Everyone is busy these days, super busy. So I thought I’d send a few notes on different web sites that I use to save myself time near the holidays.

Google for Coupons www.google.com

Know you’re going to buy something specific, such as an American Doll? You can do a search on [American Girl coupon] to find a number of web sites that compile coupons for various vendors. I can’t speak for all of them – but I’ve found and used coupons.

The Food Network http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/entertaining/

The “easy” recipes on the Food Network are even easy by my standards and their search (found on the left) is pretty good. The link above goes to their party planning page. Their kids section and planning section are good – although not necessarily helpful if your party is in 2 hours.

Gift.com http://www.gifts.com/

If you can describe your recipient, they have a matching category that will give you plenty of gift ideas.

Mom’s Minivan http://www.momsminivan.com

Thankfully our biggest travel over the holidays will be to a mid-tier, Twin Cities suburb – but that’s not to say that we won’t be printing off some of these games for the cars or learning about how to prevent car sickness.