I like my money right where I can see it: hanging in my closet. -- Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

02 January 2012

Make it a Fashionable Start-Calendars for a Stylish New Year

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

What a strange week the first week of the New Year is! You have to plug your brain back in from months of Holidaying and deal with all that you said would get done"After the Holidays".

January means literally tossing the old year in the trash. I sent 2011 and all those days of appointments and meetings and the "everyday" into the recycle bin. With the 2011 datebooks and calendars gone so is another year of my life and I cannot help asking..."What did I do with all those 365 days I was given?" "What can I do with a fresh batch of days, how can this year be different?"



Hitting the restart button on your life is the definition of the month of January. January itself doesn't help much! It is cold, it is bleak, it is snowing, it is icy ...The news can scare us back into our pajamas, and rather than a revolution in our life we just need a hug! How to balance the opportunity of the New Year with the inclination to stay under the covers???  Baby Steps! January can actually be useful, but you cannot ask too much of a month that is the month with the number 1, so use these days to make an EASY transition...and try to do it with style!

Where to start???  Well you can clean a closet...sort through and make giveaway piles...you may even find that missing sweater!  Too much work for the first week of January???  OK if that seems like more than you are up for then start slowly...Toss 2011 and  start with a new calendar-fresh clean boxes and pages with all the hope of a new year and none of the 2012 clutter that awaits you in that closet or on your desk.

I love calendar shopping...I often don't know what day of the week it is as schedules pile up and the blur begins but then I can stop, breathe and look at it all one day at a time, week at a time, month by month and realize - I have my bearings...move forward!  Of course Calendars with Style are on the wall ---Here  are a few that help to slip into 2012 with a fashionably well dressed look at a whole new year! You have 365 days after all to get it right...Happy New Year!






















 Calendars from Calendars.com 

18 December 2011

It's the Thought that Counts-Really!!


 I know! I know! The clock is ticking...you cannot find a parking space...every store is out of wrapping paper and scotch tape...everything looks picked over and depressing...the check out line is out in the snowbanks...you cannot find the size you want... and you need an Advil! STOP...Close your eyes, and BREATHE! Now slowly open them and take a hard look at what you have in your hand and ask yourself 3 questions..."Do I like this?" " Would I want to receive this?" "Does this say Thank you...I Care...Happy Holidays, or does it just say I need to get this done"????...take a sec and give it some thought!

My philosophy about Gift Giving has always been ..."Think Before You Wrap!" It is easy in the Holiday crazies, especially as THE day gets closer, to "just do it", to buy ANYTHING to be done. I really do believe that it is better to give nothing, or to just send a card, than to give a mindless or useless gift that will end up in the bottom of a drawer or worse a trash bag...how wasteful and really how insulting. How do you feel when you open a thoughtless gift?

Now more than ever when gift giving means pulling out that over used piece of plastic we all need to STOP, slow down and THINK!!

Now I can fill a shopping bag better than anyone,and I definitely get caught up in the "just one more gift" crazies or the "one for him, three for me" routine, but sometimes the care gets lost at the bottom of the bag.

We live in an overly consumed consumer age...and clearly it has taken its toll, and we all are paying the price. I have found myself of late popping in and out of stores thinking "why is all this stuff here"...so much out there that is just "stuff". Where is the Wonderful? Where is the Beautiful? Where is the Special...?? If I see one more box of peppermint bark...well let's hope I don't!

Now,I am NOT saying Don't Shop... My Gosh! I would be put to bed if that ever happened! What I am saying is- Shop Smart, Shop Carefully, Shop with your Heart and your Head. Put some thought into it! Care about the money you are spending, and care about the gift you are giving! Here are some ideas for thoughtful giving this year...


1. Again, THINK! Is it something that fits the recipient or is it just a box to wrap and give and be done with it?

2. Be creative in your shopping and your giving. What would that person like that they would not necessarily go out and buy...that is always a good path to go down. You do not have to spend a lot to show you have thought about them!

-Fill a bag with their favorite childhood treat-Mallomars,Cracker Jack,Twizzlers...
-Give a subscription to a great magazine-there are deals as low as $5 a year!
-Wrap up a few spring bulbs to be forced this winter or some seed packets
-Tie a bow on a bag of gourmet popcorn and two movie tickets
-Give a Special Day-plan a visit to a museum,the zoo, lunch, a picnic...
-Scoop up last minute/bargain tickets to a show,the ballet or a concert
-Give a Day at the Game, buy tickets to your team's minor league club for the upcoming season.
-Wrap up a Download certificate for their iPod

3. If spending is just not a good idea this year you can still put some thought into a Gift...

-Create a picture album filled with pictures from a special trip,event,occasion
-Print out Gift Certificates offering your services babysitting or dog sitting
-Create Special Day certificates telling them they can do whatever they wish on one special day. You can drive them around, run errands for them, do the laundry, walk the dog...
-Give a favorite book that you treasure off your shelf and write a note telling them why you love it.
-Knit them a quick one skein scarf
-Bake their favorite cookie
-Send them A Thank You note letting them know how important they are in your life-put a ribbon on it!

4. Finally, and most especially, if you can't think of anything or find anything...then Give!!! This is a very tough year for non profit organizations and their resources are strained to the breaking point as the need for their services is at an all time high...GIVE!! when you GIVE! Visit Pearls of Grace for wonderful ideas and organizations.  You will truly be giving a gift that shows you care! Visit Redefine Christmas and Changing the Present and Wrap Up the Holidays in a better way!

03 December 2011

Send Me a Card!


 I live my life surgically attached to an email box. I think at last count I have 9 email addresses that actually get used everyday!  I truly get dizzy hopping from one to the other and sometimes I forget which box I am in and why on earth I am there. A very strange life for someone who loves all things paper.
MFA

I know! I know!  We need to save our trees (there are wonderful cards on recycled paper by the way...) but I love getting REAL mail...knowing that someone cared enough to take the time to select a card and write me a note of hello, address the envelope, place a pretty stamp on it and send it off.
Art Institute of Chicago

Receiving a card in your postal box is always a treat - romantic and nostalgic in this day of three letter texts.  Yes, there are some fun and lovely e-cards available  -I am a fan of  Ojolie- but can you tie an e-card in a ribbon and keep it for years?? I still have the very first Birthday, Holiday and Valentine cards I ever received. I have cards from so many who are no longer with me but I will always have their notes and their love in an envelope forever, can't get that with an email! 
Paper Source

I love Holiday Card shopping and my favorite spots include Museum Shops...Whimsical, Creative, Elegant Letter Press, Artistic and always special.

MFA



Art Institute Chicago, MOMA, MFA









I am crazy for Pop-Up Cards---A surprise in every envelope-all from MOMA and The Art Institute of Chicago

















The loveliest way to send a card this time of year is through the many many charitable organizations that offer Holiday Cards with proceeds supporting their cause -Visit Cards that Give for some wonderful greetings that Give Back!






 Dana Farber/Jimmy Fund, The Humane Society, Parent's Project Muscular Dystrophy, Pine St. Inn








Project BreadAmerican Red CrossChildren's Memorial Hospital ChicagoNew York Public Library, Robin Hood Foundation, The Home for Little Wanderers

Find your favorite Charity/Organization and send a card that is truly from the heart and makes a difference...Love these from Friends of Boston's Homeless drawn by Boston 's own Sidewalk Sam