Keeping the "Thanks" in Thanksgiving
Focusing on gratitude on a day reserved for feasting.
"Pilgrims," said James, 5, as his mother helped him fasten his helmet for a hockey lesson at the Cabin John Ice Rink near Potomac. "Turkey and pie," said his 6-year-old classmate Aiden. Both boys were responding to a question about the meaning of Thanksgiving.
Creating a Beautiful Thanksgiving Table
Local designers offer suggestions for laying the perfect tablescape.
While food preparation can be all-consuming on Thanksgiving Day, the table décor also plays a major role in a Turkey Day feast. Whether your style is subdued and casual or chic and sophisticated, local designers offer ideas and inspiration for table settings that are as delectable as the meal itself.
Getting Ready for Guests at Thanksgiving and Beyond
Ideas for prepping your home so that visitors feel welcome.
When Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season next week, it will mean an onslaught of house guests for some. Local style gurus offer simple ideas for getting your home ready for visits from friends and family.
Learning to Create an Organized Holiday Season
Local pros offer tips for staying on track from Thanksgiving and beyond.
"If you’re organized, you’ll definitely experience less stress this holiday season," said professional organizer Susan Unger, of ClutterSOS in Vienna. "If you figure out what your goal is and map out everything in advance, you won’t find yourself staying up late wrapping presents and other chores and you’ll have more time to spend with family and friends."
Teaching Children to Make Holiday Gifts
Local art experts offer crafty gift ideas.
Gifting your child’s teacher, grandparents or other family members with holiday cheer doesn’t have to add another line item to your budget. Homemade gifts from children are among the most cherished, say experts, and creating them can be as memorable for the child as the recipient.
Tips for Holiday Card Photos
Local photographers offer suggestions for taking great family photos.
Amber Wilson has spent the last week scouring her computer files in search of the perfect pictures for her holiday card. One image missing from her collection is a shot of her entire family.
Celebrating Thanksgiving Like a Chef
Local chefs and culinary experts share family stories and recipes.
As a teen, Chef Guiseppe Ricciardi’s Thanksgiving dinners were anything but traditional. Ricciardi , the proprietor of Dolce Vita and Dolce Veloce in Fairfax, moved to New York from Italy with his family when he was 14. His family celebrated Thanksgiving in their new country, but they put an Italian twist on the holiday.
Holiday Cooking with Children
Local culinary instructors offer suggestions for bonding in the kitchen.
Maria Kopsidas recalls childhood holidays filled with turkey, sweets and merriment. Because she grew up in a family of professional chefs, cookbook authors and culinary enthusiasts, the stretch from Thanksgiving to Christmas always brings fond food recollections.
Creating a Feast for the Eye
Local designers share ideas for a striking Thanksgiving table.
While a menu of turkey and gravy will satisfy the belly this Thanksgiving, a well-designed centerpiece that reflects the warm hues of fall will be a feast for the eyes.
Choosing Art
Local designers offer tips on how to banish blank walls.
When Anne McCloud and her fiance, Mark Graham, moved into their Herndon home two years ago, with the exception of a large, deep red Chesterfield sofa, a present from Anne’s parents, the furniture they had was left over from graduate school: a tattered antique chair in need of reupholstering and two side tables.
Yoga Community Lauds New Smithsonian Exhibit
Sackler exhibit is first of its kind.
Yoga instructor Luann Fulbright of McLean moved her practice from the mat to a gallery recently when she joined diplomats, philanthropists, artists and fellow yogis at a gala to celebrate the opening of "Yoga: The Art of Transformation" at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. It is the world’s first exhibition on the art of yoga.
Pumpkin Carving Ideas
Local experts offer their best tips for creating your jack-o-lantern.
Whether your goal is to carve and decorate the best pumpkin on the block or simply use this fall gourd for Halloween inspiration, local culinary experts offer pumpkin ideas that will keep the season festive. Before embarking on a pumpkin carving project, take a look at the condition of your knives. “Generally speaking, a dull knife is a dangerous knife,” said Christine Wisnewski, a culinary instructor at Culinaria Cooking School in Vienna. “And a pumpkin, because of its size and shape, can be a challenge, even if you have good knife skills. If you use a knife, make sure it is sharp and work slowly.” Wisnewski generally advises eschewing chef’s knives for a pumpkin carving kit, usually found in supermarkets and craft stores. “The cutting tools may look less impressive than your best kitchen knife, but they do work well,” she said. “The small blades are deeply serrated and make quick work getting through dense pumpkin flesh.” Pumpkin carving kits are also a solution to the safety issue. “If the kids do want to carve, no one’s fingers are at risk with these little carving tools,” she said. “Our family has managed to get many years of use out of the tools that came with our first kits.”
