Seasonal Trends Archives

12 Labor Day Facts You Might Not Know

We all work hard, and cherish our weekends and time away from the office. But there’s one day in particular that honors that work — Labor Day.

Celebrated annually on the first Monday of September, Labor Day is often associated with barbecues, going to the beach, and, lately, shopping for mattresses and kitchen appliances. It’s also become known as the unofficial end of summer, marking the close of three months filled with sunshine and fun, quickly being traded in for school, cooler weather, and pumpkin spice lattes.

But Labor Day is about more than just sitting poolside or buying a refrigerator and saluting the end of summer Fridays. We celebrate this holiday for very important, historical reasons. In fact, this holiday is rooted in crucial events, sacrifice, and even massive unrest.

Here are 12 Labor Day facts to help you brush up on your history.

Labor Day is an official recognition of the social and economic achievements of American workers, an annual tribute to the contributions these individuals have made to the prosperity, strength, and well-being of the United States.
In the late 1800s — the height of the Industrial Revolution — members of the working class in the U.S. were overworked and underpaid, putting in an average of 12-hour days and making an average of $600 a year, which is approximately $19,000 today. Gradually, they began organizing strikes, rallies, and protests, hoping to compel employers to improve conditions, moderate hours, and increase pay. This mistreatment is what ultimately led to the establishment of Labor Day.

The “workingmen’s holiday” concept caught on fast. Although it would take over a decade for the federal government to legalize the holiday, labor activists across the country honored it without the federal government’s support, demanding the change until the holiday was legal.
On Sept. 5, 1882, nearly 10,000 workers in New York City went on strike, taking unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square. This was the first official Labor Day parade in U.S. history.
In 1887, Oregon became the first state to celebrate Labor Day as a legal holiday and by 1894, more than 20 other states had adopted this holiday.
Following a worker’s strike in May 1894 that led to an effective boycott that crippled railroad traffic nationwide and unleashed a wave of fatal riots, the U.S. government officially recognized Labor Day as a federal holiday. Thank you, Grover Cleveland.
Labor Day marks the end of hot dog season. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says that between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans will eat 7 billion hot dogs.
Labor Day is not just an American holiday. Canada also celebrates it on the first Monday in September, but most of the rest of the world celebrates their labor day on May 1, or May Day.
Known today as International Worker’s Day, May 1 signifies when, in 1886, approximately 300,000 U. S. workmen went on strike to demand an eight-hour workday.
Two countries that do not recognize Labor Day are Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

A common rule of fashion is: Don’t wear white after Labor Day. While the summer months often call for lighter colors than the cooler ones, this out-of-style rule stems from a class division. In the early 1900s, white clothing was reserved for the wealthy, as it was considered vacationing attire since it’s not meant to get dirty during working hours.
Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. In 2020, Americans took over 184 million trips at least 50 miles from home over the holiday weekend, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

7 Ways to Hang on to the Last Days of Summer

While sweltering summer days tend to drag on, the hot weather won’t last forever. Shorter days and cooler nights are signs that fall is fast approaching, and with the back-to-school season comes busier schedules and less time for family.

Feeling sad at the thought of summer drawing to a close? You’re not alone. Many parents attempt to fit in some memorable summer activities to enjoy the last warm, sunny days before things get busy again.

Here are seven ways families can hang onto the last days of summer.

1. Make meal times memorable

Longer summer days mean more time for meals as a family. “Before the kids go back to school, make a dinner table sanctuary,” suggests Tammy Fry, mom, author, and certified plant-based nutritionist. “Eating around a table is really important for conscious eating and making the most of the remaining summer meals together.” This way, your family can be mindful of the time spent together.

She recommends putting the focus on family time by making the table a tech-free zone: no TV, phones, or headphones. You can also pack a summer picnic and eat outdoors, even if you don’t venture farther than the backyard. Everyone will enjoy the change of scenery, and eating outdoors even improves your health by exposing your gut biome to new bacteria.

2. Explore the farmers market

Garden produce tends to peak around late summer, so consider taking your kids to the farmers’ market to explore its offerings. This provides the perfect opportunity to learn about what’s in season and experiment with fresh produce you wouldn’t purchase otherwise.

“Mother Earth knows what you need and when you need it,” Fry says. Cooking with your farmers’ market finds gives the whole family an opportunity to be creative in the kitchen, too. Just remember to keep the menu simple so the kids can help you through every step without getting bored or overwhelmed.

3. Take a road trip to a different city

You don’t need to travel far to have a summer adventure. Lorie Anderson, a parenting blogger at MomInformed, recommends taking a road trip, even if only to a nearby destination.

