Lift Your Spirits by Supporting Others During the Coronavirus Pandemic

A month ago, I don’t think we could have imagined we’d be where we are at this moment. Stuck inside, giving air hugs, and homeschooling our children. But here we are. It’s overwhelming, right? If you are like me, you are trying your best to stay calm for your kids and have a positive attitude in the midst of upheaval.

I’ve learned that the best way to lift my spirits is to help someone else, but since we are being told to stay in our homes, it makes it a little more challenging. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways we can offer support to others from our own homes.

Support Your Kids

First, our kids need us to lead the way during this pandemic. Their lives have been flipped upside down, too. With schools closed in New York and across the country, school systems are handling the missed school days differently. Whether your child’s school has provided at-home virtual lesson plans or you are making it up as you go, there are tons of resources to keep your kids learning and growing over the break. For example, Today put together a great resource of virtual learning tools for parents of everything from FREE Scholastic Learning Resources to celebrities reading children’s books.

Support Your Teachers

Your child’s teacher is experiencing this new normal right alongside you, so give him/her a break. Your child’s teacher likely only had a day or two to transition their entire weekly lesson plan into something kids could do at home without their assistance. That couldn’t have been easier. Show your child’s teacher some support by thanking him/her, asking questions, and not complaining.

Support Your Community

As families hurried to stock up on canned goods, many forgot that there are food banks who desperately need canned goods to provide meals for the needy. CNN reports, “Canned food donations are declining and one food bank in Stamford, Connecticut, can't keep its shelves stocked. […] Pasta, spaghetti sauce and cereal are usually always on the [grocery] shelves, but these days, even those items are gone […]. The food bank has had to use donations to purchase food to replenish their supply.”

While it will be difficult to go shopping and donate actual foods to food banks, you can donate financially to most food banks online from home, including the Food Bank for New York City.

Support Your Favorite Stores & Restaurants

According to CNN, “The drop in foot traffic and a reluctance to go out will leave shops and restaurants empty. In Seattle, already hard hit by the outbreak, a recent survey found that 60% of small businesses there are considering wage cuts and staffing cutbacks, while 35% said they may have to close. More than 80% expect the situation to get worse.”

If you are worried about the coronavirus pandemic affecting some of your favorite small businesses, try to find ways to continue supporting them. For example, buy gift cards to these stores and restaurants (an immediate way to give them some money that you can use when the world rights itself), and shop their online stores.

What other ideas do you have for supporting those around you during this strange season?

While It’s a Pandemic, Stay Calm for the Kids

The world feels a little topsy-turvy right now, doesn’t it? The coronavirus news is overwhelming, and the American way of life (especially those close to NYC) seems to have changed overnight.

While there are countless blog articles about how to protect yourself and your family and what to buy, I think it is also important that parents remember to stay calm for the kids. Kids can sense things are different, and they can tell if mom or dad is feeling anxious.

Here are some reminders of ways to be an example for your kids, even when you are feeling worried.

Limit Media and News

Yes, you do need to stay informed. However, you don’t need to fall down the rabbit hole and spend hours watching the news or reading articles online about the pandemic. As far as the kids, you might want to avoid having the news on the radio or your tv at all (depending on their ages). If too much media exposure makes you feel panicky, imagine how it makes the kids feel.

Stay Connected to Others

We are being told to practice social distancing and to stay at home as much as possible. Some parents have to work from home at the same time their kids’ schools are closed. Even so, you don’t want your family to feel isolated. The best way to avoid feelings of isolation is to stay connected with others. Text, call, video message – do whatever you need to do to hear from someone outside of your home.

Practice Self-Care

The best thing you can do as a mom is to make sure you are taking care of yourself. You won’t be able to be a healthy role model for your kids if you allow the stress to get to you. Unlike other types of natural disasters, you will have power and water. You can take a long bath or do yoga in your own home.

Reassure Your Kids

If your kids are worried, don’t ignore or minimize their fears. Instead, listen to them and then reassure them. Explain what is happening in an age-appropriate way. Make sure they understand this is a precaution. Be sure to remind kids that while things may be different for some time, your love for them will never change.  

Stick to Your Routine

I know it sounds silly to say “stick to your routine” when everyone’s routines are being tossed out the door. But, what I mean is your at-home routines. A little bit of consistency, such as keeping your child’s bedtime routine, will go a long way in making them feel safe.

