Category Archives: Family

Share The Love

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By Ellie Badanes, The Pajama Company Editor

All of us at The Pajama Company want to wish you a Happy Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope your day is spent with those you love with a large dose of happy and a chance to celebrate in pajamas. We also want to tell you about the Share The Love campaign from our partner Every Mother Counts. Every 2nd Monday we host “Maternal Health Monday” where we work to spread awareness to the issues of maternal and child health around the world. We also donate 10% of our sales those days to the important work of Every Mother Counts with the goal of making pregnancy and childbirth safe for moms everywhere.

Did you know that 800 women die every day from pregnancy and childbirth complications? This tragic fact makes reproductive health problems the leading cause of death world wide for women ages 15 to 44. The worst part is that experts estimate that 90% of these deaths are preventable.

Today, in celebration of Valentine’s Day and as part of their  “Every Heart Counts” month long campaign,  Every Mother Counts is asking our female members of Congress to keep women and girls at the heart of our country’s work here and abroad. We hope you will check it out and join the conversation. Be sure to follow @EveryMotherCounts on twitter and Like the campaign on facebook.

35 Bowl Games, Buckeyes and Pajamas

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By Anne Badanes, The Pajama Company Holiday Editor

What could be simpler than watching football games in pajamas? Right after all the hoopla of Christmas it is time to kick back and watch football, in pajamas of course. I just read that there are 35 bowl games, which means over a hundred hours of football to watch.

My Buckeyes will be at home with no post season game for this year. Instead of watching the Ohio State Buckeyes, we’ll enjoy eating Buckeyes while we watch the other games. Buckeyes are one of the tastiest holiday treats — simple to make and almost impossible to mess up.
Even if they aren’t in the Bowl games, Buckeyes are always winners! Whether you’re watching football or just enjoying a simple day in your pajamas, these treats will make your day a little sweeter.

Buckeyes– you need only five ingredients; 1 ½ cup of smooth peanut butter, 1 cup of SOFT butter, ½ tsp. of vanilla extract, 4-5 cups of confectioners sugar and 4 cups of semi sweet chocolate chip. Mix the PB, butter, vanilla and confectioners sugar together. It might look dry, but using your hands roll this mixture into 1” balls and put on a cookie sheet (I put parchment or waxed paper on the cookie sheet)

1.  Mix the PB, butter, vanilla and confectioners sugar together. It might look dry, but using your hands roll this mixture into 1” balls and put on a cookie sheet (I put parchment or waxed paper on the cookie sheet)

2.  Stick a toothpick into each of the balls and put these in the freezer for about an hour (they can stay longer if you like)

3. Melt the chocolate chips in either a double boiler or just a bowl that is sitting in simmering water. Stir the chips as they melt until it is smooth.Holding the toothpick, dip the peanut butter ball into the chocolate mixture, covering about ¾ of the ball with chocolate. Remove the toothpick and put back in the fridge until you want to serve them!

4.  Holding the toothpick, dip the peanut butter ball into the chocolate mixture, covering about ¾ of the ball with chocolate. Remove the toothpick and put back in the fridge until you want to serve them!

 

 

Vote “No” to Christmas Chaos and “Yes” to SIMPLE

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By Anne Badanes, The Pajama Company Holiday Editor

How did the holiday that promises peace on earth become a month of stress? We all know the reasons; we can look at our to-do list and see all the things that we must do. We feel the expectations that others have and we beat ourselves up with the expectations that we put upon ourselves. Many women feel they must be the magicians behind the “magic of this holiday”. We tend to forget that we are human.

For years I taught a seminar to help women avoid the stress of Christmas. It offered practical steps in dealing with those tough holiday issues whether it was extended family, budget worries, an overbooked calendar, or the unspoken “rules” of gift giving. In the seminar, the women evaluated their behaviors and expectations. Then they made hard changes that helped bring sanity and yes, even peace into December.

Here is the bad news. The seminar was held in September. That was early enough in the year for people to make the necessary changes such as telling mom that they wouldn’t be driving to Boise this year….or that they had a $10 limit for nephew’s gifts…or that they would not be in charge of a cookie exchange.

The countdown is here and it seems that everyone knows how many days until Christmas. With a bit of panic in their voices, my friends will say “Yikes only 13 more days until Christmas and I haven’t……..” and then they spew out a list of impossible tasks. I want to tell them there is no way they can get all that done in a month.

