Warmest Wishes To Our Friends & Family!
I hope our newsletter finds everyone well this season! We are all doing great here at our home in the country. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! This is the first year we tried our hand at deep frying a turkey and let me tell you it was probably the most moist bird I've ever had. If you haven't tried it I highly recommend it. It's hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner! Christmas is definitely a season to celebrate! I think the magic of Christmas is in its memories. Whether it's the scent of that seasonal candle, the train set that circles the Christmas tree or the home baked goodness that filters through the air from grandma's kitchen reminds me we are all kids at heart. I think the home has even more meaning at Christmastime when families are blessed to share old & new traditions. I remember as a child that Santa made several trips to our home, he usually started a week before leaving a few gifts under the tree on a nightly basis so every morning I had the thrill of wondering what was under the tree those mornings leading up to Christmas Eve. By then I had a good count of all my presents Santa had left. My parents started this tradition because certainly Santa could have not made all his stops in one night! We always opened our presents on Christmas Eve and Santa would somehow make a special trip back Christmas night with a couple surprise gifts for Christmas morning! I wanted to let you all know that we really enjoy getting to know our customers from all over the world! Drop us a line sometime & lets talk about your favorite traditions & recipes! Also if you are searching for something specific let us try and help you find it!

Here is a update on our youngest grandson! Tyler is growing like a weed, he's at the age where he is very inquisitive and is starting to talk up a storm! It's hard to believe that he will be two in March 2008! We have already started his Christmas shopping! He is really into Elmo right now so we ordered a new Elmo Bedroom Set that we think he will just love! I've included a picture of the proud parents at this last Halloween and as you can see he is adorable in his monkey costume. For being so young he sure knew what he was doing trick- or-treating because he wanted to keep going even though the rest of us were wearing out. He was proud of all the candy he collected and he graciously shared it with mom & dad.

This year has been a very busy year for us. We held a surprise Birthday party for my mother and invited all her old classmates and friends. We secretly worked hard on this for several months and let me tell you she had the biggest surprise of a lifetime! We were so happy that no one let the cat out of the bag. I couldn't resist to add the picture as she walked through the door and everyone stood up and yelled, "Surprise"! We had the event catered and had a couple DJ's that played songs from the past. Overall I think she will always have fond memories from 2007's Birthday bash.

About a month later Nathan & I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary and we wanted to make it special so we decided to take a Caribbean vacation and chose the destination of Sint Maarten. During that vacation we decided to renew our vows and I have included a picture from our special day. Please stay tuned in our new Romance 101 section for our adventures in Sint Maarten in our next newsletter! It was definitely a trip of a lifetime!

Romance 101

In this edition of our newsletter, we are pleased to announce the addition of “Romance 101”. A column dedicated to promoting the importance of keeping the romance alive in your relationship with that special someone. This is the first edition of an ongoing column, so be sure to watch for the latest releases as we do our part to promote love and romance as a part of your daily life, not something saved just for special occasions. In today’s hurry up life styles, it is so easy to take each other for granted or just simply not take the time to make each other feel special. No one plans it that way, it just starts to decline in importance as time goes on and life’s daily must do’s start to fill your entire day.

Maybe it is too much to ask to try to keep the kind of excitement you felt for one and other when you first met, alive in your daily life. But I can tell you from personal experience that, it is absolutely possible to create moments that bring out feelings of overwhelming love. Even after 20 years or more. And it is so much easier than you think, if you will just put a little thought into it.

1. Anyone can buy their sweetheart a gift, but what if you took it a step further and built up some anticipation for the actual presentation of the gift. Buy a box of children’s St. Valentine’s Day cards and on each one, write a clue to where they will find the next one. Make a treasure hunt out of it. The fact that you actually put that much effort into putting a smile on their face will become just as memorable or more than the treasure they were searching for.

Even the most important of occasions can be made into a dream experience with just a little extra effort.

2. For our tenth anniversary I reserved a suite in one of the nicest hotels in the city. I told my wife that we were going away for the weekend and that she needed to wear something very nice for the first night. When we arrived in the suite the Concierge had arranged for a bottle of champagne to be waiting for us, on ice in our room. After we had a few minutes to enjoy our champagne and our beautiful suite there was a knock at the door and there was a local florist, delivering a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my wife. A few minutes later I ask her if she would like to join me for a walk in the park just outside the front of our hotel, and of course she agreed. I convinced her that it would be nice if she would bring her flowers. (That was a tough one.) But she finally agreed. As we walked out the front door of the hotel, there was a white horse drawn carriage waiting for us. While we were riding through the park, I asked her to remarry me. By this time she was so overwhelmed that she had no other choice but to say yes. She asked me, when I thought would be a good time, and I said how about right now! As we pulled up in front of a statue, where I had a minister there waiting for us.

