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Archive for November, 2009
Holiday Grocery Shopping Tips
Throughout the year, the one thing that usually gives me comfort is planning meals and entertaining dear friends. I know, it sounds absurd but true – hosting gives me a great sense of joy! However, for some reason, this year the thought of all that entertaining makes me feel slightly stressed out. Instead of giving myself a headache worrying, I’m going to try something new this year.
For the first time, I’m going to focus on creating memories while being relaxed! Sounds impossible? Not with these helpful hints in place:
- Order all groceries online: Nothing makes me more stressed out than visiting my local grocery store along with 1,000 of my neighbors. My blood pressure (already high) rises to levels that can possibly send me to a much-early grave.
- Buy as many dishes ready-made as possible: Here’s the deal: whether you’re entertaining family, friends or neighbors, as long as you put the ready-made dishes into a gorgeous serving platter and place on a pretty table (table cloth, napkins, flowers and candles) no one will know the difference. And the selection of delicious pre-prepared side dishes has grown exponentially over the last few years.
- Have friends and family bring a dish or appetizer to pass: I usually hesitate to have people bring food to my home since I want to make it easy and fun for my guests to plan an evening out. But not this season. I’m getting past my hesitation to inconvenience my friends and family (and I’m sure they won’t mind bringing a little something to share).
It is hard for me to “just make it easy” because I enjoy the ceremony around gatherings at my home: the food, the table and the ambiance. So, even as I’m focusing on making things easier on myself this year, I still want to host memorable holiday evenings that feel welcoming and elegant.
Five Tips For Making the Most of Your Space
No matter how large or small your living space, it seems there are always areas that aren’t used efficiently. Whether your have a guest bedroom that no one enters or a dining room where no one eats, think about ways you can creatively use the space where you dwell.
- Use Your Furniture: One way to better utilize your space is to buy furniture that has multiple functions. For instance, benches or ottomans with hidden storage are perfect for people short on storage space. Maybe you find a beautiful antique trunk that you love – it can store off-season clothes, house bills or other files, or collect childhood mementos. Another way to sneak in extra storage space is to buy long, shallow bins that fit under the bed. Armoires can work in any room, whether they store TVs and electronics in a living area or linens and toiletries in a bathroom.
Ottomans with hidden storage, like this one from Target, can be great for clearing up clutter.
High Definition Brings Video to Life
It wasn’t that long ago when television viewers all had the same type of TV set. Sure, there were a few black and white sets with ‘rabbit ear’ antennas still around. But the majority owned at least one basic, square, color TV. I’m not talking the 1970’s either. It was this way as recently as only 9 years ago.
Then the proliferation of HDTVs took off. The prices came down to an affordable level, and suddenly you couldn’t find a living room without a flat screen on the wall or on the TV stand. Numbers started flying around like a mathmatics convention: 1080i, 720p, 60Hz, 120Hz, 42 inch, 50 inch! All the technology: plasma, LCD, 3-D (although to be fair, that last isn’t new, it’s just making a comeback. Again.)
What’s even more amazing is all of the options now available behind the scenes. I have been researching a possible upgrade in our editing systems from Avid software to the Final Cut Studio solution offered by Apple. Both offer a mind boggling amount of options. What really amazes me is the fact that these are the same editing solutions being used by studios in Hollywood and agencies in New York City. They are robust enough for the biggest production house but affordable enough for the smaller agency.
The best part about all of this? The final product looks fantastic. No matter your budget, you can put together a professional looking piece and view it on an HDTV that brings all of the colors and textures of your video to life. Amazing.
Make Online Video More Interesting with Creativity
If you ask around most people would probably admit that every now and then they have a day where they don’t like their job. It may be too slow, too fast, just plain boring or there could be any other number of reasons. I guess I’m lucky. I can honestly say that in the 15 months that I have been working in my current position I’ve not had one day where I didn’t like what I was doing, even at times when my work has involved talking to people about radiant floor heating or selling and buying commercial laundry equipment… you know the kinds of things people tend to think that only other people who work with this stuff would really care about. That’s what I thought until I started producing videos for these companies.
