Monthly Archives: December 2010

One of the New Year’s biggest problems is storage. What to do with all the gifts just added to the house? Not to mention all those Christmas decorations? No one wants to start the year with a house that feels cluttered and disorganized.

There are literally tons of solutions to this dilemma, but today I want to look at one unique idea: the coffee table ottoman. This is little piece of furniture is gaining popularity due to its range of functions. It can serve as a regular coffee table, an extra food-serving surface, a foot rest, a storage container, extra seating, and in some cases it can fold up and slide under the couch or bed when not needed. Who could ask any more of one little piece of furniture?

One of my favorites is found at Macy’s, with multiple pieces that form a circle; and a table in the center—a fabulous piece for entertaining.

Another beautiful option is the Richmond Espresso Bonded Leather Storage Ottoman, which offers a huge surface and large storage area.

Of course one of the most economical and versatile options is the HandStands Bench Storage Ottoman, which is durable yet folds down to just a few inches when not in use. They’re cheap enough that you can get two and put them side by side. Or get the matching cubes to use as end tables.

If you’d like more info, Overstock has an entire guide on coffee table ottomans.

Meantime, I’m off to figure out what to do with my new ottoman! Blankets? Books? Christmas decorations? Maybe the remote and game controllers? Hmmm. I might have to buy two.

If you don’t struggle with holiday weight gain, you’re in the minority—and possibly secretly hated by many. That’s a problem I’m not qualified to address. For the rest of us, it’s a safe guess to say that the past month has been a daily struggle of choosing which of the many delicacies presented to us should be indulged in, and which we should pass up.
Unfortunately, this week is possibly the hardest of all: many of those Christmas goodies are still sitting around taunting us; we still have New Year’s festivities to look forward to; and our grand resolutions of healthy eating won’t begin for another week. Why not live it up? We’ve got an entire week before our self-enforced deprivation begins!
Well, for one thing, the more weight we pile on, the harder it will be to take it off. And face it, we’ve got enough of a challenge as it is. Following are some tips to keep you from tipping the scale even more this week.

1. Remember that aging food doesn’t lose calories the way it loses nutrients and flavor. It would be nice if that stale old sweet roll or dried out brownie sitting on the counter was lacking in calories as much as it is in taste, but it doesn’t work that way. Ask yourself before picking up that once-delicious goody if it’s still worth the full impact of calories. Chances are it will be easier to walk away.

2. Select special days for splurging. We’ve been conditioned to believe that feeling deprived will ruin our holidays. And to a large measure that could be true. But you don’t have to splurge non-stop in order to feel Christmas cheer. Select a few days—in this case possibly just New Year’s Eve—as your holiday. Treat the rest of the days like any other, with the exception of maybe one goodie per day.

3. Cut back on regular foods in order to indulge on the luscious ones. In a perfect world, we’d just eat a diet of healthy foods. But living in the real world, we know that’s not going to happen, especially during the holidays. So if you know you’re going to eat a piece of cheese cake with dinner, trade it for half a sandwich at lunch, or half your entrée at dinner. Sure, nutrition-wise we’re better off with a full healthy sandwich and no cheesecake, but in the end your body doesn’t care where the calories come from. So cut back overall if you know you’re doing to indulge in low-nutrient high-fat foods.

4. Watch the grazing. Do you find it hard to resist that plate of fudge, the box or chocolate or candy dish? Join the club. It’s those extra little bites that can send a regular diet over the edge. Pick a snack that you consider a treat, but will keep your mouth filled with some healthy: pistachio nuts, cashews, a vegetable platter with a cheese ball or dip are healthy diversions from the goodies surrounding us.

5. Finally, don’t plan a big-grand once-in-a-lifetime diet for the New Year.The suspense will only make it easier to come up with excuses to indulge this week. And it has been proven time and again that the most successful diets are common sense changes of healthy eating combined with exercise that you can stick with for the long-term—even next year’s holiday season.

Enjoy the season without weight gain or dieting.

There’s nothing like an advent calendar—joyfully updated by young children—to add stress to the parents of those little tots. The calendar at my house has the number 3 on it. Yikes. As in just 3 days to Christmas! And there are sooo many things that haven’t been done: card in the mail? Nope. Gifts for the neighbors? Uh uh. Gift for the boss? Nada.

So what’s a person to do when the holiday is almost here and you’re not prepared?
First and very foremost—relax. Christmas will come whether you have every bit of mistletoe in its place or not, and the only thing that will truly ruin it is if the Grinch moves into your house.

