I’m  so over the annual mandatory retail blitz which prompts us to purchase scads of presents no one needs (and few can afford).

Enough is enough. Necessity is one thing; waste is another. Be an angel and give material items only to the needy. Give kisses,  homemade jam and DIY potpourri to your family, teachers, bosses, employees and friends. Stick to eco for everything else.

Here is my festive round up of gifts both you and Santa can live without:

A new cell phone

…

Tags: buying , calendars , cell phones , china , Chocolage , chocolate , Christmas , coffee , consumption , Dalmatians , diamonds , DIY crafts , fair trade , fashion , gift baskets , gifts , Gourmet , holiday , iPhones , ornaments , personal mugs , plastic toys , recycle , rescue pets , retail , reuse , saving , sustainable , toxic , Uggs

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Metropolitan Home is being put to bed for good.

I suffered reflux trying to digest the death of Gourmet, one of four Condé Nast publications closed recently. I didn’t sample the food bible much but felt nostalgic about it as an American institution. I only picked up Modern Bride a few times when plotting my wedding. (I had the main prop but needed flowers and a dress.)

Now, achy-breaky heartburn ensues from Hachette’s news about …

Tags: accessories , ad recession , apartments , broadcasting , Conde Nast , Crackberry , decor , design , Donna Warner , Dorothy Kalins , dwell , eco , fabrics , furniture , Gourmet , home , home magazines , journalism students , Kenny Scharf , Magazines , Metropolitan Home , Modern Bride , Northwestern University Medill School , paper , print is dead , remodel , small spaces , sustain

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Gourmet Magazine, an American classic, found a slump in add sales spelled the recipe for disaster.

That’s why Conde Nast Publications is closing the oldest food magazine in the US along with Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, and the parent magazine Cookie, which I have to admit I’ve only glanced at in the doctor’s office waiting room.

While the bride magazines are used as sources to stimulate ideas for women planning their big events, Gourmet has long been the bible of American epicureans, fond of cutting …

Tags: ads , Brad Pitt , circulation , cocktails , Conde Nast , cooking , food , Gourmet , Magazines , Modern Bride , organic , paper , print , recession , recipes , vodka

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