Tagged with holidays …

Jan 07 2013
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Trivia

Trivia: Oh, Santa Baby! Katherine Jenkins is Christmas Album queen

Katherine Jenkins Christmas

By Kate E. Stephenson

Amazon’s Hot 2012 Holiday Music Releases list is quite an eclectic mix of Christmas cheer. Appearing in the top 20 list twice, Welsh lyric mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins takes the title of Holiday Album Queen this year. Her albums This Christmas and My Christmas are collections of caroling classics.

My Christmas harkens to Midnight Mass with hauntingly beautiful interpretations of “O Holy Night”, “Silent Night”, “Hallelujah” and “Ave Maria”.

This Christmas offers a great mix of secular and religious notes. While most of the album is performed in Katherine’s amazing full-bodied operatic voice, Jenkins gets a little slinky in a version of “Santa Baby” that would make Eartha Kitt proud. The album also features my personal favorite “This Christmas (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”.

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Dec 24 2012
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Real Kates

Adventures in Greening: The night before Christmas

green_santas

By Catherine Moran

In honor of reusing and recycling, I hereby give you my poor (and severely annotated) adaptation of the famous poem. Please have a safe, healthy, and happy holiday, all!

‘Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the land
No one was buying anything, not even a tree stand.
The gifts were wrapped, the plastics few,
Keeping in mind: “Give nothing new.”
The gingerbread men were ready to eat:
Cleverly decorated hands, heads, and feet.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In the hope that reusable items soon would be there.
The composting had been done,
The recycling taken out,
A Merry Christmas to be had by all, no doubt.
When all has been done, and more has been said,
Merry Christmas, greenies,
And let the spirit of the season go to your head!



Adventures in Greening is a column running on Kate-book.com every other Monday at noon. It is written by the very eco-conscious Catherine Moran. Follow Catherine on Twitter @folowbredcrumbs, or check out her excellent book blog.

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Dec 20 2012
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Real Kates

Dear Kate: Am I supposed to buy a holiday gift for my boss?

Dear-Kate-column-identityBy Katharine Luckinbill

Dear Kate,

With the holidays upon us I am getting all of my Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa gifts checked off and bought for my friends and family – but what about my boss at work? Am I supposed to even get my boss a gift, and if so – what do you get your boss?

Needing some Holiday Help,

Holly

****

Dear In Need of Holiday Help Holly,

Surprisingly enough, the general consensus is that you should not buy your boss a present for the holidays. For two major reasons:

  1. You do not want to appear as if you are trying to “buy” your way into their good graces
  2. You should only buy presents for people who are below you in title to say thanks for their hard work and help. Buying a gift for your supervisor can be viewed as inappropriate.

mayan_christmas_someecard

Check out this informational article from The Washington Post about holiday work etiquette.

However, if you are particularly close with your boss, or you feel like he or she has gone out of their way to be a great supervisor this year, then I would say something small and heartfelt would be okay.

Check out this article from Forbes for some ideas.

If a purchased present isn’t really in the wallet cards this year, try baking some cookies or some kind of sweet festive treat.

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Dec 11 2012
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Real Kates

The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Health and Fitness: My Favorite Things About The Holidays

By Kate Richlin-Zack

Every other week I rattle on and on about ways to incorporate healthy choices into your lifestyle. Whether it’s tips for staying motivated, reasons you should avoid alcohol, or how to recover from a weekend warrior session, I try to keep you on track to reaching your fitness goals.

But let’s face it, sometimes you just don’t want to think about being healthy. You just want to INDULGE and with the holidays upon us, we are surrounded by temptation. Naturally there are tons of articles floating around about how make healthy choices even when you’re bombarded by office holiday parties and family get togethers. Well, in true Lazy Girl fashion, I say: screw it. Don’t worry about your diet this month. Sometimes you need to embrace your inner fat kid and give ‘em some cake. And since I’m advising all of you to throw caution to the wind when it comes to diet and exercise, this week’s column is going to be a list of my favorite things about the holiday season. You’ll note how most of them are food and the rest are  related to sleeping or lounging.

The first snowfall
I realize this has nothing to do with health or fitness, but come on! Everyone gets excited when it snows. Next time you get a light dusting, see how many of your friends Instagram a photo of the first snowfall. I love to watch from the comfort of my living room as the lights from the Menorah and Christmas tree twinkle. (We celebrated both Hanukah and Christmas growing up in my house, just to clear up any confusion). Preferably I’m wearing my footie flannel pajamas with the drop seat as I sip some egg nog or hot cocoa, which brings me to my next two favorite things about the holiday season…

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Nov 21 2012
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Kate's Dates, Real Kates, Relationships

Kate’s Dates: Some Handy Tips For Meeting The Family

By Kate Richlin-Zack

The holiday season is upon us, so for those of us currently in a relationship it’s time for you to meet the family, assmuing you haven’t already.  I always thought of meeting the parents as a job interview. You want to look your best and be on your best behaviour because these could be your future in-laws. You want to like them and you want them to like you. Unfortunately, you can been horribly unprepared for it and as a result blow your shot at a good first impression. Having been through my fair share of disatrous meet-the-parents scenarios — you’re shocked, I know — allow me to provide you with some tips on how to win them over.

Dress appropriately
One of my exes showed up in cutoff jean shorts, construction boots, and a t-shirt with the sleeves torn off. I’m still not sure under what circumstances this outfit would be appropriate. Maybe for doing yard work or laying roof tile? Honestly, I don’t know but I can assure you it did not make a good impression when he showed up at my parents’ house. My sister actually asked him what happened to his sleeves. Priceless.

Gentlemen, don’t show up dressed like a handyman. Ladies, don’t show up dressed like a hooker.  Short skirts, plunging necklines, lucite stilettos, and anything that suggests you just got off the pole should be left at home and if you have to ask yourself the question, “is this appropriate?” the answer is always no. Do yourself a massive favor and err on the side of caution with your outfit. The same is true with make up. Tone. It. Down. You want to look fresh, polished, and put together; not like you just applied a coat of spackle.  Your overall look should communicate  ”classy, future daughter-in-law” not “I’m a phase your son is going through.”

Prepare to be grilled
Every guy I’ve ever dated has been subjected to some intense interrogation. While my father has never actually utilized a lie detector test, he may as well have. It probably would have been less invasive. He could always see right through the bullshit so some of these spindoctors didn’t stand a chance.

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Apr 10 2012
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Entertainment, Gossip

Kate Upton does the Easter Bunny

Another week, another ridiculously over-the-top Kate Upton video. This time Upton is bringing her sex appeal to Easter, playing Peter Cottontail in a promo video for Love Magazine. Of course, Upton’s version of the Easter Bunny wears her tail on a pair of see-though undies, carries her Easter eggs in her bra, and rolls around in tinsel on the ground wearing Louboutins. And yes, that was nipple.

All I have to say is: sheesh.

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Jan 02 2012
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Real Kates

Kate Kelly demystifies bizarre New Year’s Eve traditions

New Year's Eve 2012Saturday night, while walking home from my New Year’s Eve revelry, it occurred to me, “Wow, this holiday has some strange traditions.” Why do folks descend upon Times Square, even though it’s usually freezing out and it’s nearly impossible to find a bathroom? Why do we mark the end of a year by watching a big ball drop? And why, oh why, do we sing that “old acquaintance be forgot” song that no one really knows the words to?

So imagine my excitement when this morning,  I discovered this article by Kate Kelly, a Huffington Post contributor and the author of Election Day: An American Holiday, explaining the origin of, well, all this stuff.

So why is Times Square the place to be when the clock strikes 11:59 on December 31?

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