Break Some Rules

If you have family screen time rules, this may be the time to break them – especially if the kids are home from school while you are working from home. The kids will be alright if they spend a bit more time watching Disney+.

NOTE – If you don’t have Disney+, this is the time to get it.

Pause Before You React

If you have a moment where you start to feel panicked, pause before you react. Find a space away from your kids (such as your bathroom or your closet) to take some deep breaths, cry, or whatever it is you need to do to release some of that anxiety.

Want to Look Your Best? Hire a Personal Shopper.

The dressing room. We’ve all been there struggling to decide if the outfit we tried on looks good. Even if it “seems to fit,” we aren’t quite sure if the style is right for us or for where we plan to where it. Or, us modern gals standing alone at home in front of a mirror looking at the outfit we ordered online. Does it work?

Shopping for the perfect outfit can be challenging – even for those of us who love to shop. It’s hard to be objective with your own wardrobe. How many of us have clothes in our wardrobe that we want to love, but know in our heart of hearts just don’t look good on us?

Want to look your best? Hire a personal shopper. A talented personal shopper will solve all the problems above. She will go above and beyond to find clothing that works for your body, your style, your life, and your budget.

Saves You Time & Energy

If you are a working mom, then your shopping time is limited. If you are a stay-at-home mom, then you have to take the kids with you to the department stores. Neither works very well. That’s where a personal shopper comes in. When you work with a personal shopper, she knows your size and shape, as well as your fashion needs, and she does the shopping for you.

I know the trend now is to order online and return, but this also takes up a lot of time and energy. Yes, you get to avoid going to the stores with kids in tow, but you still run the risk of ordering and returning several things because, let’s face it, it never really looks the same in person as it does online.

Finds Better Fitting & More Flattering Clothing

Have you ever studied yourself in the mirror and couldn’t tell if the outfit you had on worked for your body? One of the best things about a personal shopper is that she knows which clothes will look the best on which body types. She’ll be able to pick outfits that are better fitting and more flattering by accenting the best parts of your figure and downplaying the parts of your body that make you more self-conscious.

Knows What is Trending

Fashion trends come and go. Even if you try to be fashion-savvy, it is hard to stay on top of what is trending and what is not. But, for personal shoppers, this is their job! They have to know the latest fashion trends in order to style their clients. With a personal shopper, you will never have to worry about wearing something out of style.

Values Fashion

Personal shoppers love fashion and have studied it. For example, I earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, which I put to use as a personal shopper at Neiman Marcus. It’s not just some job department stores give to just anyone – you need a keen eye for fashion and plenty of experience.

Not As Expensive As You Think

Lastly, I know many women hesitate to work with a personal shopper because they think it will be too expensive and view it as something only the 1% does. This isn’t true. Personal shoppers know how to work with all budgets. Plus, isn’t it better to spend money on a personal shopper who buys you the right clothes rather than wasting money on clothes that don’t work?

Why Your Family Needs a Staycation

My followers know how much I love to travel. I mean, I LOVE TO TRAVEL. Traveling is an essential part of who I am. But, what may surprise you is that I also a good staycation. Just in case you don’t know – a staycation is a vacation spent where you live. Since my family is lucky enough to call NYC home, a staycation is super easy to pull off.

We had our own little staycation this past weekend and got to stay at the fabulous WestHouse Hotel in NYC. It was just what we needed after the busyness of the new year and before the start of actual vacation traveling. We feel relaxed and refreshed and ready to take on the weeks until Spring Break.

Today I’m sharing just some of the reasons why your family also needs a staycation.

Less Money

Let’s be honest. Traveling is expensive. Many families have to budget all year to go on one family vacation in the summer. Plus, if you are traveling to a destination you can’t get to by car, you have to pay for your hotel and flight tickets. With a staycation, you have the option to stay in your own home or splurge and stay in a hotel in your own city. You will save tons of money simply by not having to fly.

Less Stress

Family vacations typically require a ton of planning. And, even with all the best planning, traveling with kids is still stressful. When you choose a staycation, you will be much less stressed. You don’t have to worry about getting everyone from here to there or what will happen if one of the kids gets sick.

