons known only to herself, Hugo picks an relatively unknown, inexperienced young magazine reporter named Monique Grant. In doing so, she astounds both the publishing house and the young woman.

Monique is at a low point in her life. She is newly divorced and frustrated with her unsuccessful career so she accepts this writing job without knowing why she has been chosen. She hopes that she will find success through the sought after story of a reclusive actress.

Immediately after announcing that she wants to have this book written and picking Monique, Hugo puts her to work and the two spend long days in her New York apartment discussing her life story. Hugo arrived in Los Angeles in the 1950s and had a very successful acting career until she finally left acting in the 1980s. As is obvious from the cover, she has seven husbands during that time frame. She has been ruthless in her choices and efforts to get what she wants and along the way found a few great friends and one forbidden love. Of course, it turns out that there is a connection between Monique and Evelyn.

This story is a trip through the Hollywood of times gone by, in both the good and the bad aspects, and it is also a voyage of discovery in which both women find out what it costs to face the truth. It deals with sexuality including LGBTQ, with race and with strong women in the 1940s and 1950s and in the current day.

Is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo recommended by me? Yes, I enjoyed the book. It was an easy read but be warned that Grant is a not-very-nice woman who will go to any means to get what she wants and that the book includes many of the vices we associate with Hollywood. If you are interested in the history of Hollywood, I believe you will enjoy this story as I did.

The Historical Novel Society says, "Evelyn, her husbands, and others may be composites, but the story is fresh, and the end reveal is worth the wait." I agree.

I spent the entirety of the book wondering if it was linked in any way to the actress Elizabeth Taylor and her seven husbands and eight marriages and a bit of research cleared up the mystery. I do wish there had been a tagline like "based on the lives of real Hollywood actresses."

Anyway, when interviewed by Pop Sugar, author Taylor Jenkins Reid said she was inspired by true stories like those found in Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversation and Scandals of Classic Hollywood. Ava Gardner had herself hired a ghost writer to write her story and shared so many secrets with the writer that the book was eventually cancelled and not published until both Gardner and the writer had passed away. Jenkins Reid drew on many stories from real life and yes, that included the lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Rita Hayworth.

In the Pop Sugar story, Jenkins Reid said that she hopes we learn from this story and that "Hugo can teach us a lot about how to get what we want out of this world." Jenkin Reid goes on to say that she believes "It is time for women to get ours (but that) we've got to go out there and take it. (That) it is going to be uncomfortable, but that she thinks the rewards will be there for us. We need to find the confidence in ourselves to say, Pay me what I'm worth. Promote me when I deserve it. Don't take advantage of me. Don't underestimate me."

Have you read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo? Will you be adding it to your reading list? Are you interested in the history of Hollywood or could you care less?

See you
at the library!
Brenda

Quick Links:

Buy The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on Amazon.
The best Elizabeth Taylor movies.

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