Topic: holiday planning

Happy New Year! (and Holiday Programming Note)

Just a friendly reminder that as 2010 comes to a close, Blisstree staffers are taking a much-needed break this holiday season. (And we hope you are, too.) So we’ll be publishing fewer posts today through Sunday, January 2, 2011.

But not to worry, we’ve got plenty of original health and wellness content to keep you occupied, informed, and entertained over New Year’s weekend. So come in, look around, pop that cork, and stay a while. More »

Christmas Gift Guide Roundup: Presents for Everyone!

Just in time for all your holiday shopping expeditions this weekend (in stores or online): We present a gallery of ten of our best Christmas gift guides all in one convenient place. Now all you have to do is check your list twice.

Gift Guide Gallery: 6 Co-Worker Presents

Holiday Gift Guide: 10 Sex Toys and Advice From Sexologist Dr. Carol Queen

Gift Guide Gallery: 8 Christmas Presents for Men

Christmas Gift Guide Gallery: 8 Stocking Stuffers for Women More »

Christmas Recipe Roundup: 12 Holiday Food and Drink Ideas

Because it’s Christmastime and you’re absurdly busy, we’d like to help make this holiday season a little less stressful for you. (Ha!, you say?) In that festive spirit, we present a roundup of 12 of Blisstree’s best food- and drink-related holiday posts (including recipes, cocktails, celebrities, and cookie cutters), all in one place:

Healthy Baking That Actually Tastes Good: 10 Sugarless, Flourless Cookie Recipes

12 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipes: Vegan, Gluten-Free Sugarplum Cookies

12 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipes: No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes

12 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipes: Mint Chocolate Thumbprints More »

Holiday Tips for Single Women

Check out this post on being single during the holidays by Doree Lewak on Lemondrop.

There are roughly 55 million single women in the U.S. Many of them are with-it, smokin’ and smart — and many with their finger on the pulse of life. But when that certain finger is ringless, even the most self-assured single can dread the shame and rebuke of facing disappointed family during the holidays — especially when the really hostile ones who found the unlocked liquor cabinet constantly undermine you, demanding to know why you can’t scare up a date. It can be downright soul-crushing when you come home empty-handed –– literally! — no ring on that finger, watching family members’ faces crumble in disappointment that you’re back another year without any engagement bling.

Family gatherings during the holidays are always a crapshoot: They can either lift the dark cloud hanging over you because you’re sans date, or they can remind you of the reason that you come home only once a year: You don’t need your family pointing out how alone you are. More »

Holiday Gift Guide Gallery: 6 Christmas Presents for the Complete Strangers on Your List

You don’t know their middle name. You don’t know where they went to college. You don’t know how many kids they have. You have no idea how old they are, and you don’t know where they grew up. They’re not complete strangers, but they might as well be. But somehow, you still have to get them a Christmas present, and fast. We’re here to help with a gallery of six really good holiday presents that are perfect for that special person in your life – you know, the one for whom you’re not sure why you have to buy a Christmas present in the first place. More »

Holiday Dining: 10 Relatively Healthy Food Court Options at the Mall

Navigating the malls during the holidays isn’t easy or fun. You have to contend with crowds of shoppers, wait in ridiculously long lines, and make inventory queries over blaring Christmas muzak. But a mall’s scariest part by far is the food court. Not only do you risk being trapped in a flash mob, but you also risk blowing your good eating habits. (Instead, save that for the cookies, latkes, and egg nog you’ll be offered during the holidays). But with 19 more shopping days until we celebrate of the birth of Jesus by exchanging gifts purchased from malls across the country, food court dining is inevitable. So in an effort to help you separate the naughty food choices from the nice ones, here’s our gallery of the 10 healthiest food court options out there: More »

Ask Victor the Cat for Relationship Advice: Solving Holiday Gift-Giving Conflicts With Family

Dear Victor:

Christmas is coming, which for me means major stress about a particular family-related issue. I have a huge immediate family, and everyone has their own ideas about how we should handle Christmas gift-giving. These differences cause major arguments, underlying resentments, and even serious rifts. Some family members think that everyone should buy a gift for everyone else (despite the fact that there are dozens of us, and as many different budgets). Others think they should only have to buy Christmas presents for those family members to whom they’re really close. Still others are adamant that each gift be incredibly special and personalized, even if you only see the recipient once a year. (No iPods or coffee grinders allowed.) And, get this: Some of my adult family members actually email their “Christmas lists” to everyone and demand that their requests be filled – as if they’re five-year-olds sitting on Santa’s lap at a department store. (Can you tell I’m not a big fan of this last one?) More »

Along with the emotional scars, food comas, and tight-fitting pants, you’ll be left with a ton of leftover bird. But that doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to meals of cold turkey sandwiches and turkey pot pies for the next two weeks. (Not that there’s anything wrong with them.) To keep things a little more interesting after turkey day, we found ten surprising and inventive recipes to spice up your leftover meals — before it’s time to gain yet another ten pounds at Christmas.

