Christmas in July
I know…..you are wondering why on earth we would be thinking about Christmas in July but the truth is, now is the perfect time to start planning for the holidays. I know you are probably thinking this is taking advertising for holidays prior to when the previous holiday is over to a whole new extreme but really it is an attempt to avoid the crazy chaotic rush that happens once October hits.
You know, we’ve all been there, Halloween is fast approaching and it heralds a down hill race to Christmas and New Years. Before you know it the end of the year is here and everyone is wondering how it happened. So we like to be a little more prepared than the average person. Okay, maybe a lot more prepared.
The main reason we like to get started on planning your holiday parties now, is the more time you give yourself the easier time you will have to schedule the date and find the perfect location. Believe me, you don’t want to be making do with what options are left by the time you get around looking.
Next, you want to give your employees, family, or friends, as much notice as possible so they can plan their holiday season early. The more notice you give the better chance you will get a large turnout. This is especially true when both spouses work outside the home. We’ve all had to try and juggle multiple parties because of last minute notifications.
Third, vendors get booked early so your choice of entertainment get less and less as we get closer to the holiday season. You don’t want your boss to be super excited about having a dueling piano show only to find out that they have been booked for all the prime December dates months ago. It sucks. It really does.
The more time you give yourself to plan, the easier it is to make decisions. You can sample food from different caterers before signing a contract, play around with different themes, colors and décor until you have it exactly as you want it.
Thinking about Christmas may not be the way you want to spend your warm, sunny July but later in the year you will thank us for prompting you along.
“Random Reasons to Celebrate!”
A famous day in April – April fool’s Day
A famous saying about April – “April shower’s brings May flowers”
Sure the above two lines probably provide some sort of recognition but we have compiled a list of fun things to celebrate for every day in April that you may not know about. Celebrate one, celebrate two or celebrate them all. We truly want to encourage people to find something to celebrate every day. After all, life is meant to be lived, loved and celebrated!
April 1 – International Fun at Work Day
April 2 – National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day
April 3 – Tweed Day
April 4 – Walk Around Things Day
April 5 – Go For Broke Day
April 6 – National Caramel Popcorn Day
April 7 – No Housework Day
April 8 – International Feng Shui Awareness Day
April 9 – Name Yourself Day
April 10 – National Sibling Day
April 11 – Barbershop Quartet Day
April 12 – Walk On Your Wild Side Day
April 13 –National Peach Cobbler Day
April 14 – International Moment of Laughter Day
April 15 – Titanic Remembrance Day
April 16 – National Eggs Benedict Day
April 17 – National Sense of Smell Day
April 18 – National High Five Day
April 19 – National Garlic Day
April 20 – Volunteer Recognition Day
April 21 – National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day
April 22 – National Jelly Bean Day
April 23 – Take A Chance Day
April 24 – National Pigs-in-a- Blanket Day
April 25 – East Meets West Day
April 26 – Hug an Australian Day
April 27 – Tell a Story Day
April 28 – Kiss Your Mate Day
April 29 – National Shrimp Scampi Day
April 30 – Hairstyle Appreciation Day
The Cure for Holiday Cooking
For most people the thought of the holidays brings up memories of big family dinners gathered around the table with mountains of food and a never ending supply of drinks. However, for some the thought of the holidays brings up nightmares of planning the meal, getting jostled at the grocery store buying all the food, buying all the drink supplies, cleaning the house top to bottom and then getting up at the crack of dawn to make the array of food that everyone is expecting.
Creating the family meal for the holidays can be overwhelming and frustrating but it doesn’t have to be. We have collected a few tips and ideas to save you time, energy and money too.
Tip: Ask guests to bring the makings for their favorite drink. That way everyone gets to enjoy their favorite beverage and you don’t have to cover the expense or worry about whether or not any is going to like your selections.
Tip: Ask guests to bring the side dishes and/or the desserts. The benefits are threefold; you take care of the main entrée only and save lots of time and money, guests get to bring their favorite side dish or dessert and last but not least you often get a better variety of food than if you had planned the entire meal.
Tip: Don’t mind all the planning, cleaning and cooking but feel like everything costs too much? Tell your guests that it is $10 per adult and $5 per child to attend the dinner. No one can go out and eat a huge dinner for that price during the holidays and it helps you cover the cost of putting the dinner on.
Tip: Hire someone to come in and clean your house for you. There are some great house cleaning services and they aren’t that expensive. Believe me; the relief of not worrying about this during holiday preparations is worth the cost. Better yet, hire some of your friend’s teenage children to clean the house for you.
Tip: Have a dessert contest. Have everyone bring their favorite dessert and allow everyone to vote for their favorite. The person who brought that dessert gets to take home a prize. It could be as small as a couple of holiday cookies cutters from the dollar store. This could become a family ritual.
Tip: When planning your meal look for items that are easy prep or can be made days ahead of time and finished off the day of. For example, you can make homemade dinner rolls and freeze them on a cookie sheet before you let them rise. Then you can take them out in the morning and bake by noon.
No matter what your plans for the holiday season, everyone can use the gift of extra time. Be sure to pass on some of these ideas to your family’s dinner host. Happy Holidays from PEC!