Less Packing

Another bonus of a staycation is that it involves much less packing. If you choose to stay at your own home, it means no packing at all! Hooray! If you do opt to stay at a local hotel or resort, then you still don’t have to pack as much as usual because you don’t have to worry about “forgetting something.” Even if you do forget something, you can go home to get it.

Less Busy

Possibly the biggest perk of a staycation is that it is much less busy. When my family travels, we want to do it all, which means we stay busy from morning to night. Our schedule is jam-packed. With a staycation, you can set a totally different pace. You can pick and choose just the things you want to do because there is no pressure to do it all. As a result, you will have a much more relaxed vacation.

Less New

And finally, there will be less “new” that you feel like you have to do. As I mentioned, when we travel, we want to make sure we try everything. But, there is something nice about taking time just to do the things you really love. For example, during a staycation, you can visit all your old favorites around town that you haven’t gotten to in a while.

When’s the last time you had a staycation? What did you do? Let me know in the comments!

Forget FOMO. Embrace JOMO.

We all know what FOMO is, but even if we know what the “fear of missing out” looks likes, it doesn’t mean we don’t suffer from it. For adults, this often looks like maxing out our calendar and our credit cards because we don’t want to miss out on anything. For parents, this also comes in the form of fear of our kids missing out and signing them up for far too many things and buying them closets full of stuff.

If you are honest with yourself and recognize you struggle with FOMO, it’s time to learn to embrace JOMO – the joy of missing out. Yes, I said JOY. As you change your habits of overindulging, overcompensating, and overspending, you will discover the joy in missing out.

How FOMO Sucks the Life Out of Us

According to the Seattle Times, FOMO “is associated with sleep problems, fatigue and stress.” As we strive to do more and be more based on what it seems like everyone else is doing, we are slowly killing ourselves. The truth is – there will always be someone who does more and has more. No matter how much you do, someone will “one-up” you. So, if you are spending your life trying to do a much or more than others just so you don’t miss anything, you will never win.

Learn the Joy of Saying No

If you are constantly saying “yes” from FOMO, you will end up so tired that there is no room for joy in your life. The New York Times explains, “When we dole out an easy yes instead of a difficult no, we tend to overcommit our time, energy and finances.” JOMO starts with learning how to say no. I know saying no can be challenging for many women, but there is such joy in saying no! Saying no puts you back in control of your own life.

Be Content and Practice Gratitude

Since FOMO stems from a fear of missing out, try to change the way you think by focusing on what you do have instead of what you don’t. For example, make a point to practice gratitude daily. Take note of the things you are thankful for in your life. Find ways to be content with what you have instead of unhappily seeking more and more.

Focus Your Attention on the Things You LOVE

When you are living with FOMO, you will eventually realize that by doing everything, you are really doing nothing. For example, you are doing so much that you are giving just a small amount of yourself to each thing. You are, in essence, spreading yourself too thin. It is better to go all-in for the few things you really love than give small bits of yourself to several things you aren’t that crazy about.

Think of it this way – If you were to enroll in every class offered, you wouldn’t learn anything substantial because it would be too much. In contrast, if you only enrolled in one or two classes and gave them your full attention, you would actually learn something. As the saying goes, “Every YES is a NO to something else.” When you say yes to everything, you are saying no to many more things.

JOMO is Better All Around

In the book, Happiness by Design: Change What You Do, Not How You Think, Daniel Kahneman writes, “Your happiness is determined by how you allocate your attention. What you attend to drives your behavior and it determines your happiness.” Find your joy by practicing gratitude for what you already have, learning to say no, and focusing your attention on the things you love.

“Each person’s mileage is going to vary. But if you feel overcommitted, no is a small word that can remind you how much control you have over your destiny.”

Fun Ways for Families to Celebrate Leap Day

Did you know that tomorrow is Leap Day? February 29th is the one day we get once every four years or every Leap Year. The History Channel explains, “Put simply, these additional 24 hours are built into the calendar to ensure that it stays in line with the Earth’s movement around the Sun. While the modern calendar contains 365 days, the actual time it takes for Earth to orbit its star is slightly longer—roughly 365.2421 days.”

Since this day only occurs every four years, it is important to use your extra day wisely! Today, I’m listing a few ways your family can take a leap and make this Leap Day extra special.

