#obligatory Christmas post right after thanksgiving

[birdhaslostit]

🎁🎄❄️What the Lupin Gang would do for Christmas!❄️🎄🎁

Helloooooooo Lupin fans! You may or may not remember me as that one chick who made that Halloween headcanon post a few months back, as well as the Jigen’s bangs post. I’m back with a Christmas post!!!

Please note: Personally, I really only celebrate Christmas in a non-Jesus-y way. (Which is how I’m also writing this post, because let’s be honest, do you really think Lupin is going to confession and shit? Absolutely not.) It’s purely out of habit because I was raised Catholic, but I practice witchcraft now. My family doesn’t know that though. Because of this, I considered also making posts for other winter holidays, so I could include Lupin fans that don’t celebrate Christmas. But I didn’t want to accidentally mess it up, or write something inaccurate about a holiday that I don’t celebrate. It felt disingenuous to make a Hanukkah post because I’m not Jewish and it doesn’t seem like my place, and I didn’t want to do a Yule one either, because no two people celebrate it the same way. So, I strongly encourage others to add their respective winter festivities to this post if they want to! We’re all about inclusivity here.

Without further ado:

🎁LUPIN:

I don’t feel like it needs saying, but this man goes bonkers for Christmas.

He flip-flops his choice of red or green jacket by the year. But it always comes with an equally garish Christmas-themed tie, just to make explicitly clear that this is The Christmas Jacket for the year, as opposed to the standard red/green jacket.

The hideout(s) are always decorated to the GILLS inside. It’s an odd mix of older classy decorations he’s inherited from his family, and absolutely horrendously tacky ones he’s bought himself. 

Picture real branch garlands, wrapped tastefully around gilded candelabras that have been passed down through several generations. And then one of those singing, dancing stuffed animals from Walmart that plays “Jingle Bell Rock” when you squeeze its paw, right next to it.

Christmas-themed heists? You know it, baby. But he won’t steal anything on Christmas Eve or Christmas. It just isn’t in the spirit of the season, in his opinion. But he’ll leave a little something-something with his calling cards during the rest of December. A candy cane, a sprig of mistletoe, a bough of holly, etc.

Lupin despises eggnog. He loves any other Christmas drink, just not eggnog. He’s too grossed out by the idea of drinking eggs with alcohol- some things just shouldn’t be mixed.

Will not allow anyone to mention the truth about Santa Claus in his presence. Yeah, he knows, but that’s not the point. It just feels like bad luck to say it out loud. The harder Jigen tries to debate with him that Santa isn’t real, the harder he digs in his heels that “of course he is you absolute Scrooge, how dare you! If you don’t believe, you don’t receive.”

Favorite Christmas Songs: Anything peppy! 

Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney

Step Into Christmas by Elton John

Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee

We Need a Little Christmas by Percy Faith and his Orchestra

A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives

All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey

Santa Claus’ Party by Les Baxter

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Literally anything except eggnog.

Favorite Christmas Foods: Anything obscenely sugary. Especially gingerbread men and other decorated pastries.

Favorite Christmas Activities: Loves to ice skate and make gingerbread houses! But his houses usually look fairly pathetic, no matter how hard he tries.

Favorite Christmas Movie(s): 

The Grinch (Jim Carrey version)

Home Alone

Scrooged

Christmas Gifts: The king of gag gifts, but he also gives surprisingly thoughtful presents too. He’s the kind of guy that would get a person something they mentioned once offhandedly that they really liked, and he’d go back and get it for them.

🎅JIGEN:

Lupin always wants to decorate the hideout(s) the second Halloween ends, but it never happens. With Jigen being the only American in the gang, he always puts a stop to it in order to preserve the quickly-disappearing border between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

What can I say, dude loves his Thanksgiving excuse to eat like shit and do nothing for a day. Even if it is a fucked-up holiday, historically speaking.

But once the Thanksgiving meal is over, he gives Lupin the okay to go crazy. He’s pretty stoked about Christmas too, but too full of turkey to contribute, so he just watches Lupin hang up Christmas lights everywhere while he lays on the couch and digests.

Jigen likes Christmas a lot, but like, in a normal person kind of way. Nowhere near Lupin’s insane level. He’s surprisingly open about his enthusiasm too. The average person would think he doesn’t really care about Christmas much (or anything else really), but to the gang, Christmastime is the most openly excited they’ve ever seen him.

One year’s Christmas-themed heist involved Jigen dressing up as a mall Santa as a part of the plan. The gang powdered his beard, gave him a pillow for his stomach, and sent him on his way. Everything went surprisingly smoothly, and he actually did pretty well with the kids. At first they were a little intimidated, and Jigen was kind of nervous- but he gave them all candy canes and they changed their minds pretty quickly.

Jigen enjoyed it a lot, actually... to the point that he may have potentially started volunteering to be the local mall Santa. Every year during December, he leaves for a day or two on “business.” Nobody in the gang can prove it though, and trust me, they’ve tried.

Favorite Christmas Songs: The classics and the chill ones, with a few rock ones thrown in for a little kick.

Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby

Sleigh Bells by Gene Autry

(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays by Perry Como

Jingle Bells by Frank Sinatra

Caroling, Caroling by Nat King Cole

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow by Dean Martin

Silver Bells by Dean Martin

Happy Holiday by Bing Crosby

Run Rudolph Run by Chuck Berry

Merry Christmas Baby by Bruce Springsteen (Sang this once after too much eggnog and will never live it down)

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by the Barenaked Ladies (He’s not into all the Jesus-y stuff, but it’s pretty catchy.)

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Jigen is ALL. ABOUT. THAT. NOG. He’ll make his cup a little stronger than everyone else’s.

