The Elf Blog

Black Friday Shopping

If you are planning to go out shopping on Black Friday, here are your Elf shopping tips:

• Most important, if a crowd makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, get out.  No 99 cent mp3 player is worth an injury.  (The emergency room co-pay will completely obliterate your svaings.)
• Make sure you get a newspaper on Thursday.  Go through the ads and decide where you will shop.  You are likely to have more success if you know what you are seeking and you have a targeted attack.
• I just tear the ads out of the cuirculars (writing the store name on the ad.)  That way, I know exactly what make and model is on sale and if there are only limited quantities available.  If I can't find something, I can just show the ad to the store staff and they know where to send me.
• Hands-free.  It's not just for cell phones anymore!  I know they are unfashionable, but wearing a fanny pack can be great on Black Friday.  Your cash and keys are close to your body and you don't waste a hand on a purse.
• Wear layers.  Crowded stores get very hot.  If you won't have to wait outside, consider leaving your coat in the car.  It will make for easier movement and less chance of overheating.
• If you can't get home between stops, lock all of your packages in the trunk.  No one is fooled by the blanket in the back seat approach. Also, keep your receipts separate from your merchandise.  If your car is broken into, you'll be able to tell the police and the insurance company exactly what was stolen.
• Remember, nothing is a good deal if it isn't something you need.  Inexpensive trash is still trash!

Thanksgiving To-Do 5

You'll probably begin  your detailed schedule today as you bake and brine and chop and saute.  So here are a few tasks that might get missed in all the activity.  (They also make great errands for house guests and others who want to know if there's anything they can do to help.)

• Make sure you have matches or a lighter handy to light the candles on the table.
• If you have a fireplace, lay a fire before going to bed so you just have to light it tomorrow.  Make sure you bring in enough wood to keep it going throughout the day.
• Create a holiday playlist on an mp3 player and hook it up to your speakers.  Or put a stack of CDs next to the CD player so you can have background music during the day.  (Well, after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade when SANTA!!!!! arrives.)
• Get the coffee and tea things ready so you aren't digging for tea bags and artificial sweetener at the last minute.
• The kitchen will be crazy tomorrow with the oven and the stove burners occupied, Make breakfast a light buffet event.  Send a guest to the store tonight to pick up cut fruit, some fresh rolls or croissants (butter and jam if needed), juice, and some cold cereal.  People can grab a light breakfast when they wake up without getting in the way in the kitchen.
• You are likely to be up early tomorrow.  Treat yourself to a hot bath and an early night.

Thanksgiving To-Do 4

If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner, here are things to take care of today:

• Look over your menu and see if there is anything you can prepare today.  For example, cranberry relishes often benefit from a day or two in the fridge to let the flavors combine.  Similarly, if you make your own pie crust, you can let the balls of dough chill overnight to be rolled out and baked tomorrow.
• Take the Thanksgiving schedule you made a few weeks ago and do a "dry run."  As you look over every item on the list, make sure you've left enough time and that you have all the necessary equipment at hand.
• Do any necessary household chores.  You may want to run a quick load of laundry so that you'll have guest towels, dish cloths, and clothes to get you through the weekend.
• If you've done all these things: REST!

Thanksgiving To-Do 3

Keeping on our Thanksgiving "to do" list.  If you are hosting, today you need to do the following:

• Make sure you have all the food you'll need and make a grocery run if necessary.  Make sure you include things like coffee, creamer, and breakfast food for the day after Thanksgiving.  Also, double check to make sure your spices are still good.
• If you are making stuffing, cube bread and put it in the oven on 200 to dry out.
• Dig out your leftover containers, match bottoms and lids, and put them in a place where you can find them easily.  After you've finished cooking and serving a large meal, the last thing you want to do is dig through cabinets for containers.  Keep in mind that zipper close bags are very useful for leftovers like turkey and stuffing.  You can also put the turkey carcass (in pieces) in a large one until you have time to make broth.
• Take one last look in your fridge and toss anything that needs to be tossed.  You're going to need the space.  There's no use wasting precious real estate on things that belong in the trash.  If you have lots of good leftovers in the fridge, consider making dinner tonight or tomorrow a leftover buffet.  Heat up whatever's there and left folks choose what they want.  Nothing goes back in the fridge.

