Christmas Shopaholic | Holly Furtick Book Club

Foreign.

Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Christmas edition of the Holly Furtick Book club. It is going to be an amazing night, and I'm so excited that you're here now to celebrate tonight. I have on my Christmas sweatshirt. It says Holly Dolly Christmas.

Do you like it?

And by the way, everything you buy tonight or not tonight, but everything you buy from the Holly 40 Book Club, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow. All the proceeds go to our friend Dolly Parton, to her imagination library, and it gives books to kids. So in honor of Dolly and Holly and Christmas, we are having book club tonight, and we are talking about this amazing, hilarious story, Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. All right, guys, let's talk about our book. We've gotta have some fun. It's Christmas time. I have my Holly Dolly Christmas shirt on, and I'm just so excited to talk about this book because it is so fun. Sophie Kinsella has sold. Guys, listen to this. She has sold over 45 million copies of her books, published in over 60 countries, 40 languages. Shopaholic series has nine books. Now, Stephanie Van Allman, I need you to chime in because you have read all of the Becky Brandon books, and we need to know if you which one was your favorite. Stephanie, I might call you on. Ooh, let's do it. Stephanie. So I want to know, you have read all nine of the Shopaholic books?

Yes, yes, I've read them.

Which one is your favorite?

This one.

The Christmas. My favorite. But you know, I love Christmas, so this is a little over the top for me. But my favorite, Sophie can. My favorite so we can sell book is called 20s Girl. So if you've never read another of her books, twenties girl is the next one I would suggest. It's not. It's a standalone. It's not one of the series.

It's a standalone. So it's not about Becky.

No.

I told Ashley this the other day.

Stephanie, way out in the country.

I know. Is it? I know I do. I'm trying to find, like, a room that has, like, good connection.

Can you hear me?

I can hear you. It's a little spotty, but okay. So you love Christmas. What is your favorite part of Christmas? Shopaholic. Oh, gosh. I love. I don't know.

I love when she, like, gets into the club. I don't love the whole club part, but I love when she gives him the gift. When she gets the gift. That's, like, really cute to me because it's. She worked really hard for that gift, and I love it.

I love How Becky. I mean, there's so many things I love about Becky. I think she is one of the most ridiculously silly yet lovable characters that I've ever read. And I love how you would think that a Christmas shopaholic would be all about what she wants for Christmas, but the book is really all about what she wants to give everybody else for Christmas and the great lengths that she goes to to create Christmas for other people. I just think it's wonderful.

I agree. And I love that she, like, was trying. I mean, the pinata at Christmas, but she did it because everybody else wanted her to.

It was amazing. Stephanie. Okay, so hold on. I have another. I wrote down a bunch of, like, silly questions, but. Okay, what is one of the funniest? So one of the things in the book is all about Christmas trends. And, you know, she talks about the. The. They call it the bauble, but the ornament of the year that everybody has to have. And I was thinking about all the different, like, Christmas trends that I've even seen in my lifetime. And I'm wondering, what is a Christmas trend that a funny one that maybe you hopped on or. Let's see. I wrote some down.

Okay.

Like, have you ever done projector lights on your house?

I've never done that. I've never had projectors.

What's one that you have?

Josh is in charge of the outside, and I do the inside, but, you know, I need a long time to do the inside of them.

Are you an elf on the shelf girl?

Yes.

We have Jolly. Jolly is at our house.

Jolly is at your house. Jolly should be on my shirt. Okay, Steph, I would talk to you for longer, but your connection is not good.

I'm so sorry.

I love you. Thank you for being a part and keep commenting. Okay, so my team helped me. We posted these memes on Instagram this week. And verdict. He says, the elf on the shelf. What y' all need is the boss on the cross. Okay, so. Okay, Chris's memes. Okay, these are memes that have to do with our book that my team found.

And.

