‘Twas the night before Christmas. Sit down with you family and write all your holiday traditions. It is a keepsake for grandkids and in 20 years things will have changed.

It would be nice to have you get a Personal Bucket List book to write everything in but you can write in a pad DEDICATED to your holiday traditions. Just get a new and nice one! You want to have it around for a while.

Write down:
Foods you HAVE to have.
Places you go every year.
Songs you have to hear.
Do you do Ugly Christmas Sweaters?
A charity you give to every year?
Is there some special thing your family does?
Special tree ornaments?
Re-gift?
Red and wrapped?
A card tradition?
When do you open gifts?
Traditions for the week between Christmas and New Years?
Do you take holiday, family photos? If so put them in the book. They will be fun to look at in 20 years.

Barbe Awalt

‘Tis the season for parties. With Christmas on Sunday, Friday and Saturday are prime party times. I am going to one and the following week is good too. New Year’s Eve is on Sunday too so you can party on Saturday.

Here are some ideas for hostess gifts:
1. You can’t go wrong with the Christmas Bucket List book. Something for the holidays and combine it with a bottle of holiday wine.
2. If they are in Santa Fe or anywhere in New Mexico give a book!
3. If you are visiting a cowboy you know what to take!
4. You can’t go wrong with a Green Chile Cheeseburger Bucket List book.
5. If they need to get their own Bucket List going give a personal Bucket List book.
6. Space, Kicking, and Genealogy are specialized but if you know the host or hostess is into this – do it!
Remember when it was bad form to go to someone’s house for dinner and parties and not take a gift? Be cool this yule!

Barbe Awalt

So you got a Bucket List book as a gift – thank you! But want to give it painlessly but with flair. No problem: Try these ideas – they work with any Bucket List book:
1. Throw it in a bag with tons of holiday candy. Done and fun!
2. Combine it with the many candy cane popcorns. Don’t take the popcorn out of the bag – it is greasy and will do no good to the book!
3. Make an in-front-of-the-fire gift. Wine or hot chocolate, pine cone starters and a match, and if you go all out an inexpensive throw blanket.
4. For the Personal Bucket List book put in a pen, post its, and a New Mexico passport.
5. The Genealogy Bucket List book is similar – pen, post its, pad of list paper, and any family histories you may have.
6. The Santa Fe and New Mexico Bucket List books can have a map, a pad, and anything else local to throw in and enjoy on a trip.
7. The Green Chile Cheeseburger Bucket List book needs a gift coupon to a place in the book and a can of Hatch Green Chiles.
8. Space Buffs can have Space Ice Cream, Star Trek Cards, or frankly anything space in the bag.
9. Cowboy is easy too – toy figurines of cowboys, Cowboy bandages, or cowboy socks!
10. Kicking the Bucket List is easy – a pad, sticky notes, marker, a map of Goodwill donation boxes, and obits!
11. The Christmas Bucket List book can have candy canes, ornaments, tinsel, holiday recipes and the dreaded fruitcake in a bag!

Have fun and the receiver will too!

Barbe Awalt

The stress of finding a fun gift! But never fear if you have run out of ideas give a Bucket List book. If you can’t find the right gift you can never go wrong with the Personal Bucket List book – they write their own list! Or Kicking the Bucket List book addresses end of life matters in a fun way – we are all going to die. Though not a Bucket List book per se, The Basic Genealogy Checklist would appeal to almost anyone. Of course the spirit of the season is the Christmas Bucket List book. Combine it with a candy cane and you are golden or red and green!

Remember, books make great gifts, they are easy to wrap or throw in a bag, simple to ship, and THEY DON’T BREAK!

Barbe Awalt

Thought you would like to see pictures of the Holiday Craft Show at Pius X High. The set up was beyond terrible! Sheets of cold, nasty rain at 6:30 am. But it stopped and the crowds came out. It was well attended and the kids and adults from Pius were great!

Sometimes you just have to bite the cranberry!

Barbe Awalt

Thought you would like to see pictures of the Holiday Stroll in Old Town. Jean Van Dusen took the pictures at Treasure House. It was Ross Van Dusen doing a signing for his new book – Lyle Got Stuck In A Tree for kids. The best selection of New Mexico books is there!

Make sure you visit me at Pius X Holiday Fair Saturday! Say hi! 9am to 4pm.


Barbe Awalt

Local of course!

Walker’s Popcorn – They have red & green chile and for the non-hot people – Christmas – red & green popcorn. Walker’s is made right in Albuquerque on Central Ave.

Hatch- Anything! Salsa, peppers, enchilada sauce. New Mexico is known for Hatch!

