Categories » Lifestyle » LEISURE AND FREE TIME » Breaks, Days Out & Holidays 

Holidays can be stressful, especially when families gather for dinners and celebrations. Here are some tips that can help make your holidays more enjoyable:

One of the best ways to deal with aggravations among family members is to anticipate them and plan ahead of time. Set up two or three small areas with refreshments so that guests can congregate in several places in your home. Likewise, set up activities such as viewing family albums or board games in different areas. Plan a seating chart ahead of time and if Uncle Ralph is known to get on Cousin Bea's nerves, assign seats accordingly. Keeping family members who don't get along busy or apart is the key.

Enlist the help of older kids to help keep the younger ones busy. Make a list of games and activities -- appropriate for both indoor and outdoor play -- so that there is something to do no matter what the weather. Small toys purchased at the dollar store make great prizes. A great activity that kids of any age enjoy is painting. Most craft stores sell small, inexpensive plaster knick-knacks for every season. Spread the newspaper out in the garage, pass out the old T-shirts, whip out the acrylic paint and you won't hear from the kids for hours. Don't forget to recruit help in the kitchen also. Guests are usually more than willing to help serve refreshments or stir gravy.

Many foods can be prepared and frozen ahead of time. Many can also be prepared and refrigerated the day before. Go over your menu and see what can be stirred or simmered the day or night before. Vegetables, meats and fruits can also be cut up and refrigerated. If someone asks what they can bring, don't be a martyr. You didn't ask them, they asked you. Make a small list of items that are easily transportable (such as bottled drinks or dinner rolls) and assign them as asked. Plan on what to wear and lay those out the night before. Hair dresser, nail and other personal care appointments should be made a few days before your event.

When planning your schedule, factor in two hours for yourself before guests arrive. This will give you time to de-stress in a bubble bath or take your time to dress. Looking and feeling your best when hosting a family gathering will help you remain cool and calm later if the need arises. If you need to supervise bathing and dressing children, factor in an extra hour and recruit a family member to help keep them occupied while you get ready.

With a little planning, family gatherings can be enjoyable. So relax, and pass another helping of fun!

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ARTICLE:

Don't let the hectic holiday season ruin your Christmas. Stress can be reduced by managing your time and planning.

Today’s fast-paced world is a breeding ground for stress, and holidays often add an extra layer. Unlike our parents and grandparents who enjoyed simpler lifestyles, our lives are so busy we rarely have time for everyday tasks much less the luxury of time to enjoy the holiday season.

Don’t let the holiday season get you down this year. A positive mindset and preparation before the actual season begins can take the edge off of high expectations that can leave you drained and stressed to the max.

· Start Early: Plan for the holidays all year long.

. Shopping

Keep a Christmas list of people you always buy a gift for and pick up items throughout the year (mark them off so you don’t forget you have the gift). This will help stretch your Christmas budget as well.

. Cooking

Cookies, cakes and quick holiday meals can be prepared in advance and kept in the freezer until needed (be sure to label the contents).

. Gift wrapping

Buy wrapping paper after Christmas at clearance prices and wrap gifts as you buy them (be sure to firmly secure the tag). Keep gifts in a box in your closet so they stay in nice condition.

. Cards

Purchase Christmas cards after Christmas at clearance prices and prepare them in September (place the cards in a small box on your desk so you don’t forget to mail them).

. Parties

Plan holiday parties early and buy items that will keep ahead of time.

· Spend quality time with family and friends.

. Plan several special activities or outings with friends and family members: lunches, dinners, shopping, holiday movies or programs. Quality time spent with friends and family can energize which helps fight stress.

. Plan a tree-trimming party.

. Go ice-skating if you have a rink in your area (mobile rinks are often set up in large towns).

. Don’t feel obligated to attend every holiday function if you prefer to spend the time with a friend or family. Politely decline. This is your holiday season.

· Don’t count calories during the holidays

. This doesn’t mean the smorgasbord is open and you can eat all you want (unless you’re one of those lucky people with a hollow leg) but feel free to sample small portions of the goodies. You can always go on a diet after the holidays.

