Welcome back to the Virtual Advent Tour! Christmas Eve is a week away, so I hope you’re starting to think about the ways you’re going to make the big days special. I admit that while Rudi and I have talked about preparations for Christmas itself, I haven’t really thought about Christmas Eve, which my family usually spends munching on a buffet of treats while watching Christmas movies. I can definitely do the latter without planning (having watched only a handful so far), but should probably devote some brain power to food today. Maybe my friend Sam will share his family kugel recipe, since my Christmas Eves at his grandparents’ were some of my favorites.

Behind today’s door we’re featuring the return of one of the Virtual Advent Tour’s founders and original hosts, Marg of The Intrepid Reader and Baker! Should you not be familiar with Marg, she hails from Australia, so also has the honor of being our only Southern Hemisphere blogger this year. Welcome back, Marg!

See you all back here tomorrow for the start of our final week of the tour!

The days left until Christmas now number in the single digits. I have today off from work and am planning on running a few errands, doing some baking (I must remember to take the butter out of the fridge when I get up), and wrapping presents so I can get packages heading to their destinations without further delay. I may even hang the ornaments on the tree. There will certainly be some Christmas music playing for part of the day, and there is every likelihood that I’ll put on a Christmas movie or two, particularly since the weather is likely to be dreary. I will absolutely drink hot chocolate (particularly since I kicked the egg nog while finishing my work year-end review last night) with piles of marshmallows, whipped cream, and sprinkles.

Our host for today’s Virtual Advent Tour stop is once again Deb Nance at Readerbuzz. She has a remarkably sweet post for you today.

See you back here tomorrow!

Happy December 15th! Just checking in on everyone. I know there are only 10 days left until Christmas, and shipping deadlines are coming up fast on us all. Do whatever it is you have to do to get those boxes out (or in) in the next few days, and after you’re done with that move onto the next, more local, urgent tasks. My domestic Christmas cards are waiting until next weekend so I can focus on things that will require me to go to the post office or to stores.

And while you’re doing them, our host for today, Constance at Staircase Wit, has a way for you to calm your mind, with some memories from her time at Duke.

See you back here tomorrow.

A new season is coming up on us quickly, and planning the reads to accompany it (particularly one set to be as emotionally and physically dark as the coming one), is a joy. (I wrote “job” there first, which maybe gives you a sense of how tired my brain is.)

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl asks a favorite question: What are ten books you’re planning to read this winter?

1. A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey (How can you not love this title? It’s waiting for me at the library.)
2. One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite (Romance and I are getting along well this year.)
3. Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev (I’ve been wanting to read the second book her Austen re-tellings since it came out back in the spring.)
4. The Meet-Cute Project by Rhiannon Richardson (More romance.)
5. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (People seem to be loving this historical fiction sci fi story)
6. The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde (Karen suggested Fforde’s world was a little too close to our current dysopia, so I put off starting it.)
7. Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (A Pride & Prejudice retelling.)
8. Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (I’ve been on the holds list for the second in this space trilogy since the library added it.)
9. The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jiminez (On the audiobook holds list after Dad recommended it this summer.)
10. One Life by Megan Rapinhoe (Megan and Sue Bird are my celebrity couple crush.)

How about you? What’s on your winter TBR pile? And while you’re waiting to start your winter reading, why don’t you stop by our Virtual Advent Tour and share in our holiday joy?

Happy Monday! Happy December 14th! Should you be lucky enough to be reading this from South America, Happy Solar Eclipse!

This weekend, the weather was more like October than December, which allowed me to get out and take some photos from the neighborhoods near my apartment. One of the best things about living in a city is getting to peek (literally, but in a non-pervy way) into people’s lives. I can see who has tons of artwork on their walls and who has built-in bookshelves. Who leans classic in their decorating style and who is more whimsical. Who uses their yard or balcony. Who has put up holiday decorations, and how extensive they are.

Since I am your host again today, I thought I’d share with you how one house in particular has decorated for the holidays. First, a little scene-setting. Dupont Circle has, historically, been a gay-friendly neighborhood. In the two decades we’ve lived here, it’s gotten more upscale, which means that some of its … campier … aspects have gone away outside of Pride Month. But not all, as these pictures of one house will show. (more…)

Happy third Sunday of Advent! I will be honest: Gaudete Sunday is the only one of the four I routinely remember, because it’s, to my knowledge, the only one with a carol specifically associated with it. For a song that charted in the U.K., there are surprisingly few versions of it. But I found this fun version of four Greek teens singing it in a stairwell:

Now, off on the tour! Jo Kay of Beyond Strange New Words has today’s post, featuring another event from the Christian calendar.

See you back here bright and early tomorrow!