[A note on this post: Do you get Night Sadness? Where it's the evening and you feel like everything is crappy and hopeless for no particular reason? It's kind of like depression except that it's only occasional and it goes away by morning. Anyway, when I wrote this post I had Night Sadness, and when morning came I felt happy about the holidays again---though I do still find I'm connecting each happy thing ("Almost time to put up the lights, yay!") with the corresponding sad thing ("Ug, and then we'll have to take them down, and they always look so tacky and sad as soon as Christmas is over"). And so then I felt a little silly about this post, but I'm on a deadline here so I'm going with what I've got---particularly because I am certain to feel this way again and again before it's January and we can relax and enjoy the inventory clearance sales.]

I’ve been up to my hairline in holiday shopping and I’m sick of it.
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I suppose that the one night a year when no one really NEEDS a special holiday treat would be Halloween, since it already features a metric truckload of individually wrapped cavity-bombs, but what are we, GRINCHES? No we are NOT.

Here’s some cooking inspiration for your Halloween evening, if you can put the fun-sized Butterfingers down long enough to spend time with a recipe or two:
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We’ve done a Halloween costume round-up before (along with, if you’re feeling topical, a list of cool Etsy-made treat bags, some fun craft ideas, and cool Halloweeny stuff in general), but I keep coming across the WEIRDEST kid costumes this year and thought I’d share. Behold, inspiration for your little trick-or-treater:

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According to the screamingly massive display of barbecue-and-football-themed cards I saw at Target last weekend, Father’s Day is coming up. We’ve covered some gift ideas in the past, so if you’re looking for inspiration, check here and here.

This time around I thought I’d focus on a few keepsake-type Father’s Day gifts that incorporate photos. What father can resist photos of his own adorable children? Sure, he may have preferred that fancy stainless steel infrared grill, but hey, it’s not like we got diamonds on Mother’s Day, IS IT?
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Oh look, May 10th is just around the corner! My favorite time of year, the day I get pampered, served breakfast in bed, showered with gifts, and . . . what? Sorry, was my sarcastic snorting and eye-rolling distracting you?

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More and more often I turn to Etsy.com when I need a special gift but don’t want something too corny.  When Paul and I had our 10-year anniversary, he chose me a pair of earrings from Etsy, because he knew I’d like just about anything he found there—and that he’d be likely to avoid the dreaded heart pendant the stores are always pushing on bewildered guys.

For Mother’s Day, Etsy is a great place to find a gift that doesn’t suggest that the giver chose it at random from the “Mother’s Day Specials!” flier that came from the department store.
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Oh, hey, it’s nearly Valentine’s Day!  And perhaps this year spending money on dinner or jewelry…isn’t practical.  Those of you who use terms like “Hallmark Holiday” and say “I don’t need a special day to say I love you” can nevertheless continue reading:  these are tips that could also apply to, say, a non-special day in March.

When my husband and I go on a date, we like to go to Barnes & Noble or to Borders, big book stores where we can browse around, sit in soft chairs, read the merchandise, etc.  If we’re feeling rich, we might buy some stuff—but we often don’t even when we can (the part we like is the quiet and the uninterrupted), so it doesn’t seem sadly different if we’re feeling poor and don’t buy anything, or buy a couple of things from the bargain section.
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Oh hey, another holiday is looming around the corner, BLEAH. I mean, oh, Valentine’s Day, my FAVORITE, I choo-choo-choose YOU!

(BLEAH.)

Please just tell me I’m not supposed to send in Valentines to my 3-year-old’s preschool. The teachers would warn us about this, right? Or is it just one of those Things that Good Parents Know About? ARRRGH.

While I’m stewing over the possibility of needing to make cards for a classroom of kids whose names my son cannot be trusted to accurately pronounce (one girl has been known in our household as “Prafarsha” forever, because that’s what he said her name was. FALSE), please enjoy some Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Guys, should you be shopping for the occasion.
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It’s December 22nd, and I’m feeling a little festive, a little sappy, and a little . . . tense. I mean, I’m trying to get my fa-la-la-la-la on, but either I need to get my entire house cleaned and the kitchen stocked for the grandparents’ impending visit and host the Best Darn Christmas There Ever Was this week — or they’re going to be unable to make it at all due to the crazy Seattle snowstorm. Between the two scenarios, I greatly prefer the first, but they both require at least twelve cookies to even consider.

(I have eaten a LOT of cookies over the last few days.)

In between fretting over holiday-related tasks and being snowed in (FOR FOUR DAYS AND COUNTING) (WITH TWO SMALL CHILDREN MIGHT I ADD) (SORRY FOR THE CAPS LOCK BUT I ASSURE YOU, THE SITUATION WARRANTS), I’ve been thinking about 1) kid-distracting activities, and 2) handmade gifts for certain people on your list who you were going to buy a gift for but hello, SNOWED IN FOR FOUR DAYS, etc.

So! If you’ve got some last-minute gifts to pull together and you’d like them to be of the homemade variety, here’s a list of easy, non-lame crafts you and the kids can whip up in short order.
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Do you realize that Christmas Eve is one week from today?  I’m making a list of gifts that have been given to ME in the past year, gifts that were a success and that you might want to consider buying for someone on your list.

My brother and sister-in-law gave me several pairs of earrings from the Etsy shop Kneehighs-n-Pigtails, and I LOVE them.  They’re so classy and dressy if you’re looking classy and dressy, but they look chic and awesome with t-shirt and jeans, too.
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