Today, let’s not discuss how many presents we still have left to purchase for our family and friends. Let’s not talk about the best food to make for your holiday dinner or pot luck party. Let’s forget about the most efficient ways to clean your home without stressing and focus on the pretty aspects of this holiday season. Let’s talk about the gorgeous decorations we see every day lighting up our streets and towns!

I love it when everyone decorates their homes with Christmas lights and all kinds of décor. I love how everything sparkles while driving and walking down the streets. It definitely is not every day people take the time to light up their homes for everyone to take notice of as they pass by. So, I like to take full advantage of this short time. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who uses glow in the dark icicles on their homes. Thank you to those using solar powered Christmas lights to brighten up the details of your home. I appreciate walking around the neighborhood to see the solar Christmas tree path lights lighting up the pathway to peoples’ sparkling houses. I also love seeing the flicker candles lit individually in the windows of homes. There is something so special and magical about all of these Christmas decorations, I think it is important to sometimes slow down and just take a look around at the beauty.

We spend so much of this holiday season worrying about buying the perfect gifts, cooking the perfect meal, baking the perfect pie, and doing it all in enough time to hopefully clean our houses perfectly. There is a lot going on, and a lot to worry about…maybe on your drive home one day you’ll slow down for a few minutes to look at the beauty this time of year can bring. Happy holidays!

So how is everyone’s holiday shopping going? Have you been online shopping every day? Have you been crossing off those gifts on your list that you need to buy? Are you struggling to find any gifts? Did you accidentally forget to put someone on your gift list? Truth be told, I did forget to order my niece’s gif, but I did remember in time! However, are we all 100% certain that we did not forget anyone? Do not forget, our pets are family too!

Yes, I said it. I am on board with buying gifts for beloved pets. I love that there are sections in every store you walk into specifically for holiday gifts for your cat or dog. I do not even have a dog, and I still find myself looking through the great gifts items for pets. I think about all of the wonderful ways I will one day spoil my own puppy during the holidays. I have definitely seen people who actually wrap gifts for their dog and let the dog unwrap the gift. What recently made me think about buying a gift for my imaginary dog was the Pet Cave. It has recently gotten much colder where I live, and just looking at this cozy Pet Cave made me feel warm inside, and made me want to snuggle up. I think any dog or cat would just love to have a Pet Cave to crawl into after taking a winter walk outside.

So, whether it is a warm and cozy Pet Cave or something else you think your pet might enjoy, do not forget that your pet might also really like to partake in the joys of gift-receiving this holiday season. And, of course, if you have a niece, you probably should use my mistake to your advantage. Use this as your reminder that even though she is a baby, she should still have a holiday gift to open. Happy Shopping!

Today we are going to take a quick break away from talking about the holidays, as I want to bring an item to your attention that I think you will definitely find very useful. The Wax Vacuum Ear Cleaner is a popular item currently on the market that you might seriously consider purchasing, whether it be for yourself, for your kids, or as a gift for a friend.

I know some of us may feel strange talking about cleaning our ears, but I have learned that cleaning your ears is actually very important. I know someone who once did not clean their ears regularly and eventually had to go have their ear professionally cleaned after many painful earaches. I also know some people do not like using cotton swabs to clean their ears, and how difficult children can be when you ask them to sit still in general, let alone to clean their ears. The Wax Vacuum Ear Cleaner is definitely a great solution to all of these problems when you go to clean your ears or your children’s ears. The Wax Vacuum Ear Cleaner is cordless, so you do not need to worry about tripping over long cords and it is quiet so there are no worries about loud noise hurting your ears. The Wax Vacuum Ear Cleaner is safe and hygienic, and a great alternative use to using cotton swabs.

So now, instead of using those cotton swabs that sometimes may poke your ear, you now can have a new go-to that does an even better job – the Wax Vacuum Ear Cleaner. This is certainly a product that is great for any age, and an essential to keeping your ears clean and healthy.