“For kids who love getting out and seeing new places, a road trip to a different city can often be done on the cheap,” she says. “It will give kids an opportunity to experience a sense of adventure while giving them a last taste of the relaxing days of summer.”

4. Have a family game day

Take advantage of those long summer evenings to host a week of family sports events inspired by the Olympic Games! Anderson recommends creating a leaderboard to track scores and playing a different game every evening after dinner. Use your creativity to tailor the events to all ability levels…even board games are fair game!

Make things extra special by awarding a trophy to the week’s winner and playing their favorite song in celebration at the “podium.”

5, Let your kids host a back-to-school party

Make the end of summer memorable with a send-off party planned entirely by your kids. This could include planning the menu (including some summer-themed cookies), picking some yard games, and making invitations for their friends.

“The key is to have them do the work, so they can see how much time and effort it takes to pull off a party,” Anderson says.

This might require some investment and patience on your part, but if everything goes well, the experience will teach them about responsibility, and they’ll get satisfaction from knowing they created such an enjoyable time for them and their friends.

6. Take a nature walk

Take advantage of warm summer weather by going on a family nature walk. Parenting expert Ellen Pober Rittberg suggests making it interactive by collecting interesting rocks, leaves, and shells along the way. This keeps little ones engaged and gives you a project to focus on at the end.

“Afterward, you can create a group nature picture from what you’ve gathered,” she shared.

7. Set up a backyard photo booth

Preserve your summer memories for years to come by setting up a backyard photo booth. Mo Mulla, founder of Parental Questions, shares that this not only is a meaningful way to celebrate the end of the summer but ensures you have family pictures for holiday cards. “Photos of happy times with parents and kids always make for an incredibly joyous holiday season,” Mulla says.

Just drape a white sheet over a fence or against the side of the house, and make sure you have plenty of props on hand for spontaneous poses.

How Summer Fridays Can Work All Year Round

The series “Summer Living” offers helpful tips and inspiring stories for making the most out of the all-too-short season.

Thursday night in August, fabulous weather, and you’re heading to the beach tomorrow. Lucky you! Your company offers summer Fridays.

Having a day free of meetings can ease that mental pressure, which can lend itself to greater clarity of thought, stronger focus, and increased productivity.

Jennifer Loftus

National Director

Astron Solutions

Summer Fridays are a popular employee perk that lets people take a full or half-day off each Friday between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Here’s the idea behind it: Summer is a slower period for many organizations, and giving staff paid time off to enjoy the warmer months helps to boost employee satisfaction and morale without compromising productivity.

The pandemic — with all its associated employee stress and burnout — has thrust work-life balance issues into the spotlight. Accordingly, summer Fridays are getting a closer look as more employers recognize the need for employees to have time off to recharge their batteries.

“Companies that don’t already have some sort of summer Friday program as part of their total rewards package are now looking to start one,” says Jennifer Loftus, national director of Astron Solutions, a human resources consulting company based in New York.

Any day can be a summer Friday

Summer Friday programs come in many different forms, adaptations, and variations. And they aren’t necessarily limited to summer — or Fridays, for that matter. “The essence of a summer Friday program is giving employees the freedom to do what they want and need to do, so what it looks like really depends on what makes sense to the business,” says Loftus.

One common variation is working half-day Fridays throughout the year, something that Denver-based DCP Midstream, a Fortune 500 natural gas company, has been doing. “Our office work schedules include slightly longer Monday to Thursday hours to allow for a half-day on Fridays,” says Tamara Bray, chief human resources officer at DCP Midstream. “But we know our employees enjoy this schedule because it allows them an early start to their weekends and they can avoid the Friday afternoon rush hour,” she says. In addition, the company has recently expanded its remote work program, which allows office employees to work from home several days a week.

Other variations of the summer Friday theme include floating holidays or days off, four-day workweeks, DIY long weekends during the summer, and even something as simple as one meeting-free day per week.

“With so much meeting overload and Zoom fatigue thanks to COVID, just having a day free of meetings can ease that mental pressure, which can lend itself to greater clarity of thought, stronger focus, and ultimately increased productivity,” Loftus says.

Better employee attraction and retention, increased profitability

One big advantage to having a summer Friday program is employee attraction and retention. “If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that people are looking for more flexibility in the workplace,” Loftus says.

Bray adds: “We know that employees have very different expectations for when, where, and how they work, and to compete for talent, employers will need to refine their flexibility programs to capture the best and brightest.”

And if they’re executed well, summer Friday programs can even help the bottom line. The Wanderlust Group, a New England–based outdoor tech company, tried shifting to a four-day workweek — with Mondays off — last year after the company’s CEO Michael Melillo, noticed how exhausted he and his staff had become after spending so many hours at the computer.

