"HolidayParties" news and stories

Pascale La Draulec gushes about the ease and allure of a retro cookie swap shindig -- one that could overload even the Cookie Monster with dozens upon dozens of cookies.

But if you want something a little friendlier on your midsection, you might want to try kiss-theming your holiday celebrations. Pucker up!

How about some good news from the business world for a change? That sound you hear is the collective sigh of immense relief from workers in office towers and business parks country-wide, for it turns out that this year many offices are choosing to forego their annual office holiday party. But wait, it gets better -- for, in many of those offices that are still having parties, the event is not just being scaled down financially but scaled up culturally. Welcome to the phenomenon of the office book party.

An office book party is one in which, in lieu of the usual God-awful wrapped "present" for an agonizing round-robin of anonymous Kris Kringle, everyone brings a wrapped book. This way, rather than leaving with wrapped bottles of hotel hand lotion or regifted chocolates, everyone leaves with a book. For some book parties, there is a theme -- for one such I've seen, it's "your favorite novel," in which you leave your name inside the cover with a note about why this novel is your favorite -- but for most of them, the only rule is to bring a book someone would like to receive as a gift.