Favorite Christmas Foods: He really likes candy canes, especially the mini ones. He’ll keep a few in his pocket with his cigs, and switch between them depending on his mood. Out of habit, it’ll usually dangle out of his mouth like a cigarette would.

Favorite Christmas Activities: Watching Christmas movies and laughing at Lupin’s shitty gingerbread houses.

Favorite Christmas Movies: 

Anything that’s on at the moment, really. He likes to lounge by the TV, and he’s not picky. 

He has a soft spot for A Charlie Brown Christmas though.

A Christmas Story, solely because of the BB gun.

Scrooged, because Bill Murray’s hilarious.

Christmas Gifts: Something practical and useful that the person never realized they needed until they opened the box.

☃️GOEMON:

Goemon wasn’t originally a huge fan of Christmas. Shocking, I know.

He now enjoys some aspects of it, and tolerates others. He likes the idea of giving heartfelt gifts and spending time with loved ones as a tradition, but dislikes the cheesy commercial aspect of Christmas.

He already enjoys the snow and walking through the forest, so the gang usually commissions him to pick a tree for them and cut it down with Zantetsuken. (If they’re somewhere where that’s an option.)

Unbeknownst to the rest of the gang, he will always replant the tree he cut down, and he will wrap something cozy around the bottom of the sapling to keep it safe. Yes, this was directly inspired by A Charlie Brown Christmas. No, he will not admit to this.

Favorite Christmas Songs: The instrumentals, and a few he’d rather die than admit to liking.

The Nutcracker March from The Nutcracker

Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker

Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental) by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

Greensleeves by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

Last Christmas by Wham! (He likes the storyline and the romantic aspect of it.)

Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Band Aid (He likes that it was for a good cause, even if it has its flaws.)

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Again, flawed, but he enjoys the intended message of peace. Also, represents Japan on the side with Yoko Ono.)

White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Surprisingly fond of hot cocoa. Heavy on the whipped cream and marshmallows. 

Favorite Christmas Foods: Doesn’t really like eating gingerbread men, but enjoys decorating them. They’re always pristine, like something you’d get in a bakery.

Favorite Christmas Activities: See above. Also enjoys going out in the snow, and making ice sculptures with Zantetsuken.

Favorite Christmas Movies: Refuses to admit he likes any of these.

Any of the classic Rankin Bass claymation specials.

Any other animated ones for kids. Has a soft spot for A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Polar Express.

A few of those cheesy Hallmark ones.

Christmas Gifts: Something small and sentimental he saw while walking by a store that reminded him of the person he’s giving it to. Nothing extravagant, but thoughtful nonetheless.

⛸FUJIKO:

Fujiko decorates the tree. Period. Lupin cannot be trusted to do this on his own. Goemon picks the tree, Lupin and Jigen put it in the stand, and from there, it’s all Fujiko. The ornaments, lights, and tree skirt are all perfectly color/theme coordinated, and arranged like a pristine store display. 

She also has a few ornaments that she bought for each specific member of the gang. Lupin’s is a monkey (he was not pleased, but he’s whipped for her, so he let her keep it). Jigen’s is a carved wooden pistol. Goemon’s is porcelain, with hand-painted sakura blossoms on it. She bought one for Zenigata too as a joke one year- a tiny bowl of ramen noodles.

Her ornament? The star on top of the tree, because she’s the star of the show, baby. It’s actually a snowflake, made of the finest crystal she could steal.

Favorite Christmas Songs: Pop music and Motown’s finest.

Underneath The Tree by Kelly Clarkson

All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey

Santa Tell Me by Ariana Grande

This Christmas by Donny Hathaway

What Christmas Means To Me by Stevie Wonder

Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes 

Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love

A Marshmallow World by Darlene Love

I Like A Sleighride (Jingle Bells) by Peggy Lee

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Hot chocolate and mulled wine.

Favorite Christmas Foods: Loves baking and eating gingerbread men. She lets Goemon decorate them with her. Hers have lots of candy and sprinkles on them, while his are just icing.

Favorite Christmas Activities: Along with baking, ice skating! She’s the best at it out of the whole group. None of the guys are particularly good at it, but she makes them go with her at least once regardless.

Favorite Christmas Movies:

Hallmark ones, solely to make fun of them.

Babes In Toyland, but only the 1986 one, because it has Keanu Reeves in it, and “I don’t care if I’m your girlfriend, Lupin. In this house, we support Keanu Reeves.”

Christmas Gifts: Something expensive/extravagant that will make the person think of her every time they use it.

🎄ZENIGATA:

Zenigata is the second biggest Christmas enthusiast, just behind Lupin.

He doesn’t get to settle down and decorate anything really, since he’s always running after the gang, but he does lots of other little things to celebrate instead. Like getting hot chocolate instead of coffee, tuning the squad car radio to the Christmas station, getting an air freshener that smells like gingerbread, and wearing a festive scarf and gloves with his trench coat to keep out the cold.

In years past, Zenigata still had to work on Christmas Eve/Christmas, even if Lupin wasn’t out stealing anything. Lupin found out and thought that was a little harsh of ICPO, so he came up with a plan. 

Each year he sends a calling card to the station with the conditions that only Zenigata can come to investigate. Zenigata does some research, shows up to the location on Christmas Eve, and every year, nothing’s there except for a neatly wrapped present from Lupin. 

Zenigata keeps the present as “evidence,” goes back to the station, and they give him Christmas off to go investigate on his own, in case Lupin tries anything else. Lupin never does, but the station doesn’t know that. Bada bing, bada boom, Lupin just got Zenigata a vacation.

Zenigata never catches on, bless his heart.

