AT HOME
Ring in
By CAROLINE DOHACK of the Tribune’s staff
It’s nice to go out for New Year’s Eve, but you can also have a great time chez toi. Here are some tips for making your home the ultimate hot spot.
EXCLAMATION POINTS
Better luck next year
Did you have a good year? For me, there were lots of exciting new things, most notably this job. I met some fascinating people; I got to traipse about town window shopping - er, researching; and I gleaned tons of fitness, décor, travel, relationship and fashion tips.
A party host’s sensitivity guide
McClatchy Newspapers
With a little planning - and sensitivity training - you can ease the tension that inevitably builds around annual festivities that focus on excessive food, drink and togetherness.
Adding sass in the kitchen
McClatchy Newspapers
Rachel Hart remembers her mother always shooing her from the kitchen, making sure she went to college, supporting her work in sales and marketing, applauding her aspiration to be a novelist. Today, Hart earns a living selling aprons that she makes of taffeta and silk, trimmed with rhinestones and tassels.
Arrange your own success
McClatchy Newspapers
Feng shui - pronounced "fung schway" - is the Chinese practice of arranging surroundings to affect personal fortune, influencing everything from finances to relationships.
Company’s coming! Clean up fast
The Associated Press
The hustle-bustle of the holidays means lots of guests and little time to make your home presentable, especially on short notice.
Staying home is the new going out
McClatchy Newspapers
People are putting down their BlackBerrys and iPhones. They’ve cut back on happy hours and clubbing. Hanging out in their homes, they’re finding an intimacy you can’t get out on the town.
DID YOU KNOW: DOG ANXIETY
UP AND AT ‘EM
Q&A: HOME
style
Playing dress-up
By CAROLINE DOHACK of the Tribune’s staff
Ring in the new year by flaunting the season’s best trends.
Ellen’s new career: model
The Associated Press
You think of Ellen DeGeneres as being many things - a talk show host, a comedian, a good dancer - but cosmetics model probably isn’t one of them.
NEW BOOK: "FASHION INSIDE OUT"
DID YOU KNOW: NATURAL BEAUTY PRODUCTS
Q&A: STYLE
LASH OUT AT BLOBS
LOVE IT OR HATE IT
body
Five training moves to avoid
McClatchy Newspapers
If you hate sit-ups, you’re in luck. They’re one of the top five exercises women should completely avoid, personal trainer Kristal Richardson said. Although women can tackle the same workouts as men, their joints are generally looser than a man’s and "poor form and too much weight can lead to stiff joints or even damage."
A cheaper alternative for women
McClatchy Newspapers
A new, cheaper version of the female condom has won approval from an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration, setting the stage for broader distribution of the product worldwide.
Keep holiday weight gain out of the picture
McClatchy Newspapers
In a season that can be tough on waistlines, here are tips - beyond the basics of eating right and exercising - that can help:
Loosen the grip of holiday sadness
McClatchy Newspapers
If you’re feeling the holiday blues, you are not alone.
QUIZ: ‘SUPER FRUIT’ BAOBAB
travel
VENTURE BOUND
From the subway, the world is yours
On trips to New York and Washington, D.C., this summer, I was impressed with
the ease of getting around the cities on the subway and the occasional
aboveground bus.
Exotic heights
McClatchy Newspapers
Here are some things to do in Kuala Lumpur, a city of 2 million people in Malaysia:
HOW TO: WINTERIZE A CAR
GARDENING
FERTILE MIND
Real Christmas trees help build traditions
A trek into the woods on a friend’s farm to cut an Eastern red cedar for a
Christmas tree is my favorite of our family’s holiday traditions. When our sons
were young, it was an eagerly anticipated given that the four of us would bundle
up and make the drive to tramp through the trees looking for the perfect
specimen.
