{"id":2323,"date":"2008-12-23T13:07:04","date_gmt":"2008-12-23T17:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/?p=2323"},"modified":"2008-12-23T13:55:06","modified_gmt":"2008-12-23T17:55:06","slug":"tt-relax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/2008\/12\/tt-relax\/","title":{"rendered":"TT: Relax!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Happy<\/a>

Happy Holidays!<\/p><\/div>\n

Sorry guys!\u00a0 I know things have slowed down considerably and that is because holiday prep has been going strong on this end.\u00a0 The HQ is gearing up for celebrating the end of 2008 and what proved to be a good year for us.\u00a0 After today, OHC HQ is on holiday.\u00a0 Which means by this evening, the staff will have taken to snacking, drinking wine, and probably snacking some more.\u00a0 They are a bunch who take their holiday very seriously indeed.\u00a0 The blog<\/a> will still be updated daily so make sure to stop in there to see exactly what kind of debauchery the staff has decided to get into.<\/p>\n

Anyway, my TT<\/abbr> tip to you today is to chill out.\u00a0 No really.\u00a0 I know full well that while the holiday season brings lots of yummy food, friends, and good times to the table, it also brings stress, tension, and bickering.\u00a0 And seriously, do we need that kind of yuck in our lives during the holidays?\u00a0 I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

Personally I’m all for eliminating the cause of stress because I am not a believer in the that’s-just-part-of-the-holiday-experience theory.\u00a0 But I realize that this does not work for everyone.\u00a0 With that in mind I have some strategies to help avoid the stress and help bring in the happy.<\/p>\n

Alcohol.\u00a0 What?\u00a0 I’m not talking about getting slap-happy drunk, buzzed, or otherwise inebriated.\u00a0 And I especially do not suggest this during family get togethers or work functions.\u00a0 Because the drunk brings out the honest in people and that is not always a good thing.\u00a0 No, I’m referring to the end of an evening at home, maybe have one of your favorite drinks.\u00a0 By the fire.\u00a0 In a bath.\u00a0 In your hottub.\u00a0 Something relaxing to help you unwind and face another year of Aunt Bertha’s sloppy wet kisses and very gross and very traditional jello “salad”.<\/p>\n

Don’t drink?\u00a0 Go fun!\u00a0 Work on some new punch ideas, make mocktails (or what OHC HQ calls “fizzies”), or perhaps coffee is your choice of beverage.\u00a0 Whatever, do it responsibly is what I’m saying.\u00a0 Enjoy it and take a minute to yourself.<\/p>\n

Plan, plan, plan.\u00a0 People if you have been reading for a while, you know I am all about the organization.\u00a0 Planning ahead or even just week by week, helps things run smoother.\u00a0 It gives you a little more breathing room at the end of the day.\u00a0 And it doesn’t have to be set in stone.\u00a0 It’s your schedule, you can be as flexible as you need to be.\u00a0 But plotting out some sort of basic idea can help ease stress, I promise.<\/p>\n

Don’t sweat the small stuff.\u00a0 If your cards don’t arrive before the holiday, does it really matter?\u00a0 If the packages don’t get there before Christmas, is it the end of the world?\u00a0 Not so much.\u00a0 If the recipient gets cranky because they didn’t get a holiday card or package beforehand, perhaps you need to reassess whether they should get one at all.\u00a0 I’m just saying.\u00a0 The holidays are about giving and about being happy with our lot in life and for those who share that with us.\u00a0 Someone who can’t appreciate that doesn’t understand what’s important and may need some guidance on what they are missing.<\/p>\n

Spend time with your significant other, just the two of you.\u00a0 If you have kids, then just all of you.\u00a0 A lot of people tend to travel during the holidays and they get so focused on a schedule and who has to be where and when.\u00a0 And how many days are we spending here?\u00a0 And when is the flight?\u00a0 And how long is the drive?\u00a0 And so on and so on, that the family unit doesn’t get a chance to just be together and have a moment.\u00a0 Make sure you have a moment where it’s just you guys.\u00a0 That can go a long way to help making the holiday season that much more special.<\/p>\n

All of us at OHC HQ wish you all the best this holiday season.\u00a0 Be safe, be happy, and have a great holiday!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sorry guys!\u00a0 I know things have slowed down considerably and that is because holiday prep has been going strong on this end.\u00a0 The HQ is gearing up for celebrating the end of 2008 and what proved to be a good year for us.\u00a0 After today, OHC HQ is on holiday.\u00a0 Which means by this evening, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KYWa-Bt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}