What's in the Snow? Scavenger Hunt ~ Christmas at the Beach

Welcome to The Sarcastic Palmtree

What's in the Snow at the Sarcastic Palmtree?

Christmas at the beach of course!

   

I have always wanted to go to the beach for Christmas. I haven't done it yet, so come with me as we take a visit to the beach for Christmas and imagine what it might be like!

First, let's decorate our beach house for Christmas!

I love to listen to music while I decorate so let's put on 

Cody Simpson ~ The Acoustic Sessions!  

I picked this album because Cody's music has a total beach sound to it and this album in particular has Cody's acoustic version of

Please Come Home For Christmas!

Now we have the music on let's decorate!

Let's put a wreath on the door....

Some garland on the stairs....

And of course we need a Christmas Tree!

Now that the decorating is done, let's relax and have some fun!

Anyone who has visited the Sarcastic Palmtree before knows that I love to read.  What's a trip to the beach without a good beach read?  I always make time to read several books in my week at the beach and this year I found a beachy book that I enjoyed so much that I plan to read it on every beach trip I make in the future!

Chasing Forever Down is a book I fell in love with almost immediately and I felt such a strong connection to it that I read it twice this year.  I read and review a lot of books and this one is hands down my favorite book of 2013! 

Here's a little bit about the book:

After seventeen-year-old Haley Sullivan meets a mysterious stranger who plays by his own rules, she's more than determined to learn every trick of the trade from the master himself. But her dream-chasing mentor disappears after that night, and according to the local newspapers, he's been dead for years. Knowing he's very much alive, Haley enlists best friend Linzi to join her on a scavenger-hunt-style road trip that ultimately lands them in the surf town of Crescent Cove, California. Mystery guy is no mystery here, though – he's Colby Taylor, the west coast's biggest professional surfer.

If Haley wants to talk to the wave rider again, she'll have to get past his four intimidating bodyguards who are highly skilled in the business of sending starstruck fangirls back to where they belong. Haley is up for the challenge if it means chasing her dreams and escaping the perfectly corporate future that's been planned for her. But dealing with these bodyguards isn't exactly what Haley imagined it'd be. Sure, being thrown off a jet ski sucks, but falling in love with one of them might just be worse.

I had planned to review the book for this post then I got the exciting news that there is going to be a book tour for Chasing Forever Down January13-17 so I will be saving my review for the tour. Instead, Nikki has been gracious enough to let us chat with my favorite character in the book, A.J. Gonzalez.  I love A.J. because he has a huge attitude problem and at the same time has the ability to be your best friend.  A.J. has a super big heart and would do anything for his friends.

Let's head out to Crescent Cove and see what A.J. is up to.....

Hey AJ. Thanks for hanging out with us today. What’s been going on in Crescent Cove since Haley left to go back to North Carolina? I’m sure you have been staying out of trouble, right?

Thanks for having me! The Cove's been boring, honestly. Reed is always working at the boating store. Alston tries picking up chicks. Colby Taylor's still hiding out like an idiot. The usual. Cove's pretty boring all the time though. As for trouble... well, I don't look for trouble but it always finds me in the form of a $%@! named Pittman.

How’s Miles been doing since being signed by Drenaline Surf?

Eh, things are about the same. He's done well, surfed in a few competitions. He won't use his money to buy a new truck though and he damn sure needs one. Pretty stupid if you ask me (and technically you sorta did). Ocean Blast Energy hasn't done a photo shoot with him either yet... I think they're holding out for... well, a prettier face. No offense to Miles. But they definitely want someone else to be their poster boy. (I won't name names here...) But yeah - Miles is good. Mostly just surfing and hanging with the Hooligans as usual.

Speaking of, what’s been going on with the West Coast Hooligans?

Jace is still working at the music store. I think they're on the verge of going out of business, though. Music isn't thriving much with the surf scene here. Theo is lifeguarding during the summer and he's trying to get on at the gym for the colder months, but that idiot drinks too much. I wouldn't want him saving my life. Kale's been partying a lot, but I'll cut him slack because he always invites me. And Topher and Miles are always ^@*#! surfing...when Miles isn't with his new girlfriend...

Tell us a little bit about Christmas in Crescent Cove.

OMG it's so #^!@& bright! Freaking stars everywhere. It's like the usual Cove on steroids. People are all about the whole "stars and crescent moons" crap during the year, but it's like 10x worse at Christmas. People like Christmas because it's an excuse to go overboard. BUT Colby does fork out a lot of his competition winnings for gifts, and this is the only time of the year that I won't complain about him.

I know you and Haley became really close friends while she was in Crescent Cove this summer. I bet you can’t wait to get her back when summer rolls around. What are you looking forward to most in 2014?

Topher and I have a countdown going until the day she gets back. We're also in competition to see who has the most text messages from her from the day she left until the day she returns. I think I'll win, but the Hooligan brags all the time that he knows he'll win. Whatever. But yeah, Haley's return is the main thing I'm looking forward to. It'll be nice to have a real friend around. And she's the only one who'll knock Colby down a few notches, so yeah, she needs to get back already. Is it not summer yet?

Thanks AJ for stopping in at the Sarcastic Palmtree. We look forward to seeing you and everyone else in Rough Waters sometime in 2014!

 

If you want more of A.J. and the other residents of Crescent Cove, get your copy of Chasing Forever Down right now for just $.99! 

Get Chasing Forever Down on Amazon 

A big thank you to Nikki Godwin for helping with A.J.'s interview. 

When our family vacations at the beach, at the end of the day we like to relax and watch movies as a family.  I was trying to think of a movie that reminds me of the beach and the one I came up with is 

Safe Haven

 

I thought of Safe Haven because our family likes to vacation at a little beach in North Carolina just outside of Wilmington named Carolina Beach.  

It is beautiful and quiet and every time we go, we take the ferry across to the small town of Southport where the movie Safe Haven was filmed.  On our last trip we were able to see some of the shooting locations and movie props that were left in the museum in Southport.  I love this movie and find it to be a great one to watch while on a visit to the beach.

Clues and Giveaways
There are 2 separate giveaways associated with this post.  If you are looking for the clue to go with the giveaway for the What's in the Snow? Scavenger Hunt here it is:

Clue #6: One of the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals, said to breathe fire.

The Link to the website to enter your answers for the scavenger hunt is here.

The Sarcastic Palmtree is also doing our own giveaway as a thank you & Merry Christmas to all of our readers! 

Here's what we're giving away

1 copy of Cody Simpson ~ The Acoustic Sessions 
(either by Amazon download or iTunes gift download)
1 DVD of Safe Haven 
 1 Beach charm bracelet 

 1 Paperback copy of Chasing Forever Down 
signed by Author Nikki Godwin
3 ebook copies of Chasing Forever Down 
(Gifted through Amazon)

 You can enter our giveaway with the the Rafflecopter below. 
(All Giveaway items are US only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by The Sarcastic Palmtree!  Banana and Flamingo wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years in 2014!