. Don’t avoid baking totally because you are on a diet. Splurge and make a few recipes you enjoy, keep a small portion and take the rest to the office or an elderly neighbor who might not bake for one.

. If Aunt Helen shows up with her famous dumplings, go ahead and have a second helping. You can walk an extra mile or two after the holidays.

. Eat guilt-free. Holiday treats and feasts are half the fun of holidays. If you feel you shouldn’t eat certain things during the holidays you will only end up stressed out as tempting foods pass you by.

· Financial Budget

. Create a Christmas account at your local bank. Have whatever you can afford taken out of your check each payday or deposit the amount yourself.

. Make a list of how much you expect to spend on each person on your gift list and try to stick to it.

. Make a list of activities you plan to do during the holidays and note the cost on your budget

. Allow extra money for unexpected activities or last minute gifts you may need to purchase.

· Fun activities

. Plan an afternoon of cooking and baking with your children.

. Host a cookie exchange. Have each friend or neighbor bake four to six-dozen cookies and bring them with a copy of the recipe for exchange with everyone. Each participant will go home with an assortment of cookies to share with their family.

. Instead of hosting an entire party, ask friends to host a rotating party: drinks and appetizers at the first house, main meal at the second house followed by dessert and coffee at the third.

. Go for a family drive around your town late one night to see the lights.

· Delegate

. Learn to say no. Don’t take on more than you can comfortable handle. If you have already signed up to bake two batches of cookies for your son’s class at school and receive a call to bake cupcakes for his Sunday school class, don’t feel you have to take on both projects. Explain that you are already committed to a school function and suggest another parent in the class. Volunteer committees often find a handful of people who always say yes and only contact those people.

. If you have teenagers who drive, send them to the grocery store armed with a list and cash. You can accomplish an hour or more of tasks in the time you would have spent shopping for food and your teenager will experience a lesson economics.

. Assign meal night. Each family member is responsible for preparing a meal and cleaning up afterwards. Small children can make sandwiches or with a little assistance heat prepared meals [frozen dinners or pizzas].

. Rotate housework. Family members can take turns dusting, sweeping, vacuuming and doing laundry. Small children can dust and fold clothes.

· The Workplace

. Schedule one or two personal days during the holidays [request these days well in advance of the holiday season] to enjoy mid-week shopping when malls aren’t as crowded.

. Schedule major projects after the first of the year.

. Complete as many tasks as possible early in the week so you will have energy for weekend activities.

. Avoid overtime hours if possible.

· Pamper

. Take a long hot bath while aromatherapy (scented candles or incense) sooth your nerves.

. Go to bed early with a book you’ve wanted to read with orders not to be disturbed.

. Sleep in on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

. Go out to eat at a nice restaurant in the middle of the week or buy something for yourself because you deserve it.

· Exercise

. Go for walks through different areas of your neighborhood to enjoy the holiday décor. Take your spouse or your child along to share the experience.

. Take a late night stroll to enjoy the lights.

. Arrive at the mall a half hour before the stores open and speed walk. You’ll have a lot more energy to shop.

. Take your kids roller skating or play a game of basketball with them.

· Sleep and Rest

. Get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night.

. Put your feet up for ten minutes before you start dinner.

. Take a fifteen-minute power nap (any longer could make you more fatigued).

. Try to go to sleep and rise at the same time of day.

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Article: Andalucia'a White Villages by Zoe Dare Hall

Along with bullfighters in extraordinarily tight-fitting trousers and donkeys in sombreros, Andalucia's white villages, whose Moorish whitewashed houses are perched on mountainsides like pyramids of sugarcubes, are iconic images of southern Spain.

Mijas, just west of Malaga, is the most famous and tourist-savvy, while Casares and Gaucin, both about an hour's drive from Marbella, are equally prolific on picture postcards and so beautiful that few can resist grabbing the camera as you soon as they catch the first glimpse or whitewash.

Being the face of a million postcards has seen Mijas and Casares burst out of their seams and spread out down the mountain, spawning large areas of new development in Mijas Costa and Casares Costa. And you try finding a cheap bolthole in these places or a restaurant where you can hear a word of Spanish.