“We did it at first to help the team, but it ended up helping the company too,” Melillo wrote in a recent article. The company reported year-over-year revenue growth of 99%, and the four-day workweek is now a permanent company policy.

“The big takeaway is that shortening our workweek did not get in the way of our growth,” says Meghan Keaney Anderson, chief marketing officer at The Wanderlust Group. “In the process we became more strategic about how we use our time together, eliminating unproductive standing meetings and getting better at project management,” she says.

“In addition, having Monday off means we start the week strong,” she adds. “As a parent, my weekends can be just as chaotic as my workweek, so by having Monday off, I truly have time to myself to clear my head before driving back to work.”

Adding a summer Friday program

Thinking about adding a summer Friday program to your total rewards package? Loftus’s advice is don’t be afraid to try it. “I’ve seen it work successfully in so many different industries, organization sizes, and stages in the organizational life cycle.”

Here are five tips to help you make your summer Friday program a success:

Know your business and your industry

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to introduce the summer Friday benefit. “Depending on the organization, it might make more sense to have a Monday morning off, for employees who travel locally or want to extend the weekend a little longer,” Loftus suggests. “For another organization, maybe Wednesday is the slow day, so you really need to know your business and your industry and what’s going to be the right fit for your organization.”

Know your employees and what they value

Before introducing a summer Friday benefit, listen to your employees and get their opinions. “It’s good to talk with some employees first, maybe do some focus groups, to find out what they’re thinking and what kind of summer Friday benefit will be of most value to them,” Loftus recommends.

Get buy-in from senior leadership

Senior leadership may be hesitant, thinking the work won’t get done, customer service may suffer, or that outsiders will perceive the organization as being too carefree. “To get their support,” Loftus says, “it’s critical to show them the positive impact of a summer Friday program on productivity, customer service, and the bottom line.”

Consider starting with a pilot summer Fridays program

Depending on the organizational culture, you may want to start with a pilot program, perhaps trying it for a month in certain departments. “This way you can tweak what doesn’t work before rolling it out to the whole organization,” says Loftus. “It’s always easier to build out slowly than to go big and then have to take back,” she adds.

Communicate

Let your employees know this perk exists and encourage them to use it. “You want it to be something that employees look forward to, whether they’ve been there six months or six years,” Loftus explains. Equally, employees should know that this is not a free pass and the work still needs to get done.

Above all, make sure everyone understands that time off is time off. “It doesn’t mean the employee is tethered to their laptop or cell phone, otherwise it’s not a benefit,” says Loftus.

Preparing for a Positive Back-to-School Experience

The series “Back To It” features advice and ideas for celebrating the return to school and the office.

While many students are excited about the long-awaited return to in-person learning and the social interactions it brings, you may have a child or teenager who’s feeling anxious about heading back into a classroom setting after constant family togetherness. And it makes sense.

For nearly 18 months, our homes have been the epicenter of all life’s activities. For our children, this has meant turning kitchen tables into school desks and missing out on sharing key celebratory milestones like birthdays and graduations. Throughout this disruption, kids have also been living with the fear of illness, death, and general uncertainty, which has led to an increase in anxiety, says Dr. Kenneth Tellerman, chairman of the Committee on Emotional Health for the Maryland chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Now, with the looming return to in-person learning, our children are wondering: Do I have to go back? What if I’m not ready to go back?

“This anticipation of making the jump back to normalcy is the trigger I’m seeing right now, which is different from what I saw a year ago,” Dr. Tellerman says.

He is also seeing an increase in regressive behavior and separation anxiety among pre-school- and elementary school-aged children, which manifests in the following ways:

Following parents from room to room
Not wanting parents to leave the house, even if to just go outside to the mailbox
Wanting to join their parents in bed at night

Reading the signs

No matter your child’s age, Dr. Tellerman reinforces the bedrock of mental health: adequate sleep, appropriate nutrition, and exercise. Ensuring these three critical behaviors on a consistent basis may help mitigate the effects of anxiety, stress, or depression.

He recommends keeping a look-out for any of the following red flags, and to connect with your child’s pediatrician as the first line of support.

Red flags in children

Sleep disturbances often in the form of nightmares
Irritability
Frequent meltdowns
Headaches
Belly pains
Separation issues

Red flags in adolescents and teens

Sleep disturbances often in the form of insomnia
Eating disorders
Social withdrawal
Self-harm
Substance abuse

Preparing for the transition

As kids are inundated with back-to-school messages, their anxiety may start to increase. How can parents help?

In addition to watching out for any physical, emotional, and behavioral changes, Dr. Tellerman suggests refocusing your child’s attention and energy with out-of-the-house activities and socializing with peers.

He also recommends reintroducing structure and routine back in your child’s day such as set mealtimes and bedtime.

