Food Saver

So, I got a Food Saver for Christmas this year (I know... so exciting, right?) and I have to tell you, I LOVE it! I use it for everything! I seal up the bags holding bread, chips, cereal, etc.... They stay fresher for so much longer! It's also nice because of its vacuum seal feature. I actually just bought a salmon, and I was able to chop it up into a couple seperate meals, vacuum seal, and freeze them. Now, they'll stay fresh for much longer! You're actually saving money by using this as well, because food doesn't spoil as quickly and also you can buy in bulk, and vacuum seal for a later date!

Here's a link if you want to buy online: http://www.jardenstore.com/index.aspx?bid=0

Type in coupon code (B8FC30A) and receive 30% off. You can also receive free shipping on purchases over $100.

Ruminations on Bon Jovi....

I would not want to be trapped in a dangerous situation with Bon Jovi. “It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not? Right… listen Jon, why don’t you stay here then and I’ll go get some help.”

(Aaron Karo ruminating on one of my first loves, Bon Jovi... had to post) 

Happy Monday!

A Little "Hump Day" Inspiration

I can't tell you how important it is to not get "sucked in" to all of the negativity that's out there today... if you do, it will paralyze you. 

Here are some inspirational quotes about looking at the "brighter side" of things, to help get you through to the weekend:

• It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
  Chinese Proverb
  
• That which does not kill you makes you stronger.
  Neitzsche
  
• When one door closes another opens. But often we look so regretfully upon the closed door that we fail to see the one that has opened for us.
  Helen Keller
  

• Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it

  John Maxwell

Cool Keyboard Shortcuts

There are all kinds of shortcuts that I bet you didn't even realize you had access to on your keyboard! Here are a few common ones: (These are for Windows, not sure if they work for Mac's or any other set up?)

• Alt + Tab (Toggle): This allows you to alternate between programs that you currently have up and running on your computer. Keep pressing Tab to choose.
  
• Ctrl + N: Opens a new browser window
• Ctrl + W: Close Window
• Ctrl + C: Copy
• Ctrl + X: Cut
• Ctrl + V: Paste
• Ctrl + Z: Undo
• Ctrl + Y: Redo
• Ctrl + B: Bold
• Ctrl + I: Italic
• Ctrl + U: Underline

And here are some you may not have heard of:

• F6 or Alt + D: Selects the address field in your browser, ready for entry
  
• F2: Rename Files
• F3: Search in your current browser & desktop
• F5: Refresh
• Alt + Enter: Brings up items properties
• Shift + Delete: Deletes item totally, not just to Recycle Bin
• Ctrl + Esc: Gives Start Menu (if you don't have a Windows Key like me)
• Ctrl + F4: Close window within application
• Ctrl + D: Add to Favorites
• Ctrl + F: Find in page

What are some of your favorites???

Also, did you know that you can actually download a program (called AutoHotkey) that allows you to name your own shortcuts? Yep, you can name up to 200 shortcuts! Here's the link: 

http://www.autohotkey.com/

Twilight

So those of you that know me, know that I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this series... 

Summer is coming up and if you're looking for a great book/series to dig into, (and you haven't read it yet...) I'd HIGHLY recommend Twilight. It is the most beautiful and addicting love story that I've read in a long long time... if not ever. 

The movie isn't bad either, (you can actually download Twilight at watch-movies.net,) but I'd definitely watch it after you've read at least the first book as it's not nearly as good as the first book. The new Twilight movie (New Moon) will be coming out this November!

Also, once you've started reading, check out the authors' website: www.stepheniemeyer.com, it is very interactive, giving details and explanations on each of the 4 books, and you can even read her unfinished book, "Edwards version" of Twilight (called Midnight Sun). (I'd read it after reading the series for sure)

Hope you enjoy! Please share comments, or let me know if you agree or disagree with me as I love to talk about this book!

Dude, Where's My Cell Phone?

If you're like me, and you lose EVERYTHING, including your cell phone... 

Here is a great website that calls your cell phone for you! www.wheresmycellphone.com

You just go to the page, enter your phone # and listen for the ring!

