booksbooksbooks

I love to read. Now, Ashley is giving away two copies of Reluctant Smuggler. If you are interested, click, blog, and comment....

*bathroom vanities*

Growing up, whenever my family was traveling, we always preferred the hotel rooms with bathroom vanities. With four people, it’s hard to share one bathroom. That means four showers every day, plus four sets of teeth that need brushing every morning and evening. Four faces have to share the mirror for hair-combing, make-up-ing (for the ladies), and contact lens insertion and removal (for me). Vanities make that so much easier. One person can shower while someone else brushes their teeth. Usually there are extra mirrors in those rooms also, which helps that much more. It’s fantastic.

*grey poupon*

This weekend, I received two jars of Grey Poupon mustard in the mail to test and review. One jar was Grey Poupon’s Harvest Coarse Ground and the other jar was Grey Poupon’s Hearty Spicy Brown. I've been asked to try out these mustards and give an honest review. We enjoyed these mustards thoroughly, because we don’t usually buy Grey Poupon mustard. After this, we just might!

I used the Harvest Coarse Ground mustard to make Honey Dijon chicken. It’s a very simple recipe – a little honey, a little Dijon mustard, and bread crumbs, baked for 30 minutes. Comment or email if you want to know more. Anyway, the Harvest Coarse Ground mustard was EXCELLENT. Flavorful, not too strong but just right. It was fantastic.

I used the Hearty Spicy Brown mustard to make potato salad. My mom has an excellent potato salad recipe, and it’s one of my favorite foods – it tastes good and it’s an excellent way to eat lots of vegetables. The recipe is a bit more complicated – again, you can comment or email me for more info. It uses mustard, and again I have to say, the Hearty Spicy Brown mustard was DELICIOUS. This may be the best batch of potato salad I’ve ever made.

Kudos to Grey Poupon for making such delicious mustard. If you’re shopping for mustard – especially mustard for cooking and to use in recipes – I strongly recommend Grey Poupon.

where's george

Have you ever checked out the Where’s George website? I think the url is wheresgeorge.com - I'm too lazy to look it up! I've been on the site before, and let me tell you, it’s intriguing. First of all, it’s absolutely fascinating to learn about the journey of a bill from the bank to wherever it goes, and eventually back to the Federal Reserve Bank (for destruction). It’s so much fun to think about all the miles that these bills have traveled before they landed in your wallet, and how many more miles they will go once they leave. I’m eagerly awaiting a “hit” from one of the bills I entered. Neat!

*spanx*

Spanx are a (relatively) new and very popular line of women’s hosiery, panties, shapewear, and general undergarments. I have not had the opportunity to try Spanx yet, since I just haven’t had a lot of money lately. However, if you would like to buy Spanx, I strongly encourage you to do so. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the line, and I look forward to trying them myself.

One of my favorite things about Spanx is their story. Spanx was created by Sarah Blakely, an average American woman who was determined to create and sell a superior product. She is an inventor and an entrepreneur in the truest sense of those words. She has inspired me, and I hope her story inspires you as well.

more books

I've become quite the glutton when it comes to books, as of late.

Laura at Laura's Musings is giving away a copy of Reluctant Smuggler by Jill Elizabeth Nelson. Follow, blog, comment... you know you want to...

memoirs

Hungry Hill is the memoir of Carole O'Malley. O'Malley, an Irish-American, recounts her adventures and angst as a teenager in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Memoirs are such fascinating pieces of literature. They are not fiction - they are the true tales of humanity.

At Breeni Books, you could win a copy of Hungry Hill. Follow the link, blog, and comment...

another giveaway: jimi wallet

Talk about uniqueness... sometimes you can find the neatest new stuff through giveaways.

Arianne at Mama Speaks is giving away a Jimi Wallet. It's billed as the wallet for people who hate wallets - which certainly includes me! I'm totally fascinated by this neat-o wallet, and have only one question...

Where do I put all those credit and debit card receipts that seem to constantly pile up in my purse? ;)

insignia mp3 with bluetooth

Tonight I discovered one of the many online databases of "giveaways" on the internet. I'm no fool, so naturally I'm here telling you about it (and hoping to win!)

Over at An Island Review, Best Buy is sponsoring the giveaway of a brand new Insignia Pilot Video and MP3 player with bluetooth headphones. This may be the coolest MP3 player I have ever seen. Check it out and buy one for yourself. ;)

*ellipticals*

I love exercise equipment. I am just not an outdoor person, and I’m so glad that I can use a treadmill to work out. It’s much more comfortable for me to be indoors. My favorite piece of equipment is the treadmill. I’m not a fan of the ellipticals or exercise bikes. I like “non-intentional exercise” – slow movement that doesn’t really work up a sweat, but that you can do for hours and hours to burn lots of calories.

