Valentine’s Day: A Family Affair

Despite what greeting cards might have you believe, Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. It’s a time to celebrate all of your relationships, including those with your kids, family and friends. Instead of going out to dinner, Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to spend some much-needed quality time with your family and friends exploring your favorite past-time activities.

When it’s chilly outside, there’s nothing better than baking cookies; Valentine’s Day allows for some creative twists on conventional confections. Are you a traditionalist? Spruce up a sugar cookie mix by adding red sprinkles or pink cream-cheese frosting, or—even better—both! Is your baking style a little more experimental? Buy an oatmeal cookie mix and add chopped dried cherries, coconut flakes, finely chopped pecans, and semi-sweet chocolate chips to make “I Love You This Much” cookies.

Kindle a fire while your cookies are in the oven—when they’re done, have a game night next to a roaring fireplace. If you’re in the mood for a lighthearted event, try Catch Phrase or Yahtzee; if you want to put your collective noggins to the test, play a few rounds of Cranium or Clue. Make it interesting by letting the winner choose the movie you watch as a family afterwards. Our suggestions: Be my Valentine, Charlie Brown, Shrek or Enchanted.

If you feel like getting out of the house, visit your local park for ice skating or a snowball fight or just go for a stroll around town. Layer up, the winter chill is still here.

Looking for something creative to do? Make your own paper floral arrangements to pass out to friends and family. For an affordable DIY version, all you need are clay pots, Styrofoam blocks, colorful pipe cleaners, mini pom poms, and construction paper. Make the flowers by cutting out various shapes in different colored paper. To create your arrangement simply attach the flowers to the pipe cleaner, then cut the Styrofoam blocks to fit the clay pots, and arrange the flowers into a dome-shaped creation. You’ll end up with a beautiful display that will perfectly adorn any area in your home.

Whether you stay in or go out, our ActiveLayer top is perfect for a day like this: it will keep you warm while wicking away moisture; plus, the hot pink top accentuates a Valentine’s Day celebration perfectly! Plus fall in love with the thumbhole as you layer with your favorite sweater.

What’s your favorite Valentine’s Day activity? We’d love to hear about your experiences with the above tips, or about your unique take on Valentine’s Day with the family by connecting with us through Facebook or Twitter

New Looks for the New Year

In the summer, when it’s 80+ degrees out, it’s easy to just slip on a breezy cotton dress and pair of sandals and head OUT to your niece’s second birthday party. However, in the winter, when the thermometer announces its 5 below rather than the 80 degrees your wishing for, it’s easy to have no clue what to wear. Here are some ways you can update your wardrobe for the New Year:

• Remember the 5 below weather that I was talking about? Don’t forget to dress warm! For a casual look, wear a cute solid colored knit dress and a pair of Softwear with Stretch Leggings, you will be comfortable and stay warm at the same time. You can dress up your outfit a bit by wearing your hair in milk maid braids pulled back into a messy bun.

• For a fancier outing, try wearing a taffeta type dress. Deep purple, navy blue, and black are all great colors, that are very flattering for the season. To stay warm, wear a pair of colorful ActiveLayer Leggings with a stylish boot. You can also wear a light sweater that you can easily slip of it you get too warm!

• Perfect for night out on the town with your friends where you don’t want to be too fancy since you know you will be out late and still want to stay comfortable, try making a dressy skirt more casual. A shorter skirt that’s hem is right above your knees, makes your legs appear longer than they are and is very comfortable! Bubble skirts or pleated skirts are perfect for this look, as they are fancier, but easy to dress down. To dress your outfit down, try pairing your skirt with a long sleeve Softwear with Stretch Top and a pair of tights.

• A tip to go by when creating a new look is not to go overboard. Choose one part of your outfit that you really want to stand out, but tone the rest down. Say you want to wear a tighter fitting, pencil sequin skirt that cuts right before your knees like those that have been so in style lately, that’s great! However, the skirt has a lot going on, so wear a simple shirt in a solid color and a pair of tights that are the same color as your shirt. That way, the attention is on your great skirt and other people’s eyes won’t feel overwhelmed!

Hopefully these tips will help you create some fun new looks while staying warm and looking great at the same time! How are you updating your wardrobe for the New Year?

Tips by Cuddl Duds Guest Blogger Reyna Meinhardt,
Out of the Notebook & Into the Blog

Resolution: Simple Pleasures

It’s 2011!

Our resolution is to defeat stress by appreciating the Simple Pleasures of life a little bit more – and to try not to make snowstorms out of light dustings.

Some of our friends feel like resolutions set us up for failure. Not this one! It’s easy and will help you gain happiness and refocus.

It also works as a complementary resolution – a re-solution, as we’re calling it.

For example, if your New Year’s Resolution was to get to the gym before work and you miss the gym one morning, consider it a “simple pleasure” of a day off and take that time to enjoy the simple pleasure that you just had – an extra 30 minutes of sleep. Problem? Re-Solution! Clearly, you needed the shuteye!

Simple pleasures are just that – simple; but they should be enjoyed as extravagantly as the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.

So, the next time you get a street full of green lights, take a minute and just smile about it. When you’re in the checkout line at the grocery store, look up from your phone and you might find a baby riding in the grocery cart, giving you a grin that can only be widened by a game of peek-a-boo.

Happy New Year! May your worst day of 2011 be no worse than your best day of 2010.