With Alice.com, you don’t have to spend half the afternoon at a big-box store searching for toilet bowl cleanser and rafts of paper towels. That’s convenient. So how will you make the most of those blessed free hours?

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably going to spend it eating. Especially now that it’s cold and dreary and your body is kicking into full hibernation mode. You can’t fight biology, so you may as well make some pasta.

How To Cook Like the Italians

To cook like an Italian, you need to find some Italians and request their secrets. If there aren’t any Italians kicking back with a glass of red in your kitchen right now, feel free to check the bookstore.

Try Giada de Lauren’s Everyday Italian. With a name like Giada, she’s got some definite Roman street cred. But the real selling point here is the subtitle: “125 Simple and Delicious Recipes.” Simple and delicious are my only two requirements when it comes to things I make myself.

Next up, make sure you have plenty of olive oil and garlic. Pretty much anything can be made more Italian with the addition of olive oil and garlic. People are even putting garlic and olive oil in ice cream these days. I don’t necessarily recommend this.

Next, put in a thematically-appropriate movie. For a heartwrenching World War II-era saga, try Life is Beautiful. If you’re more a romantic-comedy type of person, rent Only You with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. Or you can always go full-on Fellini with La Dolce Vita or Roma.

Any food you cook is automatically more Italian with one of these playing in the background, the language and culture seeping into your noodles by osmosis.

In your best Italian accent, dish on your favorite Italian recipes and dishes below.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Google +. Your information is scattered across the web. And if you’re anything like me, your digital house needs a major overhaul.

So I’m spending some time in the new year thinking about how my online presence reflects me. And trying not to feel like a jerk for talking about things like “my online presence.” But having sixteen web accounts in different places is just a fact of modern life. Cave men didn’t have to figure out what to do with that old Myspace page, but they also didn’t live past the age of 20.

Three Handy Steps For Online Detritus Management

• 1. Make a list of all your online spaces. Often we keep old accounts active when we haven’t used them since The West Wing was on the air. If you haven’t used something in six months, is it worth keeping?

• 2. Delete the ones you no longer use, importing the info to your personal computer if there’s anything you want to keep.
• 3. Does your Twitter bio mention the boyfriend you broke up with in 2009? Make sure everything reflects where you are now – your passions, your hobbies, your work, your fresh accomplishments.

Keeping everything fresh is a good opportunity to attract new friends and new opportunities. It’s also a good way to put what you want out into the world. That digital graveyard takes up mental space, even if you don’t realize it. Free up that bandwidth for something better.

What websites or social networks do you use the most? Tell me your favorites below.

There’s no denying it; winter is definitely upon us (well, most of us). This season, don’t go all Jack-Nicholson-In-The-Shining. Instead, look for cabin fever cures that are simple, easy, and will help you forget it’s 20 below zero and there’s snow all the way up to your gutters. Try these cures for cabin fever:

• Get Technical

Invest in a technological device to bring fun indoors. Wii, Kinect, and other advanced gaming systems prove fun for all ages, and make a great distraction from the winter blues. When the snow starts, maximize the fun indoors!

• Get Real

Winter isn’t going anywhere – at least not for a few months. Embrace the cold season and find an outdoor hobby to liberate you from the imaginary chains that keep you inside. Snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, even snow angel construction are great ways to get outside and enjoy the winter wonderland in your backyard.

• Get Out

There’s nothing like a little avoidance to cure your winter blues. Save your money in the summer to enjoy a getaway when the snow starts to fly. Florida, the Caribbean, even Arizona and New Mexico are beautiful all year long and they never say the dreaded “s word.”

• Get Healthy

When we’re stuck indoors, we tend to eat, especially when the holiday season brings delicious sweet treats at every turn. Avoid the temptation to overindulge all winter long. Instead, embrace healthy habits like squeezing fresh juices and making your own granola.

• Get Social

Enjoy being around others throughout the colder months and stay connected to those you love. Feeling isolated and staying indoors alone are easy ways to get an extreme case of cabin fever.

Cabin fever is common for most people throughout the winter months, but sometimes a restless feeling can be more. Season Affective Disorder (SAD) affects one out of six Americans each year, and is more common in women. If your feeling of restlessness doesn’t go away with social activity and outdoor exercise, and lingers for more than a couple of weeks contact your doctor.

This winter, stop the winter blues in their snow tracks. Enjoy time with loved ones and embrace the outdoors to free yourself from cabin fever.

How do you avoid cabin fever? Share your tips and tricks below.

You didn’t have to run errands this week, because your Alice box arrived, right? In that case, go ahead and {do this} with your extra time this week:

Tango is fiesty, fiery, and fun. You get to act melodramatic and wear lots of red and pretend you were born in the barrios of Buenos Aires. You also get to cuddle up to someone who will pull you close and do things you may not quite understand but are entirely legal.

We all like to dance. Even if you think you don’t like to dance, you really do. Try dancing when you’re alone in the room. Or alone in the house. Maybe you need to be alone in your zip code. See? Fun.

That said, if you don’t yet know you like to dance, the tango might not be for you. Because the tango definitely requires someone else to be in the room – preferably hordes of people including women in red flouncy skirts, men in dramatic black pants, and an orchestra.

Dancing is a challenge. It’s exercise, but not the kind you realize is happening. You’re either learning and concentrating so hard you don’t realize how much exercise you’re actually getting or you know what you’re doing and are having so much fun you don’t realize how much exercise you’re actually getting.

Take classes, watch a movie, listen to the music, or just put a red rose in your mouth and plow dramatically across your living room floor. There. Your life just improved.

Do you love to dance? Let me know about it in the comments below.

I know, another healthy eating post after you’ve eaten your weight in holiday cookies and mimosas. Still, healthy eating is a huge part of the New Year. After all, the New Year is a chance to start fresh, feel good, and get rid of some of the ever-present toxins all that sugar, fat, and booze can leave behind in our sluggish bodies.

Oh, and just because Grandma made those cookies from scratch with real butter and sugar doesn’t mean they are good for you. Preservatives may not be present in your favorite holiday treats, but that doesn’t give you free rein to go door to door dressed as Santa Claus asking for free cookies. Alas, this isn’t about guilt or feeling bad about yourself. Quite the opposite – healthy eating can be fun and interesting. Here are some natural snacking tips for the New Year (and a new, slimmer you):

What are your favorite healthy snacks?