How great is that!?

Good Monday Quote

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could." 

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Isn't that great?! Happy Monday!

In Honor of Dugan...

Dugan was my family dog, our "little man of the house" until Randall came along :) 

He was a golden retriever (best breed ever!) that we unfortunately lost last July...

One of the hardest days of my life! 

Anyways, I know now that he is my angel, so in honor of him, here are a few of my favorite "dog quotes" that any dog lover can appreciate:

• Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
  -- Roger Caras
  
• My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. 
  -- Author Unknown
  
• To err is human, to forgive, canine.
  -- Author Unknown
  
• I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
  -- Rita Rudner
  
• Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really. 
  -- Agnes Sligh Turnbull
  
• Keep in mind ... to a dog you are family, to a cat you are staff.
  --Author Unknown

MyPoints

Another site I subscribe to is called MyPoints. It’s kind of like a click-thru site that keeps an ongoing tally of points that you can accrue by ordering something online or printing coupons (with the coupon printer from Couponmom) or even researching other websites. 

I ordered some things from Macy’s and Overstock for X-Mas presents, and just clicked to those sites from the MyPoints page and I got enough points for them to send me a $25 gift card to Macys! Ex/ An Overstock order (by way of MyPoints) will give you 10 points per dollar you spend. If you spend $100 at Overstock, you’ll get 1000 pts added to your MyPoints tally. I think my Macy’s gift card (you can pick from a large list of stores, restaurants, etc… to receive your bonus/giftcard) was about 3000 points? 

It's actually pretty similar to credit card points or something… 

I actually really enjoy this site. It's really fun to try and earn enough points to hit a certain goal, and its like an "added discount" if you know you're ordering something by way of that site, because you know that you will profit on the backend as well!

Spray Paint

One thing I quickly learned, when browsing craft stores and home improvement stores, is that you can drastically alter pretty much ANYTHING with a can of spray paint (OR using other painting techniques, which I will cover in another post)  

You can use crackle spray paint, chalkboard spray paint, you can paint any appliance with appliance paint, you can also turn anything into a metallic looking surface, stained surface, stone looking surface, etc... Possibilites are endless! Here's a couple websites for some popular spray paint brands: Plasti-kote, RustOleum

Watch Movies In The Theater... At Home!

Really cool website: http://www.watch-movies-links.net/

You can watch any movie that you can imagine, including ones that are currently in the theater... online! Not sure how they do it, but it totally works!

Go to the site, type in the movie title, and then it'll give you different versions of the movie that are rated by percentage, based on the quality (ie: 70% of people say this version works) 

If you can, you can even download the movie and watch it on a flight/train/car ride or something. OR you can even burn a dvd with it! How fun is that??

Mad Men

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this show! Definitely one of my faves!

It's on AMC and the new season (season 3) starts this summer...

It's a very realistic story based in the early 60's, around the advertising firm Sterling Cooper. Check out this Wikipedia desc. on the show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Men

I actually discovered that they're running episodes from season 2 right now. You can check out the schedule at their website: http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/. 

I'd highly recommend renting season 1 and renting or watching season 2 so you can be ready for season 3 this summer. The show is amazing!

For All the Jetsetters...

Great travel email that I get sent to me every Wednesday is from The Top 20 from Travelzoo. Not sure if you receive this, but it finds all the best & cheapest deals of the week, and emails them to you once a week. No spam, just the one email and they find the best deals! Be careful though, you may find yourself being inspired to take random trips... to random places...

Here's the link! Sign up for the email, its great!

www.travelzoo.com

Dirty Hair???

I know this depends on the hair type, so I'm just offering this as a friendly suggestion! 

BUT, I've been told by quite a few "beauty experts" that you are not supposed to wash your hair everyday! 

Please recognize that I'm not saying "don't shower everyday"... def. not saying that :) (I wear my purple shower cap or I take a bath on my off days)

Anyways, reason behind this philosophy is that shampoo supposedly strips your hair of its nutrients, it can also dry it out, AND for those of you that color, it strips the color much faster!