I know this because he was there this morning. In the form of me. And it was not pretty. I was making that list, checking it twice, and it was much too long. There was just too much to do in three days time and I was not going to make it. So when my little one approached me with two cheap snow globes in his hand and a broad grin on his face, I told him to throw them away. “I’m done decorating and those are just cheap and ugly.”

Ho, Ho, Ho.

Yep, that little smile disappeared in an instant. “My teacher gave me this one,” he said, deflated. And that’s when it hit me. I am not Santa. Or even Santa’s helper. I am Grinch, green and true. And that’s also when I started to put together this list.

Which leads to tip number two: Prioritize. There are some things that just have to get done, but lots of it will pass without the world collapsing. Figure out which is which. The boss probably should get a gift if you want a job next year, but it can be as simple as a note of gratitude. If cards haven’t been mailed, send an email with a promise to do better next year; or make it a New Year’s greeting. Send out a text to the neighbors and tell them much you appreciate them. They’ll remember that even more than a plate of cookies. It’s amazing how many things can get crossed off your list, or at least made simpler, when you prioritize and use a little creativity.

Tip number three: Take a look at the budget. It probably won’t be pretty, and that ‘ol Grinch may flare up for a minute or two, but the last few days before Christmas are when budgets are truly blown. If you’ve been good with your credit cards, don’t mess up now. If you have dug into your credit, keep the hole as shallow as possible. It may be hard to pass up those big last-minute deals, but your bank account will thank you next month.
Tip number four: Do some service. Whether it’s making a donation, visiting someone lonely, or even spending an extra few minutes with your children; doing something good for someone else is the best way to remember the purpose of the season and bring a smile to your face.

Tip number five is akin to tip number one, but it can’t be said enough: RELAX! Follow these directions carefully: Build a fire (or flip on the gas switch next to the fireplace); light a scented candle or put some mulling spices into a pot of apple cider; make yourself a warm drink; sit down; put your feet up; inhale as deeply as you can; and then exhale, long and slow, and send any Grinch thoughts away with that breath.

I’ve had photos on my mind lately. Partly because of the holidays and all the great memories I’ve been making. Partly because my computer crashed. Again. And just like last time, I had only thought about getting everything backed up, but hadn’t quite gotten around to it. So now I’m desperately shopping for some tech-savvy person who can help restore all that was lost. But it’s really just the pictures I care about. I can’t even think about the possibility of not being able to get them back.

So why didn’t I get them printed and put into books? I have no idea. It’s so simple and so inexpensive. Besides, I remember as a girl lying on the living room floor and going through the family photo albums–laughing at my parent’s 50′s hairstyles, cringing at my kindergarten picture with the pigtails my big sister made me wear.

But these days we store our pictures by the hundreds, even thousands, on our computers and phones. Technology that we know is going to blow up or become outdated someday. And technology that–just face it–is no fun to curl up and enjoy.

Patrick Garry said, “A person is neither whole nor healthy without the memories of photo albums. They are the storybook of our lives. They provide a nostalgic escape from the tormented days of the present.”

Stories. That’s what it’s about isn’t it? When all is said and done, our stories are all we’re left with.

So this year for Christmas I’m buying myself a bunch of photo albums, and printing out the pictures I didn’t lose in my big computer crash of 2010. I look forward to watching my little guy curl up on the floor with those books to enjoy the moments of his life. In fact, I think I’ll grab a cup of cocoa and join him.

So here’s wishing you happy holidays and happy memories from Hannah Handstand!

BlackFriday.com recently some of the big deals offered by smaller retailers. You know the ones – as in not Walmart, Best Buy and Target.

Allow me to “leap” into the conversation (Get it? Leap in? as in HandStands? Ha!Ha! Yeah, I’m hysterical, if I say so myself.) with tips from our own little company: HandStands.

For one thing, there’s a coupon available good for 25% off an entire purchase, sale and non sale items. Go to our Facebook page and find the coupon tab to get it.

On top of the coupon we have sales on DVD storage binders, and much, much more.

Need stocking stuffers? Your teens will love our earbuds. Trust me on this. Not to mention our stickies and sticky pads. Anybody with a car or a phone or both will love those. Speaking of cars, you can’t beat a car freshener for a safe, neutral gift.

So there you go, some great ideas from a great little store to help you with the hustle and bustle of the next few wonderful holiday weeks! Happy Holidays everyone!

HandStands has teamed with BassGiraffe for a DVD Storage Binder Giveaway. If you’re not familiar with BassGiraffe, you’ve just got to head on over. She has great deals going on daily!