Thoughtful Gifts for the Hard to Buy For

I'd already written up a gift guide for hard to buy for moms, then realized, my ideas are actually helpful for everyone. I just happen to have a HTBF mother (my dad is the total opposite), so I have a couple of decades of figuring out what to buy for her under my belt. Not that the road hasn't been paved with last minute dvds and random tchotchkes,  but I think I've come a long way as a gifter. So here in time for Black Friday, are my tips for gift giving, for the hard to buy for in your life.

1. Just ask them what they want. Yes, this is glaringly obvious. No, I don't mean it at all in a smart assy way. I realize that sometimes, we so want to surprise loved ones with spectacular gifts, that we overwhelm ourselves trying to find the perfect one. Then, we wind up scrambling last minute and wind up with something that may not be anywhere near what we'd intended. So, instead of trying to be sly, just ask. If you want to surprise them (and who doesn't, really?) discuss it in a way that is less like trying to suss out info, and more like a general conversation. Something like "I've always wanted the Charmkins windmill, but ebay is ridiculous. How about you?" 
2. Set up a family wishlist. This is especially helpful for families with younger kids/teens at home, or families who do a name/gift exchange. Amazon is a great option for general wishlists (you can even organize items by how badly you want them), and if you hate being out and about during the holiday season, you can shop right from home. Elfster is a secret Santa organizer site that is simple to use and can be linked to your Facebook account. You simply invite family/friends to the exchange, they answer anonymously asked questions and/or fill out a wishlist, names are drawn and gifts exchanged. It's Secret Santa without the hassle.
3. Answer these questions- What do they hate to do, what do they love to do, what have they always wanted to try? My mother's lone request all these years has been for a clean house. There are several reasons why that never happens (she refuses to do it herself, chief among them.) So I say, if you want to know what a person truly wants, answer these three questions. Delving further into things, knowing what they value most- services, experiences, or things- is also key. So if your mother hates cleaning, is always complaining about it, pay for a maid service. If she is unwilling to allow strangers into her home, volunteer to do it yourself (and actually DO it, don't say you will then reneg because you're broke. Or cheap.) If someone is interested in developing a skill, experiencing a once in a lifetime event, or just would like a weekend away (if your budget allows), figure that thing out and make it happen. This one also allows for time spent with loved ones- which is important to many, and free.
4. Let gift cards supplement, not supply. I am a fan of gift cards. As someone who has never been good at on command wish listing (and who is prone to whims), they take the headache out of things. But they can be boring, and I have heard a few people complain that it's no fun to buy them. With that in mind, I say let a gift card add to the overall gift, and not be the entire gift. If your sister hangs out at the library, figure out her favorite authors or genres, buy her a book- and tuck in a B&N or Starbucks card. If your brother loves cooking outdoors, get him a cast iron cookware set and a card for Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's or Lowes. If your parents never make time for themselves, buy them an outfit and add a certificate to their favorite restaurant. You can still give gift cards, but putting a little more thought into a gift is always appreciated.
5. Give of yourself. This one kind of ties into #3, but with a more DIY angle. If you are a talented photographer, graphic designer, knitter, baker, put those skills to use! If you are good with editing and design software and know a couple of new parents, design a birth announcement, print it on heavy card stock and have it framed (I've done a couple using Picasa, and I've seen others on Etsy.) If you are handy with a camera, take a family portrait or offer to photograph your nieces, nephews, cats-in-law, etc. Cook a gourmet meal, offer to babysit, wherever you see a need you could fill, offer to do that, and do it.
6. DIY Gift baskets. No matter what you could offer to do for some people, there will always be those that prefer things over all. This is ok! There's a reason gift sets abound during the holidays. They are easy. Many have brand recognition. And some have hefty price tags. If you have many to buy for on a limited budget, try buying mini sets and breaking them up. Stores like Bath and Body Works, and many cosmetics brands offer these kinds of sets every year. If you have several teen girls to buy for (or even older women! as long as they like health and beauty products, this will please), buy several sets or travel sized products, a cosmetics bag (Wal Mart and Target have many affordable and stylish options), and round it out with little things like small candles, chocolates (or other candies) and nail polish. You could even do a more specific set, such as a pampering routine, mani-pedis, skincare, hair styling. I suppose girls can be easy to buy for :) If you have more guys to gift, movies, video games, gadget accessories (who isn't always looking for a charger cord?!), and even grooming kits are good ideas. My assumption is that you probably know the people you're buying for well enough to know what they are into. So if you have a brother, cousin or nephew who is more into cooking than power tools, get him a cookbook and some kitchen tools. And stuff em in a crockpot or a heavy-duty enameled cast iron pot that will last them forever. The options are pretty much endless here. 
7. Big Ticket Ideas. If your dad's dream has always been to restore an old car, but he never looks for one, get yourself online and look for one. Between Freecycle, Craigslist, and local classifieds, you might just luck up and find something that someone wants to get rid of cheap (or maybe free! My brother was once given a 1950 Ford car. You just never know unless you look!) If you have a big or even limitless budget, pay for a vacation for someone. If you know someone who is always doing for others and never takes "me time," pay for them a room for a weekend. (Don't book it before you give it to them, unless you know their schedule backwards, forwards, and upside down. You wouldn't want to spend hundreds on a trip that can't be taken.) If you live near any hotel-casinos, and know your recipient will have no issue with the gambling, you can also provide a meal for them, perhaps a massage, room service, or gift card to an onsite store. If someone's idea of getting away from it all actually involves leaving everything behind, consider renting a cabin, or even a room in a b&b. If it's going to be in an area you're not that familiar with, be sure to research beforehand, and create a list of suggestions. Restaurants, historical sites, shops, theaters, museums, spas...base it on their interests, and schedule them a trip.