And they're all things that Becky would do. And if you saw them on Instagram, just laugh again. Okay, so this is Becky in the opening scene of the book, and we have got to talk about this. So it says, I don't know. I can't read it backwards. It says, why, yes, I will pay $50 more to get free shipping to avoid $3 in shipping. And I want to know how many of you have done this and what do you do? And I literally today I was unpacking some packages from the post office and I received these bombas socks that I bought to get free shipping on something. And I needed the socks anyway. I really love these socks. They're the no show ones. And I needed the socks. Steven Furtick, if you're listening, I was planning to buy the socks anyway. And in order to get free shipping for another gift that I was buying for a friend of mine, it was only one thing. I was like, oh, I'll just add the socks. And my socks came in today. So I want to know if you're, while you're listening, what is your go to item? Everybody is saying guilty socks are always a go to item. Also, just a fun tip is when you're looking for extra items, if you go to the sale and you click the sale and then you sort it by price and you start with the lowest price and then you find something that will get you into that free shipping area. So this is Becky in the opening scene, and she's supposed to be meditating, but she's actually online shopping. But she decides that online shopping is just like meditating for her. And, and I love that part.

I love how.

And then she ends up buying three Denny and George scarves, which are a theme throughout. I think there's a Denny and George scarf in every shopaholic story. And she ends up buying the scarves and then they come back at the end of the book. So here's our next one. It's. This is. Okay, this was a funny scene in the book, but first we have to look at Beyonce. Okay, so this says me when I asked the price of something and it turns out to be expensive.

Expensive.

And I gotta act like I'm thinking about it. Okay, this is the scene in the book, tell me if you remember this where she's shopping for her husband and she calls it a dressing gown. I think it's just a silk robe and it has like cat like cheetahs on it or something. And she goes in and it's like outrageously expensive. It's like, I don't even remember. It's like 2500, $1500 or something. And she, but she says her trick instead of asking people how much something costs is she Googles it while she's in the store. And, and I, I'm going to be honest, I think I've done that before. And. And so that was Becky. And then. Oh, and I, she. I don't know if you remember the scene, but she Tries to convince the salesperson that her husband is an influencer and that they need to give him the robe so that he can help them sell more of the ropes. Okay, seeing the mailman. After shopping online, this mail. The mailman appears in Becky's book or Becky story a lot. I love that one. Okay, let's see. I should have made this one. Says I should have made sure they fit before I ordered them. Can you see it? It's a cat with a big, huge sneaker. And do you remember the scene where Becky buys the Alexander McQueen dress because it's 70% off, but it's not quite her size and so she's going to dye it. It's one size too small. And maybe we can get a show of hands, people who've bought something that was one size too small because you had. It was on sale and you had. You had good intentions.

Okay.

I'm the only one, I guess. And when she buys three, Denny and George scarves. When you walk into Bath and Bodyworks during a buy three, get three sale. And your total is $163.27. Those were funny. And I. My daughter Abby loves Bath and Body Works like nothing else. And we are always buying the faith. Thank you for saying you have done that as well. And Blee jars and Renee cup and keep Hope 101. I don't do that anymore. Me neither. I don't do that anymore. And Tiffany K. And somebody said that was me last week. Who said that? Angie Montessori says, that was me last week. Tiffany says, guilty, guys. Okay, so I'm not alone. And Danielle says Bath and Body Works gets me every time. Abby loves hand sanitizer. And so we love to go in there and smell all the hand sanitizers. And they're cheap, so it's fun. Jane Mitchell says, me one size too small. Chovy Junkie says, one size too small with a coupon because it was on sale. Stephanie says, I got myself a Holly Dolly sweatshirt. It was a kid size, so Braylee has a new sweatshirt. You guys, this is hilarious. Okay, let's get Emily on. We are talking about Christmas Shopaholic, which is a book that will put a smile on your face during the Christmas season.

Emily can't see my necklace. Can't get my face. And the necklace.

Okay, so the funny thing about this necklace is. Did you wear this necklace out of the house today?

No. Yesterday I also wore this.

Where did you wear it to late.

Night breakfast at North Greenville. We had late night breakfast, so yes, I'M hot. I don't want to wear that.

I've never worn a light up necklace before.

Holly, they're so fun. This one. Well, I was gonna put it on blinking, but I thought it might be too much. You know, you gotta be like, classy.

Emily, Nisha says I have the same necklace. Lol.

This one will really give you a stroke. Okay. Okay, Holly, I was about to say I never. I don't buy clothes too small because I'm not gonna buy them and try them on. I hate trying.

So you always buy too big. Like you err on a bigger size?

Yes. Yeah. That's the style, right? Yeah.

But you've always done that, even when it wasn't the style.

Absolutely. So I'm so thankful it's back in style to wear your clothes baggy.

