Your family’s holiday traditions may include traveling to the local tree farm and choosing the perfect Christmas tree. However, there are many reasons why you should choose an artificial Christmas tree over a live tree. Check out the Santa’s Forest company blog to learn why an investment in a pre-lit artificial Christmas tree may be a good choice for your family’s holiday decor.
At Christmastime, mall Santas receive more than just wish lists from their adoring fans but germs as well! With the swine flu epidemic upon us, Santa’s from around the nation are stepping up their efforts this year to prevent the spread of the disease by using hand sanitizer between visits and washing their jolly red suits more often. Check out the Imaginary Greetings company blog for insights on Santa’s quest to maintain public health.
Here’s an idea for those of us who love to entertain but just don’t have the time. Instead of planning a full course meal why not invite your friends over for appetizers. It takes a lot of time to plan and prepare a three course meal. Next time prepare a cheese and cracker tray instead, maybe even a nice bottle of wine. This will also give you more time to spend with your guest and enjoy your own party. For more ideas on party planning visit the Dinner Parties Blog.
It’s getting closer the day we call we call Black Friday. With the Thanksgiving left overs safely put away in the refrigerator it’s now time to sit down and take a look at the first Christmas ads of the year.
Lets face it, we all come home tired and worn out after the long day of shopping and hunting down those deals. It’s more like entering a battle field instead of a mall… Every year I tell myself I’m not doing it again, but somehow I get pulled in by all enticing Christmas ads. It takes some planning and organizing your day but I do think it’s possible to enjoy shopping the day after Thanksgiving sales, and here’s how you can do it.
Seems like everyone is feeling the pressures of the recession, but being cost-conscious doesn’t mean you have to cut back on the number of gifts you give this Christmas. These tips from SantasMall.com can help you give inexpensive, thoughtful gifts that everyone will love and appreciate.
Don’t stress out over your Christmas cards this year–just take the time to plan ahead and you can save yourself a lot of time and headache. You can do everything except seal and send the cards months in advance, so long as you already have your cards in hand. Check out the Christmas Cards Blog for some tips on organizing your Christmas card efforts this year.
Attending your company Christmas party can bring on a bit of stress and anxiety if you don’t really want to spend another evening with your coworkers. But attending the party can actually be quite helpful if you use it as a networking opportunity instead of just an opportunity to drink and be merry. Need some networking tips? Check out ChristmasOfficeParty.info to find helpful networking hints.
Planning a Christmas dinner party with some vegetarian guests doesn’t have to be a source of stress. If you’re willing to change things up a bit, you can serve all of your guests a vegetarian meal that they’ll all enjoy. Visit the Christmas Dinner Parties Blog to get suggestions for vegetarian meals that will agree with everyone on your guest list.
Whether you are traveling to an exotic destination for the holidays or going to grandma’s house, holiday travel can be a stressful experience, to say the least. You can make your trip a little less stressful though, if you take some time to plan things out in advance.
First, you’ll want to make sure you book your plane tickets, hotel, and make any other reservations as early as possible. You’ll get a better price, too, as Christmas is one of those times when it doesn’t pay to wait until the last minute.
If your plans are flexible and you need to fly to your destination, try booking a flight that leaves on the day of the holiday if you can. Those flights will usually be cheaper than flights that go out on peak travel days, like the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve. Plus, you’ll avoid the stress of being in a busy airport and having to wait in line for a long time at security checkpoints.
If you’re flying to your destination, you might want to ship your gifts ahead of time. If you choose to fly with your gifts in a suitcase, leave them unwrapped so they can be inspected at security checkpoints. Don’t want to bother with wrapping them when you get there? Ship them to your destination via an insured carrier like UPS or FedEx. This could also reduce the need to check any baggage at all, making it so you don’t have to wait at the baggage claim before leaving the airport.
Traveling by car? Don’t forget to fill the car up with gas a couple of days in advance. Many gas stations close early on Christmas Eve and don’t open at all on Christmas Day, and you don’t want to be caught without gas on a cold winter day.
Don’t forget a thing when you leave! Create a checklist for yourself so you can make sure everything is packed. It’s best if you work on creating your checklist several weeks ahead of time, so you can add new items as you remember them. List everything you’ll need to pack, including gifts, clothing, and toiletry items.
Lastly, make sure you take plenty of patience with you. It’s amazing how much your own personal attitude can affect what kind of experience you have. If you choose to have a positive attitude no matter what happens, you’ll have a lot less stress to deal with when you’re traveling. Be polite, and reduce everyone’s stress level.
It’s difficult not to gain weight over the holidays, with so many events centered around food during November and December. First, there’s Thanksgiving Dinner–a day when it’s become traditional to stuff yourself until you feel like you might explode–then there are all of the Christmas parties at friends’ houses, the office holiday party, and of course, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. All in all, there are at least 4 or 5 high calorie meals that can lead to a pound or two of weight gain on their own. Add in all of those yummy treats that you can’t resist at the local bakery or at the mall, and you can easily gain 10 or more pounds during the last two months of the year.
But you don’t have to stress out about holiday weight gain if you follow a few simple strategies when you attend holiday parties or have a big family meal. The first rule of thumb is to not go to an event absolutely starving. If you have a snack or a small meal first (depending on if there are going to be hors d’oeuvres served or a full meal), you won’t be tempted to eat as much while you’re there.
The second strategy is to control what you eat. If you’re bringing a dish, bring something healthy or low-fat, or make substitutions in the dish you are planning on bringing to make it healthier, such as substituting low-fat or fat-free sour cream for regular, light margarine for butter, fat-free half and half for heavy cream, and so on. These simple substitutions can save a lot of calories and fat grams per serving in any dish, and it’s likely that you won’t be able to taste the difference. Limit cheese where you can, and avoid dishes that contain heavy or creamy sauces.
The third rule of thumb is to be smart when you fill up your plate at the actual event. If you’re being served finger foods, fill up as much of your plate with fruits or veggies as possible, and only take small portions of foods that involve a lot of cheese, salt, or a high-fat meat such as sausage or pepperoni. If it’s a full dinner, picture your plate as being divided into four quadrants. Fill one quadrant with lean meat, such as turkey. A 3 oz serving is about the size of a deck of cards. Fill another with starches, like bread, potatoes, rice, or corn. The other two quadrants can be filled with as many vegetables as you can squeeze in. This is a great strategy for filling up a healthy plate that adds up to be around 500 calories. When you go back for dessert, choose a single-crust fruit pie or pumpkin pie, or a gelatin dessert. This will have far less calories than many other desserts, and won’t leave you feeling quite so guilty.