One of my favorite projects is a video we produced a couple of months ago for Cambria. This fall the Eden Prairie-based company launched 16 new colors in it’s quartz countertop options. It was the company’s first new colors launch in a couple of years so it wanted to share the news in a way it hadn’t before. That’s where StoryTeller came into the picture.
Cambria hired us to produce a fast-paced, fun minute-and-a-half video that it could use online to show off its great new color line. So early one morning in late August my trusty photog Chad and I hopped in the car and headed south on Highway 169 toward Cambria’s 300,000 square foot plant in Le Sueur, Minnesota.
We spent half a day walking the plant, talking with the plant manger, videotaping the new colors as well as the inspection process that goes into checking each slab of quartz as it comes off the line. All in all, I found it to be a pretty cool process. That made producing the video pretty interesting too. For me it just went to show how a creative mind (or two), a little video work and some great music can make something that could be potentially interesting to only a few more interesting to many.
Toys So Great Even Adults Want to Play
Most people who know me know that I’m kind of a big kid, so it’s not surprising that I had to restrain myself from grabbing a red pen and circling about 20 items in my latest MindWare catalog. What’s so great about their products is that a lot of them are really enjoyable for kids and adults alike, and they’re lifetime pieces that you can keep coming back to. Here’s a short list (and believe me, it was tough to narrow it to these few) of my favs:
- Match Wits With Mensa: I have a cousin who’s a member of this prestigious organization, so I’ve always been in awe of it. This would also be a great activity to do with my mother, who complains of needing a “brain workout.”
- Mancala for Four: I could hardly contain my excitement when I saw this game and proceeded to ask everyone I know, “Do you remember Mancala? I found a 4-player version!” This is totally a game of my generation and was always a fixture on camping vacations – and now my whole family can play!
› Continue reading
Advice for Dealing With Your Picky Eater
My two-year-old did not eat dinner last night. She wouldn’t try the chicken. She refused to taste the carrots. For some reason she kept demanding rice, but my in-laws were serving mashed potatoes and she would not allow those spuds to even touch her little plate. Of course she wanted the key lime pie for dessert—but, cruel mother that she has, she was denied the pleasure. (She was re-offered chicken, carrots and potatoes, but didn’t take the bait.)
The “picky eater” stage has apparently settled in at our house. Where do I go from here?
Whether your picky eater is 2 or 12, there are fun, creative ways to get your kiddos to try new foods and broaden their view of what’s allowed on their plates:
- Preparation is Key: Try preparing foods in different ways. Apparently my little one won’t eat cooked carrots, but she might be willing to try thinly sliced raw carrots if I offer them with one of her favorite dips, roasted red pepper hummus. You can try veggies steamed, raw, cooked, topped with cheese sauce, or alongside a dip – one of these just might appeal to your child and get him or her to try a new food.
- Be a Good Example: Kids are more likely to eat something that you eat as well. One day I was enjoying a salad when my picky eater wanted to try a slice of red bell pepper. To my surprise, she loved it. I spent the rest of my meal picking out peppers and happily handing them over. › Continue reading
Networking Groups and Social Media Share Common Goal
I can see them all right now. Sitting around the table, one person at a time giving their 60-second commercial, each one fishing for leads and helping the others in the group get to know them better. This is the scene from the networking group that I’m attending this morning. I haven’t been to one of these deals in a couple years, but I can guarantee it’ll be the same gig with most of the same characters. I tip my hat to them for their commitment.
Part of the deal is that I have to also give a 60-second “commercial” and ironically I’m planning on talking about social media. The point of my minute will be how it’s the new form of networking and the irony is that I’ll bet a number of people “just don’t get it.” I’m anxious to see how they react when I start tweeting from the meeting, helping to promote everyone there.
The reason the networking group works is the same reason social media works. The group has met for years and the same core members are there week after week. There is a loyalty to the group and to the groups success. Most of them won’t do business with each other after the first, second or third meeting, but eventually, if it’s the right group and the people seem genuine, knowledgeable and helpful business will come. The same is true for social media.
