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Seasons Greens add a touch of holiday spirit. FILE PHOTO/ERIE TIMES-NEWS animals and books. While shopping, you can take a break at the Sunset Café adjacent to the gift shop. If you love our treasured state park, you’ll be pleased to know that all the proceeds from the gift shop, staffed with volunteers, are used to enhance Presque Isle State Park. A beautiful photo of Lake Erie, a lighthouse, Dobbins Landing or other area landscapes make great gifts for anyone who loves Erie. Gibbens Creative owner Paul Gibbens has all of those photos and more with various sizes available and starting at just $3. Custom framing is available, or you can order your print on just about anything, including, canvas, metal and acrylic, according to Gibbens. AND AAAAHHHHH! FINALLY, enjoy the season One thing that you can’t put off until the last minute during the holiday rush is the important time you take for yourself and for family. It’s something you should plan. “When we take time to be more mindful, we are able 18 | L A K E E R I E L I F E S T Y L E / / w w w . l a k e e r i e l i f e s t y l e . c o m to experience the holidays with intention,” says Mandy Fauble, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., vice-president of clinical operations at Safe Harbor Behavioral Health. “That means anticipating and planning events, then getting to enjoy them and building lasting memories that make those events stay with us longer.” “It can be tempting to try to try to jam in activities, but then we can get so busy moving from one thing to another, that the holidays become a blur. This really adds stress instead of creating the holiday many of us imagine and crave. When it’s all said and done, we feel exhausted and not very satisfied,” Fauble says. If you are going to cook a big meal or bake cookies for your neighbors, do it together as a family. Shop together as a family, especially at locally-owned stores. Enjoy what the community has to offer, whether it’s a holiday church production or a seasonal museum exhibit. Plan ahead and make time for it. There are clearly many opportunities to simplify your decorating, shopping and cooking tasks so that enjoying the season with loved ones doesn’t become a missed opportunity. LEL