Issue Date: November 26, 2006
Decorating outdoors for the holidays
Miniature lights and ornaments allow evergreens and berries to sparkle.
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Here's how to add rich color, texture and sparkle to outdoor window boxes and containers during the holidays:
Anchor your containers with hardy evergreens such as boxwood and juniper, or use small berried shrubs (like nandina and cotoneaster) as the centerpiece. Add pansies and violas if available in your region. Otherwise, try Helleborus orientalis, a sweet winter-blooming perennial. Leave room for ivies to spill over the sides. Drape clear miniature lights along the sides of the container for nighttime sparkle.
Use one or two evergreens in a container, and place reflective plastic ornaments on the soil surface, nestling them up close to plantings. Weave some clear miniature lights through the ornaments so they'll illuminate at night.
If your temperatures stay above 60 F, fill containers with poinsettias or amaryllis. Cover the soil with green moss, or lay evergreen cuttings like holly around the plants. Then, string a few ornaments and drape over the edge of the containers, anchoring with stakes.
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For deals, timing is everything
When it comes to saving money on travel, timing can make all the difference. Plane tickets and hotel rooms often cost less at certain times of the day, week and year.
"Midweek departures tend to be less expensive, especially if you're going to a leisure destination," says Heather Leisman, director of merchandising at the online travel agency CheapTickets. This is particularly true in Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida and Hawaii, where midweek room rates also are cheaper.
A DEAL FOR EVERY SEASON. Consider vacationing during an off-peak time of year. Take the Caribbean: Visitors flock here in the winter to escape the cold at home. But the weather is milder and the water is calmer in the summertime, when hotels also cost less.
PROCRASTINATION CAN PAY. Conventional wisdom says that you'll get the best airfare by booking at least 21 days ahead. But flexible travelers often can benefit from the lesser-known "Tuesday-night rule." "A lot of airlines release their sales on Tuesdays, and usually other airlines will match those sales by the evening," says Anne Banas, of SmarterTravel.com. That consumer website offers a free weekly e-newsletter that rounds up last-minute fares from your departure city.
FOLLOW THE HEADLINES. Morbid as it may seem, planning travel after a natural disaster can lead to savings. Travelers often are scared away long after the danger has passed. To win back customers, hotels frequently offer steep discounts.
Kimberly Lisagor is the author of "Outside Wilderness Vacations."
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Portables in your pocket
Not everyone can cough up the big bucks for a portable gaming system (not to mention another $20 to $40 for each title). A viable alternative is the VG Pocket. The Pocket comes in two easy-to-swallow forms: the Caplet and the Tablet. They both feature a full-color game screen, low-resolution graphics and an arcade's worth of pre-installed games.
The Caplet ($40) is the more robust of the two machines, featuring 50 16-bit-caliber diversions, including "Space Invaders," "Bust-A-Move" and the underrated "Burgertime" -- beware that angry pickle! The Tablet ($30) has a mere 25 8-bit games, but it includes the seminal "Frogger," which is celebrating its 25th birthday. (New editions of Frogger also are out on Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2.)
The Tablet and Caplet promise "classic" games, but trifles such as "Funny Fungi" and "Magic Jelly" don't exactly qualify. One other nifty turn: The units can be connected to your TV via AV cables for big-screen gaming.
The Tablet ($30) is loaded with 25 games.
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Sweet drinks add pounds
Do sugary drinks make you fat? Absolutely yes, says a new Harvard analysis of 30 studies. Prime villains: sugary carbonated sodas.
A 12-ounce can of soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Drinking one can of soda a day can pile on 15 pounds a year.
Kids who drank at least three soft drinks a day had a 50% higher body mass index than kids who drank less.
Increasing intake of soft drinks increases risk of type 2 diabetes, regardless of weight.
What to do: Cut down on sugar-sweetened beverages, like soda and fruit drinks, but drink more water, low-fat milk and small amounts of fruit juice.
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