http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/ You ask, we answer. en Copyright 2007 Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:40:27 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss In the past six weeks, I have cooked Thanksgiving dinner, written (but not mailed) 22 Christmas cards, shopped for and then wrapped about 40 presents, hosted a Christmas Eve dinner for a few friends, baked Christmas cookies (at least two batches were terrible), held a birthday celebration for my daughter, watched my weight, cleaned and decorated my house and obsessed about holiday fashion. I also heard from a lot of you about how you survived and even thrived during the holiday season, many of you accomplishing far more than I did in November and December. I hope that you found some good advice in the pages of The Washington Post and on the Holiday Guide. As for New Year's resolutions, forget it. We've done enough this holiday season. Happy 2007! http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/the_last_day_1.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/the_last_day_1.html About The Blog Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:40:27 -0500 One of my 2007 New Year's resolutions is to lose weight. Original, I know. This year I feel a bit more confident about my chances. Why? I've been reading the Holiday Challenge series by Sally Squires. If you're unfamiliar with the holiday challenge, it's a guide to help you stay the same weight during the holiday season of parties, restaurants and cookie-baking activities. We don't have to lose any weight; Sally just wants us to avoid gaining any. I have to admit that I have not been following the program exactly. But that's precisely why I feel it's so effective. I've read Sally's stories, and I think about them during the week, but I have not felt as though I'm on a diet. In fact, Sally emphasizes that the Lean Plate approach is NOT a diet; it's a smart way to pay attention to how we eat. And three days http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/sallys_club_1.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/sallys_club_1.html Eating Thu, 28 Dec 2006 12:48:42 -0500 Whew. We're rounding the bend to the holiday home stretch: New Year's Eve. What's everyone doing? I highly recommend checking out our list of activities on the Holiday Guide. As for me, I'm undecided.....Hnmmmmm: Limos, fancy clothes and party-hopping till dawn, perhaps? Well, given the two toddlers who control our lives right now, perhaps not...Though I admire a deliciously diabolical New Year's trick one of my co-workers staged a few years ago: She and her husband had plans to ring in the new year with several other couples. Between them they had about six chiildren under the age of 10. So about 4 in the afternoon, they started turning every clock in the house back an hour. By 8 that evening, the clock neared midnight. The all put on party hats, passed out the noise makers and sparkling apple juice and raucously toasted the new year. Then they put the http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/new_years_eve_2.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/new_years_eve_2.html What to do Wed, 27 Dec 2006 12:07:59 -0500 I hope everyone had a swell Christmas. This is the last week for Holiday 911 so we're eager to hear your comments and questions about surviving the holiday season. Anyone returning gifts today? I urge you to check out Ylan Mui's story about return policies that was published yesterday. My advice is to skip the stores today. Instead, hunt out your favorite online Web sites to see if they've posted their after-Christmas markdowns yet. In that maddening but time-honored tradition we all know so well, almost every store lures us back to shopping with sales and bargains. Holiday decorations and wrapping supplies are especially good deals the day after. I found terrific wrapping paper and ribbon at Crate and Barrel, holiday accessories at Pottery Barn and deals on clothes at J.Crew, which is offering an extra 25 percent off this week if you shop online. Enjoy! http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/welcome_back_1.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/welcome_back_1.html Shopping Tue, 26 Dec 2006 13:00:00 -0500 Welcome back to Holiday 911. We are here through the end of the week to answer questions and offer advice about surviving the holidays. I can't decide whether to brave the after-Christmas sales and wondered what others are doing today. I'm also interested in hearing some gift-giving stories. We've heard from lots of people who did not intend to spend as much on presents as their siblings planned to spend. We've also heard from folks struggling to find the right gift for the grandmother who has everyting or the toddler with too many toys. Let us know what happened in your family. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/the_day_after_1.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/the_day_after_1.html Shopping Tue, 26 Dec 2006 08:30:00 -0500 We've been recapping some of the advice we've offered--and you guys have brought to our attention--to help folks get through the madness of the next 72 hours. If you're cooking dinner or having a party in the next few days, take the time now to plan your menus, write out your shopping lists, figure out a cooking timeline and see if you have all the right cooking tools and serving dishes. This will not be quick, but it is totally worth it. You will be so much more relaxed and then be able to spend time with your friends instead of being trapped in the kitchen with your pots and pans. For more entertaining tips, check out our package of stories, especially Brenna Maloney's graphic on setting a table. Christmas cards have generated a lot of comments. I must confess that I have not mailed any yet but I am http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/lastminute_advice_part_ii.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/lastminute_advice_part_ii.html Entertaining Fri, 22 Dec 2006 11:32:19 -0500 Let's review one of the many joys of the holiday season: bringing that someone special home to meet the family. Are you cringing yet? Consider this question: I recently started dating someone new. He will be joining me and my family for some holiday get-togethers. I have quite a large family and sometimes we can all be a bit overwhelming. What are some things I can do or say to make him feel more comfortable and not so nervous? Before the first meeting, I would warn him this is a raucous group. Also tell some family members that he's coming from a much smaller family and isn't used to this craziness. Pick out one or two family members who are particularly good at putting people at ease and ask them if they'd make sure to include him in conversation or other activities. I would also ask family members to refrain http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/post.