I've also heard that if you think that your hair is too oily, thats actually because your hair is so dry that the oil glands are actually over producing, so you're actually better off not shampooing everyday. Make sense?

Anyways, if you choose to try this out, here are a few options for you on your off days.. 

If you have blond hair, you can try sprinkling a little cornstarch in the roots to soak up the oil and give a little volume. You can also try a couple "dry shampoo sprays" for any hair color, by Pssssst (yes, there are that many s's) If you are a "high roller" there is a great powder or spray by Bumble and Bumble, OR I have a friend of a friend who just sent me a sample of her own line! Its actually super cool and lasts a long time, so its acutally pretty affordable, and you can get it catered to whatever your hair color is! Here is the link for that: http://finleyhair.com/

OPRAH

Ok.. I can't believe that I've had this blog for 3 days and have not put anything down about Oprah! I've been a huge fan of hers for a really long time... and thanks to my amazing little sis, I actually got to go see her this year! (It was the one with Montel Williams...really good!!) 

Anyways, I love her show, so Tivo it if you don't already... you will learn SO much :)  I also think she has a great website! When I was working, and in my car alot, I would actually download and listen to her Soul Series, which are a series of spirtual based interviews that she does for her radio station. (Radio gets old, and I can only call so many people!) Anyways, they are really interesting, so in case you're interested, here is the link: Soul Series Webcast

Great Quotes (books/plays)

I love a great quote... I'll definitely be posting some of my faves on the site every now and then.

Here are a few quotes from some great books/plays:

• "For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." 
  — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
  
• "There are years that ask questions and years that answer."                                                                                                          — Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
• "Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists." 
  — Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
  
• "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."                       - JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"                                                                                                       — Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love

Dryel

I love Dryel! I was spending so much money on dry cleaning and I realized that I could use Dryel instead for stuff like sweaters, dresses, dry-clean only shirts, even my dress pants! (I wouldn't recommend for shirts that need to be pressed/starched... I also don't use for Matt's dress pants cuz he likes them w/ creases and so I'd have to do extra ironing ;) ) Anyways, its great and really easy, you just spot treat (if you need to) and then throw like 4 items in this bag with the dry cleaning sheet and stick it in the dryer for 30 min! SO much more affordable, you don't have to drive anywhere or wait for clothes to be done and it really works! Here is their website, you can go there and enter your email for a coupon for $2 off. (They don't spam you and I'd also print off a few copies) :) www.dryel.com

Stevia

In my prior post, I mentioned the importance of regulating your body's Ph level. One change that I've permanently made is to try to avoid eating sugary foods or using artificial sweeteners (which to someone like me, who tries to avoid eating too much bad sugar, is hard to do) So I discovered that there is one "sweetener" that is actually good for your body in an alkaline sense (because it is an actual herb) and its called Stevia. It is like 100 times sweeter than sugar, so you don't need that much, and it actually doesn't leave behind a bad aftertaste like other artificial sweeteners. You can find it at pretty much any mainstream grocery store, and I'd highly recommend... Here's more info in case you were curious: http://www.stevia.com/

Affordable "Gourmet" Date Idea

Great date (with girlfriends or significant other) is a place where you can pick and make your own meals, like Entrée Vous. Matt and I went there for Valentines Day and spent like $60 (you can even use a restaurant.com gift certificate for $10 off that particular one) and we walked away with 4 healthy meals to freeze and make later that week/month, side entrée and a dessert! AND we could bring a bottle of wine. It’s a ton of fun, very affordable and delicious! 

Aaron Karo

I've been following this guy for a while now... He's got a great email called "Ruminations" that goes out once every few weeks, and is filled with hilarious ruminations about life. It all started when he was in college at Penn, and sent out an email to 20 of his closest friends that he titled "Ruminations on College Life." Ten years later, he has 2 books and does comedy shows across the country... I love his humor and his honest commentary on life-- Here's a recent one from his website:

"More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me." Haha!

There is also a great section on his website where you can post your own rumination on life...

Check it out!! : http://ruminations.com/site/