Thursday, 3 November 2022

Matthew West Invites You to 'Come Home for Christmas' - New Song Out Now

Matthew West invites you to "Come Home for Christmas," with his enchanting new holiday tune, which is out now across all digital streaming platforms. 

Kicking off the most wonderful time of the year with a dazzling announcement, West has partnered with Candace Cameron Bure, Bill Abbott and Great American Family to highlight the endearing carol on their Great American Family channel all holiday season. Fans can hear "Come Home for Christmas" for eight weeks during Great American Christmas celebrating their holiday films.

And you can listen to "Come Home for Christmas" here https://matthewwest.lnk.to/ComeHomeforChristmasPR

"I am really thrilled to be partnering with the Great American Family network this holiday season," said Matthew. "I love Christmas music so much, and each year I find myself sitting down at the piano penning a new Christmas tune inspired by my love of this most wonderful time of the year. 'Come Home for Christmas' is not just a song, it's an invitation for every heart to return to the wonder, the peace, the love, and the hope that this holiday season offers to every heart. I hope when people tune in to watch their favorite holiday films on the network that this song will serve as a musical reminder of what Christmas is all about."

"Matthew is one of my favourite storytellers through music of all time," said Bure. "The originality and authenticity of his Christmas songs can be felt within his lyrics and melodies. I'm incredibly thrilled that he is a part of Great American Family, and that our audience can experience such moving music that's really unlike any other."

"Original music plays an essential role in creating a cosy, memorable Christmas experience and is a key differentiator for Great American Family in the holiday movie space," said Abbott, who is President and CEO of Great American Media.

"Matthew's inspirational 'Come Home for Christmas' perfectly embodies our 'Welcome Home to Great American Christmas' theme and the song is sure to resonate with our audience this holiday season."

West was recently nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Inspirational Artist - voting open here. The NSAI Songwriter-Artist of the Year also announced his upcoming double album MY STORY YOUR GLORY set for release February 17, 2023. 

The five-time Grammy® nominee has had a monumental year: "Me On Your Mind" spent 6 weeks atop the Mediabase Christian Airplay chart and the Billboard Christian Airplay Chart for 5 weeks. His fifth consecutive chart-topper marked West's 25th number one song combined as an artist and songwriter - now at 27. 

His sixth book "The God Who Stays" is out now. He is set to hit the road for the AN EVENING AT THE STORY HOUSE WITH MATTHEW WEST tour kicking off November 3 then will return to Franklin, TN for his Come Home for Christmas weekend December 2-4.

Candid Communications Launches New Book 'Your Santa Agent Invitation' to Help Parents Navigate the 'Santa' Conversation

New children's Christmas picture book "Your Santa Agent Invitation" is a parent's guide to explaining Santa to children in a positive and enjoyable way, letting them know they have a special role to play in keeping the magic of Christmas alive.

Written in a gentle and easy rhyming style, this book is a delightful way to navigate one of the most difficult and potentially awkward parent/child conversations, enabling an honest discussion with warmth and cheer.

By covering the history of Saint Nick and inviting your child to become a "Santa Agent," this book transforms a time of potential loss into an opportunity for creating a wonderful gain. It shows children knowing the true identity of Santa is, actually, a cause for celebration. 

Written by writer and journalist Alex Lalak, and marketing executive, author and mother Louise Cummins, this children's book offers both children and grown-ups a new way to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.

"My passion for storytelling was sparked during my childhood by reading the fairy books of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite and Cicely Mary Barker. As a great believer in the magic and joy of Christmas, I was thrilled to co-write this book," Ms. Lalak said.

"As a mother, I'm inspired to keep the magic of Christmas alive. I hope this book will delight children around the world, and help other parents navigate the conversation with love and care," Ms. Cummins said.

Described by Reader's Favourite as an "uplifting" and "positive" story, "Your Santa Agent Invitation" will be available to purchase online via Amazon and other leading online bookstores.

"This uplifting story presents a positive way for parents and families to be honest with their children while keeping the Christmas joy and spirit alive and well," Melinda Facal from Reader's Favourite said.

ISBN: 978-0648465539

https://yoursantaagentinvitation.com

https://www.instagram.com/yoursantaagentinvitation

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086344899783 

Alex Lalak is an Australian writer and journalist currently based in southern France. She writes for a range of publications, including Escape and The Australian. Her passion for storytelling was sparked in childhood by reading the fairy books of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite and Cicely Mary Barker. As a great believer in the magic and joy of Christmas, she was thrilled to co-write this book that offers both children and grown-ups a new way to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.

Louise Cummins is an Australian marketing executive, author and mother. Her first children's book "A Different Kind of Brilliant" was made into a short film that featured at film festivals in the U.S. and Australia. Her desire to help keep the magic of Christmas alive inspired her to co-write this book, which she hopes will delight children around the world.

Portable North Pole Brings the Magic of Christmas to you and your children

The Portable North Pole (PNP) website and mobile apps bring the magic of Christmas direct to almost any device with four new free, limited-time trial videos and over 90 personalised videos and calls across Premium packages. 