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/post.html Entertaining Fri, 22 Dec 2006 08:30:00 -0500 As we get down to the final days, I want to remind you of some of the advice that we've given you and you've give us over the past few weeks. Still shopping? Take a look at our gift guides for sure. It's too late to shop online so hit a few stores where you can buy for several people. A book store is always good for this method. Also worth checking out is a big-box electronics store, with lots of variety in not just merchandise but price too. For those on a budget, homemade baked goods are a lovely option. Not a baker? Send a donation to the gift recipient's favorite charity. On deadline with wrapping? Lay out paper, scissors and tape and set your timer for 60 minutes. Do nothing else but wrap presents and you will be amazed at how many you can get done. When the http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/lastminute_advice.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/lastminute_advice.html Thu, 21 Dec 2006 12:55:16 -0500 Good morning. We've received a question, our first one in a while. I'd like to encourage more questions. You all know what I'm struggling with, but it's much more interesting to hear what everyone else has done to ease the stress of the holidays. Send questions and comments about gift-giving, cooking, holiday fashion and entertaining to holiday911@washpost.com. Now, on to our question: One of my friends just started a federal government job a month ago. He's wondering if he should give any gifts to his new bosses and co-workers. If yes, what kind of gifts are good? The federal government has a regulation that limits any gift to a supervisor to less than $10. What's your opinion? I think gifts are unexpected and unnecessary, given that he's only worked in the office for a month. If he supervises other people, perhaps he could take them out to lunch. That's a http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/gifts_for_new_colleagues.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/gifts_for_new_colleagues.html Gifts Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:30:00 -0500 So I've decided to get in the holiday spirit and bake cookies. Do I really need something else to do? My tree still is not decorated. I have not wrapped a single present. My Christmas cards have yet to go in the mail. Nevertheless, my friend Maria is coming over Friday night and we're gonna bake some cookies. My daughter will help a little, but she's only four and is unlikely to stay awake past the first batch. Why are we doing this? It was Maria's idea. But it's an excuse for the two of us to hang out and we would never bake cookies on our own. And it is festive. We're going to do five different cookies. Chocolate chip for sure and those chocolate snowflake cookies in last week's food section. We're hoping for suggestions for the other three recipes. Also, any tips you can pass on about http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/cookie_party.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/cookie_party.html Eating Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:37:52 -0500 When I was growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970s, everyone in my Italian neighborhood decorated for Christmas. It was very garish, which is heaven to a young child. My daughter is almost four and she cannot get enough of lights, inflatable Santas and neon reindeer. If my husband gets home before bedtime, he scoops her up in pjs and slippers, straps her into her car seat and wheels her around American University Park, where we live, to look at the outdoor decorations. Sunday night she asked him to roll down the window so she could yell out: "Hi Santa. I love you!" For more on holiday decorating outdoors, check out our lights page, with videos and photo galleries of holiday displays. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/christmas_lights.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/christmas_lights.html Decorating Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:30:00 -0500 The first New Year's Eve I was married, I tried to recreate my honeymoon in Martha's Vineyard by cooking clam chowder and boiling lobsters for my new husband. The chowder tasted like a bad attempt at onion soup and was dumped into the kitchen sink drain. The lobsters were so overcooked they bounced out of their shells and were impossible to spear, even with the new, sharp knives from our bridal registry. We laughed about it but went to bed hungry. Some New Year's Eves we did not spend together. I read a book and went to bed early while he worked at his day job, a newspaper, or had a gig playing piano with bands in Baltimore or Detroit. One year we sat quietly in our house sipping champagne and toasting our four-day-old baby who was not home yet. A case of aspirational pneumonia kept her at Georgetown's neonatal http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/new_years_eve.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/new_years_eve.html Parties Tue, 19 Dec 2006 13:13:45 -0500 If you're following our daily tips to help you stay organized, today we recommend you organize your table linens and count your silverware if you're hosting any big meals in the next two weeks. Another helpful hint: our how-to-set-a-table graphic. Lots of good info here. I'm hosting two dinners in the next week. I hope to check on table linens, silverware and serving pieces tonight and also start writing my grocery shopping lists. Anything else? Let me know. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/your_table.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/your_table.html Entertaining Tue, 19 Dec 2006 08:30:00 -0500 I don't mean to be an alarmist, but one week from today is Christmas. How is everyone doing? Here is how I'm doing in all the major categories: Gifts: I need to buy stocking stuffers for my children and a smattering of gifts for other people. I'm getting inspiration from our gift guide. Wrapping: Haven't started. Will begin tomorrow night. Hope to watch our wrapping how-to slideshow and re-read our collection of stories. Entertaining: I have planned my menus for Christmas Eve dinner and a small buffet I'm doing two days later for my daughter's 4th birthday. I just made plans to do some cookie baking Friday night with my friend Maria. We're selecting recipes today from the Post Food section's recommendations. Has everyone checked out our guide to holiday entertaining? It's got lots of helpful info. Decorating: We bought a tree and it's sitting in its tree stand out http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/this_week.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/this_week.html What to do Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:13:15 -0500 At my suggestion, my friend Amy went to The Container Store last week to buy wrapping paper. Why did I send her there? Because it's convenient, right by a Metro stop. But frankly, it's expensive. After Amy handed over nearly $40 for two rolls of paper and some ribbons, I doubt she will ever take my advice again. Her mother buys wrapping paper at the local CVS, an excellent choice for selection and price. My mother used to wait until Dec. 26 and head for Bloomingdale's (the flagship store on 59th St. in New York) to grab every roll of paper she could find at its newly reduced, half-off price. Every year I say I will do the same thing and every year I cannot bear to fight the traffic on Wisconsin Ave. to get to the retailer's Rockville location. This year I bought a few rolls of paper at http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/wrapping_paper_1.html?nav=rss_blog http://blog.washingtonpost.com/holiday911/2006/12/wrapping_paper_1.html Gifts Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:30:00 -0500