A very happy Thanksgiving!

The leftovers are all gone, the situps and walking lunges have begun, and my Christmas cards are already written out. It's the holiday season, officially. Right now, I have the Rockefeller Center tree lighting on in the background, Joe's Christmas gifts are all wrapped (after some very laughable attempts to origami-fold the gift boxes they sent with the gifts...there I was, in my pajamas and fuzzy socks, giggling at how I gave up on the first one and just package-taped it together. Attempts #2 and #3 went much better!). We finalized the cover copy for my book THE BRIDE'S DIPLOMACY GUIDE, lined up some dates for my NBC appearance, and set the start date for my Wedding Podcast Network talk show.

With engagement season underway, I'm starting my weekly site recommendations with a reminder of a site that I've already mentioned somewhere in this blog. But I think you'll find it helpful: www.costofwedding.com, where you can plug in your zip code and get reports on the averages of what people in your area are spending on their weddings. Just for fun, plug in cities where you don't live, just to see what's going on there.

And don't forget to visit me at www.pashweddings.com, where I answer real couples' wedding-planning questions. You'll also get answers from the thousands of other in-process brides and grooms who are generously sharing their ideas there. On January 1st, I start my e-mail a day program with them, so be sure to sign up for that one as well. I'll be throwing coupon codes in every now and then, and selecting participants to receive free books.

And finally, I am SO proud of my book The Bride's Gratitude Journal. It's one of those Rudy-type situations. Lots of houses said no, I self-published it, and it's doing wonderfully on the market. I hear that wedding coordinators are getting it in bulk to hand out to their clients. My goal with that one was to get the bride to focus on what's going WELL with the wedding plans, keep her stress low, and create a positive keepsake. It's out there, and people are using it. Looks like I got my Christmas gift early this year. It truly is the holiday season now...