How Hanukah is Celebrated around the Nation

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Chandler

Hanukah begins tomorrow night at sundown and ends December 28. As you begin your celebrations, here’s a look at how others do it across the country. I like to find out about different customs, and then send faraway friends and family Hanukah e cards.

The National Chanukah Menorah is located near the White House at The Ellipse, in the President’s Park South and will be lit at 4:00pm. Hot latkes and doughnuts will be served.

In New York City’s Midtown neighborhood, the “World’s Largest Hanukkah Menorah” stands. Certified by The Guiness World Book of Records and designed by artist Yaacov Agam, this sculpture is a festive Jewish decoration amidst the Christmas lights, songs, and colors generally associated with Manhattan at this time.

In Saint Louis, Missouri, Home Depot sponsors a Menorah Workshop where kids can build menorahs from wood. Started by Rabbi Levi Landa in 2008, this annual event has been so popular that Home Depot is extending it to other cities. It’s a great way for kids to do something hands-on to celebrate the holiday especially if your child has an inclination for doing carpentry or handiwork around the house.

In Boulder, Colorado, Ignite Chanukah with Vodka Latke Party is described as Colorado’s biggest young adult Chanukah party. It’s a way for young adults to share ideas about Chanukah and other Jewish topics in a light-hearted way. The vodka and latkes is the pre-party. The talks and five minute speeches are the main event, and there is usual an after-party as well. What a great way to get into the festive mood.

In whatever way you like to celebrate Hanukkah this season, we’ll be sending Hanukah e cards to all of our Jewish friends and family this year. Nun, gimel, hei, shin!

Doozy Brightens a Son’s and Mom’s Day

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Chandler

Bob is one of our most loyal customers. He called us the other day with a Christmas message and explained what our service means to him. Bob moved to the Coachella Valley in California some years ago to care for his 93-year-old mother, Liz, whose health had begun to waver in her nineties. Here’s a lovely picture Bob sent us of them both. (yes that’s right; We get snow on our desert mountains here in Southern California!)

On mornings that are harder than others, Bob visits DoozyCards.com, plays one of our animated ecards, and shares it with his mother. He tells us that our light-hearted, animated ecards put both of them in a smiling mood and help them get on with their day. In his message Bob says “We want to thank you for bringing so much joy and happiness into our lives. We applaud each and every one of you.”

We found Bob’s and Liz’s story to be remarkable. The irony that Bob sends us a thank you note with Christmas greetings is that it is perhaps his sunny disposition that deserves the highest recognition. Most us of hope to live to age 90 like Liz; the wisdom that comes with it is earned. Parents dedicate their lives to us and sacrifice so much for us, and when it is our turn to care for them later in life it is truly a gift. We know that Bob and Liz are treasuring this time together. We are glad to bring a little merriment and joy to their day. They certainly bring some to ours! Happiest of Holidays, Bob and Liz!

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.

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