One of my favorite things to do is host family dinners and especially during the holidays. I like to go all out! I decorate the house, plan a delicious menu, order linen and other rental items. The end result is an elegant evening dinner, that the family love’s. However, this year’s holiday planning been a little overwhelming and I needed to come up with a game plan to minimize the craziness of the holidays.
Luckily, I was blessed to get a little help with the holiday festivities from Nokia. They sent me over a new Nokia Lumia smartphone, which to my surprised was the perfect sidekick! I know, it sound strange and you’re probably wondering how exactly can a phone keep you organize? I thought, I would share with you below how my Nokia Lumia helps me stay organized during the holidays. Please feel free to share with your friends by pinning to Pinterest or using the share button to the left.
1) Cortana:
Cortana is powered by Bing and is like having a personal assistant right in the palm of my hands. I was surprised at how many task she was able help me with as I prepped for our family dinner. Cortana, kept me on track with my daily schedule by reminding me when I need to pick up dinner or what time the party rental company will be at my home and more. What’s more, as Cortana and I get to know each other, she’ll be able to make suggestions customized to my lifestyle.
2) Bigoven:
Our holiday menu always include traditional dishes, However, I love adding new appetizers and desserts. In order to plan out the menu, I usually search online for different recipes. However, with my Nokia Lumia, I discover the perfect app to help me plan this holiday menu and future family dinners. The BigOven app is a free recipe app with over 350,000 recipes. Plus you can create a grocery list, add items to your favorites, submit your own recipes and everything you do automatically syncs to your account on Bigoven.com.
3) MixRadio:
No party is complete without music, right! This year we are hosting a candle light dinner and I wanted to have soft listening music playing in the background. Normally, I would just drag my husband computer speakers out to the dining room and play our existing music list. However, my Nokia Lumia included the MixRadio app, which let you stream music for free. It’s like having a radio station that always know what you want to hear. Mixradio music app personalizes mixes to suit your tastes. The more you listen, the more personal your listening experience becomes. All this for free, without the hassle of signing up or the interruption of ads. What’s more, the elves at Nokia sent me a handy accessory, a Nokia MD-12 Wireless Speaker. I was amazed at the sound quality of this little wireless speaker. It’s lightweight and has a 15-hour rechargeable battery. I plan on using this for all of our future get together at home or on the go.
4) Luma Selfie
I tend to take tons of picture no matter what time of year. Another great app that was preload in my Nokia Lumia was Luma Selfie. This is one of my favorite apps include with the Nokia Lumia and it saved me tons of time. The app has auto-selfie feature, which automatically recognize your face in the shot and helps you edit your photo. Luma Selfie lets you enhance or enlarge eyes, soften the picture, add toning effect to your skin and uses special effects. Here are a few examples of available effects you could choose from Elegant, Fresh, Dreamscape, Pop, Magical and Magazine.
5) Movie Creator
Since I am starting to create more video campaigns for my clients. When I need to create a simple video, Movie Creator is the perfect tool. What’s more, I can put together neat slide shows of the pictures I took during the holidays and share with friends on the web. Movie Creator helps you quickly and easily combine videos, photos, music and even cinemagraphs into stylish movies for sharing anywhere. It’s simple! In four quick steps you select your footage, select the style for your movie, add music and titles and then you’re movie is ready for the world to see.
Added Bonus:
I was already thankful for how much easier it is for me to get organized with my Nokia Lumia. However, the elves at Nokia added one more handy accessory to my package a Nokia Treasure Tag Mini. When I get really busy, I’m always losing my keys. The Treasure Tag mini was perfect for me because it helped me keep track of my keys or anything else that is important. I am very grateful to the elves at Nokia for giving me a gift that will keep me organized during the holidays and beyond.
I would love to know how you stay organized during the year? I look forward to seeing your comments.
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