Build a 4-Year Time Capsule

A quick, easy way to celebrate Leap Day is to build a 4-year time capsule. For example, I plan to have my daughters write a little note to their future selves (their 4-year future selves, that is). Then, we will put in a family picture of us and some other things that we think we will want to remember in four years. Just remember to make a note of wherever you hide your time capsule so you can find it on February 29, 2024!

Play Leapfrog

Do you remember playing leapfrog as a kid? Leap Day is the perfect time to play a few silly rounds of leapfrog with your family. Or, head to a park if it is warm enough and practicing leapfrogging over various park structures.

Read Leap Day Themed Books

Another easy way to simply acknowledge this extra day of the year is to read books about it. Check out all the book suggestions on Leap Year Day to help you find one to read with your family.

Watch a Leap Day Movie

Depending on your kids’ ages, choose a Leap Day-themed movie to watch as a family. For younger audiences, there is the movie Leap! For older audiences, you may enjoy the romantic comedy Leap Year (rated PG) starring Amy Adams.

Bake Leap Day Treats

Of course, whenever there is a holiday, it is always a great excuse to bake some treats. Get your kids to help you in the kitchen while you bake special Lead Day cookies or cupcakes.

Visit a Trampoline Park

Another fun way to celebrate this special day is to head to a place where you can literally leap! Since it falls on a Saturday, this is a wonderful time for your family to finally check out that local bounce house or trampoline park. See who can leap the farthest and the highest!

Take a Big Leap of Courage

Finally, consider making this Leap Day a day when you do something that takes a big leap of courage. Maybe this is something for work or your family. Or maybe it is just about conquering a specific fear. Go big! For example, go bungee jumping, take a ride in a hot air balloon, or visit an indoor skydiving venue.

What do you plan to do to celebrate Leap Day with your family?

It’s Time to Book Spring Break Vacays!

Ready or not, it’s time to book spring break vacays! If you are anything like me, you have already been dreaming about your next vacation. But, as much as daydreaming is fun, vacations can be expensive. Which is why it is important to book your trip now before the prices go up. Trust me – you’re going to thank me for this later!

Why Now is the Time to Book Your Family’s Spring Break Trip

You may be waiting to book your spring break travel because you think you’ll find a better deal closer to the week of spring break. But, according to industry reports, this is the wrong strategy. Travel & Leisure claims, “The best time to buy is roughly 70 days before departure.” Moreover, they suggest, “For spring vacations, deals were typically scored 90 days ahead of departure.” That means the time is now!

Book First & Plan Later

Planners, get ready. I am about to make you really uncomfortable. Other travel experts suggest that the best way to book a spring break trip is to buy booking based on deals rather than planning your trip and then looking for deals. In other words, if you a fantastic deal on flights to Aruba, go ahead and purchase those tickets. Then, plan the trip around the cheap flight tickets you scored.

NBC News explains, “Flipping the process — booking inexpensive flights first, then forging ahead to finalize the other details of your trip — requires a somewhat open mind about where you want to go and a willingness to act a little impulsively. But it can pay off big time.”

Use Your Points

One of my favorite ways to book family vacations is by using my points. I make sure to use my credit card points to my advantage – especially when it comes to booking air travel and hotel rooms. Spring break vacations are the perfect opportunity to use those points to stay somewhere a little nicer than I normally would.

Travel on Less Popular Days

As parents with kids in school, we have a limited window of time for spring break travel. But, as much as you want to travel Saturday to Saturday, you may need to consider traveling on less popular days, such as Tuesday.

Family Vacation Critic suggests, “Airline costs are higher and traffic is heavier on the weekends. Opt to travel midweek if you can […] then head home a day or two before it’s time to go back to school and work so you have time to recoup and relax.”

Or Let Someone Else Do All the Planning

Or, let someone else do all the planning! One of the easiest ways to plan a vacation is to hire a travel agent. A travel agent will work to find you the best deal and will make sure to accommodate all your family’s unique needs. Plus, many travel agents work through commission, which means they don’t requiring payment from you because they receive commissions from the airlines and resorts instead.

Daylight Savings Time is Coming. Here’s How Parents Can Prepare.

I’m not a huge fan of the time changes. It throws everything off. Thankfully, we all own smartphones now that automatically change the times because I cannot imagine having to reset everything. It’s hard enough to change the time on the microwave and in my car!

