5 Practical Tips to Budget For the Holidays in a Pandemic Year

12/09/202012/09/2020

by Ellen Blake A longer holiday shopping season this year The holiday season feels different this year - because it is different. For one thing, it's twice as long. Covid-19 forced retailers to make changes to their holiday sales cycle, which affects how we shop. The "special" deals started much earlier than

Holidays Are Not The Same Without Mom: 5 Ways To Cope

12/09/202012/10/2020

by Leslie Farin, Publisher 50Plus-Today originally posted 12.14.2019 updated 12.9.2020 Missing Mom during the holidays People who lost their moms warned me how difficult it can be to get through the December holidays. And not just the first year. Their absence becomes more bearable as time passes, but the hole in your heart just

10 Artsy, Unique & Affordable Menorahs that Make Great Gifts

12/03/202012/06/2020

I love the sparkling lights during the holidays in December. When I say that, people usually think of Christmas lights, which are certainly beautiful, but today I want to talk about Chanukah. A lot of people collect handcrafted menorahs, and look forward to the new designs that arrive in the

How to Brighten Your Holidays With a Free Zoom Background

11/23/202011/30/2020

by Ellen Blake Make your virtual celebrations more festive Will you celebrate the holidays via Zoom this year? That's the plan for most of us, I think. I definitely prefer the traditional in-person celebrations of years past with my large loud family, however fortunately online platforms provide a reasonable opportunity to connect.

A Holiday Like No Other – Pandemic Holiday Gift Ideas

11/19/202011/23/2020

by Arlen Hollis Kane Gift Ideas for the Covid-Era No one comes close to me in my love for jewelry, furs, silk pajamas, Italian leather anything. Paris Hilton may think she’s tops in glitz, but she’s a lightweight. Carrying a small dog around in a fancy little purse, even if that

Grieving Your Usual Holiday Traditions? This Year Won’t Be Business as Usual

11/18/202011/23/2020

by Leslie Farin It's November, and Covid-19 is still a "thing" It did not occur to me in early 2020 when the world first shut down that Covid-19 would still be a "thing" at the end of the year. But here it is November, and the virus still affects all of our

No Makeup. No Pants. No Problem: Online Resources for Holiday Tasks

Holidays

11/07/202011/07/2020

by Ellen Blake original post: November 24, 2019 updated: November 7, 2020 Holidays 2020 - not business as usual (updated 11/7/2020) Wow - what a difference a year makes. Lots of us shopped online before the pandemic, but this year we rely on online venues even more heavily. So many of our favorite stores

How Will You Celebrate Thanksgiving 2020? There are No Easy Answers

10/22/202011/10/2020

by Ellen Blake There are no easy answers this year This year, for the first time since we moved to Texas more than twenty years ago, we planned to travel to New York to join our extended families for Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving dinners are generally quiet, and though special with my husband,

Fourth of July Cheesecake

06/26/202006/26/2020

This creamy Fourth of July cheesecake is a perfect way to top off your july 4th backyard barbeque! Looks festive and tastes delicious - your family will love it! Ingredients 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup sugar 1 tsp lemon zest, grated 3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes 2 large egg yolks 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Filling 5

5 Things to Make Sure You Tell Your Dad (and not just on Father’s Day)

06/15/202006/15/2020

by Ellen Blake If you are lucky enough to still have a Dad in your life, don’t wait. Tomorrow is not promised - and if it’s worth sharing, it’s worth sharing now. “I love you” You may think it, feel it, even demonstrate it in your own way. But, bottom line,

How I Celebrate Father’s Day: No Gifts, No Pressure, No Guilt

06/14/202007/09/2020

by Amy Jones The stress of Father's Day (and all holidays, really) I have an incredibly close relationship with my father. That was not always the case, but the past doesn’t matter. What does matter is that both he and I began a new relationship about twelve years ago. We realized after

7 Unique Father’s Day Gifts Your Dad Will Love

06/08/202007/14/2020

Father's Day Gift Ideas Looking for something unique and special for your Dad? Here are our favorite Father's Day gift ideas for this year! 1. Best. Dad. Ever. tee Best. Dad. Ever. Enough said. What dad wouldn't be delighted to receive and wear this awesome t-shirt? 100% preshrunk cotton. 2. What I Love About

5 Ways to Make Mother’s Day 2020 Special Despite the Coronavirus

05/01/202005/11/2020

by Ellen Blake Mother's Day 2020 is not cancelled If you are lucky enough to still have a mom in your life, make sure she knows how much you cherish her. The annual spa day or special dinner out may not work this Mother's Day, but there are other wonderful options. With

When Valentine’s Day is Just Not Your Thing as a Married Women

02/06/202001/13/2021

by Stephanie Gonzalez Valentine's Day is just not my thing. I understand that Valentine’s Day is a real holiday and not what people call a “Hallmark holiday”. Some quick research into Valentine’s Day shows it started in the 5th century and, in my opinion, is a much better option than the festival

The Importance of Making Smaller, More Doable New Year’s Resolutions

01/04/202001/06/2020

by Ellen Blake New Year, New Mindset Wow, 2019 is over! How did that happen so quickly? The years seem to go faster as I get older. As I look back over the past 365 days, I realize I experienced good times and bad, and learned a great deal from both along

Sorry, No Christmas Tree Here

Holidays

12/02/201912/02/2019

by Harriet Gross Hanukkah is NOT the "Jewish Christmas" The most-anticipated time of the year is approaching so quickly, we can hardly keep up with grabbing the gifts we want to give from the eagerness of shops to be rid of them! Just kidding, of course. I’ve long given up the idea that

Reduce Holiday Loneliness and Increase Cheer for Elderly Loved Ones

11/13/201912/15/2020

elderly women, party, 50plus, 50+, fyi50+

originally posted 11/13/2019updated 12/15/2020 by Leslie Farin (with Laurie Miller) Holidays are unfortunately not happy for everyone While on a recent trip to visit relatives in New Jersey, I was reminded of how magical and wondrous the winter season can be No matter how dreary and cold the weather outside was that week,

A Meaningful Thanksgiving Need Not Look Like a Norman Rockwell Painting

11/11/201911/30/2019

by Harriet Gross Growing up, Thanksgiving was a delicious family holiday. However, our table centerpiece, was nothing like the one in Norman Rockwell’s famous painting where Grandma is placing a beautiful big bird on the table. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma’s all right, but she did not trust that

I Miss Trick-Or-Treating the Way It Used to Be. Do You?

10/15/201911/12/2019

by Harriet Gross If you are as old as I am, you’ll remember a kind of Halloween Trick-or-Treating that no longer exists today. We collected candy on our own street only. And when we brought it home, our parents did not have to go through it to make sure nothing foreign was

Who knows the original name of Memorial Day?

05/27/201911/12/2019

Did you know Memorial Day wasn't always called Memorial Day? Americans honor the soldiers who gave their lives in military service each year on Memorial Day, observed each year on the last Monday in May. The original name for this solemn holiday was Declaration Day. General John Logan first declared this observance