Holiday travel numbers expected to break record in California

Thanks partly to an improving economy, the number of travelers leaving town during the Christmas and New Year's holidays is  expected...

On the Spot: Tips for holiday travelers

Say, you there. You with the holidays stars in your eyes. Maybe you fly only a couple of times a year or maybe you just need a refresher...

The holidays are upon us: celebrate with these three special meals

We’re deep into holiday territory now. The party invitations just keep coming, the

Holiday travel: Fewer fliers, but crowded planes anyway

Facebook opens Gifts feature to all users

Facebook is opening its Gifts feature to all U.S. users, the social network said Tuesday.

Gift card sales booming during the holidays

Cheryl Knauer has a restaurant gift card in mind for her in-laws, a massage gift card planned for another family member and intends to...

Bingo! Recycled gift wrap at Renegade Craft Fair

Christina Winkelmann's booth at the Renegade Craft Fair in L.A. this weekend showcased her holiday wreaths made of vintage Christmas...

Starbucks goes glam with $450 stainless steel gift card [Google+ Hangout]

Starbucks is now offering a gift card for $450 -- $400 to fill the card with store credit and $50 toward the sleek, stainless steel card...

TripAdvisor reviewers will receive the gift of giving, Kiva style

If you haven't heard of Kiva, the holiday season is a great time to learn about the...

New York: Manhattan's holiday lights are the stars of this tour

New York City after dark becomes a dazzle fest of holiday decorations at this time of year. Gray Line New York's usual double-decker bus...

Holiday party with open bar? No thanks, we'd like a bonus instead

Bosses playing Santa, take heed: there are gifts that nearly every employee wants but also a few that make a lump of coal seem like manna...

Holiday cookie recipe: White chocolate turtle cookies

Nicole Cleghorn, Minot Air Force Base, N.D., was one of the 10 winners of last year's Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these...

Dressing up the wine lover in your life, start slow

Wine lovers, in my personal experience, do not as a group suffer from an excess in sartorial sophistication. Certainly they have palates...

Holiday office survival guide: Sick co-workers, party hangovers

The holidays can be a grueling time for office workers, who must survive the ennui-filled purgatory between Thanksgiving and Christmas,...

An Italian holiday treat: panforte from Emporio Rulli

There are few winter sweets I like better than panforte. It’s a Tuscan confection, dense and chewy, almost more like candy than cake....

Facebook Gifts adds iTunes digital gift cards to catalog

Twenty years ago, you might've given your friend an album for their birthday from a Tower Records retail store. Starting today, you can send...

Holiday recipe: Keeflees

Michele Yockey of Arroyo Grande was one of the 10 winners of our first Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these Keeflees:

'Twelve Days of Christmas' gift list soars to record $107,300

Consumers trying to re-create the classic holiday song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” in which a true (and loaded) lover goes...

Half of workforce plans to do online holiday shopping at work, report says

Half of America’s workforce plans to hit the holiday sales this season from the comfort of their cubicle.

$770: The cost of your Christmas shopping, Gallup poll says

For the average American, $770 is no small sum. But that’s how much they’ll each shell out on average for Christmas gifts this...