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Alternatives to Black Friday

Posted on November 23, 2011 by LJ Earnest

I hate shopping. With a passion. So my solution to Black Friday is to stay inside and pretend like I’m snowed in.

This worked fine until my daughter started to be old enough to want to do things when she wasn’t in school. So here are my top five things to do instead of shopping on Black Friday.

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Can you believe the holidays are almost here?

Posted on November 15, 2011 by LJ Earnest

It dawned on me tonight that the holidays are almost here. Next week is Thanksgiving in the US – the start of the headlong rush into the holiday season. Yet here I am, blissfully working on my National Novel Writing Month project – and not stressed at all. It’s not [...]

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Random Thoughts: Unique Holiday Traditions

Posted on December 11, 2010 by LJ Earnest

We did something last night that can only be done where we live. Once the tourists have abandoned the oceanfront, the city puts up a display of holiday lights on the beach and stretching over the boardwalk. Every year we go to the oceanfront and drive the length of the [...]

Simplifying The Holidays

Who Else Wants Stress-Free Holidays?

Posted on December 8, 2010 by LJ Earnest

How is your holiday planning going? Are you staying in budget? Are you doing things you truly want to do? Do you have time to enjoy those that are important? Is your correspondence done? Or are you over-scheduled, over-budget and over-stressed? Here’s the great news: you CAN have an organized, [...]

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Holiday Tradition: The Cinnamon Bear

Posted on November 27, 2010 by LJ Earnest

I normally don’t post things like this outside of the Open Loops, but this one is special. A few years ago, I read this post (yes, the same post, he does it every year) about an old-time radio show, one episode per day, leading up to Christmas. Last year I [...]

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Reduce Holidays And Get Your Stress Down (Editing Life Series)

Posted on September 27, 2010 by LJ Earnest

This is the fifth article in the Editing Life series. Have you ever noticed how holidays…all of them…are really getting out of hand? For instance, Halloween. We made our costumes (to fit over snowsuits) and went trick-or-treating for one piece of candy per house when I was a child. Now [...]

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Simplify The Holidays by Using Fabric Gift Bags

Posted on December 18, 2009 by LJ Earnest

Fridays are tip days at SimpleProductivity blog. With our major gift-giving day approaching rapidly, I realized that I haven’t wrapped anything yet. And then I remembered that I don’t wrap presents anymore. Santa’s Gift Bags A few years ago, Santa, knowing that I try to be green, presented us with [...]

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5 (plus 1!) Ways To Simplify Holiday Cookies

Posted on December 9, 2009 by LJ Earnest

Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog. I love cookies. And especially holiday cookies, because there is something about the holidays that makes it OK to eat many different types of cookies. But baking lots of different holiday cookies can be a drag. Here are the ways I simplify holiday [...]