Every True Crime Has A Story To Tell Professor Plum. In the Conservatory. With the Candlestick. Or was it Miss Scarlet who may have had a motive? Hmm. When we were kids, my siblings and I always loved to gather around our kitchen table for family game night, which most of the time meant breaking out one of our favorite board games — Classic Clue . After all, what kid doesn’t love to solve a great murder mystery? We all loved the…
When you love what you do, you bring out the best in yourself. And by putting your best self forward and standing out from the crowd, you can inspire the world. Throw in a spark of creativity, a splash of color, a whole lot of Girl Power, and the world will listen. Colorful. Bold. Playful. Driven. Each and every day, independent artists , makers and designers learn to cast aside inner doubt and insecurities to bring their cutting edge style and ideas…
Putting the “Me” Back in Merry: 15 Self-Serve Holiday Hacks What have you done for you lately? Don’t worry, Elfster is here to help. Somewhere between the age of childlike wonder, and getting all excited about car insurance, the holiday ritual loses its luster of revolving completely around you. We’ve all watched this scene play out: One day, Little Starry-Eyed You outgrows your finest pair of footie pajamas, and what happens next? The grown-ups suddenly buck! At the first sign of self-sufficiency,…
Playing dirty? Perhaps. Totally worth it? Oh, yeah! So you think Secret Santa is just a quaint little yuletide pastime, something akin to fireside chats and a merry jaunt around the mall in a tiny Victorian train? Don’t fall into the trap, folks. Secret Santa is, and always will be, a GAME. That’s right, a GAME. And in games, as in life, there are winners and there are losers in this game of strategy. A Riddle: At the end of your yearly…
Christmas in July is the perfect excuse to plan a festive summer soiree and give guests all the holiday feels smack dab in the middle of the summer. It’s also the perfect time to do a summer gift exchange since July is prime time for retailers to offer major deals on seasonal goodies. There are a few key elements you need to successfully pull off a Christmas in July gift exchange party. Planning A Christmas in July Party First off, you need some…
Read any good books lately? As I stare at the stack of unread books that has accumulated on my bedside table, I’m overwhelmed by my options. Like many folks, my favorite indulgence is curling up with a really good book to soothe my mind, but let’s face it, with our busy lifestyles these days, we don’t have much time to spare. So when it comes to how to spend my “me” time, I need a little help converting that “to-read” pile into my “best…
A circle of moms in my neighborhood once hosted a Secret Santa book exchange but with a unique twist. We were supposed to give our giftee a book that best described us, and the receiver was supposed to guess their giver’s identity based on the book. It was a lot of fun and a really great way to get to know everyone. We enjoyed the event so much that we decided to make it an annual event….
“We need to dust! And wash the curtains. And can somebody please find the other air mattress?” Our house was in a flurry of activity because we had relatives coming to visit. Not just one or two people, either—we were hosting 12 people at our house for a family reunion. Getting the house ready seemed to take days, but my sister and I cleaned faster and more thoroughly than ever before, fueled on by our excitement at…
At Elfster , we think every day should be a celebration! It goes without saying: “ ‘Tis always the season of giving!” And since we’re in the business of bringing people together through acts of generosity all year long, we’re sharing the stories of some of the many ways people of shared interests are using Elfster to stay connected. Here’s our list — we checked it twice — of how 50 Amazing groups are staying connected and the…
Every year, to celebrate Spring, my mother used to have a Spring Fling party. She’d invite our relatives over for an early season afternoon barbeque and decorate the house in Spring colors like yellow, green, and baby blue. My mom also used to make Spring gift baskets as party favors. She put a lot of work into them, as everyone got a basket that was uniquely their own. A couple years ago, I decided to carry on…
Gifts aren’t just for Christmas, so there’s no reason why you can’t have Secret Santa gift exchanges year-round. In my family and in my workplace, we celebrate a lot of milestones every year, from anniversaries to Yom Kippur. A lot of those parties involve gifts, so knowing how to play Secret Santa is often the key to making sure everyone walks away happy. After all, we’ve all had those awkward exchanges where one of our coworkers didn’t get anything while someone else…
Over a century ago, nine college co-eds attending Howard University—a historically black college in the heart of our nation’s capitol—had a common dream to make the world a better place. At the dawn of the 20th century, society as they knew it was mostly male-dominated and segregated. But despite the struggles they faced in their own lives, this inspiring group of collegians was well aware of the opportunities that being “college-educated women of color” brought them—just one generation removed…
