Tag Archives: piano

Entertaining Toddlers

Toddlers have a very short attention span. In order to keep them entertained, there are many tricks that parents have learned to make their lives easier. This includes what to have in the car to entertain children during heavy traffic and what to have to lessen their anxiety in the waiting room. Let’s look at some ideas for entertaining toddlers. Busy Bag for Cars A busy bag for toddlers will come in handy when you get stuck in traffic or have to wait in the dentist or doctor’s office. Filled with special goodies that your child doesn’t get to play … Continue reading →

Two Quick Tips and an Apology

I owe everyone here on the food blog a huge apology. Not long after I started on the food blog, I posted my recipe for Middle Eastern Chicken Aussie Style. This weekend as I went to make it, when we were having guests for dinner, I found out there is a critical ingredient missing in the recipe I gave you. Fortunately I noticed that as I went to make it rather than afterwards Rather than hunt through all the myriad and books and files in which recipes are written I thought I’d just take it off my blog. That’s when … Continue reading →

Make Your Frugal Party Look Expensive

Did you know that you can spend just a few dollars and make it look as though you spent hundreds on your party? Home made and arranged can look just as good or better than catered. And you don’t have to lose the sophistication just because you are saving money and being frugal. Use these tips to make your party look like a million dollars. Focus on the Presentation The presentation of food goes a long way to making your party look expensive. Do you ever notice that people are willing to spend more money on tiny platters of food … Continue reading →

Frugal Holiday Parties

The Holiday season will be here soon.Are you prepared for the expense of socializing? Here are some frugal tips to get your through it all with both the holiday fun and the budget in tact. I had a nice conversation with my mother-in-law last night. We started discussing what we were going to do about the upcoming holiday season and the Thanksgiving and Christmas get-together events. No one ever really wants to host either because of the work, and well, the expense. That is understandable, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Two words have gotten me through … Continue reading →

Do Your Homework

Now you have a firm buyer for your house, you and your spouse can start the fun process of looking for a house or apartment. Hopefully in the meantime you’ve been keeping your eyes on prices in the area you plan to move to and noticing any fluctuations in prices. Even within a suburb or town there can be variations because one part of the suburb or town is seen as less desirable than the other. So investigate the area thoroughly by driving around it. Where houses are uncared for, it tells you something about the attitudes of people living … Continue reading →

Tips for Stress Free Entertaining for You and Your Spouse- Part 2

Here are more tips for stress free entertaining for you and your spouse. 4. Know Your Spouse Growing up I don’t remember my parents entertaining a lot and Mick said the same about this parents. We got to wondering if it was because our fathers where both quiet men who didn’t like a lot of people? They just liked to come home and relax after a hard day at work and not have to make conversation, and the same applied on weekends. 5. Do they Get Along? Consider too, are the people you want to invite mutual friends? Do the … Continue reading →

Tips For Stress Free Entertaining for You and Your Spouse

Do you consider your spouse when entertaining, when deciding what to do or who you will invite over for a meal? Do you consider their likes and dilikes. Here are some helpful tips to make entertaining an enjoyable experience for you and your spouse. 1. Don’t overextend yourself or your spouse. Is your spouse one who likes big dinner parties with lots of guests and an elaborate meal? If he is not, I’d suggest you consider something simpler, like a barbecue or a casual meal or a sit down dinner with only a few guests. Mick knows for example that … Continue reading →

Is Your Home Ready for Company?

Yesterday, we were having a quiet day at home. The kids were playing, my husband was puttering around, and I was trying to catch up with writing work that fell behind because of the holidays. We were just about to get the younger kids down for a late nap when my husband got a phone call. His best friend that he hadn’t seen in a long while was in the area. Could he stop by with his girlfriend? This was a rare chance, and there was no way that we could say no. We also would really enjoy seeing him. … Continue reading →

Last Minute New Year’s Eve Party at Home

Here it is New Year’s Eve and you decide at the last moment to have a few friends over for a get together. But, you didn’t plan well (how could you at the last moment?) and you are wondering what to do. Here are some last moment suggestions for hosting a New Year’s Eve party in your home. Fortunately, one of great things about New Year’s eve is that unlike other holidays, it doesn’t usually require a huge feast. Instead, a few appetizers will do just fine. If you don’t have the time to make them yourself, pick up some … Continue reading →

How to Host a Yankee Swap

If you don’t know what to do with that statue of a little boy that decants wine through the private parts or that 50 pound bag of organic dog food when you don’t own a dog, than listen to me. You can unload these things as well as acquire more bizarre items by participating in a hilarious Yankee Swap. I was first introduced to a Yankee Swap in of all places, New Hampshire, which is about as Yankee as it comes. These fun party events are also called White Elephants or Dirt Santas. And yes, the two items mentioned above … Continue reading →