Thanksgiving To Do 2

Thanksgiving is only 5 days away!  Today, do a quick look around the house and tidy anything that needs tidying.

If at all possible, set the table.  Put the serving dishes on the table with a little note inside as to what each will contain.  This way, you'll know if you're missing anything and you'll make sure you have enough room for the food.  You can also dedicate a counter in the kitchen to all the prep equipment you'll need Thursday -- roasting pan, foil, potato masher, gravy separator, etc.  Life is far easier when you aren't looking for things last minute.

Finally, if you are serving wine or sparkling water or soda, put it in the fridge to chill.

Thanksgiving To-Do 1

If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner and you are using a frozen turkey, take it out of the freezer today so that it will have 5 days to defrost in the fridge.

You'll also want to shop for your perishables like vegetables and cranberries!

Family Time

It's one of the strange ironies of our culture today that we revere the holidays as a time for friends and family and then we overschedule ourselves to such an extent that we have no time to spend with those we love.  Any time we have at home is filled with crazed planning.

As the holiday sesaon revs into high gear this week, take a few minutes to look at how you are spending your time.  What can you do to make sure that you have plenty of time with those you love?  Here are some of my suggestions.  Please add your own in the comment box.

• Make basic Christmas tasks a family event.  Get everyone involved in writing cards -- little ones can seal envelopes and put on stamps and stickers.  When it comes time to bake or put up decorations, turn off the tv, make some hot chocolate, and play Christmas music while the whole family does the task.
• Go Christmas shopping as a family.  You can break into smaller groups once you get to the mall.
• Take the whole family to school and church Christmas programs.  When you come home, share hot chocolate or hot cider and cookies while you talk about the event.
• Eat dinner together at least 3 times a week.  Even if it has to be fast food off paper plates, being together makes a difference.
• Schedule in family time.  Use the time to walk or drive around the neighborhood looking at decorations and lights, watching a Christmas movie (my list of favorites is here), or playing a game. 

Always remember: the gift of your time is more valuable than anything you can get in a store -- and it will be treasured longer.

Christmas Countdown -- Five Weeks

With Thanksgiving only one week away, this week will mostly be about those preparations.  You need to do the shopping, baking, cooking, and table setting -- or you need to travel.

However, you can do a few tasks to keep things moving:

• Keep working on your cards.  Ideally, by the time Thanksgiving weekend is over, you'll have them all addressed and at least a third written.
• Keep working on your crafting.
• Exchange Christmas gift lists with your loved ones.
• If you are hosting a Christmas or New Year's party, you need to get the invitations out so people can get you on the calendar.

Other than that, focus on Thanksgiving and we'll check in again next week.

Fad Toys

It happens every year.  Certain toys become the season's "must haves."  Without these toys, Christmas will be ruined.  Parents and grandparents spend ridiculous sums of money and go to heroic lengths to obtain them since, of course, they are in short supply.

Let me let you in on a little secret.  By Valentine's Day, no one will care about those toys anymore.  THey will be no more special than anything else. 

You'd think that having seen this routine play out year after year folks would have gotten wise to the pattern, but apparently not.

This year, before you go on a bidding spree on Ebay or line up outside a door hoping to get one of the treasured items, think about why you're doing it.  It may be far more valuable to manage the expectation than to obtain the elusive toy.

The Danger of the Perfect

Sorry about the lack of posting, friends.  It was our annual meeting at work and my play time has been severaly limited.  I'll catch up though!

In this blog I want to talk about the danger of the perfect.  In the back of our minds, we all have an image of the perfect: the perfect house, the perfect family, the perfect life, the perfect holiday celebration.Unfortunately, this perfection exists only in our imaginations, on screen, and in the photo shoots for glossy magazines!

But this image of perfection has some very real dangers:

• We can overspend horrifically trying to buy the perfect experience.
• We can work so hard to make our celebrations perfect that we are too stressed and exhausted to enjoy them.
• Our image of what "should be" may prevent us from enjoying what is.
• In the worst case of all, we may be disppointed in our loved ones for failing to meet some unrealistic standard.

By all means, plan your celebrations.  Strive to make them beautiful and elegant and fun.  But don't let the perfet become the enemy of the good.  In the long run, it's the quirky mistakes we remember most fondly, not the elegant tablescape!