Blog Posts by Woman s Day

By Beth Levine

My friend Amy still can't believe it. She recently attended a friend's 40th birthday extravaganza organized by the friend's wife. No expense was spared -a lavish dinner at a top-tier restaurant, champagne, a chocolate fountain, the works.

"Up until the end, it was a wonderful evening," Amy says. But when the wife was given the bill, instead of discreetly taking care of it, she turned it over to the next person, saying, "Can you all figure out what you owe? I'm terrible at math."

"Hello? Who throws a huge party, expecting the guests to foot the bill?" Amy says, with exasperation. More people than you'd think. These days we all find ourselves in sticky money situations, and most of the time we never know quite what to say or do. In fact, Woman's Day reader Elaine Lee was so confused about who pays when that she turned to us for answers. So, Elaine (and everyone else), the next time you're in the middle of a do-I-or-don't-I moment, keep these rules in mind.

Read More »from Minding Your Money Manners

By Woman's Day Staff

At this time of year, it's easy to feel like a chicken (or, uh, turkey) with her head cut off. But don't let holiday to-dos overshadow the true spirit of Thanksgiving. This year, find ways to feel grateful every day, starting with this easy-to-make paper wreath that can hold family members' declarations of gratitude.

See 5 ways to help your kids understand the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

Materials

• 26 squares of 4" x 4" light brown construction paper
• 26 squares of 3" x 3" white construction paper
• 26 squares of 3" x 3" dark brown construction paper
• 26 squares of 2" x 2" white construction paper
• Hot-glue gun and glue sticks
• 14" metal wreath base ($16.99; at Michaels stores)
• 52 stalks of wheat ($4.99 per bunch; at Michaels stores)
• Gold spray paint (we used Krylon Metallic Spray Paint in Gold, $7.99; KMart.com)
• 26 gold balls (we used style PF28214, $3.50 for 6; Fun2Bead.com)
• Strips of

Read More »from Thanksgiving Craft: Paper Cone Gratitude Wreath

By Kimberly Fusaro
Selling your home sounds easy enough. Just hammer a "For Sale" sign into the front lawn and start bringing in the buyers, right? Not so fast. If you want to get the highest possible sale price, you need to woo potential buyers. That's where professional home stagers come in: Like a Hollywood set, your home can be turned into a scene that buyers will want to latch on to. If you're serious about selling, you might want to consider hiring a professional home stager to transform your house into every buyer's dream-or just borrow these tips from the pros to get it in ready-to-sell condition.

1. Clear Out Clutter
Whittle huge photo displays down to a few frames. Pack up collections and knickknacks that are cluttering your bookshelves, desktop, dresser and end tables. "Show potential buyers your home, not your stuff!" urges professional home stager Jan Whitlow.

2. Let Light In
Pull up the shades and draw back the curtains! "Light creates a positive, cheerful

Read More »from 10 Home Staging Secrets

By Scott Gibson

Photo: © iStockphoto

Flooring takes tremendous wear and tear, especially in high-traffic rooms like the kitchen and bath. Bathrooms are highly susceptible to water damage, especially if the household includes tykes who splash in the tub or someone who's likely to leave the shower curtain half closed. In the kitchen, areas around the sink and dishwasher inevitably get wet, and the floor areas next to the range, refrigerator and sink will see more than their fair share of abrasive foot traffic.

Given these conditions, the best flooring options are those that stand up to traffic, are stain- and water-resistant and don't require a lot of maintenance.

Keep your new floors clean using one of these innovative vacuums.

Top Picks: Tile and Stone
Ceramic tile and natural stone will be trouble-free surfaces in either the kitchen or bath. Of the two, ceramic and porcelain tiles are more stain-resistant. Most types of stone should be sealed (and

Read More »from Home Flooring 101

By Olivia Putnal

While some foodies love to cook, and others go to fine restaurants, NYC-based Erik Trinidad expresses his love of all things edible by taking fast food menu items from restaurants like McDonald's and Taco Bell, turning them into gourmet-looking meals and posting the results on his site FancyFastFood.com. Originally just a joke with friends, his first creation was a McDonald's Big Mac and fries combo meal that he turned into a fancy steak and potatoes dish. But his project got such rave reviews, that he kept at it. Today, his site it full of creative reinventions of fast food items and he's even writing a book, The Fancy Fast Food Cookbook: Mock Recipes with No Bun Intended. WD rounded up our favorites, so take a look at these 10 works of culinary art.

Find out which fast food meals are the best and worst for you.

Chicken Cordon Deux (Kentucky Fried Chicken)

To create each dish, Trinidad says he first thinks up a pun between a gourmet meal and a fast food item, he

Read More »from 10 Fast Food Items Turned Into Fancy Dishes

By Woman's Day Staff

Dough Demo

When it comes to baking, rolling out pie dough can be a tough task to master. But with the right technique and a little practice, anyone can achieve a picture-perfect crust. Before embarking on your next baking adventure, check out these simple steps to start the process off right. The rest, as they say, will be easy as pie.

Photo: © Philip Flicks/Woman's Day

Use this perfect pie crust in one of these 10 Thanksgiving pie recipes.

Step 1

Start with a flattened disk of dough (for a recipe, go to WomansDay.com/Pastry) that has been tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

Place the unwrapped disk on a well-floured work surface. Dust your fingers, rolling pin and dough with flour. Roll out the dough, working from the center outward, rolling clockwise around the disk to form a 12-inch circle about 1/4 inch thick.

Photo: © Philip Flicks/Woman's Day.

Step 2

Place a

Read More »from How to Roll Out a Pie Crust

By Joan Raymond

We now have access to more information, more people, more places than ever before. But is it good for our brains and bodies? by Joan Raymond It's a fact of life that in the past three decades, we've become the denizens of a digital world-and this benefits our health in many ways. Those of us who are newly diagnosed with a condition (or just wondering what's wrong) can find answers with just a few clicks.

We have access to more health information-and support if we're dealing with a diagnosis-than ever before. Smartphone apps alert us to take medication and log our diet and exercise routines. "Using technology to help people get healthier is very exciting," says Giselle Mosnaim, MD, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, who is using peer-to-peer messages on MP3 players to help teens remember their asthma meds.

But this ubiquitous use of technology has a price: We can't put it down. And that can lead to aches, pains, blurry vision and a host of other

Read More »from The Health Impact of High Tech

By Cheryl Platzman Weinstock

Six years ago, Ruth White woke up in the middle of the night with an overwhelming urge to smother her 7-year-old daughter and then kill herself.

"I called a girlfriend from another part of the house because I was too scared to go back in the bedroom, where my daughter had been sleeping beside me," recalls Ruth, now 46 and a professor of social work at Seattle University. "I stayed on the telephone with my friend most of the night. She said if things got crazy she would call 911. Luckily, she didn't have to. I got myself together enough to drop off my daughter at school the next morning and then went straight to my therapist's office and broke down."

Ruth's therapist diagnosed her with bipolar disorder, a type of depression characterized by periods of manic "highs" and depressed "lows" also known as manic depression. She immediately started on medication and agreed to enlist friends and family to help care for her and her daughter until she was

Read More »from Understanding Depression at Midlife