While we love a good reason to shop for new party duds, holiday office celebrations are not necessarily reasons to buy outfits you might wear out with friends. To keep your perceived professionalism this year, and perhaps even elevate it, follow these five tips to dressing for office-party success.


1. Don't Show Too Much Skin
Company parties are often super-fun affairs, especially when co-workers are friends, but as much as you want to get gussied up and celebrate, don't forget you're at a work event and dress accordingly. If a frock would be considered too short or too low-cut for the office, it's probably too revealing for your company shindig. Only you know what crosses the line. If you're not sure whether your outfit is kosher or not, it probably isn't.

Shop our favorite party dresses for the holidays!




Silk corset dress, $89 from Victoria's Secret



2. Do Wear Appropriate Undergarments
Visible bra straps and panty lines are fashion mistakes in general as well as at an office

By Lindsey Emery, SELF magazine

With these ingenious editor picks, you need never miss a workout.

From old-fashioned apple to an unexpected twist on pumpkin, we've handpicked the best of the best in this luscious collection of pies.

By Sara Quessenberry

Holiday treats (made from the same dough) that are anything but cookie-cutter.

All the cookies featured below use 1 recipe of Basic Sugar Cookie Dough. Bake the cookies at 350º F on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 1½ inches apart. Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. The total times in the recipes include the making of the dough. Do not substitute slice-and-bake dough from the supermarket; the cookies will not hold their shape when baked.

Get the recipe for Basic Sugar Cookie Dough.

More holiday recipes and tips from Real Simple:

25 Deliciously Decadent Holiday Desserts

The Twelve Lists of Christmas

Best Baking Tools for the Holidays

Easy Ways to Reduce Holiday Stress

For many people, Thanksgiving is a joyous holiday; for many people, Thanksgiving is a dreaded holiday. One factor that can make it tough is spending time with difficult relatives. Here are some strategies for keeping Thanksgiving dinner pleasant:

1. Before you join the group, spend a few minutes thinking about how you want to behave. Don't just react in the moment; consider how you want to act. If you've had unpleasant experiences in the past, think about WHY they were unpleasant and what YOU could do to change the dynamics of the situation. You may tell yourself that you want everyone to get along - but if so, you need to do your part to contribute to a harmonious atmosphere. In particular…

2. Think about how topics that seem innocuous to you might upset someone else. You may think you're showing a polite interest, but some questions will rub a person the wrong way: "So do you have a boyfriend yet?" "When are you two going to get married/start a family?" "Didn't you give up

The holidays will be here before you know it, and nothing says Christmas like a handmade card. So grab your crafting supplies and order your holiday kits, because now more than ever a handmade card really shows you care. Here are 5 great reasons for making your own holiday cards this year:

1. Longevity - With its' simple charm, a handmade card can make someone's day. It is those handmade cards from the special people in our lives that we all keep and cherish for a lifetime!
2. It Distinguishes You - In an age of emails and template e-cards, a handmade card can show off your personality and creativity. Whether you are traditional, modern or something in between, no two handmade cards are made alike!
3. It's fun - For those of us that love our papers, holiday cards are just another excuse to craft to our hearts content.
4. 'Tis the Season - For a card maker, the holiday season is the Oscars of card making. So, roll out the red carpet and show off all of the

Don't tell anyone but I have a love/hate relationship with crafts. While I absolutely love walking around craft fairs and hang every handmade item the kids bring home from school, for some reason, the idea of cutting out tiny felt trees or wrapping pipe cleaner around styrofoam to concoct the perfect holiday ornament stresses me out! I think it's all those past holidays where I was left stringing cranberries all night while my hubby and kids snuggled in bed that's kept me from taking the crafting plunge.

Until now...

Family.com recognizes that we're not all Martha Stewart in the making (thank you!). That's why they've created how-to holiday craft videos that are so easy, even craft-challenged moms like me can create works of holiday art! With easy step-by-step instructions, you'll be on your way to creating adorable holiday decorations for the front door, table, Christmas tree and more.

Plus getting crafty with the kids has three important benefits that can make even the biggest

--By Julia Bainbridge, Bon Appétit

As a kid, Molly Wizenberg had no idea that sauerkraut was not a traditional Thanksgiving dish to most Americans. "It was always there, on the sideboard, as inevitable as turkey," she writes in the Cooking Life column of our current issue. "That's part of the condition of being a kid: Your family, no matter the oddities or inconsistencies, still seems perfectly normal."

Intrigued by Molly's story--and by her recipe for Sauerkraut with Gin and Caraway--we polled our Facebook fans for their unusual Thanksgiving traditions. And what do you know? We found some gems:

-Deborah Tolda Kohler: My father's side of the family is Portuguese. Every year we serve stuffing made with chorizo. Yum!

-Allen Zeitgeist Greenky: Fresh Dungeoness crab. The end of November used to be the opening of the crab season in the San Fran and Bay Area, and when there were still fishermen at Fishermen's Wharf you could get some of the first catch of the season. Since this was the