Parents can watch their children’s faces light up with one-of-a-kind messages from Santa, and record their child’s priceless reaction to their message from Santa using the Reaction Recorder.

Celebrating its 15th season, Portable North Pole has generated millions of cinematic personalised messages from Santa in a beloved Christmas tradition that has grown in popularity around the world. 

Users can tailor messages to include the recipient’s photo, correct name pronunciation, age and Christmas wish, select if they’ve been naughty or nice, and more. 

Parents can help improve or congratulate good behaviour, schedule an incoming call from Santa, experience interactive videos, and take advantage of adding a live call in select 2022 Premium videos!

“We are delighted to head into our 15th season of delivering exciting messages from Santa through the PNP website and mobile app, with new partnerships and features, including the all-new Interactive Gift Tag for an extra-special gift-giving experience,” said Alexandre Bérard, CEO of UGroupMedia Inc., the creators of Portable North Pole.

The new features for the 2022 Christmas season will include:

● 4 new FREE trial experience videos and 18 new Premium video and call scenarios: Discover new Christmas videos for kids and grown-ups, including a birthday celebration video and a special World Cup video message for a highly cinematic experience.

● Live call during video: In select 2022 Premium videos, you can choose to receive a live call from Santa during your video!

● Personalised and Interactive Gift Tag: Place a printable gift tag on a present on Christmas Eve, scan the QR code, and reveal a personalised video of Santa delivering their gift in your living room!

● Added Premium features: Within Magic Pass packages, users can take advantage of:

- Access to all Premium messages: Including video messages, calls, and video calls!

- Interactive videos: Choose your own path in select Premium videos for a unique Christmas adventure!

- Reaction Recorder: Parents can record their child’s reaction as they experience their customised message from Santa!

- Multi-recipient videos: Santa can recite up to four names in several video message options, allowing the whole family to experience the magic together.

- 1080 HD downloads

In addition, Portable North Pole has partnered with more than 48 leading children hospitals around the world to donate up to 5% of online sales through its Portable North Pole Children's Hospital Program. Partner hospitals include Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (USA), Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (UK), SickKids (Canada).

Known as the Number One Santa App in the Apple App Store and Google Play, Portable North Pole has over 11 million downloads around the globe and over 237 million personalised video views. Discover the magic by visiting www.portablenorthpole.com.

Morrisons launches Christmas Collector scheme to help us save

Morrisons is revealing a whole host of festive offers for its My Morrisons customers and is encouraging us to swipe our loyalty card to see what deals await us. (Cool! I can't wait!) 

All this is aimed at helping Morrison's customers save money ahead of Christmas, the initiatives range from collector schemes to help save for the future as well as seasonal rewards for today.

The Christmas offers all sit alongside our My Morrisons instant rewards that continue to be available and give customers discounts on the categories we say matter most to us including meat, dairy and impulse purchases.

Christmas Collector: After listening to customers, Morrisons is bringing back its popular collector programme for both app and card users. (Cool!) 

Launching on 7th November, eligible app customers will be invited to participate in the five week scheme, enabling us to receive a significant money-off voucher if we meet the criteria and shopped in four of the relevant weeks. Those of us customers can then be able to spend our ‘bonus’ voucher from Monday December 12th 2022 until Tuesday 3rd January 2023.

Eligible customers who don’t use the app and prefer to use their loyalty card will have the chance to redeem four weekly coupons from Monday 14th November which, if completed, will enable them to receive a bonus money-off voucher.

My Morrisons Exclusive: Morrisons is continuing to offer My Morrisons members great value by introducing My Morrisons Exclusive offers and promotions.  This week, customers can get ‘2 for £6.00’ on chocolate confectionery tubs which are individually priced at £4.00. The type of categories on offer will evolve as Morrisons continues to listen to customer feedback. 

Basket Bonus: The Basket Bonus has also received a very welcome festive makeover.  When a customer scans the app or swipes their card they'll now be in with a chance to ‘bag a bonus’ offer such as some Morrisons mince pies, a festive coffee or money-off a shop. (Morrisons, you piqued my interest with "Morrisons mince pies!" Yum! These are absolutely delicious and a real part of Christmas at That's Christmas!)

Free Hot Drinks: A ‘buy 4 get the 5th free’ hot drinks scheme has now launched on the My Morrisons app for use in Morrisons cafés.

Digital Wallet: To make it even simpler for customers to locate and swipe their digital loyalty card at the till, My Morrisons app users can now add it to their Apple or Google Wallet.

Rachel Eyre, who is the Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at Morrisons, said: “We know our customers are under real financial pressure at the moment and Morrisons want to play our part in helping them when it comes to the cost of the festive grocery shop. 

"Our customers have told us they appreciated our Easter and Summer Collector schemes and so we're thrilled to be bringing it back for Christmas again.  The addition of My Morrisons Exclusives means we are offering loyal customers even more value when they shop with us."

The My Morrisons App can be downloaded from Android or Apple stores.  Customers can register online at www.mymorrisons.com for the website experience or can continue to use their physical card for paper vouchers that will be printed at the till when they shop. 