Favorite Christmas Songs: Ones he can sing/hum along to in the squad car.

The Man With All The Toys by The Beach Boys

Celebrate Me Home by Kenny Loggins

Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano (Does Zenigata understand Spanish? Absolutely not. Does he get the point and think it’s festive? Darn right.)

A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Dean Martin

Winter Wonderland by the Eurythmics

Silver Bells by Dean Martin

Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season by Andy Williams

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town by Gene Autry

December by Earth, Wind, and Fire (Let him have this okay, it’s a good song and he gets made fun of for liking it by the rest of ICPO)

Skating by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

Favorite Christmas Drinks: Hot cocoa and eggnog, but not strong eggnog like Jigen’s.

Favorite Christmas Foods: Anything, really. It’s something besides cup noodles, so he’s grateful. Lupin’s gift always includes lots of various Christmas goodies because of this.

Favorite Christmas Activities: Zenigata enjoys the snow in theory, but doesn’t handle the cold well. So he likes to watch the snow from his window while he listens to Christmas music in his squad car and sips his hot cocoa.

Favorite Christmas Movies: He doesn’t really have a lot of time to sit down a watch a movie, with how hard he works. But he remembers a few from when he was younger, and he really likes those. His favorite is Frosty the Snowman.

Christmas Gifts: Something inexpensive because ICPO vastly underpays this poor man, and he’s always embarrassed because of that, but it’s always something super sweet and heartfelt.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! And for those who don’t celebrate it, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! <3

#lupin #lupin iii #lupin the 3rd #lupin the third #rupan sansei #daisuke jigen #jigen daisuke #fujiko mine #fujiko #mine Fujiko #koichi zenigata #zenigata #goemon #goemon ishikawa xiii #ishikawa goemon xiii #Christmas #Xmas #obligatory Christmas post right after thanksgiving

[djseaward]

a year of life & travels: 2017

today is new year’s day and it’s time for a recap of last year! it was another great year of being based in southwestern czech republic, feeling like home both here and back in my home country (and realizing that “home” is just a construct), and going to some magical places.

let’s revisit them, shall we? i changed the title of this year’s post to “life & travel” because, as i learned last year, travel isn’t everything and it is also important to capture what else was going on in one’s life. although for this post, it still remains the focal point. (don’t worry) so without further ado....

in january, we had the coldest and snowiest month that i have ever experienced with low low temps that froze over all of the ponds in south bohemia. you know what that meant? checking off my life-long dream to ice skate on a frozen pond! i ended up getting a cold promptly after that day, but it was so worth it. now i am too much of an ice skating elitist to ever skate on anything man-made ever again! (kind of joking, but...)

i also cooked a several course vegetarian dinner for burn's night! (why? we are hopeless "scot-ophiles” who love any good excuse to drink an islay malt and celebrate the the works of burns on a cold, dark winter’s night) that veggie haggis was definitely worth coming back to this month... ooh, i hope i can remember the recipe. it was actually make-again delicious.

in early february we took the first of what would be many many days in the big city (prague). we brought ferdie for his first ever trip on a train, he stayed with a dog-sitter while we saw the vaclav havel exhibit at dox, and generally had ourselves a perfect holešovice day, trudging through slush to get to our favorite cafes and enjoying brunch near the marina. (did you know holešovice had a marina?) i feel like i know the district quite better now!

we also had a very memorable valentine's day tea at born in london and i introduced my favorite students to the british tradition of pancake day -- what better than a lesson where you're making pancakes?!

in early march, my mother-in-law came for her first ever trip to europe and we were so excited to travel with her and take her to all the best spots in prague, český krumlov, and crossing the border into germany to visit bamberg! i had been in bamberg ten years ago during my studies in germany and it just does not disappoint for a low-key trip with excellent food and beer and historical sights. we may have brought two kegs and a few bottles of rauchbier home with us....

april first is always a strange day as the weather is usually quite wacky -- sure enough this year it brought our first forays into summer temperatures, if you can believe it. we marked that day by visiting the beautiful terčino údolí right here in south bohemia - a valley full of blooms, trails, a waterfall, and loads of other cool things to explore. we ate schnitzels while sitting on the terrace of a chateau, because we are in europe. and it was grand.

in mid-april for our long easter weekend, we rode the train into the šumava mountains to the train station with the highest elevation in the country! there we spent our time in a cozy mountain-style house, hiking and relaxing. we couldn't believe our little ferdinand walked 22km in one day! i think this trip is when we realized hiking with him (off-leash) is one of our favorite things to do.

glorious may brought beautiful cherry blossoms, garden parties, and outdoor festivals. i spent my birthday in český krumlov, staying the night there for the first time in over ten years and realizing how magical the town is by night... and how we miss out when we go back home to budejovice before dusk falls! it was brilliant to do all those tourist things like take a coffee in the square, walking around with an ice cream, and doing a bit of shopping in shops i don't usually even bother to set foot in. with our sweet accommodation south of the center right on the river (above), i truly never wanted to leave.

we spent a nice day in june in prague's vinohrady and vršovice districts to celebrate our wedding anniversary with the best mexican food in the country and doing all those big city things. sometimes it's just nicer to avoid old town altogether! (although sometimes i do quite the opposite - there's a time for everything)

at the very end of the month, we shrugged off the long spring and school year with a night in mariánské lázně - a beautiful town in the hills of northwest czech republic that is well-known for its spas and hosting many a famous guest over the past hundreds of years. we danced to jazz in the colonnade and took a hike the next day in the rain... because when you only have a limited time in a new place, you're not going to let a little rain dampen your plans!

