Section: Lifestyle

Sales rose this year during the holiday shopping season even as Americans wrestled with elevated prices for many groceries and other necessities, according to new data.

Heading into 2025, thousands of workers face an unsettling reality: after years of working from the comfort of home, they must return to the office full-time for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic or look for new work.

Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow might be enough to brighten some homes this holiday season. But others are adorned with thousands of blinking lights synched to blasting music, drawing crowds and bolstering both holiday and community spirit.

A demographic that ranges from teenagers up to adults shy of middle age are ditching the dominant green and red of Christmases past for pastel pink and blue palettes, going glam with faux fur, lamé and feather details, and investing in wacky or whimsical outdoor displays, according to retail and design experts.

Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S.

The holidays are meant to be a time of celebration with family and friends. But they can also bring pressure to spend money on gifts, gatherings and plane tickets home, exacerbated by brand emails, social media influencers and family expectations.

After the busy Black Friday holiday weekend, Kristen Tarnol, owner of Emerald City Gifts in Studio City, California, is already asking her supplier to send more more fuzzy alpaca scarves and warm slippers that were best sellers over the weekend.

Nearly half of American teenagers say they are online “constantly” despite concerns about the effects of social media and smartphones on their mental health, according to a new report published Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

Rather than looking to a single blockbuster solution to help make up for a savings gap, what if you were to consider a little bit of several prudent strategies—being willing to cut your standard of living a bit in retirement, working a bit longer, and investing a bit better, for example?

Americans should eat more beans, peas and lentils and cut back on red and processed meats and starchy vegetables, all while continuing to limit added sugars, sodium and saturated fat.