“Wow! Ten dollars!” I was in 8th grade when my allowance received a generous boost from $5 to $10. Sure, it came along with extra responsibilities (vacuuming the stairs, how I loathe thee), but with those $10 in my hand, I felt like a millionaire. These days, $10 doesn’t quite seem like the incredible haul it once did. $10 is two lattes, a half-tank of gas on a good day, a sandwich. But there are still ways…
“Another one?” I asked my coworker, Jenny, over the phone. “Yup, another one!” she replied, an uncharacteristic pep in her voice. She’d just told me that for the third time that year, my boss was holding an office gift exchange . The first time was for the holidays, the second for the anniversary of our company’s founding, and now, it was just something to liven up the summer doldrums . Jenny was usually a bit of a sourpuss, but she looked forward to the gift exchanges as…
They say, 50 is the new 30, and I’d really love to believe it. But let’s face it, age happens. When we become those “ women of a certain age,” we may not always recognize the person gazing back at us in the mirror, either physically or mentally. Growing older with grace takes dedication to our own well-being, determination to face the challenges life sends our way, and lots of hard work. No one has all the answers…
I raced down the stairs of my apartment building to eagerly check my mailbox for what seemed like the 10th time that day. A gift from my Secret Santa was due any day, and I couldn’t wait to see what it was and who had picked my present. My best friends and I, scattered across the country, couldn’t be together for our annual Secret Santa gift exchange, but instead of giving up, we just moved everything online. It makes…
Getting goofy for a Secret Santa gift exchange can be a bit difficult if you’re like me; the kind of person whose jokes are usually greeted by awkward silence. While most people are thrilled with a Secret Santa funny gift exchange, I usually struggle, wondering if my gag gift is going to fall flat. Lucky for me, the internet is a thing. You don’t have to be funny when you can buy funny—or at least get a few decent ideas for…
I’ll never forget the first time I got mail. It wasn’t in my family’s actual mailbox; I was at school, and it was Valentine’s Day . The feeling of happiness that washed over me as I took all the cards out of the little mailbox I’d made from construction paper was like nothing else. There were notes from all my classmates, a token of our friendship. Granted, I was 6 and it was mandatory that if you made a…
“ Gift exchanges aren’t just for Christmas, silly!”, my coworker Kathryn laughed as she closed her laptop and got up to refill her coffee. She had just told me she was planning a getaway weekend for the girls at our office at her parents’ lake house. But when she told me she was organizing a gift exchange for the occasion, she immediately picked up on my puzzled look. A few weeks later, ten of us ladies were tearing open…
“Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg!” I screeched as my sister and I dissolved into a pile of giggles at the lyrics. I’ve never been one to take the holidays too seriously, preferring silly Halloween costumes to spooky ones, Galentine’s Day to Valentine’s Day, and birthdays full of mirth. That’s why I’m obsessed with the funny, frenetic Yankee gift exchange game that I play with my friends and family every chance I get. While I…
We gathered around my mom, anxiously shifting from foot to foot as she shook a red and green bag filled with slips of paper. On each slip was written a name—the name of the person we would need to buy a present for as part of our annual Secret Santa game . Finding out who I was assigned to was always my favorite part (other than opening my present, that is!). But after we drew names, my mom unleashed a…
“Please tell me! Pleeeease!” my niece begged over the phone. We were two weeks away from Christmas, and she was dying to know who drew her name for our family’s big Secret Santa game. “The surprise is part of the fun,” I explained, knowing full well that hearing such words was agony to a seven-year-old. I remembered how, when I was a kid, my sister and I would conspire with our cousins to trade gift recipients and…
I wasn’t expecting to find a literal wrench in my stocking, but I was ecstatic. “How did you know?” I asked my mom, the de facto stocking-filler in our house, who usually defaulted to playing cards and candy. “I didn’t,” she replied, then explained how she’d decided to give us random home improvement supplies. And it just so happened I was building my first toolkit! In addition to my wrench, spread out among the family there was…
It was arguably the worst day America had ever seen—a few moments in time that no American will ever forget. But, many stories of strength, fortitude, and positive energy have emerged in the years since the events of September 11th, 2001. One such story is that of Robert Herzog, founder of ZogSports, which has grown to become the most popular adult co-ed social sports league in the country. Each year, ZogSports has seen its membership grow. Over 100,000 fun-loving, sports-minded…
