I took the red-eye from rainy LAX to clear-skies but bitter-cold PHL, and I woke up to the familiar Philadelphia skyline. I spent the holidays in seeing my family at home during Christmas and friends in downtown Philadelphia over New Year’s. This allowed me to bring my family up-to-date with innovative, new technology gifts for the household. The goal qa to make their life a little more hassle-free. First up was a new trashcan, which I know my dad will appreciate, as he always struggles with the bag slipping into the old can. The iTouchless Stainless-Steel Infrared Automatic Trashcan solves that problem with a simple, but effective plastic ring that runs the perimeter of the top of the can, holding the bag in place. As the name suggests, it also takes your hand and foot out of the lid-lifting equation.

The next innovative gift was a new toaster – one that toasts four slices of bread or two bagels at once, fries two sunny-side up eggs and heats pre-cooked meat like Canadian bacon or sausage. The best part about the Back to Basics TEM4500 4-Slot Egg-and-Muffin Toaster is that it didn’t cost much more than a normal four-slot toaster. The final state-of-the-art gift was for my sister and her family: The Simplehuman Sensor Pump. My sister has three kids, who may not always be able to reach the top of the soap pump, so this touch-free soap dispenser is an essential home improvement for keeping their life a little more sanitary.

I spent New Year’s Eve in downtown Philadelphia, where I got to see friends and watch the fireworks at Penn’s Landing exactly at midnight. I think this is the worthy of a new tradition.