Ornaments – New Mexican of course!

Speaking of good chile – I always get things at the range Bernalillo store. It probably is one of the best gift stores in the area. They have chile products, the Range bottled items, and gift things you never see in other stores. The Range also has some great t-shirts.

BOOKS!! – Of course everyone is getting a copy – signed – of my Christmas Bucket List book. Kids get our great kid’s books from award-winners – Ross Van Dusen, Nasario Garcia, Rudy Anaya.

People outside of New Mexico want New Mexico products.

Barbe Awalt

For those last minute items on your list, come to the Pius X High School Holiday Fair. The Pius X High School is on Coors Blvd. on the West Side of Albuquerque. Head for the gym for the action. The Show is Saturday, 9am to 4pm.

It will also put you in the holiday mood. And we can’t say it enough, BUY LOCAL! It gives you a chance to meet the person who made the item.

We will be there with our books again and some truly great gift ideas. Of course, we will have all of our Bucket List books.

And if we are lucky, it might snow just a little. Not enough to slow shoppers down. For the La Cueva Show a few weeks ago, the day started out with a little snow to put us all in the holiday mood.

Barbe Awalt

PS — The Christmas Bucket List book hit #166 on AMAZON today! You can order your own copy of this book for an incredible price of just $11.90 (25% off) HERE! Merry Christmas.

I put Boofy’s painted windows in my Christmas Bucket List book last year because they were well done, happy, and very specific to the pet store. But I have to say, I think this year’s windows are even better. They make you smile!

I signed books at Boofy’s, Saturday, with the ultimate cowboy – Slim Randles. I could listen to Slim’s stores all day!

Boofy’s still has some signed books for kids and adults or almost adults left. There is nothing better than a booksigning with a bunch of really good-looking dogs and cats. Oh, of course there was Santa too!


Barbe Awalt

We have made it with 100 entries. So appropriate in the middle of book signings and a busy weekend. See the sign at Bookworks?

Slim Randles will be at Boofy’s Best at noon Saturday. Boofy’s is located at PETroglyph Plaza - talk about great! If you go on Plaza del Norte west it dumps you at Golf Course and Boofy’s is to the left of Smith’s.

Slim will be signing Ol’ Jimmy Dollar for kids and his new Cowboy Bucket List book that just won an Winner in the NM & AZ Book Awards. He will have some other books there too.

I will be there with the Christmas Bucket List book that has Boofy’s windows in it. They are worth seeing!

We will be with Santa but ALSO, if you buy a book you get FREE a More Pet Friends book. Talk about cool! Come over and say HI!

Also Pat Hodapp is at the Santa Fe Women’s Club Holiday Event on Saturday. She is signing her Santa Fe Bucket List. We are so proud of the book because today we are making emergency refills to stores in Santa Fe. We are happy to do it! Get it at Collected Works, Garcia Street Books, op cit, Santa Fe Botanical Gardens Store, Museums of New Mexico store, Kimberly’s Hallmark, Marcy Street Cards, and more!

Barbe Awalt

Go to nmsantos.com for four GREAT deals for gift giving OR yourself!

3 Bucket Books for $36 – 25% OFF!
OR
An Albuquerque Deal with the Balloon Bucket Book for $39 – 40% off!
And two other deals for kids books and Don Bullis’ History Books.

Award Winners and worth a look.

Deals only good until January 1, 2017 and postage is extra. Shop from the comfort from your lounge chair!

Barbe Awalt

Thursday, December 8, at Bookworks on Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm – a signing for the Christmas Bucket List book. For those of you who haven’t gotten everything you need for your gift list to be DONE – come to Bookworks. There are so many wonderful books that can make great gifts AND bookstores just don’t have books! They have t-shirts, bags, candy, cards, magnets, and even tea!

And if that weren’t enough – Gail Rubin will be a Treasure House, Saturday at 1pm with her Kicking the Bucket List book, and Pat Hodapp will be at the Santa Fe Women’s Club holiday event on Saturday!

But wait, that isn’t all! Saturday also, Slim Randles will be at Boofy’s Best for Pets on the West Side of Albuquerque with his Cowboy Bucket List Book and I will be there also with the Christmas Bucket List book. Boofy’s windows – they are great! – are in the book. We will both be there at noon WITH SANTA !

Come see us and make mince meat of your holiday list! And remember TO SHOP LOCAL! These are all good places.

Barbe Awalt

Gail Rubin and I, brave Bucket List book authors, will be at Page 1 in Albuquerque, 3:30pm today. We will be with Ross Van Dusen. He has written 4 kids books and has a new one out – Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree.

