Thank You Thursday: Getting Into the Holiday Spirit with Blog Shout Outs

This post is a little off my typical topics, but I did a lot of blog hopping last night and this morning and wanted to spread the love to the bloggers that made me smile today, taught me something new, or, as evidenced by this post alone, have gotten me into the holiday spirit of giving!

On Topic: Things That Will Affect This Blog

• Thanks Mail Carrier (Xenia) did a review today of a product that  definitely has a future in this blogger's life: Say Mmm. This is a meal planning program that I am signing up for today based on Xenia's review.
• Digital Photography School has a series of posts on food photography. I need lots of help when it comes to this and, while I don't anticipate becoming a professional overnight, I have already picked up a couple of tips that are simple enough to implement on my next couple of pics.
• Family Fitness Food did a great, simple post on 5 Must Haves for Weight Loss and Health. Why do I love this post? Not one of these "must-haves" are products you need to buy. So simple, so true and it will work!
• Damsel, of the Old School - Self Reliance 101 blog shared a quick tip for making old fashioned oatmeal, which, now that I finally have a gluten-free version (thank you Bob's Red Mill!!), I can try out for myself.
• Nutrition Blog Network is a site of great potential that I stumbled on last night. It is a collection of nutrition blogs (written by nutrition professionals) all in one place - what a fabulous resource!

Off Topic: Things That Will Affect This Blogger (so why not spread the joy?)

First, some holiday cheer...

•  Lynn, who blogs at My Life as an Ungraceful, Unhinged, and Unwilling Draftee into the Autism Army wrote a hilarious post brimming with holiday fan fare. If you're steeped in the "magical" world of Christmas, surrounded by believing children and thinking, "There must be more to this mystique," you should check out Lynn's post on her Polar Express experience.
• Next up, Esther's Laugh With Us blog has another great Christmas story to tell. This is one that you could imagine was ripped right out of a scene of Modern Family. I loved it.

Then comes TRUE holiday spirit...

• From the Do Good blog, which I am sure to be visiting quite frequently, Meg wrote a FANTASTIC post about some really great online holiday shopping options. The post is called "Give Twice As Much This Christmas" and its message sings to my soul. Each option for shopping is paired with some charitable cause so that every purchase you make does more than just provide material gain for you and those you love - it also helps someone in need. What a beautiful stocking stuffer!

It was a fruitful and serendipitous night/morning of web surfing. In addition to all this fun stuff, I also found out that Ellen DeGeneres is considering helping out to raise awareness about Intracranial Hypertension (the silly disease that currently has me home on unpaid medical leave) on her show. It is a rare disease that needs recognition more than anything and I couldn't think of a better venue than the show of my favorite comedienne of ALL time! So a shout out of, Thanks!" to everyone at The Ellen Show, too for hearing us.

As for everyone else out there. Thanks for coming. Thanks for reading my post today. I hope you are having a fantastic holiday season so far and that there are more fantastic days to come! I hope to see you around here again soon, but for now - happy reading, happy eating and have a fabulous tomorrow!