Okay, we're not going to get into what I think about the things that Emily wears at times. It has been a contention our whole life.

I'm gonna bring you a necklace at Christmas, though.

Emily, what was your favorite part of the book?

Okay, so, you know, I read it a while ago, but I was. This is the part whenever I tell people about the book, but I can't remember the word. What is the word that she uses for the reusable? Bags.

Oh, bag for life.

The bag for life. I was trying to tell Judy. I'm like. It's like a lifetime bag. And how I'm so guilty. Like, for a dollar more, I'll take the bag for life. And then she puts a bit more.

In it, first of all.

And you can use them. You can places. But she put them all in the closet. That was my favorite, is that she kept having to stuff them in the closet with all of her other bags for life.

Where do you keep your bags for life?

Well, when I used to go shopping for before Instacart, I would keep them in my car. I probably don't have as many anymore.

I have a drawer full. And the drawer is always smashed. You have to smash it down to close it. But I. I always buy. I'm totally Becky in that. They're the best. I love to buy those bags. And I. I never have them when I go to go shopping. Okay. Will Wilson says I don't try clothes on. Agreed. Emily.

Terrible. It's terrible.

Jody just.

Jody's on here. Do you see that? He just said we have millions.

One million of them. Joanna just said something that just triggered a memory. She says I shove them all by my fridge. Emily, do you remember that mom used to always keep Paper grocery bags between the fridge and the wall.

Yes, Mom.

If you're watching, just raise your hand and say, guilty. I know they are good for the planet if you actually reuse them.

Bags for life. I'm in it for the bag for life. Did you.

Do you remember the salmon part where she's shopping with Janice and Janice says, do. Do you want 30 pounds? And she thought she meant, like, pounds in dollars.

Yeah.

And then 30 pounds of smoked salmon comes to her house.

That girl's funny. I'm gonna read the one that Stephanie recommended because I really did enjoy the writing. It's one of those books that made you laugh out loud a lot of times.

Yes, I think, I think she does a great job. I, I said at the beginning. I read the one where she has a baby, and it was very funny. I think it's funny. One of the things that you find throughout the book is there's always the Denny and George scarves, I think are. They're in. I've read three of them. They're in every book that I've read. And she has this thing that she does where she calls herself, like. She has, like, this, this, like, daydream. And she's like. Because the original book, she's like, people will call me the girl in the Green Scarf. And so throughout the books, she'll have these little, like, drops where she'll say, I'm gonna get a white coat. And people will say, oh, look at the girl in the white coat. And in this book, she says it, she says it twice. She says, I'll be the girl with the blue eyeshadow. And I forget the other one. And in the baby one, she says, I'll be the girl with the pink pram.

And, you know, even in this one, in the Christmas one, you feel like she's younger than she is. Like, she has that very youthful, just innocence. It's, it's really funny.

And I, I, I love how, again, like, 20s girl.

That's what it's called.

She gets so much joy from giving, giving to people and making sure that Christmas is everything that everybody else wants it to be.

What do you think she is on the Enneagram? She's got to be a two, right?

Oh, she's a nine, you think? I totally think she's a nine. Because she wants everyone to be happy.

Yeah. And she freaks out, like, when. Yeah, you're right. That's true.

And she's nine. Do you remember. Do you remember the scene where. So it's actually my favorite scene in the whole book is. And I'm going to talk about it more at the end, but where she gives the cost. She's been making this costume like every night. And she gives the another kid her daughter's costume. She gives it to another kid and so they rush back to the house to like throw a costume together and she. I mean, I don't remember why I started telling you this part of the story. Oh, because she's a nine and.

Oh yeah.

And so she throws the costume together, which I'm gonna talk about at the end. She throws the costume together, she takes her daughter to school, back to school, and then she goes to work and she's like, she has this thought and she was like, I'm so stressed. I don't have Luke's present. I don't have a vegan turkey. I don't know if my daughter's gonna be happy with her costume. And I have so much to do. And all I want to do is go home and get in bed, take a nap.

I feel that a lot.

I love that part. All right, Emily, so couple questions. Do you like. I already know the answer to this question. Do you like to shop online or in person?

Only online. I will sit in the car while others go in the store. No.

Those of you who don't know Emily, she does not like to go shopping. She never has. And no, when I walk in the.

Mall, my stomach hurts.

