By Kerrianne of Kerrianne.org

So, you’re going to a party! You’ve received an invitation, happily accepted, and are choosing just the right shoes to wear with just the right dress. Maybe it’s the type of party wherein you’re arriving with a gift for a little one, an expectant mother, or a bride-to-be.

What you might not remember in all the hustle and bustle of pre-party planning is that there is someone else to potentially gift in this equation.

Parties take planning, provisions, invitations. In short, they cost money, and time, and while your presence and shining personality is no doubt a great gift in and of itself, remembering your hostess (or host) with a thoughtful and material “thank you” is beyond classy, and lets your hostess (or host) know that you appreciate everything they’ve done to make the party a great one. (This is especially true if said party is being thrown for you.)

OK, OK, so now that we know hostess gifts are grand, what sorts of things should you be giving?

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By Kelly from Don Mills Diva

I am a pretty typical working mom balancing a pretty demanding job and a really demanding pre-schooler and you know what I don’t need?

I don’t need one more article telling me that if I just treat myself to a nightly bubble bath, my time-crunched schedule will magically seem manageable.

I agree that leisurely bubble baths are relaxing and perhaps even necessary once in a while, but encouraging working moms to indulge does not constitute useful advice about how to successfully make the most of our time.

If you’re like me, what you would really appreciate are a few practical tips that can help shave minutes off your daily routine.

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From Well-Heeled

1. Bury your head in the sand. Given the doom and gloom of the news lately, it’s hard to blame anyone who wants to turn off the TV and just tune out the news for the next 12 months. But while hibernation works for a bear, it won’t work in this bear market. Now is not the time to be blissfully ignorant of what’s going on. Right now IS the time to stick to the boring basics of personal finance: get out of high-interest debt, refrain from taking on new debt, and start, or add to, your emergency fund.

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By Kami Lahti, Kami’s Khlopchyk

Going green.  It’s so trendy, even Hollywood A-listers are doing it.  It can be daunting, we hear that to save the environment we must become a vegetarian, stop driving, use cloth diapers…it’s enough to make anyone throw their hands up in the air and say, it’s too hard, I can’t do it!

Going green isn’t a destination; it’s a journey, each stop taking you further away from a giant environmental footprint.  Every little bit helps and if you start small and slowly it becomes a way of life.

 Here are some quick and easy tips to start you out:
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By Josie at OrganizedMommy

How often do you go to the grocery store? Target? Warehouse stores? Some people I know visit the grocery store up to three times per week! That seems like a huge time-sink and a waste of gas.

Could you save yourself time by going less frequently?

In our family we have managed to get our shopping down to one trip per week. Every other week, we shop at Trader Joe’s for groceries, and  at Target for everything else. Going on alternating weeks means that we only go shopping once per week. This is a huge time saver.

If you run to the store several times per week, consider why. Are you constantly running out of a particular item (milk)? Are you running out to get a few items for that night’s dinner? Do you travel to multiple different stores to do your weekly grocery shopping?

What would it really take to get your number of trips down to one per week, or even once per two weeks? For us, there were several things we changed in order to reduce the shopping trips:
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From Miss Britt

This is where I reveal what a huge dork I am.

I plan my outfits lying in bed or standing in the shower.  I close my eyes and imagine my closet and some very cute "piece" I’ve decided I’m obsessed with that morning.  I build my outfit from there.  Yes, that is where I invest my mental energy in the morning.

Here are some ways I answer the daily question "what should I wear today?"

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By Tsh Oxenreider of SimpleMom.net .

Meal planning can feel like one of those necessary evils. It’s not always fun, but it sure does make life easier. No one likes to stare at the fridge at 5 p.m. and wonder what they can concoct from ketchup, an onion, and a cheese stick.

Because the benefits far outweigh any negatives, and because it’s a part of home management that won’t ever go away, it makes sense to simplify menu planning as much as possible.

Here are a few tips to make meal planning a bit easier:

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By Org Junkie

Staying on top of all the paper that comes into the home can be tough, no question about it. From school notices, to invitations, to homework, to bills, forms and mail, it just never ends! The best way I’ve found to keep from going insane is to corral all that stuff into one central location. What you need is a command center. Designate some wall space in your home in a high traffic area, add a few essential tools and rejoice when you never lose an important paper again.

1. A bulletin board or magnetic board

2. A large family calendar

3. Bins or file organizers, at least one for each child

This is my favourite all time command center.

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By Jess from Du Wax Loolu

While planning my wedding, I learned a few things that I never read in an advice column. So I thought I’d share those tidbits with you.

1. Take it one thing at a time.

Prioritize your to-do list. At the top, put crucial stuff like the site, whose availability will affect your wedding date. At the bottom, put things that nobody will miss, like programs and menu cards. Then start doing things on your list, one after another.

2. Pick DIY projects that can be done in advance.
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One problem I know I still have is that I haven’t finished my gift shopping. Not even close. And at this point if I don’t order the gifts now they will be terribly late. So I was thrilled to find out that 200+ online merchants are offering free shipping today (presumably to get last-minute over-stressed shoppers like me to finally cross things off my gift list.)

You can find the full list of participating merchants here . Some great ones where you can find tons of gift options are included, like Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Origins, Target, and many more.

Happy free shipping shopping!