The Second Hand Hanukkah Party

06 Dec 2015 22 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Entertaining, Holiday Celebrations, inspirations, Reflections

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I am having a Second Hand Hanukkah Party this year. Instead of bringing my vintage pre antique treasures to the Good Will, I have begun to put them on the dining room table and will allow guests to choose their vintage Hanukkah gifts. The youngest will go first and so on, round and round until the table is empty. I have decided to tell them that we put a hundred dollar bill in one of the gifts to add extra excitement to the gift giving.

So many people are downsizing and those two words stick in my craw. In downsizing, people cram their blessings from the past into cartons and bags and shed tears as they drop them off and get their coveted tax exemption receipt.

Now you may want to know how hard it is to give your treasures away. It might have had some difficulties years ago, but not today. They opened a Good Will down the street from us and we drop in on occasion. There are my things, or shall I say things like mine. Anytime I want a dish for graceful grapes, or a dish for dainty olives, or a platter for large meat dishes, or perhaps a scalloped dish for creamy veggies, or a dish for cheese and crackers, all I have to do is go down the street to the charity shop and for $ 2.99 I can buy something I may need. If I need a very dressy jacket, a sporty cashmere sweater, or a never worn crispy blouse, I can go and get one for a few dollars. I don’t need to worry yet, because my stuff still has stuff.

I did shop in the various stores where in the past I have purchased great gifts, but my mind turned to the drawers full of my treasures, soon to belong to others via the Second Hand Hanukkah gift share. I feel happy.

 

NATIVES ON TOUR IN LAS VEGAS FOR THANKSGIVING

07 Jan 2011 11 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Family Activities, Holiday Celebrations

Natives on Tour in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving

 

How can I begin this saga? I will begin with regret. Regret that we chose Las Vegas for our Thanksgiving weekend and high regret for the place we chose to stay.  I cannot name the place because that would not be fair, but perhaps you can guess.

The check in process went smoothly and when you are checking in for seven rooms, this says a lot about the registration department of this hotel. I mention “the hotel” because; I never set foot outside of it due the trauma that was to unfold on the inside.

Everyone began to settle into their room assignments.  I upgraded ours because I felt we needed a larger space to meet and greet.

At first the upgraded room from hell looked good. It was on the 62nd floor facing the airport. After enjoying a few take offs and landings we set about nesting.  Within the first twenty minutes my black pants were full of blonde hairs. I called down and asked the front desk if perhaps this was as doggie room. She assured me it was not. There were further masses of hairs clinging to my pants. I called Housekeeping and they came to increase the cleaning process.  Then, an inspector came up to see that the job was done. I took my black sweater and rubbed my arm all along the sides of the bed and furniture. More masses of hairs clung.  The woman’s jaw dropped and she said the house cleaners would come again. They came and this time I stayed to watch the process.  They changed all the bedding and vacuumed all along the sides of the furniture several times and that seemed to solve the problem for cleanliness for the most part. It took the rest of our day to get this job done. What irks me to no end is that I paid good hard earned money for this upgrade from Hell. It was not a free upgrade or a compensated room.

I need to mention that the phones did not work, except for the ones in each bathroom. I spent a good amount of time on the potty seat talking from the bathroom, which possessed the only working phone to call the various people when I needed to get help. They never did fix the phones for normal talking; they got them to work on speakerphone, which is a yelling kind of talking. Talking exclusively on speakerphone is frustrating and headache producing for certain.

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Today’s Bits and Pieces: Paper Plates on Thanksgiving

15 Dec 2007 3 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Entertaining, Holiday Celebrations

I write this paragraph because one of my friends verbalized shock when I mentioned the paper products I was using for the most the thankful holiday in America

The paper plates are out, the cups and clear plastic forks, knives and spoons are there, too. The turkey is in the oven, and all other items are warming to room temp before being popped into various crannies of the oven. More