A Christmas Carol vs. The Nutcracker

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Chandler

Families across the country journey to local, regional, and national theaters to watch these traditional shows that are synonymous with the season. It seems to me that people can be divided into two camps: A Christmas Carol People and The Nutcracker People. There is of course the rare breed of species that is on the fence. If you are someone like that, please find below my arguments for each, and let me know what you decide!

Case for A Christmas Carol.

Supporting fact #1:

There’s a whole literary following of the Dickensian style. You know – Victorian England, British accents, poor working conditions and miserly bosses. Going to see A Christmas Carol sends a message to the world: “I am literary. I love words and fine writing.”

Supporting fact #2:

You will probably leave the theater with a good moral learned. The themes of regret, guilt, greed, and gratefulness will permeate any theatre-goer’s mind and even leave a few of us crying with tears of recognition. Spectating A Christmas Carol can make you a better person.

Supporting fact #3:

The ghost of Morley is downright scary! This is a much bigger thrill than seeing a horror movie at the cinema.

*If you find yourself in the A Christmas Carol People camp, consider your gifting style to fall into this category of Christmas ecards:

Case for The Nutcracker.

Supporting fact #1:

Dancers are athletes as well as artists and watching ballerinas do their thing is awe-inspiring. Here. This video will explain what I’m talking about. When you watch a good ballerina perform, and you see the holes in the shoes and the muscles working to their capacity, you feel so much respect for the art.

Supporting fact #2:

Silence. Unlike, A Christmas Carol, there are no lines of dialogue in The Nutcracker. Simply, sit back, meditate and watch the dreamlike sugar plums grand jete their way across the stage in silence to the melodic sounds of Tchaikovsky.

Supporting fact #3:

Be a kid again and romanticise that you, in a way, are Clara being courted by your own prince!

*If you find yourself in The Nutcracker People camp, consider your gifting style to fall into this category of Christmas ecards:

An Old Timey Thanksgiving

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Chandler

This year I’m thinking of doing Thanksgiving dinner the local, seasonal way. Trying to simplify these days…. So I started searching for the best farmers’ markets and local tucked-away co-ops and gardens using Local Harvest, and I found all of these really interesting food items located at markets across the country.

If you live near Buckeystown, Maryland, you should enjoy Nick’s Organic Farm that raises cattle and poultry and harvests vegetables such as white sweet corn, English peas, Acorn squash, white potatoes, basil, and tomatoes. Yummy! Can you imagine turning the clocks back to the Pilgrim days and trying to eat a little more like they did?

If you live in St. Louis, Missouri, there’s a “city farm,” the Villarreal Family Farm, located in a backyard that has grown into a booming business. From heirloom tomatoes to fresh eggs, this farm adheres to the “true growing seasons” and to “simple, traditional farming techniques.” Buying from this farm could resemble a little how the pilgrims did it in 1620. (By the way, the Villarreal family is trying to expand their little backyard farm – check out the article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)

Unless of course you just can’t shy away from the other beloved American past-time. Stuffing yourself silly with turkey and pie (and, no, the Tryptophan in turkey is not the only sleep-inducer: that’s a myth!), then lying down on the couch for some football, has equal merit in my mind. This Thanksgiving, November 24, you can catch the following NFL football games on the tube:

Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys
San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens

While on the couch, exercise your thumbs by emailing Thanksgiving ecards to far away loved ones. We love thise-card about Thanksgiving Golden Retrievers playing in the autumn leaves and pumpkin patch of an adorable farm with replete with cutesy red barn. I’d love to take a stroll on a breezy autumn day with these pups and eat a pumpkin pie afterwards.

No matter where you live or what you eat, we here at DoozyCards wish you a warm, loving, and happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween 2011

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Chandler

Halloween will be here in 4 days. I know getting my kids ready for their costumes can be overwhelming. My littlest is being a half dracula/half mummy, and my second oldest son is transforming into Iron Man for Halloween. There’s some great costume stores in our city, but I also like doing a little homegrown costume creating of my own.

Click on this link to see one of my favorite Halloween costume crafting tutorials. From Kermit the Frog to Winnie the Pooh, this crafting mom blogger, “BigDandMe” is such a creative mom. She gives some great tips on how to use ping pong balls for Kermit’s eyes, colorful felt feathers for a parrot costume, glued-on turquoise beads for a baby girl Sacagawea get-up; this mommy has got great tips!

How do you like to decorate your house for Halloween? I think it’s fun to turn my house into a full-blown spooky haunted house.

Fake cobwebs outdoors, sheets hung from the ceiling to look like ghosts, and spooky music playing in our study. When the neighborhood kids come trick or treating, I love to dress like a witch. This ecard basically breaks it down, how I like to do things at my Haunted Home on Halloween.

Mother-in-Law Day 2011

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Chandler

This Sunday, October 23, is Mother-in-Law Day. That means it’s the special day to celebrate your spouse’s mom. These women often get a bad rap. It’s a common theme to not enjoy time with the in-Laws, but I would say deep down most of us actually really love our Mom-in-Law. She’s that lovable woman who is a great cook. She is a good wife and mom. She loves your kids. You go to her home and talk about furniture or crafts. Whatever you enjoy doing with her, this is her day to send her a card to let her know how you feel.

There are many different types of Mothers-in-Law:

The ones that think they still change their son’s diapers.
The wealthy and aloof woman who is never to be seen but always sends postcards and exotic gifts from Kathmandu and Paris.
The warm and friendly Mother-in-Law who is right there to help around the house and with the kids and brings over a casserole once a week.
The lady who insists “I’ll run your house for you.”
The real battle-axe.
Your best friend with whom you get along swell!
The Mom who has some kind of a bizarre relationship with her son where he washes her underwear for her. (We’re afraid to ask much more about this one.)
There’s the Gorgon, aka the Dragon Lady, whom we hate to mention and who has given this holiday a bad name.
And lastly, there’s the type of Mother-in-Law who is a moral compass and a pillar of strength. Think Barbara Bush crossed with Mary Tyler Moore and a splash of Hazel.

Doozy has a category of cards dedicated to this holiday – a day which was commemorated only nine years ago in 2002. Here is a beautifully animated card for your Mother-in-Law featuring white doves and red roses:

Click on this link to be directed to another card, this one humorous, for your spouse’s Mom whom I’m sure deserves some laughter. Though we can’t all afford the full spa treatment – cucumbers on the eyes, steam from the sauna, mud wraps – we can still send her an e-card with a pamper-yourself sentiment.

Champagne and Cake: The Joys of Summertime Weddings

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Chandler

Ahhh the joys of summer weddings. Wedding Cake, champagne, and dancing. I love diving into a chocolate groom’s cake with a glass of bubbly! At New England weddings I wear a hat and enjoy the boats in the marina. In the South, I fan myself and drink a mint julep.

There are, of course, downsides to summer weddings. Mosquitoes, sweltering heat and not to mention expensive plane tickets, gift registries, and cocktail dresses! When I can’t afford to fly across country to wish my friend her best on the big day, I send her one of our animated wedding ecards.

Summer weddings make me think of some great old timey wedding songs, like Going to the Chapel by the Dixie Cups, or Today I Met the Boy I’m Going to Marry by Darlene Love. Here’s a great link to a 1967 video of Dionne Warwick singing Burt Bachrach’s Don’t Make Me Over. There’s nothing like a black and white video from a bygone era with a swooning voice! Puts me in the mood for love!

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