*technomarine watch*

I am very picky about my watch. I always want to wear a watch, but I also want a certain type of watch. I will only wear a digital watch, and it must be waterproof. Also, it must hold the date, and preferably the date should be displayed on the face next to the time, so that I don’t have to push any buttons or do anything to access the date. Plus, I want an indiglo watch, with a light behind the time. And that’s not even getting into the type of watch band! There’s so many types of watches and watch bands available – from digital to analog, to cloth to plastic bands, to a Technomarine watch. It’s unbelievable.

news news news...

Yesterday was an oddly newsworthy day. First of all, Heath Ledger died – definitely a tragedy. He was an excellent actor with so much potential. His autopsy was inconclusive, meaning we won’t know what killed him for another ten days or so. How sad, indeed.

On the political scene, Fred Thompson dropped out of the presidential race. I wasn’t a Thompson supporter, so I’m not brokenhearted about this, although I suppose there’s a downside to losing his candidacy. However, I think it’s mostly good, because there are just so many candidates! Narrowing down the field can’t happen soon enough.

Here in Missouri, Governor Matt Blunt announced that he will not be running for a second term. I am a bit sad about this, as I think Governor Blunt has been one of the best governors our state has seen in many years. However, he has prayed about it and he has presented many good reasons for leaving politics – namely, to spend more time with his young family. I wish him the best in his future.

*branson missouri*

My grandpa doesn’t let a year go by without traveling to Branson Missouri. Sometimes he will meet his brothers and sisters (who live in different states) there. Other times, he and his wife will just travel there to enjoy the shows and have a good time. It’s a great place to visit. The cost is low and the shows are entertaining. Sometimes it’s nice just to get away!

*camcorder battery*

Batteries can be annoying. I’m not talking about disposable alkaline batteries, your good old AA and AAA, C cells, D cells, even disposable watch batteries. More and more lately, electronic items come with rechargeable NiMH or NiMC batteries, and they’re not easily replaceable. When you do have to buy a new battery for your cordless phone or a camcorder batteries, it’s hard to find a replacement. Luckily it’s getting easier and easier now that we have the Internet!

thunderbird

Recently I downloaded Thunderbird. I’ve been a Firefox convert for a couple of months now, so when I realized I would need an email client to download my emails onto my hard drive, I did a lot of research comparing Outlook and Thunderbird. I opted for Thunderbird, and I have no complaints at all. Thunderbird is easy to use and very user-friendly. I’m a 100% Mozilla convert. In fact, if I get Linux on my next computer, I could save oodles of memory and money.

*zenni optical*

My friends know how much I LOVE wearing contact lenses. I’ve worn some sort of corrective lenses since I was eight years old. If you aren’t nearsighted or farsighted, you just won’t understand this post. It’s annoying to depend on glasses all the time to see clearly. But contacts are expensive, and I don’t have that kind of money right now. So I’m dependant on glasses.

If you’re shopping for a new pair of glasses, you should check out online opticals, like Great Discovery: www.ZenniOptical.com. You can get quality frames and lenses there, at a fraction of what they would cost at your local “off line” optical. Zenni will sell their lenses directly to you, without a middleman like another optical.

it's hardto be self employed!

Every day I have to sorta give myself a kick in the pants and force myself to work. For starters, I need the money and I know it. It’s a survival thing. For another thing, I need the mental stimulation. As tempting as it is, I can’t just lay around all day. My brain and muscles would rot. So after I do these ads, it’s back to work for me. There’s always something to do when you’re self employed!

*car spoilers*

I’ve never understood why people like car spoilers so much. As far as I can tell, they have no use except maybe to look good? Yet people will pay extra just to get a spoiler on their new car. Not me! Until I have found a good purpose for the spoiler, my cars will be spoiler free. I see no reason to pay extra just to look good. A car is a large enough investment already!

*real estate flipping*

The real estate market has been such a roller coaster lately. It wasn’t long ago that investing in real estate, and real estate flipping, was a good investment. Nowadays, it’s a lot more risky. My neighbor tried to sell her house – a fantastic house in a great neighborhood, with a good school district and all that other good stuff – but with so little success that she took it off the market. Real estate just isn’t the investment that it used to be.