at the beginning of july, we woke up and found ourselves in karlovy vary again for our fourth film festival. this time we took it way easier than in past years by staying directly in the center of town and felt so extremely spoiled! it was a great festival, albeit a bit cooler in temperature than every other year. when we got back, we stayed for a weekend with friends at a cottage deep in the wilds of sobo (erm, south bohemia) to have a nice rest before summer camp ramped up.

at the end of the month, we bid czechland goodbye and said hello to chicago! what a city -- i planned to do so much and ended up doing none of the things i thought i would, but instead discovered a whole new side which ended up being one of our favorite parts of our united states trip.

we were in michigan at the beginning of august visiting family and attending a wedding before flying to portland and staying with my dear friend, megs. i can't tell you how good it felt to have landed in the northwest after so long! i felt so at home immediately in that airport terminal. we rented a car and took off for central oregon to be based out of bend for the wedding of another dear friend, julie. we floated the deschutes river, visited many local breweries, and just generally enjoyed that central oregon high desert vibe.

the second half of the month was spent back home in washington -- i was so pleased to make it to my brother's birthday party at his new house as well as a family camping trip near mt. baker, much-needed karaoke nights, hikes, and of course, visiting all the beaches and eating seafood whenever possible... i even learned how to shuck an oyster! we enjoyed our time so thoroughly that it was almost as though i forgot i had to leave again...

(but i missed this little guy quite a lot)

the beginning of september was a bit rough going, but there are so many fun things happening right in budejovice that it is hard not to enjoy being in south bohemia. we spent some lovely, lazy afternoons in český krumlov, our first czech wedding, and then at the end of the month took a "wine vacation" to south moravia -- znojmo, to be exact! staying right on the square in a spacious apartment and hiking through podyji national park to a winery was a highlight, as well as checking off another thing on my "life to-do list": drinking wine in a vineyard. 

we even moseyed on down into austria for a morning (as it was just across the border from znojmo) and hiked up to a famous windmill as well as toured a huge underground wine cellar. it was a beautiful weekend!

the weather was absolutely gorgeous here in october. we popped off to prague to spend time immersed in the beautiful old town as well as stop at some farmer's markets and get the obligatory annual pumpkin spice latte. we walked to the very end of the street we used to live in (in malá strana) which leads directly up petřín hill -- a fine time of year for a walk amongst the changing colors of the leaves, clear views, and good weather.

november was about "home" in south bohemia if i had to give it a theme -- we focused on home improvement -- we got a new couch, as well as other appreciated upgrades and went to two big dinners: our first st. martin's dinner as well as hosting thanksgiving for the second time. 

on the first of december, we found ourselves in prague yet again for a farewell party of the last of our fellow TEFLers still left in the country -- i can't quite believe that we are the last ones still here of our group from five years ago! it was an emotional time but it's was so good to reconnect with our prague buds. i visited some of the christmas markets there including an attempt to visit old town square, but y'all -- the tourist situation is out of control compared to five years ago (when it was still quite heavy). although there is something special about the market there during advent time... i will probably continue to return despite the crowds!

for christmas, as you may have read, we were in southeastern bavaria (near the austrian border) in the heart of the bavarian alps -- a fantastic and memorable time.

the top five most popular posts on adventurings this year...

-- what i've learned about language learning after +4 years-- best tips & tricks!

-- slow pace or rat race? -- reconciling the relaxed south bohemian lifestyle with what i think i “should” be doing

-- back from the usa + 10 things i love about home -- i was a bit homesick, could you tell? 

-- the expat's guide to christmas away from home -- so many tried & true tips and ideas here

-- musings on identity and being an american -- what i've made of my national identity after five years away

these happened to also be my favorite posts i have personally written this year. funny, that.

i also posted two delicious recipes: a deliciously autumnal pumpkin miso soup, the perfect springy weekday cake, & i shared my fool-proof meal planning strategy.

so, where will we go in 2018?

i am so excited that we are planning a real, actual vacation this year! not a trip. just a lay by the pool somewhere beautiful, visit wineries, eat bread and cheese from a local market, hike and bike ride through the beautiful countryside... this is likely going to take us to provence, france. i think a week or so of living the provençal life will be just the thing, and perfect timing after the school year finishes. (time to brush up on my non-existent french!)

i am also pleased to say we’re planning to head to berlin for a month this next summer! it will be the longest consecutive time i’ve spent there for ten years, and i’m looking forward to greatly improving my language study (actually being in the country should sure help!) and finally doing some berlin things i haven’t yet managed in the past decade. ‘tis time.

everything else is up in the air, so we’ll see where the year takes us! i feel oddly optimistic and ready for this new year. how are you feeling about it? where are you headed this year? if you have any provence tips, i am really all ears.

thanks for being around this year! i have loved & appreciated your comments, shares, connecting with you elsewhere, and the fact that you are here reading this right now. happy new year!

keep up with me in 2018 on bloglovin, twitter, instagram, or facebook.

this post is part of the january travel link-up.

ps, you might like ‘year of travels’ recaps of past years: 2016, 2015, & 2014.

#yearinreview #travel #newyear #yearoftravel #expatlife #recap #endofyear #czech republic

[kidspartycharactersny-nj]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsqdzl3XjPU)

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUyDGxSNM5s)

5 Strategies for Keeping Your Business Strong Through the Holidays

There’s no fighting it at this point. The Halloween 70% off items are long gone and the shelves are overflowing with holiday candy, gifts, and decorations. The tree lots are being stocked and the stores are fully adorned in red and green, with Santa Claus cutouts to greet you at the door.

Even if you’re Nordstrom, which has a long-standing policy of not decorating for Christmas until after Black Friday, you can’t deny that the world is awash in Christmas spirit.

What this means for most solo or small businesses is that it’s time to wind down the year, take a break, and start planning for how you’re going to come on bigger and better next year.