It truly was one of the most romantic nights of our life, and I planned the whole thing in about a day. I made most of the arrangements by phone and then the following day finalized the rest in person. I found everything I needed in the yellow pages. You will also find that the kind of people that you are working with when you are putting this kind of event together will have other ideas for making it a truly memorable occasion.

As you can see, you don’t even have to spend a lot of money to show someone how important they are to you. Just about everyone can scrape up .99 cents for a box of cards. And even if you can’t, make your own! The point is: Take the time to make it an event. At one time that special someone probably had butterflies in their stomach just thinking about the next time they were to see you. Why not find a way to show them that you still have those kinds of feelings about them. And even if those feelings are hiding somewhere down deep inside you, I will bet that if you make a real effort to instigate romance on a daily basis , pretty soon it will sneak up on you, and before you know it, not only will you be planning the next event but you will be excited about it too!

Everything New

We have added some new additions to our Everything New category so be sure to check it out for your holiday gift needs. We have added a new dish set in the traditional holiday colors so have a look at our Christmas Candy Dinnerware Plates, Christmas Candy Dessert or Salad Plates & our Christmas Candy Mugs! We also have a matching Christmas Candy Cookie Jar to store all your baked goods in. It would also make a nice gift for your favorite hostess filled with Christmas cookies. We have added some adorable Christmas Mice, Primitive to our collection, they are just sweethearts! Another line we picked up features our Christmas Cardinal Cookie Jar for those cardinal bird lovers! It also matches our Christmas Tree Soap or Lotion Dispenser. Our holiday platters are big enough to hold the largest turkey or ham with all the fixing's so have a look at our Christmas Winter Wonderland Platter and our large Country Rooster Platter. Our rooster platter matches our Country Rooster Canisters & our Country Rooster Cookie Jar. We will be adding additional pieces to this set in the near future. We have also picked up the Woof & Poof line so we have an assortment of baby items that are all handmade with the finest quality. Make sure and check out our Lambie line which includes Woof And Poof Lambie Snuggle Buddy, Security Blanket, Woof And Poof Lambie Tooth Fairy, with other animal collections such as the Poodle Security Blanket, Pink, Snuggle Buddy. We are now carrying quite a selection from the Woof & Poof line. For more inexpensive gifts we are offering several different night lights such as our Cardinal Night Light, Wreath Night Light & School Bus Night Light. Please check back frequently as we will be adding more products. With every purchase now through Christmas we are including a free Holiday gift!

Holiday Recipe

This is a easy recipe that makes life a little simpler because you can make these the night before! They are always a big hit!

Holiday Mashed Potatoes
 3 pounds (about 12 medium) potatoes, peeled, cooked & hot
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup of milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp salt & dash of pepper

In a large mixing bowl, beat hot potatoes until all lumps are removed. Add cream cheese (in small pieces) and butter. Beat well until cheese & butter are completely melted & mixed. Stir in sour cream. To the milk add the eggs & onion. Add to the potato mixture along with salt & pepper. Beat until light & fluffy. Place in a greased 9-inch round casserole. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. This recipe is also delicious as a leftover!

Free Gift Giveaway

We would like to give a special thanks and congratulations to our special customers who won our Witch Night Lights! Make sure and sign up for our newsletter for a chance to win prizes, first hand preview of our new products & wonderful recipes & tips! Be our every 10th shopper and receive our Christmas Tree With Presents Night Light valued at $14.99. Our Snow Covered Christmas Tree Is Featured With A Teddy Bear, Gifts & A Star... This over sized night light is a perfect addition to your Christmas decor! Makes a great hostess gift for your favorite chef. Swivel plug-in base, convenient on/off switch. Acrylic, glass. 4" x 3 1/2" x 6"

Drop me a note & let me know how you like my website and any ideas you may have to make it better. Email me at Linda@sweetheartsnest.com

We are still diligently working in the kitchen on our first cookbook! It's moving right along with some really great recipes. We are really close to completing it! We could use some more holiday recipes so if you have any great ones to share please drop us an email! Receive a free cookbook if we select your recipe!

Have any of you ever invented a special holiday for your family that you have kept as a tradition? We would love to hear about it! Drop us a note and share your special story with us!

Happy Fall Holidays & Best Wishes,
Linda & Nathan