Caridad Pineiro, A few of her favorite things…and Shutterfly (gift card!) Back to Blog
Update: The winner of the SHUTTERFLY gift card is…elaing8 ! Caridad also offered up the prize of her novella, NOCTURNAL WHISPERS–the winner of that novella is Raonaid. Congrats!!
I can’t believe it–our last party post!!! Where did the day (and night) go?! Please remember, though, that all giveaways will stay open until noon (Central time) tomorrow. So if you haven’t entered all of the giveaways yet, there’s still time!!
And, since this is the last post, well, the perfect party person is wrapping things up for us–my friend (and amazingly talented author) Caridad Pineiro. Caridad, thank you so much for coming by! It’s always a pleasure when you visit!
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There are so many special things about the upcoming Christmas holidays and I want to thank Cynthia for having me here to share them with you! So in no particular order, here goes:
The one movie I always try to watch is HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS. I love the ending where the Grinch realizes what is the true gift of the holiday season.
My favorite dessert, other than my sister’s wonderful flan, is fruit cake. I’m the only one in my family that likes it, so I always have to buy myself a little loaf to enjoy.
The song that always makes me cry is “I’ll be home for Christmas.” I guess I cry because I know there are many people, like our military and their families, that can’t be home and I’m very thankful for them and the sacrifices they make for us.
I love walking in the woods with my hubby and daughter to pick out a tree and chop it down.
My favorite food is roast pork on Christmas Eve. This is a family tradition since we’re of Cuban descent, but I also make my hubby’s favorite – stuffed squid – since he’s of Italian descent.
I love spending time with my family and friends on Christmas Eve! It’s great to get together, share what’s happening in our lives, and enjoy the wonderful spirit of the holidays.
I do like getting gifts on Christmas Eve and when Santa comes on Christmas Day, but I also love giving to others. I try to do that in a variety of ways and this year this hits especially close to home in light of all the damage that Hurricane Sandy has done to my beloved Jersey Shore.
To help others, I’m going to donate my share of the proceeds from sales of my newest release, THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE, from now until March 1, 2013 to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund. THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE is available for download at Amazon via this link: http://amzn.to/UFCKRO or buy it at B&N with this link: http://bit.ly/WxipEv.
Thank you, Cynthia for having me with you today. I want to wish you and everyone else a very happy holiday season and share this picture of me and my little sister with you! The tree reminds me of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, another holiday favorite of mine.
Caridad, I love that picture!! And thank you for sharing your favorite holiday things with us…And now it’s time for readers to share. What are “a few of your favorite things” about the holidays? Since Caridad shared a photo, she inspired this post’s prize–a $25 gift certificate to Shutterfly.com. With the gift certificate, you can print holiday greeting cards–or even print up the photos that capture your new holiday memories.
Thank you all so much for coming to my party. I hope you enjoyed the posts! Happy Holidays! –Cynthia
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I’m enjoying “The Prince’s Gamble”. I hope you make tons of money for the relief fund.
Some of my favorite things is baking all the holiday goodies with my niece.She comes over every year to help since she was little.
Decorating the Christmas tree while listen to carols.
Then just sitting by it with just the tree lights on enjoying a mug of hot chocolate.
Seeing the kids faces light up when they get what they wanted.
And most of all just being with family.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Thank you Cynthia for a great day of guest posts and letting us Deck the Halls with you 🙂
Great post and that you are donating the proceeds of your book is wonderful and the best gift to some people who really need it.
Thank you, Terry! I hope we’re able to raise lots of money as well. As I think about the list I made, I get so excited thinking about the upcoming holidays and how they make me feel! What are some of your favorites.
Also, I’ll be giving away a copy of my erotic e-novella NOCTURNAL WHISPERS. It’s something to help keep someone warm when the weather gets a little chilly.
Thank you all for coming by! Hot chocolate by the tree is awesome and so is some nice egg nog. Like you, I love trimming the tree with some Christmas carols playing and a fire going to take the chill off the day.
I think it’s wonderful that you’re donating your proceeds to the relief fund! That would make it even more special when I gift it to someone! 🙂
Some of our favorite holiday things?
1. Jello spritz cookies
2. Watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy with my husband and kids
3. Time spent with family, for 2 reasons. First, we’re a military family, so we really appreciate the chance to be with loved ones while we’re back home. We know we have 1 more Christmas until we have to move again. Secondly, our kids are getting older. Just a few more years & the oldest will be off to college, so we’re really trying to focus more on “family time”.
4. Lastly, I love that on Christmas day I can be a total bum. It’s the one day a year that I don’t wash a dish, straighten a room, or pick up after anyone. Love it!
Thanks so much for the wonderful blog party today. I really enjoyed all of the posts & it was very helpful in putting me into more of a “holiday” mood! I may just start decorating early this year. 🙂
My favorite things are watching my kids open presents christmas morning, opening my own presents, hanging out with my family on christmas-rent a hall and about 100+ of us get together(32nd year), watching christmas movies, decorating the tree, and finding & seeing christmas lights.
Thanks for the giveaway.
Wow, 100+ people! That is quite a gathering! Sounds like a lot of fun.
Michelle – thank you for your family’s service. What are jello spritz cookies? They sound tasty.
Do you have favorite ornaments for your tree? I have these tiny little angel musicians that I love. They were my mom’s favorites also.
I too love christmas, and am so excitted for that holiday this year. My husband was not with me last year but is here this year so it makes it even better. My fave thing about christmas is playing ‘santa’ for my little ones. As a child i never thought christmas could get better, but watching my kids happliy open gifts and give to others makes ‘adult’ christmas just that much better.
By the way I love both of your books, ladies. You women are wonderfull writers 🙂
Hi Caridad, great pic of you and your sister. I also love flan. Wishing that you have lots of success for the Relief Fund.