But slowing down for 6-8 weeks during the holiday season is a mistake for a couple of reasons.

First, for most of us, this is the time of year we’re spending more money than usual. So it hardly makes sense to bring in less money when you’re out spending more.

Second, chances are you have little to no competition from now until the end of the year, so why not take advantage of that and be one of the few businesses that is reaching out to people?

Of course there’s a reason people take time off right now, especially parents. We want to spend more time with friends and family. More time shopping and baking and addressing cards. More time listening to Christmas music, relaxing, and contemplating New Year Resolutions.

The nice thing is, with just a little extra effort on your part, you can make December your best business month of the whole year. It won’t require 40 hour work weeks and pulling all nighters to fit everything in.

Just a few well-planned strategies will allow you to take the time off you want, as well as grow your business. Here are five simple strategies you can start implementing before you put the Thanksgiving turkey in the oven.

1. Send a Personal Greeting

Don’t bother with the stock Christmas cards that come with some generic, impossible-to-offend greeting and your signature conveniently pre-printed on them.

They may go on the mantel with the other cards, but they’ll be quickly discarded on January 1, without having made any real impact.

Take the time now to send a more personal greeting. Depending on your client and prospect base, it may not be realistic to send a handwritten message to everyone, but concentrate at least on your most valuable clients.

This is a great time to thank and re-engage former customers, and to get to the top of mind with your hottest potential clients.

Choose a card that looks unique, if possible. Most businesses will send a green card with “Seasons Greetings” written in gold on the outside, and “Wishing you joy throughout the holidays” on the inside. These are boring and scream, “I’m trying to be spiritually-correct and non-offensive to all.”

You have to decide here. If you love Santa and celebrate Christmas, does it matter to you if you send  a card that represents this and two or three people blacklist you because they’re offended?

But if you’ll go with something that represents your personality, doesn’t look like it’s one of 5000 identical cards that was sent to all your customers, and contains a non-generic handwritten line or two, you’ll find the recipients especially responsive to your other holiday marketing efforts we’re about to go through.

2. Offer a Discount on Advance Purchases

You don’t want to spend your holidays working, and your customers may not need or have time for your services over the holidays.

Come up with a solution that works well for both of you.

Offer a discount if they buy now, receive a voucher for future services, and can redeem that voucher any time throughout the coming year.

Yes, they can wait until they’re ready for you in 2019. But if they do, they’ll pay 20% more. You get the money coming in now, they get the discount on something they’ll need later. (Just remember to budget and plan for the fact that you’ll be providing the service later without the money coming in!)

3. Put Together a Personal Holiday Video

No matter what your religious beliefs are, the holidays are the perfect time to get personal. People crave a feel-good, human story around this time.  

And there’s no better way to connect personally than through video.

It doesn’t have to be professionally done, and thinking that it does is what will keep 99% of your competition from doing it.

In fact, it’s better if it’s not perfect, that’s what makes it personal.

Consider a behind the scenes video of how you manage your business (which can be quite funny for moms!), a story about your family’s holiday traditions, or even a sneak peek at how you plan to serve your customers in bigger and better ways in 2019.

No, you don’t have to be in it, but if you’ll get over yourself for just a minute and at least make a little personal appearance, your audience is bound to love it as much as you hate it.

Post the video on social media and send it to your email list. Send it personally to those you really want to reach.

4. Plan Your Social Media

Rather than just disappearing, or posting some random obligatory pictures of the school play, your fresh-cut tree, and your best attempts holiday baking, keep your business hat on by creating content now to either post manually or, better yet, load into Buffer (or the service of your choice) for automatic posting while you shop, bake, and wrap.

Yes, it will take some extra time now, but it will be so worth it.

Remember, people are likely spending a little extra time on social media sharing pictures and stories. If they see you out there joining in the fun, they’ll remember you, and their know/like/trust for you will grow.

Make sure you set aside a few minutes to respond to comments, and engage, but that’s the easy stuff compared to content creation.

Also, pay special attention to Pinterest. Everyone goes there for some type of holiday inspiration.

5. Open Some Time on Your Calendar

Yes, we’ve already decided you don’t really want to work over the holidays, but could you do just 5-6 hours a week those last two weeks in December?

Sure you could if it meant going into the New Year with no Christmas debt!

Open up your calendar for new client calls or consults or whatever is relevant to getting you business. Maybe it’s just a check-in session, or a jumpstart to 2019 where you brainstorm the New Year and how you can help your prospect be more successful.

The point is, you’re going to be the only one talking to your client or potential client during this time. And a lot of people have some extra time off around the holidays, a lot are planning for 2019 right now. It’s the perfect time to establish you as the one who’s going to help with whatever product or service you provide.

If nothing else, it’s going to make you memorable, which is half the battle in business.

Planning is the Key to Profitable, Stress-Free Holidays

You wouldn’t sit down on Wednesday night and start meal planning and making your grocery list if you were serving Thanksgiving dinner for 20 the next day.

Don’t take a “fly by the seat of your pants” approach to your marketing either and December can be your best month ever, and can set you up for an easy flood of business after the New Year.

It’s easier to connect over the holidays because most people aren’t, and when you’re getting personal, a little bit goes a long way. You don’t need a complicated marketing funnel to make a significant impression.

Take an hour to think about your unique business and your unique story. These five ideas will get you started, but what personal, yet simple, ways can you come up with to keep your business strong over the holidays without sacrificing your holiday cheer?

As you hopefully know by now, if you want mentoring for your entrepreneurial journey, Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs may be able to help.

Cheryl started out as a single mom needing to feed two small kids, and has now had a hand in starting 10 different businesses.