But it's not hard to find white villages where you can still wallow in all the charm and simplicity of traditional Spanish life, yet still be within 30 minutes from beaches, golf courses, inflatable bananas and all the other things visitors enjoy about the Costa del Sol.

Think Mijas 40 years ago, when restaurant menus were still monolingual and the donkeys are more likely to be hauling hay, not tourists, up the steep cobbled streets, and you get the picture. Ojen is just a five-minute drive from Marbella, pinned against a mountainside in the beautiful Sierra de las Nieves national park.

From the main road which runs through this village of 2,000 inhabitants, you peer south across the hills towards the sea you can just see the tip of a Marbella tower block to remind you that of what's on the doorstep. But in Ojen itself, there is a wonderful sense of being in an authentic Spanish village, whre life is slow-paced, everything closes down in the afternoons and you can eat out for half the price it would cost down the road in Marbella.

Home to one of Julio Iglesias's abodes and a wine museum (think bodega rather than National Gallery as this is a hands-on experience), few expats who live on the coast, and even fewer holidaymakers, ever discover Ojen - which is, of course, why it remains so authentic and charming.

Local life revolves around the small square, with the church, Moorish fountains, a market on Saturday and a few tapas bars dotted around. Leading off this social hub are narrow streets of typically whitewashed houses with yellow door and window frames, many of them spilling over with flowers.

Given its prestigious position next to Marbella, it's no surprise that Ojen is expanding due to demand for property - up the mountain, in this case, where new apartments and townhouses are emerging up hills so steep that you will be struggling to get your car, let alone your legs, up them. Down in the valley, the terrain is kinder and Ojen feels like a rural village, with small farms and fincas dotted around the fields.

The Moorish white village of Istan, 15km inland from Marbella, is another little-known gem - though not for lack of attempts to publicise it. As you head west towards Puerto Banus, you'll pass at least half a dozen signs inviting you to head to this village in the mountains, so it seems only reasonable to succomb and find out what all the fuss is about.

As you climb higher you will see the huge Istan lake and country park, with the nearby five-star Istan Valley Country Club and multi-million euro mansions with mountaintop views for miles across the valley and coast. Then, as you follow the road which hugs the mountain, you are afforded your first view of the village itself - a white cluster among the luscious green Sierra Blanca hills. Istan means 'spring', and you'll see and hear them everywhere in this self-contained little village which you'll need to explore on foot as only locals are allowed drive their cars down these narrow backstreets.

Visit Istan on a weekday morning and you'll see old residents trudging up the hills towards the fish man selling his pungent fare from the back of his white van.

Few foreign visitors make it up here to the village itself, though upmarket new developments such as Zahara de Istan and Sierra Blanca are opening up the area to investors. Or there is a palatial and secluded villa in the hills for sale through Lighthouse Spain for 15 million euros. Properties in the village are still relatively cheap, however, with townhouses for sale from around 140,000 euros (£96,000).

Just past the town of Coin, 40 minutes inland from Marbella, Tolox is another truly Spanish sugarcube village set amid the stunning scenery of the Sierra de las Nieves nature reserve, famous for its spa water. The sounds of church bells and children in the school playground reverberate across the orange tree-filled valley which dissects the town. In the backstreets, the odd elderly resident has taken to selling the abundant local oranges from their kitchen.

This is a charming working town where life and traditions go untouched by the glitz and tourism on the nearby Costa del Sol.

The best perch in Tolox is the large terrace of El Tajo bar as you enter the town. Here you can sit and gaze across the orange trees towards the sprawling pyramid of white houses. If you decide you never want to leave, property in Tolox is still very cheap, with large townhouses with panoramic views from their roof terraces for as little as 120,000 euros (£82,000).

And when the dry inland heat gets too intense, within half an hour you can be back on the beach and dipping your toe in the cooling sea.

About the Author

Zoe Dare Hall is the Communiations Manager for Lighthouse Spain, a unique service aimed at taking the risk and stress out of buying a property in Spain.