My sisters and I were raised on TV, and Christmas was no exception. Our Grammy used to save the insert in the newspaper with the entire schedule of Christmas specials. We would circle the ones we wanted to watch, usually starting the Friday after Thanksgiving with It’s a Wonderful Life and ending Christmas day with [...]
Archive for the ‘saving money’ Category
Slow Christmas on your television. No really.
Posted in busy parents, Christmas porn, goodwill toward men, saving money, slow parenting, spending time, tagged A Christmas story, Charlie Brown, Dr. Seuss, Grinch, holidays, newspaper, Rudolph, Santa Claus, Thanksgiving, tv on November 18, 2010 | 11 Comments »
My love-hate relationship with Christmas cards
Posted in busy parents, Christmas, free range kids, gift ideas, goodwill toward men, holidays, homemade, saving money, simplicity, slow parenting, spending time, tagged arts & crafts, carbon footprint, charity, Christmas cards, e-cards, environment, feminism, Martha Stewart, upcycling on November 12, 2010 | 4 Comments »
I love the idea of Christmas cards. But reality always gets in the way. Finding the perfect card or taking a family portrait, asking for everyone’s street address (and giving away the surprise), buying stamps, licking envelopes, and the general errand-generating nature of the whole enterprise. It can feel like you’re checking a box, earning [...]
The fall of Rome
Posted in Christmas, saving money, simplicity, slow food, slow parenting, spending time, tagged baking, Christmas, cupcake, gingerbread house, green, hot buttered rum, Rome, tea, Thanksgiving, turkey on November 9, 2010 | 5 Comments »
There are over 200 theories for why Rome fell. Listen to this one from Edward Gibbon: “The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident had removed the [...]
How to make doughnuts
Posted in busy parents, Christmas, free range kids, holidays, homemade, recipes, saving money, slow food, slow parenting, spending time, tagged breakfast, coffee, cooking, dessert, doughnuts, Fall, farm, hack, hot chocolate, Joy of Cooking, kitchen, parenting, recipe on November 6, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Since it’s early in the season, this is as much a fall recipe as a Christmas one. There’s nothing better than doughnuts and cider in the fall, preferably after raking leaves or visiting a U-Pick farm. If the prospect of making doughnuts from scratch intimidates you, worry not. It’s the easiest thing in the world [...]
The Best of Slow Christmas
Posted in busy parents, Christmas, Christmas porn, gift ideas, goodwill toward men, holidays, homemade, local food, saving money, simplicity, slow food, Slow Movement, slow parenting, spending time, tagged best of, Christmas, gift ideas, holidays on December 23, 2009 | 4 Comments »
You did it! You kept Christmas slow this year. Before you go enjoy it with your family and friends, I want you to bask for a moment in the glow of your creativity and warmth. You made Slow Christmas a success: over 6,000 people visited the website and the Facebook page this year, and it [...]
Mrs. Pease’s pumpkin bread
Posted in Christmas porn, gift ideas, holidays, homemade, recipes, saving money, simplicity, spending time, tagged Butterfinger, Christmas, save money, toys, watch, Whoppers on December 9, 2009 | 6 Comments »
The spouse weighs in with a family recipe: My recipe for pumpkin bread is pretty simple, when you think about it. But there’s a lot more in there than flour, pumpkin, and spices. It all started with Bill and Evelyn Pease. Bill and Evelyn were from Cottage Grove, Minnesota, but like a lot of Winter [...]
The first snow.
Posted in Christmas porn, saving money, simplicity, Slow Movement, spending time, tagged Christmas, Slow Movement, snow, voluntary simplicity on December 5, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It snowed today in Washington. The flakes were the size of a dime, wet, fat, almost ripe. The spouse and I bundled up and went outside, errands as our excuse. The first snow of the year is magical. City noises are hushed, and people walk slowly, eyes up in the air and snow caught on [...]
Love is a homemade paper chain.
Posted in busy parents, Christmas, Christmas porn, free range kids, gift ideas, homemade, saving money, simplicity, slow parenting, spending time, tagged Christmas, gift ideas, saving money, slow, spending time on December 3, 2009 | 2 Comments »
When I was teeny tiny, my mom decided that we would make a paper chain for the Christmas tree. My older sister remembers her cutting out the long thin rectangles for us, and then letting us assemble them ourselves with paste, and, no doubt, a few hijinks (I have this vision of me as l’enfant [...]
Is slowing down Christmas a feminist thing?
Posted in busy parents, saving money, spending time, tagged A Christmas story, Christmas, feminism, gender, housework, Martha Stewart, stereotypes on November 30, 2009 | 2 Comments »
It’s a stereotype: women love to shop. Normally I like to shake up gender stereotypes, but in this case, there are few things I enjoy more. Particularly window shopping on a cold December night when the store windows are decorated with fake snowflakes and presents. Never has a cashmere sweater looked so alluring. (For me [...]
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- Slow Living Summit 2012 in Vermont (natch) wrapping on right now. There are webcasts: slowlivingsummit.org 20 hours ago
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