Poor Ross – such an underachiever! He is only the Best Book Children’s Book Winner in the 2016 10th Anniversary NM & AZ Book Awards and a Gold Medalist in the 2016 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards. Come to think about it, Gail is a past Best Book Winner too!

Maybe I am the underachiever – I have only won a bunch of Winners in the category. I will have to try harder.

Barbe Awalt

A lot of HO!HO!HO! going on this weekend!

The Old Town, Albuquerque, Stroll is Friday night. This is a great way to see the lights, participate in the lighting of the Old Town Tree, and stroll or shop – whatever you want! Many shops have hot cider or cocoa. Go early and get a parking space then stroll. Make sure you say hi! to Ross Van Dusen in Treasure House. He will sign a book for your favorite elf! This is the beat way to see Old Town lights. So festive!

The La Cueva Holiday Crafts show is Saturday and say hi! to ME! selling books! I will also be with Ross, and Gail Rubin – another Bucket List book author at Page One Books on Sunday at 3:30pm. You can get a lot of gifts at a bookstore.

Barbe Awalt

It started as a kinda joke. Now the Tumbleweed Snowman is a symbol of the holiday season.

The Snowman is on the side of I40 near the Big I. Now you can have a fast look at the Snowman going West but do not stop to take pictures or to look. IT IS DANGEROUS TO STOP ON I40.

But you can go on Menual and work your way back to the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority building and park there. It is a short walk up to take pictures and look at the Snowman. It is a lot safer.

Or go to the Twinkle Light Parade! Last year it was on a float.

Barbe Awalt

Talk about manufactured! Cyber Monday really? And frankly, Cyber Monday’s time has come to go. If you shop you just don’t do it on Cyber Monday. Now there are so many fake and misleading sales – who needs it?

I will confess, I need the instant gratification of seeing and feeling the product and coming home WITH THE BAG! If you have something delivered you have to watch out for the Grinches who follow UPS, Fed Ex, and even US Mail trucks to rip you off. Who needs it?

Sure shop but be a wise consumer. Check prices and think about what you are doing. A tip – shop during the week. No crowds and no rush! But you get all of the holiday feelings.

Barbe Awalt

I didn’t do Black Friday. It has gotten out of hand. I don’t like crowds or pushing and not finding what I want. I went to Whole Foods and no one was there. Frankly, I have all my gifts done! But now I am starting on next year.

But it is time to mail the boxes. One thing you can do this weekend is take a picture with Santa and put it in your boxes and gifts.

I hope I see you at Treasure House for my signing today at 1pm. We all need to shop small and local businesses. This is my way of saying they are important. They are also festive!


Barbe Awalt

May you all have a stuffed day with family and friends! And please don’t go shopping today! There is a limit!

If you go out the next three days remember to shop local. Sure, you can go to a big box or chain store but remember local stores too! You can often find unusual and gotta-have stuff there.

Saturday is Shop Small Business/Local day put on by American Express. Go to at least one local store and even if you don’t buy tell them you love their assortment and you will be back.

To celebrate, I am doing a booksigning at Treasure House Books in Old Town Albuquerque. The Small Business Day is in my Christmas Bucket List book and Treasure House was the inspiration. No place I would rather be!


— Barbe Awalt

We have been running around refilling stores with books! It is THAT time of year.

Get everyone on your list a book – they will last long after a fruitcake and it can be shared! It also makes it easier on you with shopping!

Use the found time to shop for yourself! Just saying.

- Barbe Awalt

I know you are dying to get Bucket Books and here are some places that have them: Bookworks and Treasure House Books in Albuquerque. Page 1 has a few but they know where to get more titles. Collected Works in Santa Fe has the Santa Fe Bucket List. Kim’s Hallmark, Marcy Street Cards, and op cit have more titles. Other places in Santa Fe and Albuquerque may have some books because they order from another place. The Range Cafe store – Home at the Range has many titles and they know where to get more. The Little Store in Peralta – south of Albuquerque, carries many titles.

For some true made in New Mexico things go to the Balloon Museum Holiday fair next Sunday. Admission to the Museum is free ALL DAY! We will have all the Bucket List Books at our booth. And I bet we have special Fair prices on all our books. Do I hear shopping bells?

Start shopping early before the crowds and when you finish early you can enjoy December. There is nothing better than sipping hot chocolate and looking out the window at the falling snow! Here is an idea – have the Christmas Bucket List book to read at Thanksgiving or the Kicking the Bucket List to encourage family to prepare. Get stories with the stuffing!


- Barbe Awalt

I just watched the news and there were so many doom and gloom predictions for Tuesday and beyond. So use this weekend to get ready.

