The Emily Post Institute has posted (pun intended) updated Holiday Tipping Guidelines for those who have provided service throughout the year (dog walker, newspaper carrier).

How does it compare with your own gifting? Does anyone have other ways of saying “thank you” during the holidays?

This year, I’m taking December 24 to January 2. I need that time to re-charge, re-organize, and watch tons of old X-Files episodes. But some folks don’t (or can’t) take that much time off.

How much time do you take off for the holidays? I would love to know.

This morning Chris, another senior person at the integrated communications agency I work for handed me a section out of the Wall Street Journal and pointed to the headline: “Paying for PR — But Only When It Works.” My heart sank. Then I read the article. Actually, charging per placement is not a bad strategy, if all the client wants is to be in the news. From the agency standpoint, I could see that if one was great at pitching, and charged enough, it might work out nicely — and be economical for both agency and client. The downside as I see it is that the hit is short-lived unless you do something with it to prolong its usefulness (i.e., post on Web site, send out link announcing coverage to mailing list). But that’s strategy, and Pay-Per-Placement PR lives in a no-strategy zone.

Also worth noting: The woman profiled in this piece, a retailer of gift baskets, paid the agent six grand for the Wall Street Journal hit — but will she get $6,000 of business from WSJ readers? That’s a lot of gift baskets, man. If you ask me, it doesn’t add up.

For myriad reasons, Public Relations still regularly gets a bad rap — even though there is evidence that even the ad agencies are starting to wake up to the power of the PR platform. And does the single isolated tactic of pitching the media really qualify as PR? I’d love to hear what the other PR pros have to say about this article. Comments?

I have to share something really cool. I’m filing it under Marketing cause it is and Creativity cause it’s that to. But it’s really smart WOM cause that’s the result.

An email in my inbox called to me “open this” (no, that wasn’t the subj line). It did say something about Sale though. So I did a little online sale shopping and after my purchase was completed (and I might add, without any glitches in navigating, etc.), I got an order confirmation that said (in a funky script font in red), “Thank you! now go back to work!”

Cute, clever, kinda “gotcha”… and best of all, I wanted to tell everyone. And that’s the difference between ho-hum and smart marketing!

Lucky I have such a great boss so I can shop during work hours.

To put it bluntly: I am completely overloaded. Between regular workload, trying to create new creative ventures, the holidays, travel, family commitments, a recent bout of severe food poisoning that forced me to push back a couple of client deadlines, tons of activity at our condo reconstruction (necessitating loads of paperwork and on-site visits by me)… I am absolutely overwhelmed.

So I’m considering outsourcing some things, but I have no idea where to start. I would love to hand off my Quickbooks work, some of the email answering, mail opening, bill paying, etc. And perhaps some of the day-to-day chores like dry cleaning, groceries (wait, Peapod!), car wash and gas, etc. Anything to take a little of the load off.

Fill me in: What do you outsource? I want to know details: how you decided what to outsource, who you use, how you work with your delegates, what you pay (you can email me directly if you like) etc. Thanks!

Everyone, update your spreadsheets for next year. The IRS has announced the 2008 standard mileage rates: 50.5 cents per mile. Hooray!

The folks over at The Marketing Mix (one of my fave marketing blogs) are planning a 2008 conference for creative freelancers. They are asking designers, illustrators, writers, photographers, etc. to take a brief survey to share their thoughts on the idea. But hurry, the survey needs to be completed by December 7th!

This time of year we’re all so darn busy, it’s hard to enjoy the small things that give our day meaning and fun.

So take a moment today to enjoy something simple, small, unusual, or peaceful. A piece of chocolate from your favorite shop, snowflakes, a phone call with a friend, or…as I did… a window washer. That’s right! This girl, who’s never lived in a high-rise, was surprised by a window washer. I was so entertained I snapped a few shots of this brave guy at work.

After all the horrible stuff I’ve been through in the past few months, I’m heartened to realize I can still find things that fill me with wonder and laughter - simple, small things. It’s a gift.

And somewhere in Chicago there is a window washer who thinks I’m a total weirdo, running around the apartment in my PJs snapping pics as he dangles from a rope outside my window.

Our pal Linda pointed me to this interesting piece about daily rituals, and it got me thinking: What are my rituals? Should I get better ones? Hmm.

• I always create a file folder for new client projects, even teeny tiny ones. It helps me stay organized.
• Every morning, I tear off a page of my Getting in Touch with Your Inner Bitch 2008 Calendar, which is full of helpful tips that keep me feeling strong and sassy.
• Before I sit down to work, I put on comfy clothes and funny striped socks in the winter, and hot pink sandals in the summer. Color is important.
• In the mid-afternoon, I enjoy a cup of green tea, steeped for three minutes, with a hint of honey. I especially like to stare out the window while I sip it. (In our temporary housing situation, instead of trees and dog walkers, I have a lovely view of a firehouse and a busy, dangerous intersection, so I’m always entertained.)
• When I finish my day, I synch my PDA, turn off the lights and my monitor, and close the blinds. These are signals to myself that work is done and it’s time to relax.

Heads up, Creativos. Sharpie has just launched a new Web site, mysharpie.com, which enables you to customize fine point Sharpie pens! The pens are available in a eight different colors, and there are 10 different fonts and about 20 different pieces of clip art to choose from.

Okay, only six of the fonts are really fun and the clip art is kinda lame, but it’s still a cool idea. And they’re not too expensive, about $12 for six pens. Plus shipping, of course.