Family, friends, football, turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, rolls and pumpkin pie are the beginnings of a great Thanksgiving. Can’t you smell the wonderful aromas? This holiday season, take some time to enjoy your family and guests. Create new memories that you and your guests can reflect back on. Don’t spend the entire day in your kitchen only to have that fantastic meal devoured in 20 minutes, leaving you with a gray blur of the day and how exhausted you are. Take time to reflect on the abundance in your life. Take time to enjoy your guests and get out of the kitchen. Here are a few fun suggestions:

Turn off the football and break out the home movies, have extended family and friends bring their’s and enjoy laughing and sharing.

Set out board game and make sure to include some of the old favorites: Monopoly, Clue, Yahtzee, Scrabble and Dominoes.

Have guests bring shoes or coats and donate them to such projects as “Souls for Souls” or “Charity Coats” for kids.

Ask guests to bring a few canned or boxed goods and donate them to your local food bank.

Have someone tell the Thanksgiving story or why we pull the wish bone or other harvest traditions from around the world. Make it fun and ask questions and those that answer right might be the ones to pull apart the wishbone or they are exempt from clearing the table or doing dishes or any other fun reward you can think of. This one could become the all time family favorite that creates memories for a long time to come!

Set out markers and colorful fall leaves you have cut from construction paper. Ask your guests to write what they are thankful for and then share them at the thanksgiving feast. A twist on this might be to have everyone write why they are thankful for their family. You then can take these colorful leaves and string them together to begin making a “gratitude garland.” You can add leaves to it each year and your garland will become a treasured part of your fall decorations.

�

Well, Ladies, it’s that time of year again where we get ready for the Thanksgiving Feast, but what we are really planning is that Big Shopping Day called “BLACK FRIDAY”.  The one time a year where we, as women, boldly go where no man would want to go, shopping on Black Friday.  This is not an event for the weak at heart; it takes perseverance, patience, and sometimes blood, sweat, and tears.  So, for all you gals hitting the shopping scene on Black Friday, below is my Black Friday Survival Guide.  This will help you get thru it and be a survivor.  For my first timer’s, please make sure to strictly adhere to my list to make this as enjoyable as it can be for you.  Word of caution, once you become a B.F.S. (Black Friday Shopper), there is no turning back! Enjoy!

Black Friday Survival Guide

To Do: Wednesday

1. Make a list of the must-have products that you are shopping for this holiday season, including the names of the people for whom you are shopping.

To Do: Thursday

1. Eat a lot of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. This will not help your shopping, per se, but will make you feel happy and satisfied.
2. Go thru ads in the paper and compare to the list you created on Wednesday and add to your list what store had the best price for the item you want to purchase and what time they opened.  You will need to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the store opening if it is a popular gift you are wanting to buy.
3. Get a good night’s sleep the night before — thanks to all that food in your belly. it shouldn’t be too hard to fall asleep.

Helpful Hints:

• Leave the kids at home.
• Be caffeinated and full - don’t shop on low energy and an empty stomach.
• Pack snacks so that you don’t have to stop your marathon shopping day to grab food. A great idea would be to grab some brunch after shopping with your family or girlfriends.
• Bring along an MP-3 player or iPOD to help pass the time when you are waiting to pay for your finds.
• Don’t worry about the little stuff today, such as stocking stuffers, but rather focus on gifts that are bigger, harder to find, and more expensive.
• Take the time to look for that new winter coat or little black dress you need. Clothing sales are usually very good on Black Friday, because so many people are already in the stores looking for toys and gifts.
• If a product is not available, but the store offers a rain check, take it. Make sure that when you cash in your rain check you are getting the price that the product was listed at for that day.

Remember, there will be some people who are just down right nasty and testy out there, don’t be one of them.  If the occasion arises and you need to be aggressive, stand your ground, say it with a smile, and move on.  Don’t let bad attitudes ruin you experience as a B.F.S.

Have fun, Enjoy, and Behave!

So…we’ve finally made it. Noon last Saturday was go time! Of course, we both had a whole slew of things on our minds that we wanted to partake in but we just weren’t really willing to risk any stomach issues to do it. But…there was one thing that we both just had to have…one thing that our love never waned from…can anyone guess what that would be? You’ve got it…Cheez-Its! J

Check out our veteran advice on how to break an extended fast today!

Life is hectic! Therefore, I try to simplify my life as much as I can.  The only way that I know how to do this is with organization.  I realized one day how much time I can save everyday if I just became organized.  In my kitchen, everything has a home.  I use plastic drawer organizers and plastic totes to keep my cabinets and drawers tidy.  In my pantry, I put like items together (this helps with overspending at the supermarket as well).  I used to spend so much time searching for things.  Now, I can spend that extra time with my family.  Simplicity at its best is my steam mop.  I never realized what a task mopping was until I found this mop.  All I have to do is plug it in, add distilled water, and mop.  When I am finished I throw the detachable cloth in my washing machine and I’m finished.  The best thing is that I was able to eliminate my bucket and floor cleaner, therefore leaving me a little more space and a little less clutter.    

Get organized today and have more time to do the things that you really want to tomorrow.  Start organizing one room at a time.  Take fifteen minute breaks to organize a drawer or two and that daunting task becomes extremely manageable. Before you know it, it’s all over and your life is much less hectic!

During the summer months, the heat gets the best of everything.  It gets hot outside, inside, and sometimes you just can’t escape it.  Unfortunately the heat can make smells worse than ever.  I am such a clean freak that smells just drive me crazy and sometimes our kitchen sinks just STINK! So, I am always looking for those effective cleaning tips to bring simplicity into my life.  So LADIES, here is a little secret of mine to help clean those stinky kitchen sinks:

Pour down several quarts of boiling water to flush out grease. Do double-duty by adding 1 cup of baking soda followed by 1 cup of white vinegar down the drain; then sprinkle more baking soda in the sink to scrub clean.

The best part about this cleaning tip is the products you use are cheap and most everyone has them already on hand.  So, here’s to keeping the kitchen sink clean and to bringing that word I love “Simplicity” back into our lives!

Sometimes I feel as though all I do is clean my kitchen; and I don’t really like to clean.  I have two kids, a dog, and of course my husband and I dirtying it up all day long and sometimes it just never stays clean long enough.  I have found a few ways I can cut down on the time it takes me to get my kitchen clean and presentable.  Simplicity is key here.  I do deep cleaning on specific days and otherwise i move quickly.  The first thing I do is give myself a time limit.  This is how long I can spend.  It makes me move faster.  Next, I unload my dishwasher as soon as it finishes the cleaning cycle so it will be ready for the next load of dishes going in.  I don’t know how I would function without my dishwasher.  I find that the area that has the ability of getting messy the fastest is the sink.  Every product I use in the kitchen is dishwasher safe.  That is a must in my house.  As I use dishes throughout the day, I load as I go.  This gives me less to do at the end of the night after dinner.  I also use a spay bottle of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water to mop my floor.  I spray the solution onto the floor and then mop it right up.  This way I don’t have to wring out my mop each step of the way; and I don’t have to wait as long for the floor to be dry.  I also love the pre-moistened kitchen wipes.  I hope these suggestions help you spend more time with those you love and less time cleaning a dirty kitchen.

