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The holidays can be a truly lovely time of year, with parties, delicious dinners, and family and friend reunions—but they can also be super stressful (travel and fundamental differences among family members can all lead to disaster). The dynamics change even more when you’re in a brand new relationship, especially if it happens to be the first time you’re meeting your partner’s family. Of course, you want to make a stellar first impression and have a great time.

Black Friday is a great time to take advantage of huge sales—and can even be the perfect opportunity to knock out all your holiday shopping in one fell swoop—but it can also be super stressful. Between the crowds and the long checkout lines, there’s a lot that can put a damper on all those deals, but you can avoid a lot of the frustration and save more time and money by shopping online.

If you’re intimidated by the lingering memories of friends or family member’s sophisticated, traditional Thanksgiving tables, take heart. The table setting in Rory and Chris’ LA wonderland is here to inspire and inform you. This holiday season (or any time of year) forget traditional holiday color palettes or minimal vibes. This here is your anatomy of a perfect table setting: a distracting explosion of the color, patterns and textures that you love.

(Image credit: Leela Cyd) From Kitchn → 6 Tips for Setting Up a Thanksgiving Buffet

Oh, bless the nosy relatives and awkward acquaintances that we see this time of year. They mean well, right? They don’t want to hurt our feelings. They don’t mean to pry. And yet, oooof— navigating the holiday table can feel like House of the Flying Daggers, but instead of daggers it’s questions about jobs and housing and love interests and income and life goals and babies, all zinged at us over mashed potatoes and Nana’s famous dinner rolls.

When Amelia, who runs the design business Urban Cottage NYC, moved into her 490 square foot Hell’s Kitchen studio apartment, she was ready to live small. What she wasn’t willing to do was give up the feeling of having different rooms. “I still wanted to feel like I had a real dining room, where friends could hang out, or where I could write or sew or do projects while watching TV,” she writes. As you can see from her house tour, she totally aced the furniture placement.

When life coach Bonnie Rasmussen moved to the UK from her native Denmark, she missed the feeling of airy, light-filled Scandinavian-style homes. So she took to transforming her Surrey home, making it feel bright, open and cozy. Because she’s from Denmark and clearly knows how to craft a serene home, I asked her to share her thoughts on hygge — what it is, what it means to her, and how everyone can add more of it into their home this holiday season (and all year long).

(Image credit: Leela Cyd) From Kitchn → 10 Ways to Be the Best Thanksgiving Guest

Hosting Thanksgiving is no small undertaking, and if you’re lucky enough to be someone’s guest, you might want to repay their hospitality with a token of your appreciation. These seven gift ideas, ranging from affordable and handmade to as-fabulous-as-you-can-afford, go beyond the predictable wine, chocolates, plants, and candles. Treat your host to something that they’ll remember, and be sure to get yourself invited back next year.

(Image credit: Lauren Volo ) From Kitchn → A Stranger Things Thanksgiving from the Upside Down

We’re all familiar with Say What You’re Thankful For, Break The Wishbone, and Eat Way Too Much Pie, but these 10 new traditions might lively up your annual family feast—for many years to come. Encourage your guests to bring canned/boxed goods to donate to a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. For every item they bring, they get one ticket for a raffle.

Airbnb, once just a place to list your apartment or book a room, is becoming a full-circle travel platform. This week, the company announced Trips, an immersive way to plan and enjoy your travel experience. Announced at the opening keynote of their Airbnb Open festival in LA on Friday, Trips is now available as an update to your Airbnb app and is launching with three areas: Homes, Places, and Experiences.

Does the spectacular woman on the right look familiar? We’ve not only toured photographer Kerry Maloney’s colorful and quirky New Orleans French Quarter abode, we’ve marveled over her personal fashion (and costume) style. Kerry and her travel partner, Jessica Fender, have even shared their best pointers for on looking good while on the move.

Entertaining at home is practically addicting. You always catch a little natural high getting ready to share your space with friends and family. But later that night as the clock winds forward, you’ll find yourself yawning in the kitchen wishing you could just straighten up a little and hit the sheets.

When Andy Williams (and every other singer who’s ever released a cover of the song) sang “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” he obviously wasn’t thinking about the whole holiday travel thing. Whether you’re flying, driving, or taking a train or a bus, there’s no getting around the fact that sometimes traveling during the holidays just, well… sucks.

Navigating a party doesn’t require a map—just a little bit of charm. And know this: If you’re not born with social finesse, it’s certainly something you can borrow. The next time you find yourself in a conversation that you need to dip out of—for a drink, a bathroom break, or just to take a breath—use one of these lines. We tapped a panel of entertaining experts in order to lend you some of their secrets for making a graceful exit from a tight circle.

Have you ever had a friend stay with you, only to immediately regret it because of their behavior? Maybe they ate all your food and didn’t offer to contribute, or maybe they were much better at making messes than they were at cleaning them up. On the other hand, have you ever wondered if maybe you’re not a good houseguest?