Particularly for children experiencing separation anxiety, flexibility in the transition back to full-time, in-person school will be critical to their successful adjustment after a year of perpetual change.

Tapping into resources

As school administrators and educators around the country continue moving forward with plans to offer in-person learning five days a week, many are heeding the AAP’s advice to adopt an all-encompassing approach for mental health support.

“Mental health is our number one priority,” says Penny Kapanika, assistant principal for student affairs at the Academy of Mount St. Ursula in the Bronx, New York.

Kapanika as seen first-hand a heightened awareness and investment in resources and tools to support the socio-emotional health of students, an unanticipated upside of the pandemic.

While resources vary from school to school, they include:

Onsite counselors and mental health professionals available to meet with students during the school day
Anonymous, text-based help lines that give students a private and safe way to communicate they need support
Access to telehealth and digital mental health tools
Peer support programs

Not sure which resources are right for your child?

Kapanika recommends connecting with your child’s teacher or guidance counselor as a starting point. “Teachers [and counselors] have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening with our kids,” she states.

Despite our best efforts, there may instances where kids are just resistant to going back to school. Professional therapists can work with you and your child to explore deeper issues and develop coping strategies that make sense. For additional resources or to find a pediatrician, psychologist, or psychiatrist near you, visit the AAP’s Healthy Children, or the Child Mind Institute.

Celebrity Chef and Author David Burtka on Throwing the Perfect Pride Party

The pandemic is easing, and restrictions are largely falling away. All this just in time for June and Pride Month and the many LGBTQ+ parties and parades that fill the first month of summer. In 2022, revelers will be able to party in person to mark the global celebration of LGBTQ+ life and history.

As we return to some semblance of normal, many people may need a refresher on what it takes to put together a Pride party. That’s why we reached out to actor, author, and celebrity chef and party planner David Burtka. In addition to being an all-around creative guy, he’s also the husband of actor Neil Patrick Harris, and most proudly, the father of twins Harper and Gideon.

Hosting the perfect Pride party

Burtka literally wrote the book on parties. Life is a Party is all about celebrating life through events, great food, tasty drinks, enjoyable activities, and lively music. Burtka’s tome offers comprehensive tips from meal and snack planning to flowers to decorations – pretty much everything it takes to create a memorable production.

To celebrate Pride, you need people who are game for anything.

David Burtka

Celebrity chef and author

“I think anyone can have a perfect Pride party, and one of the first things to do to make that happen is to invite fun and happy people,” he explains. “To celebrate Pride, you need people who are game for anything. We all know the LGBTQ+ community loves its parties and being together to celebrate one another, and Pride month was designed just for that.”

Burtka also says to “make sure the drinks are flowing, and that there is a bit of food, so you don’t get your guests too tipsy. And, finally, a great playlist of music is a must since the songs you choose can have a major impact on how the guests feel.”

Picking the perfect Pride party menu

In terms of food and an appropriate menu, we asked Burtka what kind of food works best for a Pride party.

“That’s easy,” says Burtka. “Color! There are many things you can use to make out a rainbow that reflects the Pride flag. Since a lot of LGBTQ+ people and others coming out of the pandemic have become body-aware again, you want to make sure the guests eat right. Thus, you can make healthy options like a vegetable tray laid out in a full rainbow – red peppers, cherry tomatoes, radishes, purple cauliflower, mini blue potatoes, green celery, cucumbers, beans, yellow pepper, carrots beans, orange peppers, and carrots.”

Burtkaalso says that you can do the same thing with a fruit platter. “Fill the plate with red berries, watermelon, purple plums, figs, grapes, blueberries, green apples, kiwis, grapes, yellow peaches, pineapple, oranges, and mangos. And don’t forget about those rainbow Jell-O shots and rainbow-dyed Rice Krispies treats.”

Decorating the Pride party

With all the colorful food, you might be wondering how to go about matching the party decorations. Burtka recommends hanging rainbow flags and an array of rainbow-colored balloons.

“Many companies sell rainbow pool floats, sprinklers, and slip and slides,” he says. “So, take your cues from the vegetable and fruit trays and make separate flower arrangements down the center of your table with the colors of the rainbows.” Some ideas: for pink, roses, zinnias, and Gerber daisies; for purple, carnations, and lilies; for blue, thistle, and hydrangeas; for green, mums, carnations; for yellow, orchids, sunflowers, and daisies; and for orange, Dalia’s and marigolds.

Finally, as an avid music lover, Burtka feels music is instrumental (pun intended) for a great Pride party. “There are so many pride anthems from which to choose from, and that will get the crowd pumped up,” he says. “Spotify and iTunes have great playlists, but no Pride party should be without a good mix of tunes.

