Things to Consider in Planning Your Party

When you are planning a party, whether you are thinking about a graduation, a birthday, or the Fourth of July, there's a long list of details that need your attention. The first order of business is choosing the time and the place. If it is the right time of year and weather conditions will cooperate, an outdoor party can be a blast. If you're worried about it raining on your parade, you can always rent party tents or clear out the garage to give you peace of mind. Once you have figured out where your party will be and when, think about your theme. 

Pull Your Party Together with One Central Focus
Make sure everything about your party revolves around a central theme. It could be the guest of honor, a special day, or an occasion like a mortgage burning party. Once you know your theme, you can scope out decorations and paper products that fit. Choose foods and beverages that suit the occasion. If your outdoors, you are likely to fire up the barbecue. You can also consider bringing in a caterer for salads and cold sandwiches. If you want to take care of all the refreshments on your own, ask your friends and family to bring a dish to add variety. 

Don't Forget the Games
Outdoor games are a great addition to any party. Put up a volleyball net, break out the horseshoes, and dig out your lawn darts. As an added touch, consider official cornhole boards as a popular alternative. You can even have them customized if you're looking for a gift. Adding games gives your guests another opportunity to enjoy themselves and mingle. 

Let the Music Play
Music always brings life to a party. You can hire a DJ, enlist the aid of a friend that is good with running a sound system, or keep it simple with your own radio, CD player, or mp3 player. Pull out some of your favorite songs and set the mood. You're ready to enjoy your day with those who are close to you.

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Special Thoughts on Father's Day

It’s only three days left and another special day is coming up to celebrate and remember someone in the family who gave his best to protect, guide and love all of us. I’m talking about Father’s Day, the day that we give our special wishes and thanks to the man that serve not just our strong wall but a shoulder to lean on when things get tough. My own father died several years ago but he left us enough sweet memories of his love to live us by every time we need and miss him. Now my celebration extends to the father of my kids who loves us dearly and gives his never ending guidance and protection. 

He lived up to his promise of love to me as a husband and still giving more as a father to our 3 children. We can never ask for a better husband and father because God has given us the best. Well now we are thinking of a special gift for him on such special occasion and I have plenty of gift ideas like nice accessories, tool kits for the car, maybe some unique gift like magnetic bracelet for men or things that he can use for his practice teaching session. I’m hoping that we can decide now what to give for the special man in our life while thinking about what to cook on Father’s Day. I know our eldest kid has planned it two weeks ago and she’s still privy about it.

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How We Used to Spend New Year

We always spend first day of the year in resorts with the whole church as we want to welcome the year with good vibes. Even the weather is cold we still rent a private resort with swimming pool which the kids loves most because they could have the pool by themselves only with no other group to share with. At times the staff of the resort would fix their pool pumps for better water flow and they would also check if the hot spring is just enough for our needs.

Now that it falls on a Sunday we will be in our home church and have our regular Sunday fellowship. In the afternoon we’ll have our gift giving and we’ll share some of our foods in our New Year’s Eve feast. We just had our four-day vacation in Baguio with our church mates and still we feel happy that we managed to have it through whole year saving of our money. The weather in the upper north is at 14 degrees when we were there and we’re thankful that we were able to visit nice places and stay at the park late at night even if it’s cold. The kids had a blast and we’re all satisfied with our vacation.

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Tips for a Guilt-Free Eating this Thanksgiving

Company of good friends and bonding with family is what Thanksgiving is all about. But aside form this, Thanksgiving can also mean Food, food and more food.

On the eve of Thanksgiving Day, most households are busy preparing for the meals that they will serve on Thanksgiving dinner.

Turkey with gravy
Mashed potatoes
Pies
Cake and more dessert

For sure, one or two of these meals are present in your dining table for Thanksgiving. That is why those who are on a diet dread Thanksgiving Day, as they know that temptation will be hard to resist.

But you need not feel guilty after the festivities of Thanksgiving by following these tips:

1. Grab a bite before heading to the Thanksgiving dinner. Eat something to fill up your stomach like yogurt or fruit so you will not feel starve. At least coming to battle with a full stomach will help you resist temptation.

2. Start your meal with salad or soup. Vegetable salads are rich in fiber, which can make you feel full. Having a full stomach will lessen the possibility of taking in foods rich in carbohydrates and calories.