Treating people in social media the same way you would treat members of a networking group or chamber group makes sense. Don’t shout, create a dialogue, give it time and build your network.
Ed Heil is the owner and president of StoryTeller Media & Communications an inbound marketing and public relations agency and video production company based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Ed blogs on topics related to inbound marketing, social media, media relations, news media, video production and crisis communications.
Holiday Tips: Create a Thanksgiving Planning Calendar
Thanksgiving is “my holiday.” It was a great holiday for me to claim because typically there isn’t snow yet to make the trip more stressful for my parents and siblings who live in Chicago. With the seven-hour drive to Minnesota, they usually arrive a day or two before Thanksgiving and stay through the weekend, so planning for this wonderful occasion also means planning for a houseful of guests for four days.
Each year I reflect on what has and hasn’t worked in the past and try to improve upon previous years’ plans. The goal for me is to have my house clean, all food and beverages purchased, Wednesday’s dinner in the freezer, some bars and sweets baked for the kids and some type of special game or discussion prompter for Thanksgiving dinner — all ready to go before the first guest arrives on Tuesday evening.
This year I decided to devise a calendar for the week preceding Thanksgiving. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s better to clean a few days before so I don’t get too tired; nor do I get as uptight as the house unravels. I start by breaking down the chores to spread them out from Friday – Tuesday:
- Friday: I start with the areas of the house where the kids will spend most of the time – like the basement – so it doesn’t have to look perfect when everyone gets here — just no cobwebs! I then move to smaller tasks like dusting my entryway chandelier, wiping down the wood steps of the staircase, washing 1st floor windows and cleaning out my refrigerator. › Continue reading
Holiday Tips: Create a Thanksgiving Planning Calendar
Thanksgiving is “my holiday.” It was a great holiday for me to claim because typically there isn’t snow yet to make the trip more stressful for my parents and siblings who live in Chicago. With the seven-hour drive to Minnesota, they usually arrive a day or two before Thanksgiving and stay through the weekend, so planning for this wonderful occasion also means planning for a houseful of guests for four days.
Each year I reflect on what has and hasn’t worked in the past and try to improve upon previous years’ plans. The goal for me is to have my house clean, all food and beverages purchased, Wednesday’s dinner in the freezer, some bars and sweets baked for the kids and some type of special game or discussion prompter for Thanksgiving dinner — all ready to go before the first guest arrives on Tuesday evening.
This year I decided to devise a calendar for the week preceding Thanksgiving. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s better to clean a few days before so I don’t get too tired; nor do I get as uptight as the house unravels. I start by breaking down the chores to spread them out from Friday – Tuesday:
- Friday: I start with the areas of the house where the kids will spend most of the time – like the basement – so it doesn’t have to look perfect when everyone gets here — just no cobwebs! I then move to smaller tasks like dusting my entryway chandelier, wiping down the wood steps of the staircase, washing 1st floor windows and cleaning out my refrigerator. › Continue reading
Hirshfield’s Hosts Benjamin Moore Color Expert Doty Horn
Last week, we hosted Doty Horn, Benajmin Moore’s director of color and design, for two nights at Hirshfield’s Design Studio. Doty, a renowned color trends expert, offered insight into Benjamin Moore’s predictions for color trends in 2011. She believes that the overall theme is balance, saying, “the emerging color palette reads more organic than ever before.” Here are her predictions on the influences for 2011:
- The Farm: Doty predicts a shift back to basics – think textures and patterns such as gingham checks, plaids, hopsack and burlap. The color palette is likely to include hues reminiscent of milk, hay and earthy tones, such as Benjamin Moore’s Oat Straw and Grassy Fields.
- Order: The chaos of the past decade has created a desire for structure and balance, which will present itself in the form of geometric shapes, stripes and definitive outlines and borders on design pieces. The black, white and gray scales, including Black Tar, will balance bold primary hues, like Utah Sky. › Continue reading
