Guest – Kathleen Ellis
Wondering how you can avoid stress with holiday entertaining?
Everyone loves the holidays. They’re a wonderful way to pass family traditions from one generation to the next. When we add holiday extras to a busy schedule, it often means we’re trying to do too much. It’s easy to end up so exhausted we don’t enjoy ourselves. That’s why we’re hosting experts to share 24 holiday tips. We want to help you do all the holiday entertaining you want, in a stress-free manner that lets you enjoy yourself too.
Favorite Holiday Activity
With Kathleen's background in interior design, it's no surprise that her favorite holiday activity is creating a festive, warm and welcoming atmosphere in her home. From the holiday wreath and extra lighting at her entryway, to decorated trees throughout her home, Kathleen loves using all our senses — seeing, hearing, smelling and touching, to turn her home into a holiday wonderland.
3 Secrets for Stress-Free Holiday Entertaining
Kathleen is a lifestyle expert (KathleenEllisLifestyleDesign.com) using her experience as an image consultant, interior designer and “personal life experiences” to help women find their dreams.She loves to entertain over the holidays, and has learned how to make holiday entertaining easy and elegant. So she's sharing her secrets with the hope that you too can enjoy your guests this holiday season.
My biggest take-away from chatting with Kathleen was to plan your gatherings in January, so you're not detracting from family time and it gives you more time to plan and prepare.
- Planning is the most important step for easy holiday entertaining. A few minutes (it doesn't take long) will save you time and money, and of course … it will take the stress out of the days leading up to your party. Want some help? Get Kathleen's Holiday Survival Kit, to help you plan your menu and party details.
- Prepare ahead and don't try to do it all yourself. Take care of the shopping early and don't be afraid to ask for help – delegation is a win-win for everyone. Simply match people with their talents, e.g. some guests love to cook so ask them to bring a food dish and others, ask them to bring the wine or paper goods.
- Remain flexible from start to finish. Things happen so you'll be more relaxed and feel less stress if you've thought out backup plans before the big event. Kathleen suggested having several backup plans – B, C, D and even E … so whatever happens, you've already got plans.
If you’d like to listen to Kathleen and I talking about her tips, click to listen to the recording …
Most Important Holiday Goal
For Brenda the holidays are all about traditions. She loves creating new family traditions, in addition to honoring those passed down by her family. She is thankful for everything she has and likes sharing with others in need at this special time of year.
For more holiday tips, click here …
And a Free Gift (click the hands)
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