Thank you Ashlee and Ana Luisa! I appreciate you coming by! My daughter is grown up, but we still love Christmas morning and seeing what Santa brings. It’s a great time to all just hang out, in our PJs and enjoy being together.
My mom has the cinnamin cookie ordaments that my sisters and I made as kids and now I have the handprint ones from my kids and I have to say those are my fave 🙂
Hanging out in pjs is always great. Lol
Especially with one of ur great reads @caridad
Love ornaments that are passed down! They have such sentimental value. I am so looking forward to getting our tree next week and getting it decorated!
Thank you, Ashlee! I appreciate the kind words.
My favorite things is always seeing the expression on my sons’ faces when they get things they really wanted. I love that!!
Knowing you made your kids happy is a wonderful feeling, Raonaid!
I try to save all the ornaments that the boys made in school.
I love decorating the tree and opening presents. 🙂
I love watching holiday movies, hanging out with family, lots of baking and giving presents! Thanks for the giveaway!
I just thought of another thing I love about Christmas, The Candy Apple lotion from Bath & Body Works that only comes out at this time of year, oh and the Ginerbread Oreos I just found. hahaha
I have ornaments my daughter made in kindergarten and also some that my mom crocheted. It makes putting them on the tree so special. And opening the presents is awesome. Love seeing the surprised looks on their faces!
*Gingerbread Oreos
Caridad, that is the cutest picture. I am also having roast pork (pernil) this christmas with Puerto Rican rice, yummy. I love everything about the holidays. The cookies, the songs (feliz navidad). The movies (a christmas story) and most of all FAMILY. I wish everyone a happy healthy holiday season.—Rachel
My oldest just started kinder and I am super excitted to see what she brings home for Christmas, but i was already making crafts with her since shes been one, because I know not all school participate in holidays anymore 🙁
What I really miss…when I was little, my grandparents lived close by. My brothers and I would wake up, open up all our presents. Then we would take choice gifts with us to show our grandparents and encourage them to open up their gifts.. We enjoyed that. Christmas just doesn’t seem the same without them.
I love the roast pork, Rachel! Just the smell of it brings memories of Christmas. That picture is one of my sis and me on our first Christmas in America. We were very happy to be with our parents again and to be in this wonderful country.
I love the picture of Caridad and her sister with their “Charlie Brown Tree” ….I love that movie too…and roast pork and Flan…Caridad made me really hungery…lol…Thanks for the giveaway!
I love the holiday atmosphere and checking the holiday window displays at the department stores.
Caridad’s picture reminds me of Christmas pictures of my brother and me when we were kids.
One of my favorite things is bringing out the Christmas ornaments and remembering where they came from.
WE have Tamales and Flan for Christmas. I cannot wait. lol
I so did not mean to caps WE,sorry. lol but trying to type with a two year old right next to you is very hard. so I better go. Thanks Caridad for sharing your picture and wonderful feelings about Christmas, I got me more in the holiday spirit 🙂
I can’t wait either. It’s awesome of Cynthia to help us all get in the mood for the holidays!
Caridad never got to say but I think that is noble and awesome how you are donating the proceeds to the Sandy effort. I have three friends in that area: Rhode Island, Mass and New Jersey… I just hope those people affected are safe and have a good christmas
My friends love watching A Christmas Story. Do you guys like that one? I could never really get into this movie. I liked It’s a Wonderful Life a lot better.
Thank you, Raonaid! It was so sad to see the damage and I just knew I had to try and do something. We’re also trying to organize a group of volunteers to help clean up the damage along our boardwalk. We started trying to dig out the fountain on Sunday and discovered it was quite an undertaking and would take a lot more shovels and strong backs!
I really appreciate all of you coming by to spend some time with me!
by the way I bought four of your books that ur donating the proceeds to the hurricane sandy effort,(one for me, my mom, and my two sisters) because I think it is awesome that your doing that, and my little sister lives over there. Thanks for doing that Caridad, your a wonderful caring person for dong it. Merry Christmas everyone
Thank you so much, Ashlee for doing that. I so appreciate it and I know the help would be appreciated. It’s really sad to see what’s happened to all the towns.
Wow Caridad! Shame I did not live closer. I may not have a strong back but I am no stranger to work. Helping with Sandy seems like an excellent Pay It Forward, doesn’t it?
It does seem that way, Raonaid. I get such joy when I go down the Shore that I felt the need to pay that back and help make things better for people.
I just wish I could do more. that area was totally devestated, and sometimes I feel not enough is being done. @Raonaid, that does seem like an awesome pay it forward, I would love to go over there and help put things back to rights. To bad some of these strong men from these books couldn’t be real to come and help. Imagine how much help an honorable vampire, or awesome hero could give?
I just donated my youngest boy’s last year’s jacket and a blue jean jacket he’d never wear, and a pair of slippers he outgrown (and never wore). Friend of the family works in daycare, so I sent them there so if she knows a child in need of them. It’s small but I feel better knowing that a child will have a darn good coat (Walls, I love that brand)
Those powerful vampires could certainly help out! I actually rewrote parts of THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE to have Prince Alexander help out in the community after the storm hit Atlantic City. It was a really push to do that and still have the book out in time. Somehow we got it done.
Thank you all again for coming by! I have to head off to bed. I’m actually in Canada for work and have to get up early in the morning. Thank you again! I’ll be back tomorrow to chat some more before Cynthia picks the winner.
Night Cynthia! I’m gonna take a bath and then see if I can get some writing in!
Thank you Caridad for talking with us. love your work. hope things get cleaned up and back to rights quickly, now I’m more excitted to read The Prince’s Gamble. 🙂 lots of love for the holidays. merry christmas