Pride party parting gifts

You want people to remember your party beyond June, and one way to do this is by providing parting gifts. Burtka thinks the best way to do this is by keeping it simple.

“Set up a photo booth where people can decorate frames, and then they can take selfies and photos of themselves for a keepsake,” he says. “Or perhaps go a little deeper and send folks home with a little history on gay pride with books like the Velvet Rage, When We Rise, or the children’s book This Day in June.”

The Significance of Flowers in the LGBTQ+ Community

Flowers have long been associated with the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the connections are out in the open, like all the colorful flowers that adorn the floats featured in Pride parades each June. But some of the links are much more discreet and date to a time when being “queer” was frowned upon, sometimes ridiculed, or worse.

“Flowers have been a part of the LBGTQ+ community for centuries,” says Jackie Lacey, president of the American Institute of Floral Designers and director of education and industry relations at Floriology, powered by BloomNet. “There are many floral symbols that include the ubiquitous green carnation, the evolution of the pansy, and, more recently, the emergence of rainbow roses.”

The subtle message of the green carnation

The green carnation is one of the most iconic flower symbols in LGBTQ+ history, attributed to legendary gay playwright Oscar Wilde, who asked actors and friends to wear green carnations at the opening night performance of his play Lady Windemere’s Fan in 1892. Subsequently, Parisian gay men began wearing green carnations in public to send a message to other men that they were gay.

The pansy as a putdown

Flower symbolism has been overtly hurtful to the LGBTQ+ community, too. In the 19^th century, the use of the word “pansy” as a description of gay men carried an undercurrent of negative connotations. “During the Victorian era, the pansy became adversely emblematic of gay men,” explains Lacey. “The pansy, as a flower, is delicate and weak, and people began associating the pansy with gay men, who they perceived to be weak individuals.”

According to Lacey, the pansy flower is now looked at in a more positive light. “I think we prefer to look at it differently since the flower is so bright and beautiful and comes in so many colors, like the rainbow flag, and all of us within the LGBTQ+ community.”

The rainbow flag and flowers

The rainbow flag is the worldwide symbol for gay pride, and its design first appeared in the 1970s. San Francisco County Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to hold public office in the U.S., asked artist Gilbert Baker to create a positive symbol for the gay community. Baker wanted each color of the flag to represent a message. Red represents life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony, and purple for spirit.

“There is a strong association with the use of rainbow roses in today’s market, in relation to the rainbow flag, and a connection of how flowers were used to comfort the victims and survivors of the Pulse shooting in June of 2016 and other hate crimes, particularly the recent escalation of hate crimes against transgender people,” says Lacey, who also leads the LGBTQ+ and Allies employee resource group at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.

Lacey also points out that the colors of the rainbow flag and rainbow flowers represent all the many different types of individuals who encompass the acronym LGBTQ+ and the community’s shared history. “We are not a homogenous group. We come in all shapes and sizes, just like flowers,” he says. “Collectively, we look at the positive end of a rainbow as our future has evolved and changed, particularly during the last 50 years, when we’ve gone through so many ups and downs.”

Flowers and the AIDS crisis

The traverse from tragedy to triumph can be told from the point of view of long-time San Francisco florist Guy Clark, who was featured in the searing documentary We Were Here, about survivors of the early days of the AIDS crisis.

I did the best I could to accommodate everyone during that difficult time.

Guy Clark

Guy’s Flowers

June 2021 was the 40^th anniversary of AIDS being officially identified as a disease in the U.S. Coincidentally, 1981 was when Guy set up his floral business on San Francisco’s famed Castro Street, the unofficial hub of gay life during the early ‘80s. “At first, I was so full of optimism and hope for my business and so excited to be in the middle of the gay capital of the world,” Clark remembers. “Then, horribly, the AIDS crisis began.”

*Guy Clark’s flower shop opened in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood in 1981.*

Clark recalls arranging, selling, and donating flowers for hospitalized patients, funerals, and life celebration ceremonies. “I did the best I could to accommodate everyone during that difficult time. One day you would see someone that you saw every day, and then they would just disappear. It was a catastrophe.”

By the end of the 1990s, when retroviral drugs became available, the crisis began to ease, and life changed for Clark. “I feel fortunate every day that I am still alive and still selling flowers 40 years later,” he says. “Now, I’m happy to say that I’m busy designing arrangements for gay weddings, and like the funerals during those dark days, my customers want the designs bright, colorful, big, and bold. Thankfully, that’s how our community rolls.”

Understanding the LGBTQ+ community through flowers

“A lot of our community embraces a positive outlook since we’ve overcome so many challenges in our lives,” Lacey says. “We embrace color a lot, so the art of flowers is joyous, and it helps lift us up, particularly when gay marriage finally became legal.”