Along with the emotional scars, food comas, and tight-fitting pants, youâ��ll be left with a ton of leftover bird. But that doesnâ��t mean you have to resign yourself to meals of cold turkey sandwiches and turkey pot pies for the next two weeks. (Not that thereâ��s anything wrong with them.) To keep things a little more interesting after turkey day, we found ten surprising and inventive recipes to spice up your leftover meals â�� before itâ��s time to gain yet another ten pounds at Christmas.

Blisstree Associate Editor Caroline Sloan on ten good food ideas you can put into practice today, from her post: Thanksgiving Gallery: 10 Surprising Recipes for Leftovers That Top Cold Turkey

Black Friday Sales: Our Take on Thorougly Depressing Big Box Store Opening Hours

We’re not going to pretend to understand people who camp out in front of big box stores days before Thanksgiving (and completely miss Thanksgiving dinner) in advance of all the Black Friday sales. But we’re very glad Black Friday’s almost here, because we’re really tired of seeing all those commercials telling us to leave our warm, cozy beds in the middle of the night in order to embrace the true meaning of the holidays and buy a bunch of crap no one really needs. The folks over at The Daily Beast were kind enough to put together a handy slideshow of some of the major Black Friday sales and opening hours. And we’re giving you our honest take on them:

Some Sam’s Club stores will open on Friday at 5 a.m. Why so late?

Lowe’s will unlock its doors at 5 a.m. on Friday. Thank God, because you shouldn’t have to wait another second for that drywall.

Staples will open its doors on Friday at 6 a.m. How ever did you get through Thanksgiving without that mouse pad? More »

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Holiday Dessert Gallery: 10 Festive Thanksgiving Cookie Recipes

Whether you’re calmly assembling your cornucopia centerpiece or frantically trying to find an oven rack that fits your enormous bird, it’s time to face it: Thanksgiving is just two days away. Yesterday we found ten unusual pie recipes to spice up your after-dinner spread of sweets. But sometimes don’t you just get sick of pie? (Kidding. We don’t, either.) But we do know that pie crusts aren’t every baker’s cup of tea. So we found ten Thanksgiving cookie recipes that will be the perfect complement to dinner on Thursday (thanks to flavors like ginger, cinnamon, apple, cranberry, maple, and pecan). Just make sure to have a glass of wine or three prior to diving into the cookie plate — you may prefer not to remember how many you’re about to eat. More »

Now, all of a sudden, it’s late November again, and despite my desire for a new pair of boots and a coffee table for my living room, I’m struck by the urge to scrounge up a charitable donation that’s become so well-timed to the holiday season. Am I a bad person for having such inconsistent motivation to help others? Am I the only one who’s so lazy during the other ten months of the year? I’d like to think that everyone else is a better Good Samaritan than I am, but something tells me I’m not unique in my start/stop pattern of giving/non-giving.

Now, all of a sudden, itâ��s late November again, and despite my desire for a new pair of boots and a coffee table for my living room, Iâ��m struck by the urge to scrounge up a charitable donation thatâ��s become so well-timed to the holiday season. Am I a bad person for having such inconsistent motivation to help others? Am I the only one whoâ��s so lazy during the other ten months of the year? Iâ��d like to think that everyone else is a better Good Samaritan than I am, but something tells me Iâ��m not unique in my start/stop pattern of giving/non-giving.

– Blisstree Deputy Editor Briana Rognlin on the emotional complexities of wanting to give to the less fortunate around Thanksgiving and Christmas, from her post: Charitable Giving: Are We Holiday Do-Gooders Just Selfishly Easing Our Guilty Consciences?

My Uncle John always cooks up a nice prime rib on Christmas Day, and the night before, Mom and I go out to eat. One year, the only place we could find open was a Shula’s Steakhouse. Their menu comes on a football, an actual leather football. God bless us, everyone! Kim’s experience is a little more Bedford Falls to my Pottersville, which suits us both just fine. Her upside is the Christmas-y feel of hot cocoa in her pajamas; mine is that Mom no longer has the desire to attend Christmas mass.

– Blisstree contributor Patrick Sauer on how separate Thanksgivings and Christmases can make for happy marriages, from his post: My Wife and I Always Spend the Holidays Apart (And We Like It That Way)

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Holiday Recipes – Jack Daniel’s Makes the Yuletide Merry and Bright

‘Tis the season for merry making, cookie baking, and cocktail mixing. Shake things up by using Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey in a few fabulously festive and absolutely delicious recipes. It will add a sweetly distinctive flavor to all your favorite holiday foods and drinks. Or give the iconic bottle as a gift. Spread some cheer and enjoy the spirit of the yuletide. More »

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