To help cut out the learning curve and meet the time constraints most moms have, Cheryl has created a unique opportunity that allows you to have your own Kids Party Characters business, complete with all the resources Cheryl used to grow her business to six figures.

In addition to an exclusive territory in which to book parties and the right to use our 200-plus costumes, you’ll also get step-by-step training from Cheryl on how to set your business up for quick profits.

Book a free, no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll answer all your questions and get you on the right path.

Learn more about the joy we bring to children’s parties by connecting with Kids Party Characters on Facebook for daily updates, including our best tips for building a successful business while raising happy and healthy kids.

[universeinform-blog]

Russia-backed Crimea chief says Putin should be president for life

New Post has been published on https://universeinform.com/2017/03/19/russia-backed-crimea-chief-says-putin-should-be-president-for-life/

Russia-backed Crimea chief says Putin should be president for life

The Russian-sponsored prime minister of Crimea said on Saturday that Vladimir Putin has to be made the president of Russia for life and that the Soviet Union might never have collapsed had Putin been in charge.

Sergei Aksyonov, marking the third anniversary of the day he signed off on Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula, said Russia wished non-stop robust management to cope with more than one outside threats.

“If our president Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) become in the rate of things whilst the Soviet Union existed, the Soviet Union could not have fallen apart,” said Aksyonov, who stated some days in the past that Russia wished a monarchic fashion of government. Vladimir Vladimirovich must be president for lifestyles,” Aksyonov advised the Rossiya 24 channel.

Putin, 64, has dominated the Russian political panorama for the beyond 17 years. He has now not stated whether he’s going to run for a fourth presidential time period next 12 months, however, is anticipated to achieve this.

Aksyonov’s comments coincided with celebrations in Moscow marking what Russia regards as its valid integration of Crimea, a move condemned by the USA and the European which imposed punitive sanctions on Moscow that continue to be in the location.

Kiev, that is embroiled in a low-stage war with seasoned-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, says it needs Crimea returned.

(Reporting with the aid of Andrew Osborn; Modifying with the aid of Ruth Pitchford)

Russian Holidays

The maximum vital Russian holiday is New Year’s Day – January 1st. In the course of the Soviet technology, humans were now not allowed to have a good time Christmas, so New Yr’s have become the most crucial excursion. New Year’s is a public excursion even as Christmas is more of a personal own family vacation. Glad New Year in Russian is ‘Snovum God.’

Russian Orthodox Christmas is widely known on January 7th. This is the equivalent day to December 25 in the old Russian calendar.Russians also rejoice ‘Catholic Christmas’ on December twenty-fifth and the old Russian New Yr’s Day of January 14th inside the Julian calendar, which they used till 1918.

Russians rejoice greater vacations than Hallmark Cards. It is just one extra motive to drag the cork out of the vodka bottle.

The most vital excursion as ways as Russian girls are involved is “Worldwide women’s Day.” This is March 8. This excursion, that Americans have by no means heard of, is like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and her birthday all rolled into one. In this day, the guys do all of the family chores. They treat the female of the house as Queen for an afternoon. They purchase her a nice gift and perhaps flowers.

One phrase of advice: Recall this present day as you’ll your anniversary, her birthday, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day. It’s miles that critical to a Russian lady.

One big difference between Russia and The united states is that Russians don’t rejoice Thanksgiving Day, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day. They don’t rejoice any of the ethnic vacations that us has like St. Patrick’s Day, Columbus Day, or Martin Luther King Day, even though I’m certain they might get in the back of the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day 100%.

Every former Soviet Republic has its personal independence day that is widely known as Independence Day in America, although no longer quite to the same degree It’s miles celebrated in The USA.February 23 is officially Soldier’s Day and is a form of like Father’s Day where men are commemorated.

May nine is Victory Day, in which the Russians celebrate victory in the wonderful Patriotic Warfare — what we name International Struggle II. Each man who is a veteran is treated like a general In this day. There’s much drinking and celebrating to honor the conquering Struggle heroes.

November 7 is the Soviet excursion that commemorates the October Revolution (which definitely occurred in November), while the Bolsheviks took power from the Czar. The cause It is referred to as the October revolution is as it changed into in the month of October inside the old Russian calendar.

Take into account the parades in Pink Square. In the course of this excursion, the Soviet leaders wore the ones huge Russian fur hats even as standing above Lenin’s tomb.This excursion remains celebrated by using a few, despite the fact that not nearly as a good deal as when the Soviets were in power.

Pascha is the Russian Orthodox equal to Catholic Easter. Easter is the primary Sunday following the first complete moon after the Spring Equinox (March 21).Pascha is the primary Sunday following the primary complete moon after the Spring Equinox and Jewish Passover.

This becomes the date that the Christian Church at first celebrated Easter.Passover is the Jewish nonsecular party when the Lord handed over the homes of the Israelites At some point of the plagues that Moses visited upon the Egyptians for holding the Israelites captive. The closing plague, or curse, changed into that the first-born sons of all of the land would perish.

The Israelites were to sacrifice a lamb to God and put the blood of the lamb over their doorstep. by using doing so, they might be surpassed Over via the plague, and their first-born could be spared.

To Christians, Jesus represented the Lamb of God. He becomes the Passover lamb. He turned into the Lamb who was sacrificed to keep the souls of all and sundry, not simply the first-born sons of the Israelites.

Jesus got here to Jerusalem At some point of Passover and become crucified right after Passover.The Orthodox have fun Pascha (The Ardour) after Passover for this reason.