Flowers symbolize what we’ve been through together and look forward to together.

Jackie Lacey

Director of Education and Industry Relations

Floriology

At his wedding five years ago, Lacey made sure that all of the flowers used were in shades of red since it is his favorite color and has a strong and vibrant hue. “We had various red flowers including orchids, roses, anemone, and anthuriums. The colors of the flowers blended so wonderfully and made the setting so dazzling. It was like a dream.”

For Lacey, flowers bind the past, present, and future of LGBTQ+ history. “Flowers symbolize what we’ve been through together and look forward to together. I always say, plant seeds of desire, water them with education, and watch them grow with knowledge. And, the same could be said with how people can come to understand LGBTQ+ history and learn more about our community.”

How to Celebrate the 100th Day of 2021

“Celebration Inspiration” is all about bringing you top-notch advice and creative ideas to make the most of life’s special moments.

Recognizing the 100^th day of the school year is a common practice for many schools. It’s celebrated with activities such as bringing 100 of something to school, doing 100 acts of kindness, or even dressing up like 100-year-olds.

For preschool student-teacher Lena Barber, celebrating 100 days of school is almost as much fun for the teachers as it is for the students. “Of course, they enjoy the activities, but they’re still a bit too young to grasp the concept of 100 days and the milestone we are celebrating,” she says. “For us (teachers), it’s nice to take a moment and evaluate how much our students have learned and grown and enjoy the signs that summer is not too far off.”

But school isn’t the only place to mark a 100-day milestone. And after 2020, we think the first 100 days of the new year is something to celebrate. It’s an opportunity for family and friends to find joy through fun activities and quality time spent together.

And since the 100^th day of 2021 falls on April 10, it’s the perfect time to start emerging from our winter hibernation and enjoy some spring activities, while recognizing all that we’ve accomplished in this first 100 days of the year.

Ways to celebrate the first 100 days of 2021

Plant a garden. April showers bring May flowers! Pick out a few seed packets and plant some flowers in seed starter soil. Start them indoors in tiny pots or even paper egg cartons, or scatter native wildflower seeds in a garden bed for a vibrant mix.

Can’t wait for those beautiful blooms to grow? Bring some color into your home with a fresh bouquet of flowers from our spring arrivals collection.

Decorate your windows with cheery, spring-themed DIY suncatchers. Bring some bright, springtime decorations to your windows. All you’ll need is contact paper, tissue paper, and scissors to create beautiful flowers and adorable bunnies to stick on the windows.

Or they can be themed to represent your first 100 days of 2021 — maybe a snowman if you had lots of snow so far, or a birthday hat if you celebrated your birthday already. Find a simple tutorial here.

Throw a family tea party. When’s the last time you had a tea party? The 100^th Day of 2021 is the perfect reason to put on your favorite springtime dress and set the table with the fancy silverware. Have the kids help make some sugar cookies or simple tea sandwiches. Sit back and sip tea (or juice), pinkies out!

Make and fly a kite. Yes, even if you’re an adult! Homemade kites are easy to create with recycled materials. All you’ll need is some newspaper, tape, string, a couple of wooden dowels (sticks work, too!), and a couple of basic supplies like scissors. For a full tutorial, visit Buggy and Buddy.

With many parks opening up, you’ll be able to take your homemade kite out on its maiden voyage (just don’t forget to maintain social distancing).

Look for signs of spring in nature. This could include going for a nature walk and looking for budding blooms on trees or taking a virtual adventure and watching animal webcams. You might discover some baby animals taking their first steps in the world!

Make a homemade rain gauge. A creative way to measure those April (and May) showers! With heavier rains on the way during spring, this simple activity is fun to do with kids, and they can watch their creation in action every time it rains.

Help kids draw measurements on a recycled soda bottle and choose a spot to set up your backyard weather station. Turn this into a science lesson if you like! Find a simple tutorial here.

Have a picnic. Pack up your basket and picnic blanket and head outside! Want to give this activity a 2021 twist? Honor the first 100 days of the year by featuring foods that have been popular so far this year, such as the Tik Tok-famous pasta dish that led an entire country to sell out of feta cheese.

Gather some snacks and enjoy fresh-air dining in your backyard or at a park nearby.

Start your Spring Cleaning. Open the windows and air out the house, vacuum, dust, sweep. If you’re looking for a real challenge, try to declutter by donating or getting rid of 100 things in honor of the 100^th day of the year. A quick purge of the junk drawer or coat closet could be a great place to start.

Bake a delicious springtime dessert. Have you “hopped” on the bread-baking trend that everyone tried early last year? If not, there’s still time. Cherry tarts or lemon cupcakes would be excellent springtime dessert choices, if bread isn’t quite your thing. Find some inspiration at Epicurious.

