“Home for the Holidays,” Bellingham Alaska Ferry Terminal, Nov 19-21

What: Large selection of holiday gifts, decorations & edibles. 28th Annual Event. Where: Alaska Ferry Terminal, 355 Harris Ave., Bellingham, WA [map] When: Thu, November 19, 5:30 – 9:30pm Fri, November 20, 9:30am – 9:30pm Sat, Nov 21 9:30am – 5:30pm Admission and parking FREE

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Black Friday becomes Black Thursday

As those who have followed this holiday blog over the past two years may recall, I take a dim view of crass Christmas commercialism, and particularly the abject feeding frenzy known as “Black Friday” – that morning after Thanksgiving when millions rise in the pre-dawn darkness to stand in line outside retail outlets before engaging [...]

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Seattle’s Greenwood-Phinney District Art Walk Debut & Snowman Auction, Dec. 12, 2008

What: Seattle’s Greenwood-Phinney District, already well-known for major Northwest events like the  Greenwood Car Show and The Greenwood Seafair Parade,  is adding another event to the list of annual goings-on.  This Friday, Dec. 12, 2008, the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the first Snowmen on Parade fundraiser at the debut of the new “Art [...]

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A Victorian Country Christmas, Puyallup, December 3-7, 2008

What: All shopkeepers in Victorian attire – Singing nativity and strolling musicians – Two stages with live entertainment – Visit with Santa – Ride the Christmas Train &/or the Old Cannery Train – Ride the Christmas Carousel – Christmas kitchen with demonstrations – Christmas Market featuring 70 vendors of unique, handcrafted items – – Holiday [...]

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Friends of the Bellingham Public Library Booksale, December 3-6, 2008

What: A lot of high-quality used books, including children’s books, at low-low prices. A great place to do some frugal Christmas shopping, or just pick up some titles you’ve been looking for. Where: Bellingham Library, Main Branch, 210 Central Ave., Bellingham, WA [map] When: Wed, December 3, 3:00pm-6:00pm (preview sale – double marked price) | [...]

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What do you get the kid who has everything?

Well, no kid has everything, but let me pose the following scenario to you. I have no doubt that many readers will be familiar with it– Dick and Jane get lots of presents at Christmas.  Their parents go all out, as do both sets of grandparents along with assorted aunts and uncles. There’s not room [...]

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Black Friday Video Clips: The Best of the Worst

Each clip opens in a new window. Boise, Idaho 2007 Christiana, Delaware, 2006 Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2007 Location unknown, 2007 San Diego, 2007 Westfield, New Jersey, 2007 Elk City, Oklahoma, 2007 Texas, 2007 “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

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Tacoma Holiday Food and Gift Festival, October 22-26, 2008

What: One of largest holiday gift shows in the United States, with more than 600 displays and exhibits: arts and crafts, gifts, gourmet food and live entertainment. Limited daycare  is available, courtesy of Child’s Time, Inc., daily at no charge. Convenient, on-site parking at the Tacoma Dome. Where: Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, WA [map] When: Wednesday, [...]

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The Christmas Workshop 2008 is Open!

Over the next couple of months visitors to Simplify Christmas (yes, visits have remained consistently high, even through the spring and summer months of 2008) will notice some fairly dramatic changes in the organization and appearance of the site as I prepare for the official start-up date of November 1st. The first big change is [...]

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The First day of Winter

I’m an outspoken person, so by all means, take the following with a grain of salt… It will officially be winter in a few hours. I had to go out on this near-winter’s day, because I needed a few groceries and a pair of pants. I expected it would be bad out there, and my [...]

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