I hope you found this list helpful! It's not original information, but I think it's relevant and good info, and hopefully it gets your creative gifting juices flowing! Comment below your creative gift ideas!

Gettting Back on the Horse

So, the last two weeks have been kind of a crapshoot, healthy habits-wise, and I'm tired of feeling like...crap.

To avoid the usual rambling post of  "Gee, I hope I do better next time!" I'm saying this: I intend to be back on TAGT this coming Monday. Perhaps this is nuts, given that Thanksgiving is four days later, but I've never really gained weight during the holidays (and if nothing else, I can call it my refuel meal. At least the things I like to eat aren't too far from the plan, anyway.)

I'll not only be restarting the Think and Grow Thin plan, I also plan to kind of do a sort of review of sorts of each chapter. Maybe something like "this works for me, this doesn't, you might try this." I honestly have not found that much info on this book or plan online, outside of Amazon reviews. I'll do (hopefully) shorter recaps of each day, any recipes I try, and just any sort of helpful tidbit I may stumble upon.

As for my previous entries, I think I am going to delete them, and maybe post a summarization of why it didn't work out the first time around. I believe in being honest about my failures, holding myself accountable, and if it helps someone else to know that I tried, failed, but have decided to try again, then I'm totally happy with how this all worked out, good, bad and ugly.

So check back Monday, when I intend/hope to have begun anew :) A month off, but better late than never.

The Lo Mein Substitute You've Probably Been Missing Your Whole Life

This is a grandiose title. I'll admit it. But if you're the kind of person who thinks vegetables make a suitable substitution for pasta, read on!
You will need:
1.25 cups RAW broccoli slaw. No sauces, no nuts, nothing. Just straight up broccoli slaw
1 tsp healthy fat. I used olive oil, but coconut would be great, too
3/4 cup frozen mixed veggies (I used Bird's Eye pasta primavera mix)
Kraft Lite Toasted Sesame dressing- I used around 1-2 tsp
Heat your oil in a skillet on med-high heat. When it starts to sizzle, throw in your slaw and veggies and stir it around enough to get a decent coating of oil on everything. You can keep stirring, or you can let the mix rest for a minute or so, to get some nice color and searing action. But don't let it sit for too long! Thirty to sixty seconds should achieve the desired result. Repeat the stir-sear-stir process until you are happy with the results (about 10 minutes, you wouldn't want still frozen vegetables.) Now, drizzle on the dressing, stir again to coat, and serve up your lovely plate of stir fry!
If you are serving no other sides, I would say this serves one. But if you are having a larger meal, it should serve 2. Other options include adding some shrimp or bay scallops or imitation crab to the mix about halfway through cooking (small scallops, if that's what you go with!) Some almond slivers, water chestnuts or scallions wouldn't suck, either.
So it might not be exactly like lo mein, but it has the right elements- slightly noodly, bits of crunchy veggies, a slight hint of grease. But so, so much better!