Well it is officially that time of year; holiday gift shopping is in full swing. Your email inboxes are likely jam packed full of offers to all of your favorite stores. You are probably seeing all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales being extended. You may also be seeing all different kinds of online offers that cannot be beat. We are definitely saturated with different gift ideas for the friends and family in our lives. Everywhere we go, whether online or in person, holiday gift buying season cannot be missed.

This year I got smart. I decided that I would start my holiday gift shopping early. By starting to shop and think about the items I needed to purchase, I was hoping to make this holiday gift giving season less stressful on myself. The outcome: it worked! By the time Black Friday rolled around I was down to needing to buy just a few more gifts. By the time Cyber Monday ended, I was just about done. There are always the tricky people on my list though. And if you are anything like me, you just hate the idea of giving a gift card. However, sometimes a gift card is actually just the perfect gift, and in those situations I am not sad to go the gift card route. With that being said, I also have a need to wrap every gift I give, even if it is a gift card. So I have to get creative. Look at what I recently found, the Sock Monkey Gift Card Holder. The Sock Monkey Gift Card holder is not only super cute, but I can actually put it in a box and wrap the box. This way the recipient of this gift card will still have a package to open for the holidays from me. It’s perfect!

With just a few more gifts to purchase I am right on track with the holiday season. I do not think I could have planned this any better. I am pretty sure that while everyone else scrambles to find the perfect gift just in time for the holiday, I took my time early and found the perfect gifts long before the holidays arrived. What is your plan of attack for gift giving this year?

Welcome back from Thanksgiving weekend! I hope everyone had an amazing holiday and had a chance to eat delicious food, spend a lot of time with family, catch up with friends you have not seen in a while, relax, and of course, shop on Black Friday.

With that being said, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who works in all of the retail stores open on Thanksgiving night and Black Friday. I was not one of the shoppers out on Thanksgiving, as I was spending the whole day and night with family and friends, but I love Black Friday shopping with my mom and was out of my house and off to the mall by 5:00 a.m. that morning. Black Friday shopping is so much fun and all of my favorite stores always have great sales. Shopping this year on Black Friday was not as much fun since there were not nearly as many people in the mall as usual probably because many people were there at midnight when the stores opened, so that kind of sucked the fun right out of waking up early to get moving, but mom and I still made some damage. A nice number of holiday gifts were purchased at excellent sale prices that cannot be beat!

I definitely still have some gift shopping to do and for some people on my list, I already know what gifts I need to buy that I was not able to find while Black Friday shopping. Other people on my list will need a little more thought, and some people on my list are just impossible to come up gift ideas for. I am fairly certain that I am not the only one with this problem. Thankfully, there are Gift Finders that can really help in these sorts of situations. The Gift Finder will help to narrow down different gifts to purchase or give you different ideas of items to purchase for those people on your list who are difficult to purchase for. I love Gift Finders and all of the help they provide.

So, if you were one of the lucky ones who got your entire holiday gift shopping done on Black Friday, you can now sit back and relax while you watch the rest of us scramble to find the perfect gifts. For those of you like me who still have a few more gifts to buy, I wish you good luck and hope you find what you need. Do not forget, just in case you need a little help, a Gift Finder goes a long way. Happy Shopping!

I know everyone is probably tired of hearing all about Thanksgiving by now. So I thought today instead we might discuss what to do to not feel guilty about taking a full day off and relaxing with our families and not thinking twice about eating too much and indulging in our favorite foods. What’s the point of having a holiday to lay low if we are worried about everything?

For those of you like me, who do not want to let one day of indulgence throw you completely off your healthy track, I have a few suggestions for you to have a guilt-free holiday. First, make sure to stick to your routine as much as possible. If you generally workout once a day, keep it up. Granted, if you are like me and have to travel several hours to get to where you need to go for Thanksgiving, you may have to miss a day. I am lucky and my mom knows exactly what I need, so she went ahead and signed me up to take a boot camp class at her gym on Thanksgiving morning. This way, I can start my day off right, and then after my workout I will not feel so guilty about lying around on the couch all day.