It's.

I can't explain it. It's makes me feel ill. Hate it.

Okay, we need, we need people to chime in on this because I love online shopping. I think it's funny how Becky says, she says online shopping shouldn't be called shopping. She says it should be called procuring. And she's like, it's not the same thing. Although it does bring some joy, it doesn't bring as much joy as shopping in person. So. Okay, everybody say Emily Squad. Alright, so let me know if you are with Will Wilson, who I think.

Is one of the funniest people in the world.

He sits in the car. Also, he says he legit hates walking through the mall. Okay, you guys, I love the mall. I have always loved the mall.

Always.

I, I love them all at Christmas time. I, I don't mind that there's lots of people there now. I don't want to wait in like a really long line. I don't want to eat in the food court at Christmas time or, or really ever, ever. But I love them all. I love window shopping. I love touching things. See, mom literally My mom just said, I like to touch what I buy. I love touching things. I don't always love trying things on, but if I have time, I like to try things on. I like to talk about it. I just. And now I also love to online shop.

I love getting mail.

I know you do. You always have.

I always have. And now part of my job is sending mail. It's so happy.

It's so happy.

Okay, so, Emily, what do you think is the dumbest gift that you ever, like, gave someone?

Okay, this was one. This was. I have. This is an idea I had recently, and Jody told me it was done because, you know, the last two years, we've kind of designed a mug and given it to all of our friends and our co workers. And this year, well, first of all, I cannot find the stupid Apple pencil anywhere. So I'm really mad because that's what I used to design the mug. So I told Jodi, can I just. Can I just give everybody a styrofoam cup and say, I'm sorry, the supply chain has an issue? And he said, no, but that's really what I wanted to do.

And with Jodi, that would be dumb, but I do have my mug from last year.

I mean, they're good mugs. And I'm. I think. I think it's still gonna happen, but I really was going for the styrofoam cup, but.

Okay, so here's a funny story, and I. I think you're gonna remember this, but years ago, I think it was the first Christmas that me and Stephen were married and we were living in Shelby, which means you were living in Raleigh.

Oh, we were now.

Or you were in Africa. Okay, so we. The nearest big mall was still in Charlotte, and Stephen was speaking, actually, at Central Church of God, for those of you who live in Charlotte. We. He was speaking at their youth group, and I rode with him. Will Wilson says a styrofoam cup, but.

I think we're best friends. I think that he and I are secret, like, best friends. I'm telling you.

So I rode with Stephen, and while he was preaching, I went to the mall, and I got stopped by one of the people in the middle of the mall, and they were selling this invention that hooked up to. It looked kind of like a selfie stick, like this kind of thing. And it. And it helped. So it was just like a cell phone holder that's stuck in the air vent of your car, but it had something.

Some.

Some. Some receiver on it. And then you tuned the radio because this was back before you could, like, plug your cell phone into the speaker system of your car and you tune the radio to come out of your phone, like 95.1 or some random AM station or whatever.

What made you think, why weren't you bought it?

Well, I. I bought like, like 10 of them. And they weren't cheap. They were like, the guy gave me a deal. He gave me a deal. Like, you know, if you buy more, I'll sell them to you for whatever. And we didn't. Me and Steven didn't have any money. And so I was like, this is amazing. We're gonna get one of these from my dad. We're gonna get one of these for your dad, we're gonna get one of these for your brother. For, like. It was like all the men on.

Our list, that that's what they wanted. Oh, my God.

So, Stephen, look. I get.

Somebody just said I use those. Somebody knows, okay? Annalisa, she knows Anna.

Well, our scene work. So I get in the car, I'm like, babe, you're not going to believe what I got. This is so cool. And the guy promised me that if it doesn't work, that we'll get our money back and blah, blah, blah. And remember, we live an hour away from the mall. And he's like, that's never going to work. I was like, no, it's going to be awesome. It didn't work. So the next week we drove to.

He's gone. He's gone.

No, he was there, but he didn't want to give us our money back. And, like, we took the whole bag. I don't remember. I don't know if Stephen's still watching. I don't remember how many I bought. I bought. I bought at least half a dozen of them.

Oh, my gosh. And.

And again, like, remember, we don't have any money. And so Stephen was like.

He was so funny.