DIY Brush Cleaner

If you're a makeup junkie, fan of beauty vloggers/bloggers, or anyone in between, you've no doubt heard of the Sigma brush cleaning glove. It looks like an oversized, silicone over mitt, with raised patterns on it, for washing/rinsing/refining your makeup brushes. It's a great idea, it's pretty cute, and the sucker actually works. Thing is, it's nearly $40. For a bumpy oven mitt.

Really?!

I've seen a few resourceful types find cheaper alternatives (some have actually been oven mitts), some making squiggles on plastic clipboards with hot glue. If I've realized two things during brush-clean-a-palooza, it's A) I'm a lemming and B) my brushes can be SO MUCH CLEANER!! And without the hefty price tag!

I loved what SecretLifeofaBioNerd did for hers, with the clipboard and glue gun. I have no glue gun, even less cash, but still managed to pull off a similar project with I think decent results. Instead of glue, I used puffy paint. Yup, good ol', relic of the '90s puffy paint. I know for a fact this stuff will hang on until/unless you practically take a chisel to it. My mom "personalized" some insulated cups for us for Christmas one year, and after many, many dishwasher trips, the big C on my cup is just as gobby-blobby as the day she did it. Plus, glitter. My puffy paint has glitter.

I do not own lots of brushes, and none are really that large, so the different areas for each pattern aren't that big. I just dabbed until it looked right. I did roughly follow, to the best of my abilities (puffy paint bottle and arthritis permitting), the patterns on the actual gloves. It's obviously not exactly like the original, but I'm ok with it. Plus, if there's an area that doesn't work that well, I can try again on the other side, or scrape off and start anew. The best part? This puppy didn't even cost $4 to make! (Including tax!) So, if you're pining for that silly mitt, but can't/don't want to shell out the bucks, try making your own! These clip boards come in several colors, and puffy paint in even more, so you're likely to get a combo you love. And on the super-cheap!

TAGT Day 8- A Vast Improvement

I'm proud to say, I no longer feel like a complete and utter failure.

Yesterday's (day 8, late post again, whoops!) food intake was nearly perfect. I've swapped out scrambled egg whites for the protein shake, and I think it has helped tremendously. As for the Fiber One, I think I'm going to switch to a different, lighter cereal for weeks 3-4, because a serving is 1/2 a cup. TAGT plan requires a cup and a third. That is a lot of dry, twiggy colon blow to have to choke down. Plus I think it's causing some stomach discomfort, so either I'll lower my serving, or start getting Kashi. Probably the Kashi.

Lunches I have pretty much no problems with. I'm generally awake by noon, and I happen to like sandwiches, so yeah, no problems there.

Dinner, I tried the Southwestern ranch dressing cup I made. It was not great on plain baby spinach. Brian tried the dressing itself, and was not a fan. I should have expected that, as I do not really care for that particular seasoning on its own (the McCormick Perfect Pinch Citrus SW or something like that.) It just seems to be an unbalanced flavor, imho, it's missing sweet or spicier. But nothing ventured, nothing gained :) glad I tried something new. And it was actually ok on my tomatoes.

Snacks are fine, when I'm awake or home or remember to eat them. I still have a bit of an issue with really late night snacking. Last night I had an Oreo (just one!) and later on, a mini bag of pretzels with some hummus. So I'm not binging like crazy, and Oreo aside, I think my snack choices have been fairly decent.

Also of note, we bought a food scale last night. I think I may not be eating enough protein at dinner, which surely has led to some less than healthy choices over the last week. I'm not sure if I'm to be weighing 8-10oz cooked or raw. Either way, I had 7.5oz cooked chicken last night, and I think it was a big part of why I didn't go loco on a bag of chips last night.

This week, I'm focusing on a lot at once. I now have homework to do, I'm working on upping my water intake, and trying to get into a normal sleep routine. Plus doing a lot (A LOT) of house cleaning. I'm one busy bee for sure! But I'm already excited and hopeful for my first weigh-in (which will be monthly, if I can manage it), and I'm hoping to just keep getting better!

TAGT Day 7- Not Quite

This whole crazy sleeping thing is throwing a wrench in things.

