A Blog Challenge with Unhip Chick

While ago I put out a call to all my Twitter pals. Talking with my adopt a blogger parent Grace one day we discussed ways to generate engagement with readers and bloggers alike. Grace suggested a blog challenge. Basically a topic is decided upon and both bloggers, they then write one post about it. The post is then posted on each other's site.

Leslie was the first to accept my challenge and I cannot thank her enough. Over the last couple months Leslie and I have conversed over Twitter and I absolutely love her site. Her posts cover a wide range of topics but are always smartly written with enthusiasm and wit. In the spirit of the Holiday season, Leslie and I decided upon the topic of gifting. Leslie's post can be found below. For my take on gifts, please check out Leslie's awesome site Unhip Chick!

Thank you Leslie for sharing in this unique blogging experience. I truly thank you & wish you a happy holiday season.

Enjoy!

PS. Leslie and I want to hear from you! Comments are greatly appreciated.

Making a list and checking it twice

Christmas in my family is an organized affair. To this end, list making has become an art form in my family. It’s not that we’re so numerous in members that military precision is required; we just find that everything goes much more smoothly when a list is involved. When you grow up with a Dad who believes that there’s a place for everything and everything in its place, and a Mom who keeps lists and budgets and notes and records in carefully organized folders and bins, you have to expect that a holiday as big as Christmas would be just as organized.

The Christmas gift list is the most important list of all. Just like Santa, we make a list and check it twice, but leave the determination of naughty and nice to a higher power. We’d rather everyone get what they really want for Christmas than make gift buying a guessing game. This way, no one ends up with a dozen pairs of underwear and socks, nose hair clippers, or flannel nightshirts under the tree.

For some of the family, the list exists only on paper in handwritten note form. I, however, have elevated the list to a higher plain, by creating a spreadsheet to track gifts by person and dollar amount spent. With the click of a mouse, I can see exactly how many gifts I’ve purchased, how much each gift costs, and the cumulative amount I’ve spent for everyone on my list. It’s a thing of beauty! Really, it is! And yes, you can now nominate me for Nerd of the Year.

If you are able to sail through the holidays without making lists, then I humbly bow down to your vastly superior cerebral powers. I prefer to think that my brain is so crammed full of knowledge, experience, expertise and brilliance that there just isn’t enough room for all the details of the Christmas season. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

Now, where did I put that copy of my list?

Leslie Uriss Spehar is the Unhip Chick. She can leap tall tales in a single bound. Neither rain, nor snow, nor bad hair days, nor lack of chocolate will keep the Chick from sharing her completely unscientific reviews and thoroughly biased opinions on all things Chickalicious on her blog. When she’s not trying out new products and sharing her opinions on life’s wonders, she provides creative communications services for a variety of clients. She can be found online at unhipchick.com and lesliecreates.com and on Twitter @unhipchickblog.