Why You Should Hire a Wedding Band for the Big Day

When it comes to making plans your wedding ceremony leisure, it’s first-class to get something booked at the least a few months earlier. Endure in mind that the most famous singers and bands will get booked up fast, so set aside as a good deal time as you could to keep away from being disappointed with the aid of your first preference being unavailable – in particular in busy seasons including summer season and around Christmas.

Once you have booked your musical amusement, the performer will commonly cope with info inclusive of the device, organizing sound checks and setting collectively a tailor-made track list for the occasion. If your appearance on the line, you have to discover there’s a big desire of musicians for rent in your vicinity – which include solo singers, jazz bands, swing performers or even choirs.

Many people pick out to have DJs at their wedding reception, or will actually deliver the tune themselves via an iPod and sound gadget. In case you’re choosing a low-finances event, this will be a wonderful way to get humans up and their toes – however, there may be not anything like a complete band to surely make the night time something special. And In case you cannot pull out all of the stops for the happiest day of your life, when can you?

What is more, hiring a band to play on the night can be fairly low cost – mainly if simplest for a short set. In case you opt for a person local, you might not want to pay for their travel or accommodation, and that they must provide all the gadget and backing tracks, as well as excessive nice entertainment for all of your visitors.

Some performers may also provide a DJ career to accompany their set, which means you could offer visitors with both a stay song set, followed by all your favored tracks thru the modern-day sound device. This normally works out significantly cheaper than having to lease a DJ and sound equipment one after the other, that’s what many couples emerge as doing.

Most wedding ceremony musicians will have a repertoire of songs that they carry out frequently, but you need to be able to make unique requests when you have something specific in mind. Many bands can even provide a non-obligatory ‘first dance’ overall performance, that can typically be any tune of your selecting, so long as the vocal fashion and musical accompaniment is something they can interpret.

Whilst you’re booking enjoyment to your guests, you’ll want to make sure you are hiring experts with preceding revel in appearing in front of large audiences. Many musicians for lease could have professional schooling, as well as experience performing at prestigious activities, so you realize you will be capable of assuming them to turn up on time and supply a tremendous performance.

You have to additionally capable of view testimonials from previous clients online to get a sense for the kind of services on offer, though ensure they are genuine. An awesome way to recognize for sure that your selected musicians have finished at other activities in the past is to scope out their online snapshots.

So, no longer best will the proper wedding ceremony band set a top notch mood for the large day, however, they also can exercise session to be a far higher price option than hiring a DJ or sourcing your own sound gadget.

Why Hire A Personal Life Coach

Right here are a few key motives how hiring a Personal Lifestyles Instruct can free up your maximum capability.

Completed with the remedy. It is able to sense incredibly to talk approximately our troubles but it doesn’t resolve them. We can observe what we assume is incorrect all day lengthy. Or We can trade our perspective. Looking back and analyzing only gets us so far. We want to take action. Feeling stuck. Human beings can feel caught in Lifestyles and in their modern-day state of affairs. Whilst you are concerned within the detail of your Lifestyles, It can be tough to look your alternatives. Training lets you see all capacity alternatives and recognize limiting beliefs so that you can without a doubt see what’s possible. Feeling misplaced. Many customers discover that they have got ended up in a career or a relationship and don’t know how they were given there. It isn’t always their passion. It may now not be what they studied or wished for. They can experience lost and confused, unsure approximately the way to make modifications in their Lifestyles. Their self-belief might be low. They revel in the gain of having help, encouragement, and accountability that an Educate offers. Coaches ask the questions and the clients have the answers. It’s approximately unlocking a humans capability that’s mendacity dormant. Sad. People may be Sad for a number of reasons and end up familiar with this country of being. Coaching is advantageous outcome focused, so we are not relying on analyzing the sadness and digging up the vintage floor. We study wherein you’re now and how you need your Existence to be. After which consciousness on shifting inside the proper path. Being Cozy. Your comfort region is the region of protection. Or is it? It is horrifying but extraordinary to sense the buzz When you flow from your consolation sector. Coaching allows People to see their potential and flow toward it, without the poor voices or distractions retaining you back. The nearer you’re to transferring out of your consolation zone, the louder the voice of doubt and fear becomes. So having an Educate is priceless at supporting you to create the Life you really need earlier than any self-sabotaging behaviors appear. Feeling scared. change is scary and It is able to prevent us from taking motion which would lead us to our happiest self. Feeling satisfied. Education is not best for people who relate to any of the above instances. When you are feeling remarkable, this is an outstanding time to hire a Coach to get you feeling even more. We’re never fixed or looked after. We always have the greater growing and developing to do. We have so much capability which We are able to release similarly.

[kidspartycharactersny-nj]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUyDGxSNM5s)

5 Strategies for Keeping Your Business Strong Through the Holidays

There’s no fighting it at this point. The Halloween 70% off items are long gone and the shelves are overflowing with holiday candy, gifts, and decorations. The tree lots are being stocked and the stores are fully adorned in red and green, with Santa Claus cutouts to greet you at the door.

Even if you’re Nordstrom, which has a long-standing policy of not decorating for Christmas until after Black Friday, you can’t deny that the world is awash in Christmas spirit.

What this means for most solo or small businesses is that it’s time to wind down the year, take a break, and start planning for how you’re going to come on bigger and better next year.

But slowing down for 6-8 weeks during the holiday season is a mistake for a couple of reasons.

First, for most of us, this is the time of year we’re spending more money than usual. So it hardly makes sense to bring in less money when you’re out spending more.

Second, chances are you have little to no competition from now until the end of the year, so why not take advantage of that and be one of the few businesses that is reaching out to people?

Of course there’s a reason people take time off right now, especially parents. We want to spend more time with friends and family. More time shopping and baking and addressing cards. More time listening to Christmas music, relaxing, and contemplating New Year Resolutions.

