You’ve won the $25 Prize Pack Beauty Giveaway! I’ve sent an email to you. Please send back an email with your address to receive your prize! If for some reason you did not receive the email, simply comment below and I will resend it. Thank you so much for your comment and for your support of this website! A HUGE thanks to everyone who commented!

I hope everyone’s diet and day today are reduced to chocolate! Chocolate caramels, chocolate covered strawberries, and snacking on gamble boxes of chocolate—all while watching the movie Chocolat.

While you enjoy yourself, check out these last-minute gift ideas and advice perfect for Valentine’s Day:

*New Fragrances Your Lover Will Love on Valentine’s Day: Brand-new fragrances perfect for any woman.

*What to Get Your Girlfriend for Valentine’s Day: What you shouldn’t miss

*What to Get Your Man for Vday: Men are hard to decipher sometimes.

*Have a Happy Chocolate-Filled Valentine’s Day*

It’s been a while since my last post! I could tell you that I got wrapped up in Christmas and New Years or that my husband and I moved to a new city and I just finished unpacking….but I could have made time to blog if I’d really pushed it.

The truth is that I fell off the writer and blogging wagon.  You sort of run around as a writer and shout, “Write! Write! Write!“…and then there are patches were nothing comes. Since I began writing freelance, it hasn’t been an exception. It’s been a struggle to find creativity left over at the end of the day to blog or write for fun. Writing has always been my hobby but once I added different companies to write for during the week, it became “my work day,”…and turning back to writing when I have time off from my deadlines is harder than I thought it’d be.

Which is a cycle every writer falls into and I’d have to say it’s hard. The more I don’t write creatively without boundaries, the harder it is to write, and the longer I abstain….the more guilty I feel and the less I write outside of my work. The less I write, the more I worry I about my ability to write. I felt guilty about taking an unannounced break from blogging (I love this blog!) and my contests. I’ve been avoiding editing the book I wrote, wondering if I should just start over and give up. My cooking blog is on hiatus from our 2 recent moves, we kind of dropped the ball.

But in end all you can do as a writer or anything in life is hop back on the wagon and start shouting, “Write, Write, Write!” You can’t let your own shame or self-doubt get the best of you or burn-out either.

If you any of you out there have any tips on how to juggle your passions with work (writing or not), I’m all ears. Here’s to breaking the spell and getting back to writing and my goals…..and to stopping playing solitaire.

*Fast Contest: To enter for your chance to win a $25 Beauty Prize Pack Giveaway, you have to “Like” The Write Stuff’s Facebook page by Monday, January 30th!

Prize Pack includes:

• No7 Boots Mineral Perfection Eye Shadow Palette in Heather ($8.99),
• Sonia Kashuk Primer Vitamin Face Serum ($17.99), and,
• Wet n Wild best-selling nail polish shade in Heatwave.

Just in case you’re like me and still picking up last-minute gifts here are some truly genius gifts for men and kids:

20 Stocking Stuffers for Your Guy: Including a personalizable wallet bottle opener for beer lovers and an alarm clock that runs away when it gets ignored!

20 Fun Holiday Gifts for Kids: My favorite is the Monster slippers for boys and the Boo Boo Bling (bling for bandages) for girls!

Christmas is days away: my articles are finished, our Xmas letter has been sent out, and I’m loving this year’s Pumpkin Spiced Eggnog!

Not to mention I’m also loving Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies…and anything pumpkin related for that matter this Christmas!

From how to spot when someone’s uncomfortable to how to not let Christmas price tags get you down, we have a few much-needed psychology tips and research to help you have a perfect holiday break:

Don’t Let Price Tags Ruin Your Relationship: Ways to save money this Christmas!

Keep Your Body From Drying Out This Winter: Give your skin a break!

Stop Anxiety in Its Tracks: Tips on getting anxiety off your back.

Become a Happier Women Today! 

Can You Fake Body Language? Can you tell when someone’s upset?

What Does Your Smile Say: How to tell if it’s genuine or not!

Congratulations Jane Cook!

You’ve won a copy of The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen by Dominique Enright! I’ve sent an email to you. Please send back an email with your address to receive your prize! If for some reason you did not receive the email, simply comment below and I will resend it. Thank you so much for your comment and for your support of this website! A HUGE thanks to everyone who commented!

*Santa’s already here! Read my review and check out your chance to win your very own copy!

The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen (set to be released in January 2012) is collection of Jane’s wittiest observations and musings from her novels to personal letters she sent to those closest to her. In addition to her classic novels such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, you’re given a glimpse into the many thoughts she sent to her sister, Cassandra, and a whole host of family members.

