Valentine's Week Wrap-Up

This past week has been a blast, celebrating love and all that's chocolatey, pink and/or red. Thanks to all who participated in the daily prize give-aways. Buzz Girl Stephanie is going to announce all the winners in just a little while, so stay tuned!

I hope you all had lovely Valentine's Days! For those of you who read my post last Sunday, I mentioned that my 4th grade son had put a note in his crush's desk several days before the Valentine's Day party so he could have "first dibs on her." Here's the update I promised: She went on a vacation so she wasn't at school until the following Tuesday. Well, my son thought it would be stupid to ask her to be his Valentine after V-day so he took the note out of her desk and she never, ever saw it. He's already planning on asking her again next year, though. So I guess we'll all have to wait for next year to see what happens.

To celebrate Valentine's Day, my darling husband took me to dinner at my favorite restaurant in Park City, Utah. It's called Wahso and it's a-mazing! He also took me shopping (yes!) at the Park City Outlet Mall, and I scored some fun Lucky Brand t-shirts featuring cats (Tina, I thought of you!) and a cheery sundress for our upcoming trip to Maui. And when we got home that night, my sweet boys gave me these tulips. I can't believe how great they look a whole week later!

Valentine's Love Ghost

I had to share this awesome news article as it fits so well with our theme:

Amfissa, Greece - Legends of ghosts and love are very common in central Greece and nowhere is this more evident than in the remote mountainous town of Amfissa where residents recall a tragic tale as part of carnival celebrations. The traditional carnival festivities have already been going on for days in the run-up for the "Night of the Ghosts" and a carnival celebration on Sunday, where thousands of tourists will join locals in dancing and partying.




Highly superstitious in nature, the people of Amfissa pay homage to their ghosts during carnival time, believing that the ghosts are souls of the people or animals who have been killed and wander around the area.

The most popular legend is the love story behind the "Ghost of Harmaina" which this year falls on Valentine's Day. "Thousands attend the ritual event every year but this year the celebrations are important because it coincides with Valentine's Day," says Carnival Director Voula Daskalopoulou. "This is a tragic love story and we all pay homage to this spirit by parading through the town beating drums."

According to townspeople, years ago Konstantis, a young tanner, had fallen in love with the young beautiful Lenio and had asked her to marry him. In preparation for the wedding, the young man had travelled from town to town, selling his goods so that he could return with a ring for his beloved. Upon reaching the town, he was confronted by the tragic news of Lenio's sudden death after she was struck by lightning near the Spring of Harmaina. Not being able to deal with the loss, he committed suicide by jumping off the walls of the town's castle, so the legend goes.

Today villagers believe that Konstantis became the Ghost of Harmaina, a monster-like figure that guards the Spring of Harmaina where the tanners work night and day.

"Dozens of people swear that they have seen or heard the ghost and that it would wander across the streets, moaning and rattling its chains," said carnival participant, Dimos Dimou, who is dressed as a tanner. "Every year the entire town wearing costimes follows the course of the legendary ghost in the name of love," says Dimou.

Who knew Valentine's and ghost could blend together, eh? LOL! In honor of the Greek's celebration and Valentine's week, I'm giving away a copy of GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING. Kendall and her friends meet a lot of spirits in their investigations...none with such a storied history like this...yet. Leave a comment in the comment trail about what you would do in the name of love to be eligible to win.



Hugs,
Marley = )

Happy Valentine's Day!

Maybe it's because I have kids or maybe I'm just nostalgic, but on Valentine's Day I love going back in time to my grade school days. There was something so titillating about the classroom parties. The oversized envelopes or shoeboxes coated in glitter, candies, construction paper hearts, and doilies sat on each of our desks, empty yet hopeful.

Then, when the teacher gave word, we'd dig into our backpacks to get the valentines that we'd prepared for our classmates--usually store-bought, but always specifically selected for each kid based on how much we liked him/her--and distribute them while trying to keep an eye on how things were going for our own envelope/shoebox. At some point, we might slip into another classroom to hand a few out to our best friends, who, of course, were never lucky enough to be in our class. Some kids gave stickers, others gave entire boxes of conversation hearts. But at least here in the U.S. (I say that because my friend from South Africa says that they only give valentines to people they love), we gave valentines to all the kids in our class. I remember wanting to hurry through all the crafts and cookie-decorating stations that the parents set up and dig through my stack of valentines to see what a certain-special-someone gave me.

My earliest memory of getting something different (better) from that certain-special-someone is 4th grade. He gave me a chocolate-covered marshmallow heart, hand-delievered by his buddy. Of course, I chickened out and didn't give him the better-than-normal valentine I'd brought just in case, but that was the best Valentine's Day of my 9 year-old life.

The Buzz Girls want to make your day special, too! This whole week we'll be doing giveaways, so you'll want to check back every day and then again next Sunday when I'll announce all the winners. The prize I'm offering is a really cute bracelet I found in our local boutique, Chic Style. Perfect for yourself, or if you're a guy, that special girl in your life. All you need to do is share your earliest memory of a special V-day and I'll have my resident expert, my 9 year-old Romeo, who left a note in his crush's desk three days ago so he'd get first dibs on being her valentine, choose his favorite. (I'll have to get back with you on what she said because sadly, she's on vacation and hasn't seen the note yet.) Good luck, and Happy Valentine's Day!!!

More Valentine's Week Giveaways

Happy Wednesday of Valentine's Week! Hope everyone is doing great! To celebrate this week of love, I'm giving away a Lindt chocolate basket, as well as both copies of my SORORITY 101 books: ZETA OR OMEGA? and THE NEW SISTERS.



To enter, leave a comment on the most romantic thing that has happened to you in your life (or that of a friend). We're all suckers for a happy ending or something that makes us cry sweet tears. You may enter as many stories as you'd like to qualify for the chocolate basket and books.

And here's a fun Valentine's Day tool...you've all see the Obamicon pics, right? Well, they have a Luvicon version, as well. Check it out! Here's one I did of my kitty, Stanley...isn't he precious? Wouldn't you want HIM to be Valentine?



Hugs all around!
Marley = )

GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING (Coming May 2009, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) GHOST HUNTRESS: THE GUIDANCE (Coming October 2009, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
GHOST HUNTRESS: The REASON (Coming May 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
CHRISTMAS MIRACLES (Coming October 2009, St. Martin's Press)
SORORITY 101: Zeta or Omega? (Available from Puffin Books)
SORORITY 101: The New Sisters (Available from Puffin Books)

The Valentine Extravaganza Continues

Tina started us off right yesterday with the first giveaway of the week (a copy of her latest book and the exactish lipstick from her adorable cover) and I'm not going to let you Buzzers down!

Today, I'll be giving away a signed copy of OH. MY. GODS. (the hardcover edition, with the soon-to-be-collector's-item cover) as well as the LOVE NOTES GIFT PACK.


In this pack you'll find: hearts-covered pencils, red hot pencil sharpener, heart-themed sticky notes and note pad, two packs of heart stickers, a heart-shaped spiral notebook, a set of bookmark pens with love quotes, and the totally adorable Xs and Os confetti! (I really should have gotten an extra set for myself!)

So, how do you win this awesome giveaway? Well, I'm gonna make you work for it. First, I want you to think of your favorite hero from a book (like maybe Griffin from OH. MY. GODS.--wink, wink, nudge, nudge--no, you won't get extra points for choosing him). Then, describe your ideal Valentine's day date with him.

The winner will be posted (by the darling Buzz Girl Steph) on Monday.

Hugs,
TLC

PS -- Does anyone else just totally love the new T-Mobile BlackBerry butt-dialing commercial? I crack up every time it comes on!