Go on a litter walk. The whole family can participate in this one — grab some trash bags and gloves and take a walk around your neighborhood or a local park, collecting all of the trash you can find. See if you can collect 100 pieces before you are finished!

Spring has sprung! As warmer temperatures slowly return and flowers begin to bloom, let’s continue to find ways to find reasons to celebrate and seek joy every day. So, bake a cake, take a walk through the park, or make a springtime craft. Better yet, find a way to bring a smile to someone else’s face as you celebrate 100 Days of 2021.

How to Host a Virtual Easter While Social Distancing

“Celebration Inspiration” is all about bringing you top-notch advice and creative ideas to make the most of life’s special moments. Whether you’re celebrating a birthday or going all out for a holiday, we’re here to share decorating tips, gifting advice, and fun, festive ways you can make a lasting impression!

Easter is a much-celebrated, highly anticipated holiday for many people and for different reasons. Celebrations are often tied to religious observances, but some people mark the occasion due to its personal significance or even their love of bunnies and spring. Regardless of the reason, this year’s Easter celebrations will look different than past years due to the ongoing pandemic.

That being said, just because COVID is still around doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy Easter in a bright, vibrant way — you don’t even have to sacrifice on including family, friends, and other loved ones in your celebrations.

We’ve laid out a few fun, festive, and COVID-safe strategies for really amping up the Easter celebrations this year. From virtual egg hunts to bake-a-long brunches, there are some exciting party ideas for everyone.

The most important thing to remember? Safety for your holidays doesn’t have to mean sacrifice.

“The world has changed for celebrations,” says Seri Kertzner, the chief party officer from Little Miss Party Planner, “so the way we’ve directed our clients on how to celebrate during this time has changed, too. Even so, it’s important to remember to live your life, follow the guidelines, and not to be afraid to change the way you think about celebrations.”

Seri says she often reminds her clients that virtual and outdoor parties can be just as fun as traditional parties — and even so, there’s no reason you have to miss out on normal traditions. Most of the time, it’s possible to adjust your time-honored traditions to fit into a COVID-safe method.

“Any traditions you’ve done in the past can still be done — whether it’s in person with your own close family bubble or virtually,” she says.

“If you celebrate with an Easter brunch usually, send out invites with mom’s famous frittata recipe on the back — that way, you can all have the same meals and do a virtual party all at once.”

Virtual Easter parties are a blast

Over the past year or so, we’ve seen stunning examples of virtual parties that are packed with entertainment, community, and lots of fun — so much so that it almost doesn’t feel like a virtual party at all. And of course, there are ways to capture that Easter-fun feeling even if you’re not all physically together in a room. Create an Easter day schedule for everyone, send out invites to the virtual party, plan menus and cocktails, and incorporate Easter games or movies that everyone can watch. A virtual party doesn’t have to fall flat; it just takes a little extra attention and planning to bring it to the next level.

Outdoor, distanced parties work, too

While it’s important to remain safe and follow along with the CDC’s guidelines (and your state’s regulations), it’s also totally possible to celebrate your Easter holiday outdoors at safe distances. While this might not be an option for folks in colder climates, if you’re experiencing pleasant weather, there’s no reason you can’t move the Easter activities outdoors where everyone has plenty of space to stay safe. Remember, if you’re planning to serve food or play games, it’s important to ensure everything is sanitized and single servings.

Any traditions you’ve done in the past can still be done — whether it’s in person with your own close family bubble or virtually.

Seri Kertzner

Chief Party Officer

Little Miss Party Planner

Seri says that her party planning company has opted for individual servings of food or individually boxed and themed foods. Her latest thing? Individual boxes of charcuterie and cheese boards.

“That type of idea can easily be spun into an Easter meal,” she says. “Whether it’s breakfast, brunch, or a traditional Easter dinner.”

Cook-a-long virtual brunches

There’s no reason you have to miss out on your favorite dishes just because you’re not choosing to attend in-person parties. If there’s a special brunch tradition you’re hoping to carry out with your family, arrange a virtual cook-a-long ahead of time. Send out e-invites with recipes and grocery lists so everyone can snag the right materials needed to make an Easter-approved brunch together over the webcam.

Virtual Easter egg coloring and egg hunts

A virtual Easter egg coloring party? Sign us up! Set up a mini-virtual party for the kids (or adults, too) where egg dyeing is the name of the game. You’d be surprised how fun a virtual party of this kind can be — but watch out, it’s bound to get messy (we recommend keeping your technical device away from the egg dye if you can).

