Future of Telecommunication

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Color Me Christmas

Twenty days more before Christmas and WCBC still gets calls for an in-home consultation from clients hoping to redecorate their homes in time for the holidays.  We try to accomodate everyone but not all were promised delivery before Christmas.  For hard window treatments our timetable for delivery and installation is 15 to 25 working days, and that includes scheduling an installer. For soft window treatments like draperies, custom accessories, and furniture, we allow 25 to 45 working days depending on the size of the job.  During christmas holidays, our installers are hard to schedule,  Most of the real professional ones are booked way ahead of time.  There were times in the past, customers who bought window coverings from Lowes or Home Depot would call us for installation jobs but we just couldn't help them.  

After a sales call last saturday, my daughter and I went to pick up my granddaughter for our previously arranged date to spend time together, go to the mall, buy her christmas and birthday presents, and possibly her sleeping over.  I said possibly,  because both her schedule and mine greatly depend on whether she has an early swimming lessons the next morning or  a previously arranged playdate with her friends.  At my end, she understands, that my schedule depends on whether someone calls for an in-home consultation.  I'm glad that she is flexible to changes.

The Tanforan mall was packed.  People from all walks of life were there to enjoy the joyful feeling you get when you're inside a mall.  Mothers, fathers, children from all ages, grandpas and grandmas were spending time together eating, shopping, window shopping, or just plain people watching.  I saw bags and bags of shopping items being dragged by kids and adults alike, which seemed like an endless shopping spree. 

The mall was decorated nicely and some stores were colorfully adorned with greens and reds, gold, silver, white, an indication that christmas is here. Intense colors that colored me christmas.  Didn't we just have thanksgiving?  I still haven't put away some of the boxes where we kept all the dishes we used last thanksgiving and now it's almost christmas.  Seeing  the intense christmas colors,  the positive christmas energy from  people's faces,  it was hard not to be in the spirit of christmas.

After having lunch/dinner at the food section, we all went to shop for my granddaughter's christmas and birthday presents since I will not be in town for our family christmas get-together this year, I will be traveling to visit my family (nieces and stepdaughters) in Las Vegas and if time permits, go to LA to see my sister and her family. 

Countless Blessings To Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving came by so quickly and we have a lot to be thankful for.  Inspite of the stagnant economy, we  are still receiving countless blessings everyday in our day-to-day encounter with life's realities.  Looking around us and looking beyond our comfort zone and seeing the less fortunate in other worlds make us appreciiate our own life, good health, food on the table, good family and friends, job opportunities, peace, and love.    

White Christmas

The recent winter storms blanketed parts of the country with white snow including some parts of California, Nevada, and Texas. I live a few miles from the San Francisco International Airport and this part of the Bay Area is really cold. Santa Cruz mountains and Oakland hills were unbelievably capped with snowflakes.. It's Winter Wonderland in California!?

This was an inspiration in decorating our christmas tree this year. My daughter and I agreed on this theme and she had her first hand in decorating a christmas tree from buying the fresh tree to putting the last ornament. Inspiring her to hone her decorating skills, she was designated the one in charge of decorating the house, the christmas tree, and buying gifts for everyone, in preparation for christmas.

I advised her that her taste will improve through the years and that she should develop an "eye" for fine art. I encouraged her to read books and magazines related to interior design i.e. Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, and any reading materials featuring the latest trends in style, color, and design.

She went out in the cold with a friend the other night and bought a towering fresh pine tree which gave our small house a chrismassy smell in the air. We went to a craft store to check out some items we needed, unique ornaments, and rolls and rolls of white silvery ribbon. The color we chose were all white, silver, and some light greyish tones. We were going to have a white christmas.

Here are some tips to decorate your christmas tree:

• Choose a theme and a color scheme to work on, or go for the traditional tree, which could bring the memories of the christmasses past.
• Get all your materials ready: tree, ornaments, lights, garlands, ribbons, star, etc.
• Put the skirt under your tree before you start decorating.
• Start putting the lights first. Some start from the bottom going up but I prefer starting from the tip of the tree going down. ( I prefer decorating my tree at night and I keep the lights on while I'm working on the tree.)
• Put the ornaments next, the ribbons and the garlands. Normally I put the garlands at the end, but because the garlands we used for our christmas tree were made of different sizes of ice beads or chunks of icelike heavy material, we positioned them next after putting the lights
• On the top of the tree, you can put a star or any of the materials you use for your theme. Sometimes, I just make a big bouquet of ribbons on top of a tree, or an angel, or whatever is the theme.
• Wrap your gifts with unique wrappers with stripes, big dots, plain color, poinsettia, adorned with an interesting ribbons and simply made with a nice bow or neatly curled ribbons.
• Unless you're decorating someone else's tree, I think decorating your own tree is personal. Use your own creativity and style.

Decorating your House for the Holidays

If you haven't done anything yet, start bringing out those different ornaments, glittery balls, ribbons, and decide whether you want to use your artificial tree or opt for a fresh one this year. If your budget is tight, using your old decorations and your old artificial tree will do. On the other hand, if you are willing to get new ones and you're able to do so, go ahead. Christmas comes only once a year and the time spent together with your family and friends, in the sanctity of your home, at this time of the year, will be memories you are passing down to your children and grandchildren.

After you've decorated your tree, the outside and inside of your home, start planning your christmas dinner menu. You may want to design/decorate your christmas dinner table days ahead. Bring out your precious china, your silverware, crystal glasses, and crisp table linen and runners that you plan to use. This is the time you can use your grandmothers' or your mother's fine china, crystal glasses, and silverware. Be creative and bring out the decorator in you.

Sprucing up your home for the holidays is fun to do with the family. Setting up the dinner table together with your children before your chistmas dinner and allowing them to slice, peel, or contribute any effort in their part for the completion of your meal that evening will remain in their memory forever.

I would like to share some photos of the table settings I did with the help of my children during last year's christmas eve dinner and lunch celebration. . I love setting the table and dressing it up with the resources that I have collected through the years. I love simplicity in design and I try not to go overboard. The table settings are informal, but dressy enough to celebrate christmas.

The Season of Giving

Hunter Douglas' fall 2009 promotion, "The Season of Giving", offers generous rebates from September 25 to December 15. The unprecedented savings with no minimum or maximums on most popular window coverings include the Duette Honeycomb Shades, Silhouette Window Shadings, Luminette Privacy Sheers, and Pirouette Window Shadings.

This promotion can save customers $25 to $600 per window creating a beautiful and comforting setting at home to enjoy this coming holiday season. This is a great time to decorate your windows and avail of the latest innovations and generous rebates in window coverings only Hunter Douglas can offer.

October is National Window Covering Safety Month. From September 25 to December 15, Hunter Douglas is giving FREE upgrades to LiteRise Lifting System, which does not have dangling pull cords that could strangle little children or pets. To ensure safety, customers can get this FREE upgrade without paying extra for surcharges. This FREE upgrade can be availed with the purchase of Vignette Tiered Modern Roman Shades, Duette Honeycom Shades, and Applause Honeycomb Shades.

With a fantastic fall promotion like this, why not make your home shine this holiday? Let us not allow the bad economy and recession stop us. Let's give everyone in the family a lift, by gearing up our home for the holidays. Call your window coverings specialist and dress up your windows. After all, your home will be where your family and friends will be spending time this holiday, a place where all of you will be gathered, enjoying the season, and making beautiful memories together.

Design Collage