There are also some of you may wake up as early as possible to get in as much shopping as possible on Black Friday. Yes, walking around the mall and running around finding the best deals might count as cardio, but I have an InMotion Eliptical at my parents’ house so I can just on that to get in an extra work out after my shopping.

The workouts you end up fitting in over this holiday weekend may not necessarily be your normal workout, but at least it will be something to keep your body moving. Make sure to utilize the resources you have. If you are going away, see if there is a gym you can go to as a guest, or if the people you are staying with have any dumb bell weights for you to use or maybe even a working treadmill to squeeze in a quick workout. Don’t forget, jumping jacks, crunches, pushups, wall sits, squats, lunges, and stretching, can all be done right in front of the television. What do you plan to do to stay on track this Thanksgiving holiday weekend?

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is this week? I just cannot believe that in just a few days I will be hanging out with family and friends watching football and parades, eating and drinking, and of course Black Friday shopping! I hope that all of you who are taking on the huge responsibility of hosting Thanksgiving dinner have managed your time and are prepared for this holiday that is so quickly approaching. Since the time is sneaking up on me, I thought it might be for you as well. And while I know we have discussed Thanksgiving Day planning, I thought today would be appropriate to discuss everything to do that has become last minute.

When it comes to planning and organizing for a big family and friend feast like Thanksgiving, some items simply slip our minds. Two things I think frequently stress people out are decorating for Thanksgiving and cleaning. Of course we want our homes to look perfect for the holiday but with the cooking, shopping, and preparation, cleaning and decorating get pushed aside sometimes. I am here today to help you get your whole house in the Thanksgiving spirit without taking too much time away from everything else.

Let’s first talk about decoration. If you are not crafty, and if you have no time, consider EZ Covers. With the EZ Covers you can change the whole look of your dining room from normal to Thanksgiving festive by covering your chairs in a different color fabric.

Second, let’s talk about cleaning. If you find that you do not have the time to scrub your hardwood or tile floors after making a mess in the kitchen cooking, no need to worry. The Robo Floor Sweeper can take care of that for you while you do whatever else you need to get done. The Robo Floor Sweeper can clean the floor while you put the EZ Covers on the chairs, and make any other last minute change you need to complete. Robo Floor Sweeper is just like having an extra person in your house for you to help with the cleaning. I love it when I can check items off of my “to do” list even when I do not have to “do” them myself!

So I am sure you are all very busy and very excited about the upcoming holiday. I know it can be a lot of work if you are the host of the party, but I truly believe it is all worth it in the end. I do hope that my easy cleaning and decoration tips help make your planning a little bit easier. I hope you have a great holiday! Happy Thanksgiving!

We have been talking a lot these last few weeks about Thanksgiving, and all of the preparation involved in getting a big Thanksgiving dinner ready and organized. But no matter how much planning is involved, inevitably we will always have a ridiculous amount of leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner. To be honest, I think many people make too much food on purpose, specifically to have Thanksgiving dinner leftover meals.

I must hear more people get excited to eat their leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches than any other lunch sandwich. What is it about these Thanksgiving leftovers, including turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce that makes people so excited? On a normal day is it so difficult to get anyone to eat leftover food. On Thanksgiving, people simply cannot wait to dig in. I know of some people who go right for the leftovers just a few hours after Thanksgiving dinner. So with the Thanksgiving leftover frenzy, maybe we should try our best to also prepare a way to keep the leftovers fresh.

So how do we make sure that the food we take so long to cook for Thanksgiving dinner keeps well for everyone’s favorite leftover meals? Good plastic containers to sort and organize food, such as Mr. Lid are the perfect item you need to help keep the delicious food fresh and last as long as possible. Mr. Lid is great because you can actually put the containers in the freezer. So when you make too much soup, you can freeze it and keep the soup for a cold winter day. Mr. Lid is also an excellent solution because the lids are attached to the containers. That way, you do not have to go digging through the mess is the plastic container cabinet in search of the right lid.