3. Choose the right kind of food. Although it is tempting to just dig in and enjoy all the food that is served on the table, it will help if you will choose wisely the food that you will consume. Stay away from fried foods as this contains fat, which is a big no-no for those who are on a diet. Choose lean protein like grilled chicken or steak, as this is low in carbohydrates and calories.

4. Portion your dessert. Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate so resisting dessert would really be a hard thing to do. Eat healthy desserts instead like yogurt or fresh fruits or don’t eat the whole share of the dessert to lessen your carbo intake.

You can celebrate Thanksgiving without feeling guilty by following the tips mentioned above.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Melissa works for You Love Coupons, a new discount-shopping site where you can get weight watchers and ediets coupon code. Check out their site if you want to get your own set of weight watchers promotional codes and The Biggest Loser meal plan coupon.

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Gifts for Mom

I’m super busy with having online and offline jobs but don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining because it’s what I want for now. I’m enjoying my work although I’m deprived of afternoon siesta and some other privileges like being with my family at home, having my ‘Me’ time, having workout sessions and waking up in my chosen hour. Well I’m an early riser anyway so it’s not really hard for me to go back to office employment. I just miss hubby and kids especially now that they’re all on school vacation. I enjoyed it last month but now I’ve started a full time schedule 5 days a week. 

Now that Mother’s day is approaching I’m surprised that my kids are the ones so excited about it. My sister promised them something on the weekend, something like a small celebration of the occasion dedicated for Moms and they’re happily discussing it this morning. Well if they’re thinking of gifts for me I also want to decide on my gift for Mom. I’ve visited some nice online sites and found plenty of gift ideas for Mom like custom photo frames, mugs, shirts, canvas, jars and a lot more. Just looking at the choices makes me want to buy some of them for my Mom. Well since it’s only three days before the occasion I should decide now which one I like best. The problem is I love them all.

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DH Advance Birthday

Just had a good day spent with the whole family here in our own sweet home. Tomorrow is DH’s birthday and he took a leave off from work today to go to Tagaytay Picnic Grove to have some relaxing day there but something came up and we cancelled the trip, we’ll just schedule another day for that. Since he’s at home and will not be here tomorrow for his birthday I decided to cook something for his birthday. We went to the mall for some of his electrical needs for the house and I bought some food for our feast. I’ve prepared fruit salad, pasta, chicken and bought a chocolate cake for him.

Ruth and Gen were surprised as they know that by the time they arrived we’ll be in Tagaytay. When they arrived home from school they jumped to their Daddy and smiled happily that we’re going to have an advance celebration, well it’s very evident with the pasta and the cake on the table. Well we didn’t dwell much on the cancelled trip as we spent the day bonding together. Of course the kids were happier that way since they’re not available to go with us to Tagaytay this morning and they told us that they want us to schedule it on weekend.

More of his birthday here!

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Jen's Birthday!

It's my bestfriend's birthday today and I will not write here how old she is or she might kill me lol! If you want to know her age you can visit her site. JennyL or Bes as we fondly called each other celebrated her birthday today very simply, they had a sumptous lunch yesterday for the whole family and today she had pasta and cake. As she always say birthdays are meant for the young ones and as you grow older celebrations are getting simpler except for the remarkable oldies' birthdays of course such as 50 and 75 years.

I brought along Josh with me and greeted my Bes. After eating we spent the rest of the time talking about our blogs, our friends and how grand we celebrate our birthdays when we're young. We missed those days of early planning and preparing for our birthdays, excited with our visitors and just so happily carefree with the occasion. When you grow old you're always mindful of the time and it always seems that you have to schedule everything.

Anyway after all these years I thank God that Jen and I are still there for each other maybe a lot older than we were in high school days but still the same people who cared for each other. Looks may change, years may add, status may differ but still friendship never change. We're still bestfriends......for life.

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Father's Day

I'd like to greet and salute all fathers who've been a solid wall for their family in times of life's challenges and trials. A father is a shoulder to cry on, our hero and friend and most of all a vessel of God's blessings. I'd like to dedicate this to my own father whom I miss so much and my dear hubby who both gave me and my family the love and caring we need to face life's challenges.

I'm also sharing this to other fathers who have been a hero, mentor and friend to their children.

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