Creating a Spooky Halloween Dinner
Local culinary experts offer ideas for turning an ordinary meal into a ghoulish adventure.
Halloween dinner in Christine Wisnewski’s Vienna home is often a balancing act between healthy and sugary. On the sweetest holiday of the year, for example, the mother and culinary instructor at Culinaria Cooking School, also in Vienna, prepares a wholesome dinner for her eager trick-or-treaters, managing candy-induced sugar highs and inevitable post-confection lows.
Decorating for Fall
Local designers offer suggestions for bringing the harvest into your home.
The colors of autumn are all around as pumpkins and squash fill produce stands and leaves change from green to orange, red and yellow before falling from their branches. Local designers and tastemakers are unveiling home accents that bring the warm hues of the season into the home. Whether using pillows, throws or flowers, adding the colors and textures of fall requires less effort than one might expect. “Emerald green, orange and turquoise are three of the biggest color trends we’re seeing,” said Marcus Browning of European Country Living in Old Town Alexandria. “Throws and pillows are a given, but you can also tie in traditional and modern accessories with rugs, stained glass lamps with modern or intricate designs.” Small trays provide a canvas for highlighting color and adding functionality to a room, says Marika Meyer of Marika Meyer Interiors in Bethesda, Md. “Color and pattern are in right now,” she said. “I just purchased the C. Wonder (http://www.cwonder.com) navy and white chevron tray for my home. It adds a punch of color and freshness to a room. Preppy is back in a big way, too, offering lots of patterns.”
Choosing a Home for the Golden Years
Many options for retirement communities in the region.
Jim Harkin, 81, and his wife, Phyllis, 80, have little free time these days. Jim spends his days protecting and photographing wildlife on the 60-acre campus at The Fairfax, a Sunrise Senior Living Community, in Fort Belvoir. He helped build, refurbish and maintain more than 20 birdhouses on the grounds, including homes for tree swallows and purple martins.
The Taste of Fall
Local chefs and nutritionists offer healthy recipes for tasty fall dishes using seasonal ingredients.
When the temperature starts to drop and leaves begin to turn red and orange, you can often find chef Susan Limb meandering through local farmers markets, sorting through rough-textured, knotty sweet potatoes; tough, waxy butternut squash; and dusty, rose-colored apples.
Big Ideas for Small Spaces
Local designers offer ideas for decorating small rooms.
Whether one is sprucing up a small powder room or decorating a studio apartment, space limitations often pose a design challenge. However, local designers say that no matter how a small space’s square footage or how awkward the layout, there are plenty of decorative cures for small spaces. Whether one is sprucing up a small powder room or decorating a studio apartment, space limitations often pose a design challenge. However, local designers say that no matter how a small space’s square footage or how awkward the layout, there are plenty of decorative cures for small spaces.
Wellbeing: How To Set Realistic Goals
Local experts say the key to success is setting achievable goals.
Laura Wheeler Poms, of Fairfax, set out to earn a doctorate degree and make a career change. As a wife, mother and working professional, the goal, she said, often felt lofty. “Writing my dissertation at times felt overwhelming, especially if I looked at it as one huge project,” said Poms, who now holds a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology and is an assistant professor of global and community health at George Mason University in Fairfax. “I set goals like writing one page or doing one analysis each day and I was able to get it done. I also gave myself little rewards along the way.”
Back to School: Back to Lunch
Healthy lunchbox and after school snack ideas.
Healthy Lunch and Snack Ideas
Is Your Home Ready for Back to School?
Local designers offer tips for creating functional and stylish homework spaces.
Summer will soon come to an end, and children everywhere will be heading back to school and coming home with homework. To keep students engaged and excited, some local designers offer suggestions for creating a space so fun and inviting that your children will want to hang out there — even if that means doing homework.
If You Are What You Eat, Eat Well
Local nutritionist turns personal challenge into book and health and nutrition practice.
When Teri Cochrane’s son was 18 months old, he was diagnosed with asthma and placed on a variety of medications, including steroids. Less than two years later, doctors warned the Reston mother that he would have frequent seizures, would never have a normal childhood and would never grow taller than 5 feet 4 inches. When Cochrane’s daughter was born three years later, she also suffered from health problems, including chronic, severe abdominal pain.