From previous posts, we have already talked about how you can plan to cook the perfect Thanksgiving meal and stay organized throughout the process. Today, we talked about what everyone really wants when it comes to Thanksgiving: the leftovers. So with Thanksgiving just one week away, you can be totally prepared for a perfect holiday meal, and post-holiday leftovers.

Can you all believe that Thanksgiving is coming up next week? Everything hit me all at once on Sunday when my friends and I went to our very last crop share to pick up our apples and vegetables and I actually said out loud “I have had enough of pumpkin.” I did not think it was possible to have “too much” pumpkin, but I think I may have maxed-out my need for pumpkin recipes. We have made everything from pumpkin puree, to pumpkin ravioli, to pumpkin pizza. Of course, since fall vegetables are still slightly limited, we picked up another large piece of an heirloom pumpkin. I am not quite sure what to do with it, so if you have any pumpkin recipes you would like to share with me I would love to try something new. But, with this past weekend being the last week of crop share until May, it means Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

With Thanksgiving comes a lot of cooking and the need for different recipes. If it was not over a week away, I might save this heirloom pumpkin to give to my mom so she could use it to make her pumpkin pie. If your home is anything like my parents’ house on Thanksgiving, mom wakes up at the crack of dawn to get started with cooking a big Thanksgiving meal. Every oven, microwave, toaster oven, and kitchen appliance is on cooking, baking, or roasting something. Lucky for my mom, she has an oven that is two ovens in one, so she can cook two different items at different temperatures at the same time. But, that of course is never enough, and on Thanksgiving my mom also has to use her electric roaster for even more cooking. And of course, all of this cooking and baking all day long does not include all of the time my mom puts in before Thanksgiving prepping items that can be made beforehand. I have no idea how my mom does it. How can she plan, and manage enough time for Thanksgiving and for everything to get done so perfectly?

All I know is that I am not sure I would ever be able to have time fly by so quickly, and still feel confident that I am ready to cook a full Thanksgiving Day meal without going crazy! I know for certain my mom has made her cooking and baking schedule, and is all ready to go for Thanksgiving this year; all I need to do is show up. For those of you cooking Thanksgiving dinner, I hope you are ready. For those of you who just get to enjoy, make sure to thank the chef’s behind those scenes!

Well, as we all know, this week was the election. I can never quite figure out the best approach to voting. Is it best to try to go early in the morning to squeeze voting in before work? Should you risk going to the voting polls on your one hour lunch break with the chance you might take more than an hour? Or, do you take the chance to vote after work with everyone else who worked all day and stand outside in line for a very long time? The answer is, I am still not sure.

Where I live the voting polls did not open until 7 a.m. Considering the fact that I need to leave for work no later than 8:15 in the morning, I knew I could not risk getting to the voting polls at 7 because I knew people would be lining up well before 7 a.m. Knowing full-well that I live too far away from the office to vote during lunch, I had two options: 1. After a long day at the office, go wait in a voting line for potential hours in the cold; or 2. Get to the voting polls at 6 a.m. and wait in line for an hour. I opted for option 2. I woke up before the sun came up and headed off to wait in line in less than 30 degree weather. When I got there, there were already several people ahead of me and by the time 6:30 a.m. rolled around there were easily 50 people in line. Fortunately for me, I was done voting and headed back home by 7:10, which left me with plenty of time to get home to relax before work. Getting home early from voting also allowed me time to defrost. As soon as I walked in the door I boiled water to make some hot tea to warm up on the inside, and put my Hot Booties in the microwave to warm up my feet. Of course, by the time I finished my tea and heated up my feet with the Hot Booties it was time to take them off and put on work shoes.

So that was my morning voting experience on Tuesday. How was yours? What time of day do you find it best to go?