I woke up at 2pm today, and jumped right in, basically, to the proper meal for the time. I did really well today, mostly- my scheduled meals (minus breakfast and snack 1) were spot on, and I got in another hour of movement. Which involved some much-needed housework, so double yay!

I did just have a slip up, in the form of baked Lay's and some fat-free ranch dip I just made. Which I washed down with chocolate milk. On the plus side, the dip was 1 serving, split with Brian, I did have too many chips but not to my usual binging standards, and the milk was also fat free and was two swigs (which I estimate at about 12oz, based on the glass it was in.) This was not a raging success, but also not a failure. Plus, I have readied tomorrow's dinner, chicken for Monday night, and I made 9 servings of fat free ranch dressings, using Greek yogurt, skim milk, ranch seasoning, and various salt free seasonings. They include Jamaican jerk, onion and herb, vegetable, citrus Southwestern, sweet & smoky Southwestern, and a mix of the veggie and onion/herbs one without ranch. Southwestern is usually my favorite kind of ranch, so I'm really hoping those turned out nicely.

As for the ranch dip? Let's just say, if you love it, and you're looking to reduce fat and calories in your snacking, try it! It's just 2TBSP plain nonfat Greek yogurt and 1.5 tsp ranch dressing mix (the powder.) It was really tangy and even Brian liked it. I'll definitely be making more! It'll be so good on tomatoes.

So today was the end of the first week, and I'm slightly disappointed in myself. Disappointed because I know I could have done better. However, I'm learning not to beat myself up over things- perfectionism, falling short, dwelling on it- are ways to stress oneself into a binge. I'm definitely better prepared for the start of week 2 than I was for week 1, so that's a success in my book.  I'm hoping to try some hypnotherapy to curb cravings and help with the overeating, but there were times over the last week, when I had eaten what I was supposed to, but was still ravenous. I take a carb blocker that seems to help with bloodsugar spikes, but I would love to find an appetite suppressant to help me get over those humps.

All in all, I'm glad I'm doing this, even though it is difficult. I've reached the point in my life where I have to accomplish something, because honestly? I haven't. Pretty much ever. I don't want my next 32 years to look like the first 32. I've also begun classes for phlebotomy certification, which is exciting. As for week 2? Bring it on.

TAGT Day 6- Ehhhh

Sorry for the day late posting. I actually fell asleep at a decent hour last night. It didn't last all night, sadly, but I feel like I'm starting to catch up on much-needed rest.

My eating yesterday was totally off plan. I'd been toying with the idea of not having a refuel meal/day, but wound up having a straight up cheat day instead. No breakfast, Zaxby's for lunch (we'd never been, they just opened, and onion rings. Eeks.) We checked out a new Mexican grocer and the lovely proprieters gave me (but not Brian, aww haha) a free empañada de piña, which I would eat for breakfast on the regular if I could, and for dinner I had a Southwestern salad. Dessert was a sampling of Mexcian cookies and later on a yogurt. I recorded everything, and was still 900+ calories under goal. And ya gotta love Mexican coconut cookies...5 are a serving at only 120 calories. Their sugar content isn't outrageous, either.

According to plan, Saturday is supposed to be the day of the refuel meal (and not an entire day), but I figure, I half-assed that yesterday, so today is going to be as close to the plan as I can get (wasn't awake for breakfast. Oopsies.) The best thing I did yesterday was walking for a little over an hour, and hopefully we'll be out and about long enough today to do that again. Not that I can't go walking on my own, I just like it when exercise and my to-do list naturally converge. I'm also increasing my water intake, so even though week one has been far from ideal, I am slowly (molasses-covered sloth slowly) making little improvements that add up to a greater whole. And for that, I am proud and a little excited :)

Holiday Tv Specials Schedule

Just posting a head's up and a link- if you look forward to holiday specials every year, make sure to bookmark this site- Holiday Tv Specials Schedule. I've been referencing it every year since about 2006 (it is updated annually.) Be sure to catch your old favorites, and check out new offerings from Hallmark, ABC Family, and the major networks. I'm looking forward to the Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Muppets/Lady Gaga Thanksgiving special and Carrie Underwood in the NBC remake of The Sound of Music. 

Are you ready for the holiday season to be in full swing? Or are you waiting for January 2nd? Comment below!

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