Keeping Pets Safe
Veterinary experts say common household items can harm animals.
Did you know that a bowl of grapes sitting on your counter can be fatal to your dog or that a bouquet of fragrant lilies could be lethal to a cat? Were you aware that a stick of gum might cause a life-threatening canine emergency? Veterinary experts say that while pet hazards are lurking around almost every home, many pet owners are unaware of them. From favorite foods to over-the-counter-pain relievers, a number of common household items are dangerous to family pets.
The Pampered Pooch
Luxury accessories for well-heeled canines.
Marcia Schwartz strolled through the handbag section at a high-end department store at Tysons Galleria in McLean, Va., her eyes taking in the latest offerings from Prada. The companion at her side was not a personal shopper or a credit card-clad husband, however. It was a snow-white fuzzball with a rhinestone-encrusted collar named Cleopatra. Cleo, as she is most often called, is a Bichon Frisé.
Creating Fresh, Healthy Summer Treats
Local chefs offer recipes for refreshing, healthy snacks to keep kids satisfied during vacation.
Enticing children to forgo strawberry-flavored candy and choose fresh fruit in its natural form can be challenging. After all, lemonade, popsicles and cookies with milk are considered summertime classics.
Meatless Diet Could Prolong One’s Life
New study shows vegetarian and vegan diets could lower risk of untimely death
“The number one thing to do is to explore different types of vegetables. Think outside of green beans and corn.” — Bonita Lillie, registered dietician
Love after 50: Baby Boomers Need Romance Too
Couple chronicles their online dating experience in new book.
“Dating in your 60s is a lot different than dating in the 1960s, to be sure. Our message is one of hope and the courage to try one more time. Life is just too short.” — Mindy Mitchell, coauthor of “Lube of Life: A Tribute to Sex, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness in the Boomer Age”
Fun Ways To Keep Learning in Summer
As summer vacation begins in a few weeks, some parents are scrambling for activities to fill the days for their children. Often that means summer vacations and trips to the pool or the park. Education experts say even in the midst of summer fun, it is important to ensure that children don’t lose the skills they’ve learned during the academic year. However, they say relaxing and having fun are equally important, and suggest a myriad of stealthy tricks that parents can employ for laid-back learning all summer long.
Unconventional Camp Ideas
Suggestions for parents still searching for summer activities
Lauralie Kennedy has been knee-deep in frantic online searches. School ends next month and the Alexandria mother has yet to enroll her 6-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter in summer camp. “I just haven’t put together a plan yet,” she said. “I have a spread sheet with all of the things I’d like for them to do, but I haven’t done anything with it. I am hoping that there will be slots open somewhere.”
Yoga Week Comes to the Area
Local effort offers budding yogis a chance to improve their minds, bodies and spirits with free or $5 classes.
D.C. Yoga Week Runs through May 5 For more information and a list of participating studios, visit HYPERLINK "http://dccy.org/" http://dccy.org/. “This event will raise awareness about how great yoga is for your mind, body and spirit.” — Amanda Shipe, Mind Your Body Oasis, Arlington
Countdown to College Decision Day
Local college counselors offer advice on making the right choice.
As the May 1 national college decision day looms, the day students must shell out hefty deposits to secure their spots at colleges and universities, students like Daniels are feeling pressure.
Local Researchers Address ‘Concussion Culture’
Education and proper health care are keys.
With the impending warmer weather comes an increased number of children participating in outdoor activities. Some local health care professionals and researchers are issuing words of caution.
The Sound of Music
Enhancing your child’s music education during Music in Our Schools Month and beyond.
From the powerful sounds of a high school band to the soothing melodies sung in a kindergarten music classroom, local music educators are using the month of March to raise awareness of the benefits of learning music.
Decorating for Easter
Easy ideas to welcome spring into your home.
From floral arrangements that burst with pastel blooms to candles that fill one’s home with scents reminiscent of warm weather, local style experts offer suggestions for accents that welcome spring.
February Is Heart Month
Diet and fitness experts offer suggestions for maintaining a healthy heart.
When Mary Elizabeth O’Conner enters a supermarket, she is careful stay within the outer perimeters of the store. “Most grocery stores are designed so that the healthiest and non-processed food, like fresh vegetables and meat are kept on the outer edges,” she said. She looks for heart-healthy foods like whole grains and fresh fruit.
McLean Author Launches New Book
Rebecca Shambaugh shows how organizations can harness the collective strengths of both men and women to create stronger businesses.