Instead of counting days until Christmas,  I concentrate on a few principles to keep it SIMPLE.  These thoughts are nothing new, I’ve gathered them from psychologists and authors who write about holiday stress. Through the years I’ve adjusted them for me.

  • I’ll think of my home as a place to relax and enjoy being with people, not a place for a photo shoot for Better Homes and Garden (pick the magazine) Or for a museum.
  • I’ll not compare myself to others when they start bragging about all they’ve done/bought/ planned for the holidays. Instead I will think of what is important to me.
  • Instead of racing to the malls or downtown, I will shop from home. It will save me money in the long run.
  • I’ll show others that I appreciate them using words not expensive gifts.
  • When possible, I’ll appreciate the winter solstice right when it gets dark, light a few candles and think about the meaning of the holiday.

 SIMPLE

Let’s Make The Holidays SIMPLE This Year

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By Anne Badanes, The Pajama Company Holiday Editor

This December, instead of getting caught in the rat race, I am pursuing simplicity; simple joys and simple recipes that provide simply relaxed time at home. When I saw the new Daisy Alexander Vintage Kitchen pajamas, they reminded me of the apron that my mother wore when I was growing up and kitchen memories flooded my brain.  Our 1960s kitchen had an avocado green refrigerator and stove with a canister set that matched the appliances. We even had a dishwasher, something that few of my friends had in their houses. Mom’s recipes were handwritten on index cards that were kept in a little metal index box that was olive green but that was close enough to avocado to fit into our kitchen décor. I remember wearing fuzzy hot pink slippers to stay warm in the kitchen while I baked holiday treats and gifts. Mom always nagged me to make sure I didn’t spill cake batter onto those slippers.

With that spirit of simplicity and years of making easy but impressive gifts in my kitchen, I will be writing  a few blog entries for The Pajama Company. After all, it is much simpler to share recipes here than hand writing them on a card. My recipes will use the microwave, even though it had not been invented in the 60s. And, to keep life really simple, I’ll cook wearing my pajamas—they are much easier to toss in the washing machine than those fuzzy 60s slippers.

 

Today we have asked our new Holiday Editor, Anne, a few questions about what she loves about the holidays:

 1. What is your favorite Christmas Carol?

It is Partridge in a Pear Tree. Even though I don’t like excess, I think it is so much fun to sing this song with a group; with each one taking one line of it. Or, even funnier is improvising the song to fit your group.

2.  What is your favorite Christmas book?

The Grinch is at the top of my list. It gets to the heart of Christmas and for that reason relates to all of us. And of course I like Luke’s account of the Christmas story.

3. What is your favorite Christmas food?

That list is way too long, but I’ll share the super easy recipes of two of my favorites; bourbon balls for adults and puppy chow for dog lovers.

4. What’s your favorite way to relax during the holidays?

Play Christmas music, light a few candles or plug in the tiny white lights, put on pajamas, turn off the cell phone and have a silent night!

Meet Our New Holiday Editor, Let’s Talk Pajamas

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By Anne Badanes, The Pajama Company Holiday Editor

First impressions are tough. For me, I usually wonder whether my clothes are right when I meet someone new. Ta Da…right now my attire is perfect as I am wearing my favorite plaid pajamas while I write this blog for The Pajama Company. Here is the the story of my pajama passion.

During my college years, long flannel nightgowns were popular and I wore them for years. While they hid a stomach full of late night pizza, they made me look like an over sized Wendy in Peter Pan. Moreover, they’d get tangled around my legs in bed. At a bridal shower, flannel nightgowns were called armor for new brides.  I heard that and quickly switched to SSS nightwear–short, silk and sexy. Not only were those flimsy things chilly, but they were hard to launder. Once I had a baby who woke up several times each night, I needed something else to wear to bed.

Fortunately, that was about the year that Ellie joined our family as my new sister in law. She was one of the first women I knew who loved pajamas and always looked cute in them. That was years before she began The Pajama Company. Yes, she’s a  woman who has walked her talk for years–the pajama evangelist. She gave me a pair of pajama bottoms and I became a convert.

Currently, my favorite pajamas are the ones I am wearing now, a pink plaid pair that was left here when my daughter moved out. I have a drawer stuffed with my own pajamas, but this pair hung alone on a hook in her bedroom when she left for college. As I straightened up her room, my emotions were in limbo between tears and the elation of an empty nest. I saw the lonely PJs and remembered all the mornings when I was unable to get her out of bed. They were soft and smelled of her. I paused on the way to the laundry basket, wondering whether to launder them or retain her scent.

Finder’s keepers. They are my favorites.