I'll never forget. He said to the man, he was. He said, if you don't give us our money back, I'm gonna stand here all day and I'm gonna tell every person that walks by your stall that your product doesn't work and not to buy it. And I'm gonna stand here and yell all day, and he gave us our money back.

Oh, my gosh. I do not remember that at all. That's really funny.

So, yeah, if only you would have kept one, right? And then I. Maybe it probably. I mean, I wouldn't. It probably would be too much of tech, too good a technology to work. With an iPhone.

Oh, yeah. But do you remember what it was called?

No, I don't think it had a name.

It was.

I don't know, it was like a.

That's a really good story. That's funny.

The man had a strange, like, Eastern European accent that sold it to me.

Oh, my gosh.

Okay, I have one more. I have one more story that I think that I don't. I'm wondering if you remember this.

Okay.

Do you remember the time that we found. I found our mom's hiding place?

Oh, gosh, yes. In dad's office. Yes, I totally remember that.

Okay, so here.

Didn't believe in Santa. We didn't believe in Santa.

We didn't do Santa because our dad was a Southern Baptist minister.

He didn't want to lie to us about something.

And so. Oh, my gosh, it's almost 9 o'. Clock. We've been talking for.

Okay.

So we found.

I found. We were playing in dad's office and you found all the gifts, and I.

Gave it to you. And you said, holly, you're in so much trouble. And then we got home and do you know what you said?

I probably said, holly found all the presents.

No, you said, mom, Holly has something to tell you. Mom said, yes, I remember. I was so mad at Holly. Well, mom said she was taking all the presents back, but she didn't. She lied and she didn't.

So we didn't do Santa, but she lied and we still got the good gifts. And I'm sorry I tattled on you. I would never do that again.

That's okay.

If I could go back, I wouldn't tattle.

That's okay. I forgive you.

Okay.

Emily, I love you. I just have to say, my favorite part of the book was at the end when. And we already talked about this for a minute, when Becky gives the. Her little girl's costume away and she brings her home and she starts opening the packages at her front door. And lo and behold, she opens up the package of scar that she orders in order to get free shipping in the very first scene of the book. And she takes the scarf, she forms a whole costume around the scarf. And she says she needs to. She. They need to find something gold because that was her. She was a wise man and she was supposed to bring the gift of gold. And she digs in her closet and she finds a Gucci. Gold. Gucci box. And she tells her daughter. She was like, this is Gucci. It's like gold. They both start with G. And then the whole scene Comes around with the. With there's a whole, like, story about her love story with her husband. It's just such a great scene. If you hadn't read the first book, it probably wouldn't make as much sense. And so she, Levi Lesko says, I need gift recommendations. This is not gift recommendations. This is book club. But okay, so her daughter gets up in the pageant and the one little boy says, I brought myrrh. And the other little voices, I brought frankincense. And her little girl Minnie, she says, I brought Gucci. And it's just so funny. But the whole scene, you know, Becky doesn't tell anyone that she had given away the costume that she had spent nights working on. And the whole scene is just so endearing because all of her little shenanigans and chaos, you just love her because she loves giving to other people and making other people feel special. Special. And it's just such a sweet scene. It brings everything full circle. And then of course, at the end, we didn't even talk about her sister, who is all like, economical and, and what do you call it? Like, no trash, no carbon footprint. And it's like the opposite of Becky. It's just hilarious. So, guys, if you're just joining us and you want a book to listen to while you're wrapping presents or a book to read while you're falling asleep, that will just put a smile on your face for Christmas season. We. I highly recommend our little book, Christmas Shopaholic, and I hope that you enjoyed it. And that is the end of our book club. Well, guys, that was so much fun. We talked about this book, Christmas Shopaholic. There are only a few days left till Christmas. I'm not sure how many. I mean, who's counting? No need to panic yet, but we had a great time talking tonight about such a fun book book and I hope you enjoyed that as well. If you did, make sure that you like this video. Make sure that you comment below. Let me know what you're reading this Christmas season. If you got any good Christmas books, let me know in the comments. As always, make sure you subscribe so you can get more content just like this. And if you would like to join the Holly Furtick Book Club, all you have to do is go to hollyfurtic.com, give me your email address and I will just send you an email once a month to let you know what we're reading, meeting and when we're going to be meeting live so that you can catch the conversation in real time. I love you I hope you have a great Christmas and I'll see you soon.