My New Year’s resolution: keep a New Year’s resolution.

Most years, I make resolutions as I’m  counting down to midnight, usually something to do with all the food I just ate (“I’m going to eat better”) or how chubby I feel from trying to fit into my party clothes after a string of holiday meals (“I’m going to work out more.”) My track record is about three days per resolution.
 
So this year, I asked Chico West and Steven Lytle of West Counseling in Dallas for some advice. Here’s what I learned about what I did, why I shouldn’t have, and how to do better this year.

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Isn't this grand?

My cousin Jenny, who decorates with panache and cooks with moxie, has added to her arsenal a penchant for finding and sending peculiar vintage cards.

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Two of the people who have helped me enormously this last year are my new sisters (in-law) –Janet and Jenny.

In addition to doing the regular sister-in-law sort of things (welcoming you to the family, telling you stories about what a nerd your husband was as a child, and asking you when you are going to have kids), they also gave me a wonderful wedding gift: a family recipe book.

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In seven days, the Augustin family of Keller will walk into a brand-new home, built just for them by ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s team and hundreds of volunteers.

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Kay Justus likes holiday decorating so much, she starts early each year.

“[Then] you just don’t have any excuses but to enjoy it and have people over,” she says.

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Mary McCrummen of Carrollton is a whiz at entertaining and regularily throws tea parties in her home. Among her secrets are her determination to make sure her guests don’t leave empty-handed (she tries to give them something they can remember the party by) and scouring books and magazines for ideas.

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“The main thing is just trying to stay a little bit organized and stay a little bit ahead,” says community member Sara Salmon.

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The holidays are a perfect storm for the domestically challenged. When else could you possibly be required to decorate, budget, entertain, cook and wrap presents continuously for weeks at a time?

Yet, amazingly, lots of locals have found a way to do all this –and do it well. Among them are Carrollton Women’s Club members Sara Salmon, Mary McCrummen and Kay Justus, who were good enough to share some of their tried-and-true tips with me recently!

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Hey everyone! I'm starting work on my column for December, and I'm racking my brains to think of someone to interview about holiday preparations.

Do you know someone who makes Christmas magical for their family and friends?

Write and tell me about them! I'd love to feature them in my column and on this blog.

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As the universe reels to right itself from the imbalance caused by my domestic helplessness, one of its chief tactics seems to be to endow other people with domestic know-how. One of these balancers is Elise McVeigh, a mother and wife who has such a knack for manners and organization that she finds time to teach both professionally through her business, Elise McVeigh’s Life Camp.

Over coffee, she shared some of her pet peeves, tips and basic rules for modern manners. Here are a few of the lessons I took away:

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