To add a special touch of springtime fun, look to nature for colorful Easter egg ideas. You can combine beets, purple cabbage, and turmeric with white vinegar to create deep blues, pinks, and yellows. After dying, you can decorate your eggs with natural objects, like flower petals and leave, using a thin layer of matte-finish decoupage medium.

Better yet, if you’re able to, try setting up a properly social-distanced egg dyeing party for the whole family outdoors. Not only is this a great way to stay safe, but it’ll also probably keep your home even cleaner.

With this in mind, there’s no reason you can’t come up with a virtual egg hunt or an outdoor egg hunt. Whether you want to construct your own wild-goose-chase-of-an-egg-hunt on your own or you want to find some fun ideas online, we guarantee the kids will love the concept so much they won’t even notice it’s a virtual hunt.

Online or outdoor church services

If religious ceremonies or church services are an impactful part of your Easter celebration but you’re hoping to remain safe and secure by keeping things distanced, we highly recommend finding online services from a church you enjoy. Thanks to such technological advancements, many churches and congregations haven’t had to skip out on services — they simply moved them online. While it’s hard to feel the same sense of community when listening and watching online, it’s a seamless, safe way to attend church without sacrificing safety.

Remember, the pandemic doesn’t mean you should cancel your holiday plans. As humans, we’re meant to celebrate and connect — we just need to find some creative adjustments right now. As far as Seri is concerned, she believes this will likely be the last Easter celebration we’ll need to pivot for social distancing purposes, so we might as well make it a great one.

“I know celebrating virtually might be getting tiring, but it’s (hopefully) our last virtual Easter and we need to celebrate safely,” she says. “There are so many options out there and there’s no reason your normal traditions can’t happen, we just need to adjust a little bit. You know the guidelines, you know what’s safe, and you know what to do — don’t let staying safe compromise you living your life and celebrating.”

The Many Colors of Tulips and What Each One Symbolizes

From tulips to chrysanthemums, our series “The Language of Flowers” explores everything from fresh flower care tips to flower symbolism and meaning.

Flowers, with their spectrum of colors, have a beautiful language all their own. Symbolism of both the flowers and their colors are found in scripture, literature, and art in both Eastern and Western cultures. Flowers carry heartfelt messages of all kinds depending on the type of flower and its color.

The symbolism took root in the 1500s when women in the Middle East and Europe preferred to express their sentiments with flowers rather than words. Dictionnaire du Language des Fleurs was the first published work on the subject in 1809 by Joseph Hammer-Purgstall, an Austrian historian. Hundreds of books on floriography — the language of flowers — followed, and interest in floral symbolism peaked in Europe and the United States in the 1800s.

Today, we speak this language every time we send messages of caring with flowers, so be sure to choose a bouquet with the appropriate meaning. Tulips bloom in the spring and symbolize new life and perfect love, but they come in many colors. What do their different colors mean? Take a look at each tulip color below to send just the right message to those you love.

Red tulips

Red tulips are a strong declaration of love, passion, and perfect love. When you’ve found that perfect someone and you want to let them know how much you care, send them a romantic bouquet of bright red tulips.

Pink tulips

Pink tulips have more to do with affection and good wishes than with passionate love. They are perfect to send to friends or family for a birthday, congratulations, or any happy occasion to show that you care.

Purple tulips

In the past, purple signified royalty. Today, you can let your loved one know that you appreciate how regal they are with an elegant purple tulip bouquet. Purple is also part of the Easter tradition, denoting the beginning of new life, and is a popular flower color for bouquets at that time of year.

Orange tulips

Orange tulips show understanding, compassion, and sympathy. You can celebrate your special connection to a colleague, friend, or a romantic partner with a bouquet of orange tulips.

Yellow tulips

Yellow is a cheerful color that symbolizes friendship, happiness, and hope. Yellow tulips are an excellent choice for a sunny bouquet of uplift and encouragement, get well wishes, or a just-because for a friend.

White tulips

White is the color of purity, innocence, honor, respect, and forgiveness. White tulips are often seen at religious services such as weddings, baptisms, and funerals. They can also say, “I’m sorry,” to ask for forgiveness and to mend a friendship.

Variegated tulips

Tulips with multiple-colored petals symbolize beautiful eyes. They are perfect for telling a special someone that they take your breath away.

Blue tulips

Blue tulips symbolize peace and tranquility. This is a unique color in tulips that can calm anxiousness and offer a sense of serenity. Send a bouquet of blue tulips to calm an anxious friend or family member.

There are so many avenues of communication today — by written note, text, email, phone, or video conferencing — that a simple sentiment expressed with flowers is a refreshing and delightful change of pace. Show a friend or loved one that you care by sending a bouquet of beautiful tulips that express your feelings with the age-old language of flowers.