2013 holiday gift guide: for the person who has everything

In this season of giving, it's very, very easy to get caught up in buying, especially during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday madness. Retailers scream deals at you, and you accumulate an incredible amount of stuff. Yes, you're giving it away (well, most of it... I won't lie, I buy a healthy amount for myself during the deal season), but there are things you can give that don't cost anything but your time. And for the sister or uncle who have everything, think about giving a donation in their name to a worthy cause that they would enjoy (in the past I've donated to animal shelters, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Red Cross).

If you're in the mood to give your time this season, here are some ideas on what you can do:

Host a food drive
For the past three years, I've done this at work with help from a couple of coworkers. With a little bit of effort, we have collected about 10,000 lbs of food for the local food bank. That's a year and a half's worth of feeding a family of four three meals a day. (Find out if your local food bank will pick up the items - most places are glad to do it for large donations.)

Send a card
There are a few organizations that send cards to wounded veterans or troops overseas. The Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes asks for cards to arrive by December 6th (so you still have time!).

... or a care package
One organization I'm fond of around the holidays is Adopt-A-Platoon, through which you can send a care package to troops overseas. We've made it a Thanksgiving tradition to involve family members in writing out cards to include in the care package.

Volunteer
Check a volunteer site like VolunteerMatch.org to see if there are soup kitchens in your area that may need help. Or read your local paper - they're bound to do stories on individuals who run charitable organizations this time of year. And if you can't find a place that needs help at the holidays, check back in the summer months when their volunteer numbers are low.

Do you have a favorite organization that you support during the holidays?

definition via dictionary.com

wedding Wednesday: in with the new, donate the old

So you've received your new towels and sheets off of your wedding registry, and now your linen closet is stuffed. Before you throw out your used items, think about donating them. A lot of people don't know that your local animal shelter will accept these used items so that their animals have something soft to sleep on. Towels, blankets, sheets (even placemats) - they can use them all!

Not sure where to donate? Call your local animal shelter or try the Humane Society.

I met this little guy on a visit last winter to the Northeast Animal Shelter just outside of Boston. See that blanket he had at the shelter (before he went to his forever home)? Donated by someone!

clean out Saturday

photo via

I spent a good chunk of Saturday cleaning out, and while I don't have "before" photos and won't show you "after" photos (well, yet), it was crazy how much stuff came out of the guest room and my office. We're talking 6 trash bags of clothes, curtains, bedding, and a few other things that we had totally forgotten we even had.

For some reason we decided a while ago that the guest bedroom closet would serve as our storage closet for out-of-season clothes, extra bedding, and a variety of other items that probably should have never made their way in there. I'm a bit of a pack rat by nature, but T is amazing at reminding me what I can part with:  And once I get going, I have a hard time stopping!

If you're in the market to part with some tangibles, here are some closet clean out tips:

1. If you haven't worn it in a year, you're not going to. I've heard some people turn their hangers around at the beginning of the season and anything that isn't worn (visibly, because the hanger is still turned the wrong way) is donated or thrown out.

2. If you don't love it now, you never will. Why are you keeping that shirt you bought that is kind of an okay color but was a really great deal? I have had my share of "just in case" items- what if you need it for a Halloween costume? That, my friends, is why there is a goodwill and why it is so busy the week of Halloween. You're never going to love it, so just get rid of it.

3. If it hasn't fit you in 6 months or more, it probably won't fit you again. I have hung onto quite a few pairs of jeans because they used to look great on me. Key words: used to. Probably won't ever again, because my body has just changed. Unless you have recently gone through an illness or a pregnancy or are on track to lose (or gain) weight to get back to your previous self, forget that you might someday possibly fit into those clothes again.

4. Remember- there probably is someone who needs it more than you do. So you haven't worn it in over a year, you don't really love it, and it doesn't really fit you anyway. Good news, there's someone out there who would probably love it, would fit in it, and would wear it. Donate it! Trust me, you'll feel so much better after you do.

Not sure where to send all of the stuff you don't need? There are quite a few organizations that will pick up your donation, including the Vietnam Veterans of America and Epilepsy Foundation (New England area). You can also do a Google search to find local donation boxes for Planet Aid, or drop off at your local Salvation Army.

food drive & pet food drive

It's been an incredibly busy few weeks, but some very good things have happened. A coworker and I coordinated a company-wide food drive to benefit two big charities in the area- the Greater Boston Food Bank and the Northeast Animal Shelter. We ended up collecting about 7,000 lbs of food, plus 2,000 lbs of pet food and other items.

This is what one team's collection area looked like.

We had some help (let's be honest, we work in marketing and are not that strong) getting everything to the loading dock for the food bank to pick up. Here's some of the pile, waiting for pickup.

And the next day we had a group of coworkers help us move everything to the loading dock to take to the animal shelter. We weren't expecting as much as we got, so we were responsible for hauling it there, 30 minutes from the office.

Luckily, a coworker's friend owns New England Country Rentals (rental items for weddings and events) and graciously sent one of their box trucks and 2 men to help us out. In half an hour we had everything packed up in the truck and on its way. Once we got to the animal shelter, this was the scene as volunteers ran out to help us unload in the rain, ecstatic about the "Christmas miracle".

We spent some time with the animals, learning about how the shelter works and seeing the facility. It is by far the cleanest, most well-organized facility I've seen. The dogs are taken out for a walk about every two hours on an average day by the many volunteers who work there. 

This little girl is a lab mix but 100% thinks she's a lap dog and just wanted to be scratched, which I happily took on while her friends bounced around her.

This 3 month old named Haas has the biggest paws I have ever seen on a little guy. He and I spent some quality time together inside his little area, and he was so sweet (aside from wanting to eat my leather boots).

And little Andy here, a 1 year old Schnauzer mix, had his picture taken quite a few times by yours truly. I then sent these photos to T and asked if he could be Sprout's little brother, but we ultimately decided that we won't be getting a second dog anytime soon. That said, Andy had quite a few families checking him out that day. Hopefully all of these guys, and the others at the shelter, will make their way to their forever homes soon.

At the end of the day, I came home to my little Sprout and we snuggled up on the couch together. 

I'm thankful for the generosity of my coworkers and the ability to help families and pets in need during the holiday season. Animals have a special place in my heart, and I'm so glad that we were able to help NEAS, which is one of the largest no-kill animal shelters in New England. Definitely check them out if you are thinking about adopting, or even if you can foster a dog for a weekend to help them get to know the animal better!