Daylight Savings Time is coming up on March 8, 2020. Since it’s spring, we “spring forward,” which is a little easier than “falling backward.” We get that extra hour of sleep that first Sunday morning, but the struggle is real. I’m telling you how to deal with it now so you can have the best Daylight Savings Time transition yet.

Daylight Savings Time Can Be Difficult for Mom and Dad, Too

First, if you feel like the time change makes you feel and act sluggish, you are not alone. TC Palm reports, “And while daylight saving time brings an extra hour of sunlight later in the day during the warm, summer months, experts say it also brings about adverse health effects — throwing off sleep patterns and disrupting the body's internal clock […] Disturbing a sleep pattern can make it harder to fall asleep and wake up, causing you to feel tired all the time.”

How to Reset Your Biological Clock

Before we talk about how to handle our kids, let’s talk about how we can rest our biological clocks. We need just as much help coping with the time change as our little ones, but we often neglect taking care of our own biological clock. Here are some tips to help you:

• Set the alarm to wake up the same time each day.

• Open the curtains and let the light in first thing in the morning.

• Have a clear time each day when you stop drinking caffeinated beverages.

• Avoid blue light (smartphones, tv) before bed.

• Create and follow your own bedtime routine.

But It Is So Much Worse When You Have Kids! Here’s How to Deal.

When you have kids, not only are you trying to reset your own biological clock, but you are also trying to reset your kid’s biological clock. And it is not always an easy thing to do. Here are some tips to help your kids adjust to Daylight Savings Time:

• Push back bedtime ahead of time. Pushing your child’s bedtime back by about fifteen minutes starting a few days before is a great way to make it easier for them to go to bed when their body is telling them it isn’t bedtime yet.

• Invest in blackout curtains. With the springtime change, it means we get more sunlight. But this also means many parents are trying to put their kids to bed while the sun is still shining – especially before school is out for summer. This is where blackout curtains become so helpful!

• Use a kid-friendly alarm clock. They make kid-friendly alarm clocks that simply show a moon or sun (or certain colors) that help kids know when it is morning and evening. Depending on your kids’ ages, you may find this a useful tool.

• Stick to your routine. If your kid has a bedtime routine, then it is more important than ever before to stick to it! Even though their body will be telling them it is an hour earlier, by following the same evening routine (bath, pj’s, teeth brushing, storytime), it will help then adjust to their “new” bedtime.

• Practice Patience. When your kid acts ill or cranky in the days following March 8, 2020, just remember that the time change is no fun for anyone.

Easy Ways to Have a More Quiet and Peaceful Life

Our lives are noisy. Between our busy commutes to and from work and the constant notifications pinging on our smartphones, our daily lives are filled with noise. Not only are they actually noisy, but we are also bombarded with mental noise every day. We have access to more material than ever before (shows, radio, websites, etc.) that it is easy to immerse ourselves in the clutter all day every day.

But, if you are like me, you are ready for a change. I want to bring a little more peace and quiet to my life. And, after researching, I’ve discovered that I am not alone. It is something many of us want but don’t know how to achieve. Here are the best suggestions I’ve discovered.

Silence the Notifications

The fastest way to cut down on some of the noise in your life is to silence your notifications, but for many of us, this may also be the hardest. Did you know studies have shown that we have become addicted to notifications on our smartphones?

Instead of allowing a ton of apps to send you notifications throughout the day, go through your phone and strategically select only those apps which you truly need to receive notifications for. For example, you don’t need to receive every Instagram notification, but you may need to receive notifications from your child’s school. Instead, set aside a time each day to check up on your notifications.

Don’t Make Your Phone the First and Last Thing You See

Another one that will be hard is resisting the urge to make your phone the first and last thing you look at every day. According to a study discussed in Bustle, “They found the number one activity people participated in before going to sleep was using their phone. Not sex, not chatting with their partner, not reading a book — but using their phone.” Yikes!

Here’s the truth – there is nothing on our phones that we need to see before we go to bed or as soon as we wake up. We can take a few minutes to wake up peacefully before we check our phones. Many suggest putting your phone out of reach at night, such as across the room or in your restroom.