To give you an idea of how the book is laid out:

*Here are the chapters: In a Manner Truly Heroick: Early Exuberances, A Great Deal of It Must be Invention: History, Another Stupid Party: Balls, Gowns and Other Fashions, In a Fine Burst of Literary Enthusiasm: Books and Writing, The Rich are Always Respectable, A Truth Universally Acknowledged: The Marriage Market, The Nature of their Attachments: Men and Women, Jane Austen in Love–and Not, A Neighborhood of Voluntary Spies, Vanity Working on a Weak Head: The Absurdity of Self-Regard and Affectation, The Dissipations of London, the Luxuries of Bath, A Fine Family, Of Sterling Insignificance, One Half Cannot Understand the Other: Observations General and Particular, and I am a Very Good Housekeeper.

*Under each chapter are a collection of hilarious quotes. Quotes such as this one sent from Jane to her sister in June of 1799, “My hair was at least tidy, which was all my ambition.” And that just so happens to be my exact ambition today!

I enjoyed reading the chapters and seeing the best of Jane from her novels and a new insight into her thoughts and events that took place off the fiction pages and in her daily life. I think that author, Dominique Enright, compiled a truly masterful list that allows Jane Austen fans to continue to muse over her writing, ideas, and thoughts. While I’m not a die-hard Jane Austen fan, I’m quickly becoming one with this book and its making me more interested in her novels just by reading it. With that I leave you with another favorite quote from Emma, “One cannot have too large a party. A large party secures its own amusement.”

*To Enter for a chance to Win a Copy of The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen:

Simply leave a comment answering the following bolded question!

Rules for this contest:

*You can enter anytime from right now up to Friday (Dec. 23rd). Those who comment will be entered to win. This giveaway is U.S. only–sorry! When you comment, you will be asked for your email address. This information will not be made public. It will only be used to contact the winner. You must provide your name.

For additional entries and chances to win:

*Subscribe to this blog!

*Become a member on Facebook: The Write Stuff

*Follow me on Twitter

*Twitter, Facebook, or Blog about the contest (you must provide a separate comment that you did this with a link).

Every name is assigned a random number. The more you enter, the more numbers are assigned to your name. The range of numbers is put into a Random Number Calculator and the winning number is chosen! I’ll announce the winner on Dec. 26th! Once contacted, the winners will have three days to email me their mailing addresses. If I do not receive a reply within the allotted time, I will pick another winner. Good luck!

*What are your Christmas traditions? 

For Example: As part of a German tradition, my family has always opened gifts on Christmas Eve which I’ve always cherished! 

Deck the Halls with Sugary Goodness

What’s coming up on The Write Stuff:

*First and Foremost: *Fans of Jane Austen take note–I’m reviewing an advanced copy of The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen and we’ll be hosting a giveaway for it this week!

I’m also on the verge of finishing up reading, A Summer in Europe, by the fabulous Marilyn Brant. We’ll be reviewing it and we’ll have her back for an update on her venture into Ebooks!

We’ll also be having author, Meryl Davids Landau, who has been published in O, the Oprah magazine, Reader’s Digest, and Glamour here to give us insight on her journey as a freelance writer and tell us all about her book, Downward Dog, Upward Fog.

Now that business is done, let’s look at a few Christmas Beauty Tips and Gifts:

*I interviewed HSN.com’s Fashion Director, Lauren Wilner, for Christmas Party Fashion Tips and what’s trendy this holiday season. Psst…metallics are in!

*20 Hot Stocking Stuffers for Your BFF!  My favorite is the Sorry Santa flirty apron with ruffles #6!

*20 Sniffalicious Stocking Stuffers for Dogs and Cats! You think you have a smart dog? Check out this interactive pet puzzle toy #2

The Holiday Season is a time for joy and….stress. Here are a few X-mas articles to help you avoid overdoing it on the eggnog this year

*Bringing Your Partner Home for the Holidays

*How to Stay Sane During the Holidays

*How to Cohabitant…and Survive the Holidays!

—I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A VERY, MERRY CHRISTMAS—

Tips include:

*How to talk to your 13-year-old cousin about Justin Bieber 

*How to make a cocktail using ingredients found at your local 7/11.

Check out my article featuring this guide and see how you can become as famous as Justin Bieber…ok maybe not as famous but you do have the opportunity to have your favorite Xmas photo published in a holiday book and a chance to win a FREE plane ticket home which is pretty awesome.