Debbie Macomber's Blog, page 58

Countdown to Christmas?!

I'm starting to receive Christmas cards.  No kidding.  Two arrived last Friday and I got another one this morning.  As you know, I'm a Christmas kind of person.  I cherish the holiday season.  Plans are already set in place for our annual Christmas traditions with our children and grandchildren.  It isn't the early Christmas cards, or the fact my favorite radio station is already playing 100% Christmas music.  It doesn’t bother me so much that it isn't even Thanksgiving yet.  All this early Christmas celebrating makes me realize . . .  how much I have yet to do!

For the Love of Fruitcake

Okay, I admit it.  I love fruitcake.  I baked Julia Child's special fruitcake recipe this weekend. (This is Wayne's favorite--I think it’s the rum and brandy in the recipe that he likes best!)  Then sometime this week I'll bake another batch, this time using a family recipe that's been around for years with applesauce as the base.  I feel especially grateful to have located the white fruitcake recipe my mother used.  All told, I'll be serving three different fruitcakes this Christmas.  My mouth is watering already.

Kicking Up Our Heels

Last weekend Wayne and I received a wonderful honor.  We had a dance floor named after us!  Because my mother received Hospice care before she died in 2005, I support our local Hospice fundraising event.  For the last two years they have held a dinner with the fabulous musical group, THE KINGSMEN (of Louie, Louie and Jolly Green Giant fame).  The first time we heard them, the music was so wonderful Wayne and I couldn’t stand it--we jumped up and started to dance.  So this year Hospice decided to add a dance floor and named it after Wayne and me.  Over the years I've received a number of awards and honors, but I have to tell you, this was one of the most fun ever. 

Thanks to our Veterans

I can't think of Veterans Day without remembering my father, Ted Adler.  He is my hero.  Dad was barely 20 when he went off to fight in World War II.  Later he was captured and held as a POW inside of Germany.   After the war, not a Veterans Day passed without my father being part of the parade in our hometown of Yakima, WA.  He marched with his fellow veterans and proudly carried the United States flag.  These days only a few towns hold parades.  Still, I can vividly remember my father walking down Yakima Avenue with his friends, honored to have served his country.  Thank you, Dad, and all our veterans.  Because of you we are free.

In Our Nation's Capitol

I’m in Washington DC for tonight’s National Press Club Book Fair and Author Night.   It’s a very prestigious event and I’m honored to have been invited.  In preparation for this evening, I walked over to the Press Club building to check everything out and discovered a Filene’s Basement in the same building.  Oh my, the temptations!  Unfortunately I only brought a carry on, but I will find a way to bring home my purchases.

I also found a White House gift shop, where I bought a towel with White House embroidered on it.  I plan to give it to my uncle for Christmas.  I can hardly wait to give it to him.  When I tell him I stole it from the White House, he’ll be inclined to believe me!

In Our Nation's Capitol

I’m in Washington DC for tonight’s National Press Club Book Fair and Author Night.   It’s a very prestigious event and I’m honored to have been invited.  In preparation for this evening, I walked over to the Press Club building to check everything out and discovered a Filene’s Basement in the same building.  Oh my, the temptations!  Unfortunately I only brought a carry on, but I will find a way to bring home my purchases.



I also found a White House gift shop, where I bought a towel with White House embroidered on it.  I plan to give it to my uncle for Christmas.  I can hardly wait to give it to him.  When I tell him I stole it from the White House, he’ll be inclined to believe me!

Dancing with the Kingsmen

Wayne and I have a busy weekend planned.  Saturday we're attending a charity event for our local Hospice.  The Kingsmen are performing.  You'll remember the group from the 1960s who sang Louie, Louie.  (FYI, the song was once voted upon to be our state song and, sadly, it was defeated.)  The Kingsmen are also known for their hit The Jolly Green Giant.   (Last year we also attended  this charity event, and the group brought Wayne and me up on stage to dance, which was interesting because I'd just recently undergone knee replacement surgery. )  Then on Sunday we're headed off to watch the Seahawks football game, and I don't care what Wayne thinks, I'm bringing my knitting with me. 

Professional Hair & Make-Up for a Day

Today, all day, I'm involved in a photo shoot for the 2011 Debbie Macomber Christmas Cookbook and a new publicity photo for my May 2011 hardcover, A Turn in the Road.   This sounds sort of glamorous, doesn't it?  An entire team of make-up and hair people are involved.  These folks are miracle workers.  They make me look so good, I try not to wash my face for two or three days afterwards.  Keeping my hair perfect is a little more complicated.  I don't sleep well sitting up.  Then there's a crew to adjust the proper lighting.  I just wish these people could follow me around all year.  The real challenge is to look like my publicity photo, but I'm trying. 

Weekend of Stitches

Christina, Renate and I were in Hartford, CT, this past weekend where we attended the STITCHES conference.  This was both pleasure and business.  While there, I attended a class taught by J.C. Briar about various methods of casting-on.  Who knew one could cast-on with the purl stitch?  Not me.  In fact, I was so excited that when we went to lunch I wanted to teach the young waiter.  I showed him the purl cast-on method;  the long-tail double cast-on, which is great for socks, and the German (sometimes known as Norwegian) cast-on, which is also great for socks because it’s so flexible.   Unfortunately he didn't really seem that interested.



I loved talking with all the vendors and knitters attending the show.  I did a meet and greet at the Universal Yarn booth, the talented people who produce my Blossom Street Yarn, signed at The Woolpack and Yarn Barn booths and shopped, shopped and shopped! 

Stitches East

Tomorrow my assistant, Renate, and I are off to Connecticut for the big Stitches East conference in Hartford.  This is knitter's heaven.  The classes are fabulous and the market  . . .  oh my!  I OWN a yarn store, and I will still buy yarn, which I'm convinced is the sign of a true addict.  (Help! Somebody stop me!)  My friend and fellow author, Christina Skye, is meeting me at the conference.  (Look for the anthology Knitting Diaries due out next April.  Christina, Susan Mallery and I each wrote stories for it.)  Christina is an accomplished and avid knitter herself.  We're supposed to help one another resist purchasing more yarn.  I'll let you know how that works out.