Try functioning without half of your brain. You might not be able to remember anything. You might not be able to drive. You might not be able to walk or talk. Now imagine a business that operates using only half its brainpower. It’s destined to fail.
Indoor Winter Fun with Children
Ideas for entertainment when Jack Frost appears.
Winter weather often means limited open air playtime for some children. “It is very important for children to get as much outdoor activity as possible, but there are times when it is not safe for them to be outside for an extended length of time, or any time at all, because it is too cold. ” said Shannon Melideo, chair of the Education Department at Marymount University in Arlington. “There are many other things that children can do besides sledding and ice skating.”
Winter Fun with Food
Easy and tasty ideas for winter meals.
The stove is fired-up, a sauté pan is sizzling and the thud of a steel knife blade hitting a wooden chopping block fills the air along with the woodsy aroma of fresh thyme. The temperature outside is frigid, but the kitchen feels like an inferno as Chef Kristen Robinson drives a knife though a fennel bulb, kale leaves and a tough-skinned butternut squash with staccato succession.
Queen of Household Hints to Share Five Essentials Every Home Should Have
Heloise to headline 2013 Home and Remodeling Show at the Dulles Expo Center.
The high priestess of household hints will share her domestic wisdom this weekend at the 2013 Home and Remodeling Show at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Va. A nationally syndicated columnist, Heloise is one of the presenters scheduled to headline the weekend’s show.
Preparing for a Spring Wonderland
Experts offer advice on what to do now to create a pleasurable outdoor space in spring.
Chilly January temperatures can make spring seem far away. However, it’s closer than you think. A recent Residential Landscape Architecture Trends survey from the American Society of Landscape Architects showed that as the weather gets warmer, many want an undemanding, outdoor space.
Home and Remodeling Show Comes to D.C. Area
Nationally Syndicated Columnist Heloise and local contractors will educate homeowners.
Whether you’re planning to renovate an entire house, update an antiquated bathroom, create a more functional kitchen or simply add more color to your home, there will be inspiration and ideas aplenty at the 2013 Home and Remodeling Show.
Advice for Seniors on Fitness in the New Year
Suggestions for making and keeping exercise resolutions.
Mary Garner’s New Year’s resolution is to increase the intensity of her workout routine. The 69-year-old retiree plans to seek the advice of a fitness trainer to create a plan to achieve her goal.
The Quest for Youth and Beauty
Spending billions of dollars to improve one’s appearance.
Hiba Hakki reclines on an exam table as a physician picks up a syringe with his latex-gloved hand and points it at her face. He inserts the needle into the flesh around her eyes. She cringes slightly. This is a Botox injection, just one of the cosmetic procedures Hakki undergoes for the sake of beauty.
Avoiding Jet Lag
Medical experts offer suggestions for those traveling across multiple time zones during the holidays.
Every December, Linda McDonald travels from her Oak Hill home to Stockton, Calif., to visit her family for Christmas. She tries to head west a few days before the holiday, but often leaves on Christmas Eve, and arrives feeling hazy and sluggish.
Cosmetic Dentistry for Children
Whether it’s to replace a tooth that was lost or broken during a hockey game or to create a Hollywood-smile before taking the stage for a school play, pediatric dentists say an increasing number of children are undergoing cosmetic dental procedures.
Understanding Yoga
Local yogis explain popular styles of yoga.
Joanna Mosely says she can’t tell a downward facing dog from a baby cobra. She belts out a perplexed “huh?” when asked if she knew the difference between Ashtanga and Bikram.
Preventing Holiday Weight Gain
Nutritionists say merriment doesn’t have to lead to bulge.
Festive holidays are filled with sweet treats from eggnog and cider to fruitcake and chocolate bonbons.
Keys to Staying Healthy During the Holiday Season
Finding balance can preserve one’s well-being.
Food, festivities and friends are synonymous with the holidays. However, celebrations can take a toll on your health.
Building a Savings Stockpile on Shoestring Budget
Money experts say it is possible to save, even on a limited income.
Even though Mary Beth Lanvin is employed full-time with a company that offers generous retirement benefits, she can’t afford to contribute to a 401(k).
Avoiding Holiday Debt
Plan now to prevent post-holiday bills.
Festive store displays mean the holiday shopping season is in full swing.
Tips for Year-End Charitable Giving
Financial experts offer suggestions for ensuring one’s donations are well spent.
’Tis the season for giving, and that includes donations to charities.