The nice thing is, with just a little extra effort on your part, you can make December your best business month of the whole year. It won’t require 40 hour work weeks and pulling all nighters to fit everything in.

Just a few well-planned strategies will allow you to take the time off you want, as well as grow your business. Here are five simple strategies you can start implementing before you put the Thanksgiving turkey in the oven.

1. Send a Personal Greeting

Don’t bother with the stock Christmas cards that come with some generic, impossible-to-offend greeting and your signature conveniently pre-printed on them.

They may go on the mantel with the other cards, but they’ll be quickly discarded on January 1, without having made any real impact.

Take the time now to send a more personal greeting. Depending on your client and prospect base, it may not be realistic to send a handwritten message to everyone, but concentrate at least on your most valuable clients.

This is a great time to thank and re-engage former customers, and to get to the top of mind with your hottest potential clients.

Choose a card that looks unique, if possible. Most businesses will send a green card with “Seasons Greetings” written in gold on the outside, and “Wishing you joy throughout the holidays” on the inside. These are boring and scream, “I’m trying to be spiritually-correct and non-offensive to all.”

You have to decide here. If you love Santa and celebrate Christmas, does it matter to you if you send  a card that represents this and two or three people blacklist you because they’re offended?

But if you’ll go with something that represents your personality, doesn’t look like it’s one of 5000 identical cards that was sent to all your customers, and contains a non-generic handwritten line or two, you’ll find the recipients especially responsive to your other holiday marketing efforts we’re about to go through.

2. Offer a Discount on Advance Purchases

You don’t want to spend your holidays working, and your customers may not need or have time for your services over the holidays.

Come up with a solution that works well for both of you.

Offer a discount if they buy now, receive a voucher for future services, and can redeem that voucher any time throughout the coming year.

Yes, they can wait until they’re ready for you in 2019. But if they do, they’ll pay 20% more. You get the money coming in now, they get the discount on something they’ll need later. (Just remember to budget and plan for the fact that you’ll be providing the service later without the money coming in!)

3. Put Together a Personal Holiday Video

No matter what your religious beliefs are, the holidays are the perfect time to get personal. People crave a feel-good, human story around this time.  

And there’s no better way to connect personally than through video.

It doesn’t have to be professionally done, and thinking that it does is what will keep 99% of your competition from doing it.

In fact, it’s better if it’s not perfect, that’s what makes it personal.

Consider a behind the scenes video of how you manage your business (which can be quite funny for moms!), a story about your family’s holiday traditions, or even a sneak peek at how you plan to serve your customers in bigger and better ways in 2019.

No, you don’t have to be in it, but if you’ll get over yourself for just a minute and at least make a little personal appearance, your audience is bound to love it as much as you hate it.

Post the video on social media and send it to your email list. Send it personally to those you really want to reach.

4. Plan Your Social Media

Rather than just disappearing, or posting some random obligatory pictures of the school play, your fresh-cut tree, and your best attempts holiday baking, keep your business hat on by creating content now to either post manually or, better yet, load into Buffer (or the service of your choice) for automatic posting while you shop, bake, and wrap.

Yes, it will take some extra time now, but it will be so worth it.

Remember, people are likely spending a little extra time on social media sharing pictures and stories. If they see you out there joining in the fun, they’ll remember you, and their know/like/trust for you will grow.

Make sure you set aside a few minutes to respond to comments, and engage, but that’s the easy stuff compared to content creation.

Also, pay special attention to Pinterest. Everyone goes there for some type of holiday inspiration.

5. Open Some Time on Your Calendar

Yes, we’ve already decided you don’t really want to work over the holidays, but could you do just 5-6 hours a week those last two weeks in December?

Sure you could if it meant going into the New Year with no Christmas debt!

Open up your calendar for new client calls or consults or whatever is relevant to getting you business. Maybe it’s just a check-in session, or a jumpstart to 2019 where you brainstorm the New Year and how you can help your prospect be more successful.

The point is, you’re going to be the only one talking to your client or potential client during this time. And a lot of people have some extra time off around the holidays, a lot are planning for 2019 right now. It’s the perfect time to establish you as the one who’s going to help with whatever product or service you provide.

If nothing else, it’s going to make you memorable, which is half the battle in business.

Planning is the Key to Profitable, Stress-Free Holidays

You wouldn’t sit down on Wednesday night and start meal planning and making your grocery list if you were serving Thanksgiving dinner for 20 the next day.

Don’t take a “fly by the seat of your pants” approach to your marketing either and December can be your best month ever, and can set you up for an easy flood of business after the New Year.

It’s easier to connect over the holidays because most people aren’t, and when you’re getting personal, a little bit goes a long way. You don’t need a complicated marketing funnel to make a significant impression.

Take an hour to think about your unique business and your unique story. These five ideas will get you started, but what personal, yet simple, ways can you come up with to keep your business strong over the holidays without sacrificing your holiday cheer?

As you hopefully know by now, if you want mentoring for your entrepreneurial journey, Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs may be able to help.

Cheryl started out as a single mom needing to feed two small kids, and has now had a hand in starting 10 different businesses.

To help cut out the learning curve and meet the time constraints most moms have, Cheryl has created a unique opportunity that allows you to have your own Kids Party Characters business, complete with all the resources Cheryl used to grow her business to six figures.

In addition to an exclusive territory in which to book parties and the right to use our 200-plus costumes, you’ll also get step-by-step training from Cheryl on how to set your business up for quick profits.

Book a free, no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll answer all your questions and get you on the right path.

Learn more about the joy we bring to children’s parties by connecting with Kids Party Characters on Facebook for daily updates, including our best tips for building a successful business while raising happy and healthy kids.