So, I got these antlers at the Santa's Link to Kids Drop-Off Party

Every year my office does some sort of holiday charity giving, and, as the un-official organizer, I think we have found our annual event. 107.9 The Link sponsors Santa's Link to Kids. The police department identifies kids for them who maybe won't be getting a visit from Santa Claus, and then the listeners have the opportunity to adopt them. My office adopted 3 kids and we had a ton of fun with it and got them some really great presents. Our adopted kiddos are having a merry Christmas this year. Another awesome thing about Santa's Link is the drop-off parties. They host 2 of them. The one tonight was at the Arboretum Shopping Center. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there, pony rides, singing, sleigh rides, and, of course, lots of cookies and hot chocolate. Did I mention that 107.9 brought fake snow. You should have seen the kids dancing underneath it. It was awesome. The Christmas Spirit was alive and well at this event. Merry Christmas everyone!

*OK, then I went home and put the antlers that I got at the drop-off party on my dog, Mandy. She's such a good sport*

Christmas Tree Lighting at Freedom Park

I can walk to Freedom Park, so when I passed the sign that said there was a Christmas Tree Lighing Celebration there, I was totally in. There was a really great band there playing Christmas songs all rocked out, my favorite way. As an aside, if you've never heard the Sister Hazel Christmas album, it's awesome... anyway... A group was there collecting coats, hats & gloves for the homeless, and, I guess they are the ones who sponsored the band. They are trying to get one of each for every homeless person in Charlotte, so if you can help, they will continue the collecting at any Omega Sports location, I believe until December 21st. Santa, of course, was at the tree lighting, and a radio station sponsor. It was a great little Christmas spirit kind of event, I'm pretty big into having the Christmas spirit. The best part is that the park looks great! There are beautiful lights going around the lake, so if you need to catch a little bit of the spirit, take a fun jaunt around the lake. You'll be hearing subtle "Ho, Ho, Ho"s in your ears before you know it.

Bargain Book Sale at Joseph Beth

So, I got my Gives Back card, right? Well, now I'm finding out about all of these other great perks to having that card. Awesome, huh? Joseph Beth is having their Bargain Books sale, so the books are already cheap, but as a Gives Back member, when I buy 3, I get 2 more for free. How awesome of a deal is that. Now, my office has adopted 3 kids from the Santa's Link to Kids and one of them is a 7-year-old little girl who loves to read. Perfect! Plus, I got this great coupon book that is only good for Gives Back members and in it is a coupon for $15 off the perfect cookbook Christmas gift for my mother-in-law (no specifics sorry, she may be reading the blog). So, for roughly $40, I got the cookbook, 4 books for the Santa's Link little girl, and 1 for myself. Not a bad Saturday afternoon of bargain shopping if you ask me. I'm telling you, the Christmas season can be cheap and free and fabulous! 

Second String Santa

Second String Santa is seriously one of my favorite events all year in Charlotte. Have you been? It's a fantastic kick-off to the holiday season. Here's the deal, for $20 and a toy donation or $40 you get admission and then all you can eat and all you can drink wine, beer, and soda. It's a formal event, which I love. It's great to get those dresses out of the closet that there is never any reason to wear. 

It's a pretty good deal as is, but this year I discovered a way to make it even sweeter. I volunteered, for 1 hour of toy collecting, I didn't have to pay cover. That's a $20 an hour gig, pretty awesome. Plus, collecting toys was a great amount of fun. I love chatting with people, so it was the perfect job for me. 

After my volunteering, then it was time to party. I pretty much danced the night away with my girls, and we had a blast. 

Now, here are some amazing Second String Santa statistics: 4000 people attended, 3000 toys (including 3 bikes) and $54,000 were collected. There are a lot of kiddos who are going to have great Christmases because of the attendees and everyone involved with Second String Santa. Now, that's a great event. It's a good time, a good deal and a fabulous cause.