Something new for us chocolate lovers at Asda this Christmas

Shoppers are excited about Asda’s new range of blonde chocolate flavour goodies. Some are even saying "This has Christmas written all over it!” (Actually, That's Christmas is saying the same thing, too!)

Shoppers can test the latest trending flavour sensation, which is blonde chocolate, with Asda’s delicious drinks and desserts range starting at a remarkably reasonable from £2!

Tuck into a treat with the Extra Special Salted Caramel & Blonde Chocolate Choux Wreath - that one shopper claims is “the only wreath that’s needed” this Christmas. 

What’s more, there’s even a Blonde Chocolate Flavour Cream Liqueur that's just so absolutely spot on for festive get-togethers!

Sweet-toothed shoppers are being wowed by Asda’s latest foodie launch, its blonde chocolate range. So, what exactly is blonde chocolate? It's a gorgeous combination of delicious silky caramel and milk chocolate, to create an iconic combination that's luxuriously sweet and very, very tempting!

As we just mentioned, the star of the show is Asda’s Extra Special Blonde Chocolate Flavour Cream Liqueur. Available in stores now for just £8 (70cl), the delicate caramel notes blend very easily with  real Madagascan vanilla for a drink destined to be a festive party hit. Great if served with ice, or fun to try experimenting with your cocktail shakers and some traditional cocktail recipes, giving them a very  welcome caramel twist!

Got guests over Christmas? Then really impress them with Asda’s Extra Special Salted Caramel & Blonde Chocolate Choux Wreath (£5.50). 

It's filled with British cream and topped with Belgian chocolate and some shoppers have said that “this is the only wreath that’s needed” and that “this has Christmas written all over it." Even better news? It serves eight, so there'll be plenty to share.

As winter settles in, it's time to get the hot cocoa out. And as you'd expect, Asda’s new edition hot chocolate added to its Extra Special range is absolutely ideal. The Extra Special Blonde Style Hot Chocolate (£2.75) is best enjoyed blended with warm milk for a sumptuous afternoon treat.

But there's even more, too! Also available isthe Tempting Blonde Caramel Cupcake Kit (£2) and Extra Special Sea Salted Caramel & Blonde Chocolate Chouxnuts (£3 for a pack of two). The ultimate ‘blonde chocolate’ dessert, Chouxnuts are filled with a sea-salt caramel sauce and mousse, and topped with sauces made with Belgian white chocolate, caramelised white chocolate, and sea salt, and decorated with caramel flavour curls.

Give any festive dessert a creamy-caramel twist with Asda’s Extra Special Blonde Chocolate & Golden Rum Extra Thick Cream (£2.75). A thick, smooth, and luxurious eat with sweetened double cream, blonde chocolate, and golden rum. This Extra Special cream is produced using British Milk and Luxardo Golden Rum.

With 6 products available in the Asda blonde chocolate range, fans of this latest foodie flavour trend won’t want to miss out on Asda’s latest launches!

(So, that's several new important members of my food group to be added to my shopping list! Yes, my food group which includes delicious blonde chocolate from our nearest branch of Asda!) 

Wednesday, 2 November 2022

Buy iconic British heritage brand handmade silk scarves for Christmas

A 90-year-old British heritage brand is thrilled to announce the launch of a brand-new scarf collection. Just in time for Christmas

Jacqmar, a British-owned scarf business established 90 years ago in 1932, has launched its newest collection of stylish scarves, the first new additions in excess of 30 years.

Woven using only the finest of silks, the limited-edition, English-made Jacqmar scarf collection offers a fresh take on the brand, which was once a high fashion staple of royalty and the British celebrities of the day.

In statement colours of fuchsia, orange and navy, the latest collection celebrates the Jacqmar heritage by featuring its very first London store situated on Grosvenor Street, Mayfair.

The sophisticated statement pieces will make excellent celebratory gifts for mothers, daughters, sisters and friends.

A spokesperson for the brand said: "We at Jacqmar are enormously excited to release the first scarf collection in over 30 years. A move that further builds on the reputation of an iconic mid 20th century fashion staple."

They went on to add: "The heritage of the brand is inescapable and an intrinsic part of the essence of Jacqmar. However, the approach is very much modern and forward thinking, with the ultimate goal being to bring women joy through the designs, while creating iconic items that showcase pride in Jacqmar’s British heritage. 

"This new collection of silk scarves, will introduce a new generation of customers to enjoy the quality and eye-catching design that’s synonymous with Jacqmar.

"Jacqmar isn't only proud to re-launch with this beautiful limited-edition scarf, which is a unique collective piece, but equally excited to continue their legacy with many more scarf designs that can be loved and worn on any occasion. Two of which will be introduced in the coming weeks."

That's Christmas believes that these Jacqmar scarves will make ideal Christmas gifts for the fashionable person in your life. 

For more information on Jacqmar and its newest collection, please visit https://jacqmar.com.

That's Food and Drink: Finnish oats. They're the new superfoods

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