Invest in Noise-Cancelling Headphones

If you are like many New Yorkers who have a busy and loud commute on public transit, then you absolutely must invest in noise-canceling headphones. And, even if your commute to work is quiet, then you still may want to own a pair. They come in handy when you need to quiet all the noise around you in the office, at home, or on planes.

Get Back into Nature

In a crowded city, it’s easy to forget what nature is like. That’s why it is important to get back into nature just for the sake of being in nature. Resist the urge to listen to music while you run and instead listen to the sounds of nature. You’ll be surprised at just how good it feels to be present and aware of your surroundings.

Do Your Body Good (aka Exercise)

Exercise is good for you. Period. However, some forms of exercise, like yoga, are fantastic for helping you lead a quieter and more peaceful life. It requires you to breathe deeply and focus, which makes it difficult for your mind to wander. As Elite Daily explains, “The calm that a yoga practice brings helps rid the chaos, frustration and exhaustion that commonly fills the mind.”

Designate One Space in Your Home for Quiet

Lastly, designate one space in your home as your space for quiet. I know this can be challenging – especially for moms with little ones – but it is so very important. Basically, this needs to be a space free of all the electronics that typically clutter our minds (like TVs). For me, my restroom has become my personal sanctuary. I can bliss out for lengthy amounts of time taking a luxurious bubble bath, and it helps me quiet my mind and my heart. Find this space in your own home.

Presidents Day Sales Everyone Needs to Take Advantage Of

After the Christmas sales, did you know that the best time of the year to find great sales is over Presidents Day weekend? That is this weekend! So today, I am giving you the perfect excuse to buy some of those big-budget items you didn’t get under the Christmas tree.

Electronics

Presidents Day Weekend is known for offering big sales on electronics, including computers, televisions, Apple watches, and AirPods.

Appliances

Likewise, Presidents Day Weekend offers huge discounts on home goods and furniture. Real Simple reports, “An analysis by personal finance site WalletHub found that the average discount on appliances during Black Friday, one of the top shopping days of the year, is 30 percent; this year, the Lowe’s Presidents’ Day sale is offering up to 40 percent off select kitchen appliances.” Did you get that? You can get bigger discounts over Presidents Day than Black Friday!

Mattresses

Another surprising item that should be on your list is a new mattress. According to Consumer Reports, “In February, Presidents Day weekend is your best opportunity to find a deal on a new [mattress], and these offers often start a week or so before the long weekend and may last a few days to a week after.” If you want better sleep in 2020 and it hasn’t happened yet, head to the store this weekend to test mattresses.

Furniture

If you want to start the 2020s with a home makeover, Presidents Day Weekend is THE time to buy new furniture. Real Simple explains, “Furniture discounts are highest in January and in three-day holiday weekends such as Presidents’ Day. Act on that expert suggestion and pick up a new couch, dining set, or whatever else has been missing from the house.” You can expect discounts from 25% - 40% off on furniture and other home goods, which really adds up.

Vehicles

Now, I know not many people buy vehicles on a whim. But, even if you don’t feel like spontaneously buying a new vehicle this weekend, you should keep it in mind for next year. Why? Real Car Tips explains, “If you're considering the most recent models, January and February are good months to buy […] Certain holidays offer good buying opportunities since manufacturers tend to offer special incentives. President's Day is one of the best holidays to shop for a new car. It occurs during the 3rd Monday of February, when sales are slow and inventory should be plentiful.”

Winter Wear

For those us who call New York home, we know we still have plenty of time to showcase our winter wardrobe. However, around Presidents Day, retailers start moving out the winter wear to introduce the new spring lines. This means you can stock up on winter wear (even designer goods, like winter boots) at clearance prices!

What Not to Buy This Weekend

Considering what we just discussed, as tempted as you may feel about buying all the goods for spring as they are rolled out, Presidents Day Weekend is NOT the time to shop for spring break! Resist the urge and wait for the next sale weekend to roll around. This weekend focus on the big stuff: electronics, appliances, furniture, mattresses, and winter wear.

To help you get started, check out these sale guides:

·       Best Presidents Day Sales to Shop in 2020

·       The best Presidents' Day sales 2020: deals from Best Buy, Walmart and more

·       It’s THE Weekend To Buy A New Mattress (& Other Stuff) On Super Sale