It's hard to believe today is the day after Thanksgiving! I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday replete with delicious food, big smiles, and countless laughs. Now that Turkey Day is behind us, it can only mean a couple of things. For one, we can expect a myriad of families to put up their holiday decorations today. Secondly, there's no denying that, arguably until after New Year's, retailers from Macy's to Victoria's Secret will be barraging us with holiday ads, whether on TV, in the newspaper, or online. It's really a shame that the holidays have become so highly commercialized. My coworkers and I were fretting the other day over the fact that many stores now sell Thanksgiving and Christmas stuff alongside their Halloween items. That means you can stock up on Christmas decorations as early as October. While doing so may save one money in the long run, coupling all three occasions does little to build anticipation for the latter holidays...

Can you believe it? Summer is finally over! Friday, September 22 officially kicked off the fall season. This can only mean four things: 1. Temperatures are dropping, or are soon to drop.  For someone like me who loves cold weather -- and gets very little of it in my hometown of South Florida -- this is certainly a welcome change. Unfortunately, it's warm year-round here with the exception of a few weeks in late winter/early spring. I'll take anything we can get, though, even if it's a mere five-degree "cooldown." 2. New and returning shows. Networks premier a slew of new shows in the fall. Meanwhile, loyal fans of returning shows like Law and Order and Scandal are treated to a new season of never-before-seen episodes. It's a great time to be a boob tube maniac. 3. The holidays are approaching. Most of us immediately associate fall with the changing of the leaves (i.e., yellow, orange, red, and brown), cornucopias, pumpkins, scarecrows, turkeys, and, o...

It's Halloween today. That means a few things are certain: (1) Costumed children (2) Lots of candy (3) Election Day looms ahead  -- finally!  (4) The end of the year draws near. Once we hit the end of October, it really feels like the end of the year is just around the corner. On Sunday, we'll be turning the clocks back an hour. Before we know it, we'll find ourselves working on holiday shopping lists and itineraries.  Halloween falls on a Monday this year, which seems rather odd, doesn't it? Many people opted to attend Halloween parties over the weekend in lieu of trick-or-treating on a school night. I see Halloween as officially kicking off the holiday season. You'll notice that many retailers have been stocking their shelves not only with Halloween merchandise, but Christmas ornaments and decorations as well. Their strategy is obvious: Market all the holidays in one fell swoop.  To be sure, it's a smart move on the part of these merchants, as...

It seems we hear a different story involving a creepy clown sighting almost every day now. They've been seen ambling the streets, lurking in apartment complexes, and skulking in parks. I remember reading about one in Winsconsin who walked around holding black balloons. The crown frenzy has seemingly hit a fever pitch in recent months, with people pushing the panic button and calling the cops as soon as they spot someone in a clown mask. While I think this is simply a trend that will eventually fizzle out, there's no question some people have nothing better to do than try to strike fear in the hearts of unsuspecting individuals. Many of us were scared of clowns to begin with. This surge of clown sightings only heightens people's anxiety, especially in light of the various police shootings and terrorist acts that have dominated the headlines of late. And don't look now, but Halloween is right around the corner. This means we should expect to see more clowns po...

Time flies! Can you believe that it's January 21st already? Weren't we just celebrating Christmas and ringing in the New Year? It seems like it was merely days ago that I was vacationing in sun-drenched Orlando. Indeed, time waits for no one, especially as we get older. Before we know it, the holidays will be right around the corner once again. If you use Facebook, you've probably noticed its nifty "On This Day" feature, which lets you view posts you submitted or were tagged on one, two, even four years ago. You see some of these and ask in sheer disbelief, "Was this really posted THAT long ago?" Some of the alerts I've received include posts about items we checked off our To-do List for our wedding, which took place almost two years ago. February should go by even faster, considering the month has fewer than 30 days. The time of year that flies by the quickest is undoubtedly the holidays. Once Halloween arrives, the final two months of t...

Yep, it's that time of year again!  I can just picture it now -- parents and their kids scrambling to find the perfect costume, houses and schools decorated with everything from ghoulish ghosts to wicked witches, children ambling from home to home trying to fill their jack-o-lantern buckets with as much candy as they can possibly fit in them. And those who don't have kids or decided to leave them with the babysitter are probably planning to attend a Halloween party or other event in town that likely involves costumes, food, and loads of liquor! While most of us are familiar with the kinds of festivities that take place on Halloween, we aren't as well versed in the history of the occasion. How and when did Halloween originate? When was trick-or-treating first referenced in the media? What are some alternative names for the holiday? Do other countries celebrate Halloween? Do stores sell nearly as much Halloween merchandise as they do Christmas items? In this post, I...

I am firmly convinced that most stores now regard October 1 as the official kick-off date for the holiday season. Yesterday, my wife and I went to Denny's for dinner. I looked at the menu and couldn't help but notice that they've already made available holiday dishes and desserts -- and we haven't even celebrated Halloween yet! I find it jarring to spot wreaths, turkey ornaments, and Christmas lights on display at stores like Walmart and Walgreens so early in the year. Retailers have coupled Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas together -- it's as if they comprise a "holiday quarter" that begins in October and ends in December. I see both pros and cons to this approach. For one, consumers might find it convenient to purchase all their holiday decorations in one shot. What's more, they likely can take advantage of special offers that might otherwise not be available to them if the items were rolled out in separate months. However, this speaks ...