Shop for books for you and gifts. That way if you have to hold–up, you can READ – what a novel idea! If you read you can also tune out the election. 8 out of 10 people say they are now repulsed by the election. I am too – I have had enough!

We are optimistic and have a number of events planned for next weekend. Pat Hodapp will be meeting and greeting and signing the Santa Fe Bucket List book next Friday at Kim’s Hallmark in Santa Fe. Pat and Barbe are at Op Cit in Santa Fe, on Saturday at De Vargas Mall at 1pm. You also see all of our books – Bucket List books and all – all day at the Balloon Museum Holiday Fair in Albuquerque on Sunday, November13. There is free admission all day! What a deal! Get into the spirit!

The election will be behind us. Now get in the spirit next weekend!



- Barbe Awalt

This year above all others, we have to get our heads on straight. Christmas and Thanksgiving are not about sales and presents. They are about thanks and goodwill. I am very happy to see stores saying they will not open on Thanksgiving. No one needs to stuff in food and run to sales. I have always felt badly for employees of those stores working on Thanksgiving. There is more than enough time to shop and frankly, stores have up holiday stuff NOW!

In honor of Authors Day! We have a bucket list book deal for you! To get your shopping off and to promote READING!

New Mexico Collection

Universal Bucket List Book Collection

Personal Collection

Full Set

We are starting the craft show/holiday fair season. There is nothing better to get in the spirit – nothing better than a little cold weather! Right now it is in the 80’s! Too hot! Hopefully that will change – no climate warming right?

A craft show or holiday fair can be a community event, school or church fair, or a fine art show. It doesn’t matter. It is festive and there is the required hustle and bustle. It also doesn’t matter if you buy though it is hard not to buy and the vendors would prefer you buy.

I buy local. Of course sometimes you have to get things at a big box store or chain but local art, crafts, books, wines, foods, and other things are best and fun. Local people are the backbone of the economy. Support them and take time to go to a local event. You will come away with a smile and a little HOHOHO!

- Barbe Awalt

Yes, I know Halloween isn’t here yet but all the stores have started the season with their Christmas displays. It is the “Most Wonderful Time of The Year!”

So, I will start you off slowly. This is the time of year to buy a ristra for the front of your house. What is a ristra you ask? A ristra is a carefully tied collection of chile – of any length - made during harvest season right now. It was done so people in the Southwest would have chile flavoring through the winter but now it also is a great decorative item too. You can get the big chile on a ristra, a ristra of the small chile for your kitchen, or a plastic ristra. If you don’t live in an area that has ristas at the produce stand – yes, they are still open - the ristras are found online.

I have seen just one on a house or the whole front lined with ristras. Quite dramatic! Why don’t you want to have the big chile ristras inside? They shed seeds and chile parts. The small, really hot chile ristras are good for your kitchen and don’t shed.

Get a ristra and celebrate fall and winter with this tradition.

- Barbe Awalt

Yes, it is out! I had the first signing the Ultimate Christmas Bucket List book. The signing was at Greeting & Reading in Hunt Valley, Maryland, last Tuesday. That is one of my favorite stores and I remember going to Greetings & Readings at their old location many moons ago!

This is going to be a perfect stocking stuffer, secret Santa gift, or for the person who loves the holiday season like I do.

It will be sneaked at the Hot Air Balloon book signing at Treasure House in Old Town Albuquerque on October 8, 1-3pm. Come in and say hi! Or HO! HO! HO!

- Barbe Awalt

I make no bones about it – I love Christmas. I look forward to the Christmas songs on Magic FM radio. They come on in November! Maybe it is because I am a cold weather person – I hate heat.

I love the foods, traditions, smells, sights, and lights, of Christmas. The holidays are not just for shopping. In fact, I am finished shopping for gifts in October. I do confess though, I shop for fun, holiday-themed things and just bask in the feeling of Christmas.

I have Christmas sweaters, Christmas vests, Christmas jewelry, and I discovered last Christmas, the best Christmas hat — ever! Are there Christmas shoes?

People are nicer during the season. The products offered by stores can be more interesting. Staring with Thanksgiving, the time goes quickly. It IS the most wonderful time of the year.

The Ultimate Christmas Bucket List book is a way for you and your family to revisit the things about Christmas you may have forgotten and write down your traditions. There are foods and activities from all over the world.

Everything about Christmas isn’t listed but most is. It does make you remember about all the things that are REALLY important. I just can’t WAIT! The Christmas Bucket List book will be out momentarily. Give it to someone you love and remember.

— Barbe Awalt