Buy Handmade This Holiday Season

Getting back to holiday shopping:

I just found a very cool website where everything is handmade.  Being the chocoholic that I am, the theobromine molecule earrings really fascinated me.  Theobromine (derived from Greek meaning "food of the gods"), according to the jewelers, is a "mild stimulant related to caffeine that makes up about 2% of cacao beans" and  it is thought (!!!!!!) to "uplift mood."  C'mon, folks, do you know ANYBODY who doesn't feel better with a chunk of chocolate between their lips?

Getting back to real life:

Help keep our pathetic economy going.  Give those nice people working with their hands some of your moola and give a unique gift at the holidays.  

Coupons to Save Us Money

Keeping your money is a challenge these days.  So spending wisely what you have is becoming more and more a skill that I personally would like to hone. 

Nicole Paitsel (Associated Press) suggested that every time you plan your trip to the grocery store, you should first check its website for coupons.  You may even be able to load some coupons directly onto your preferred customer card.

Yesterday I got a jump start in learning the value of ecommerce coupons (you know that little "Promotion Code" box you practically never get to fill in to get added discounts?) from Ms. Paitsel.  Don't ever order anything online, she warned,  without first checking the more than 10,000 coupons on Coupon Winner such as "Most Used Coupons," "Expiring Coupons," or "Free Shipping." 

With the holidays creeping up on us (I heard Christmas music at Costco last week!), coupons, thankfully, can make a smaller dent in our pocketbook.  

Fall Fashion For Men, Women, And Your Home

Thanks, Valerie Burns, for clueing me in on how well-dressed men and women are going to look this Fall.  You advised me to accessorize the dresses I already have in my closet.  I can add a fashionable jacket or sweater to give each outfit a new twist. And I guess it's time I went out and purchased a wide-leg pant to go with my close-fitting tops.  

As for "Carman": You've matched him up with a new sports jacket to go with his favorite jeans (he'll like that).

Now I need to check out how you want me to "season" my home.

Navigating Boomj.com with 78 Million People - Am I the Only One Who's a Bit Lost?

I guess you could say connecting with Boomers is a hobby of mine. When I’m not busy working on my new website, I love discovering new resources on the web and finding new ways to share and connect with others. I hear so much about networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, and just recently became a member of the online community at Boomj.com, a networking site specifically for Boomers.

BOOMj.com recently broke into the top 2,000 most viewed sites, serving more than 78 million baby boomers and adults over 35. In June 2008, they reported 821,680 unique users and over 7 million page views.

It’s no wonder that Boomj.com is the self-proclaimed “#1 destination for Baby Boomers and Generation Jones.” However, after feeling around the site, I have found that the whole experience leaves much to be desired. The site provides a dizzying fusion of social networking, mulitmedia, lifestyle news and ecommerce-driven content. But more than anything it seems to have attracted a community interested in online dating. For me, it really hasn't been much of a place to share ideas and engage in conversation. Also, as savvy as I am with the web, I couldn’t imagine being able to easily navigate all the opportunities offered on the site (videos, travel deals, consumer reviews, and rewards points for the Boomj store).

Maybe I’m just looking for something different. Something real simple: making new connections and building relationships. But I'm not going to give up on Boomj just yet , and I think with a little tinkering, Boomj.com could streamline their user interface and be a good resource for Boomers to network.

What do you think? Are you a member of Boomj or any other online networking community?

Finding Your Own Scent

"Carman" and I were watching Law and Order the other night.  Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) was saying that she could define an age group based on the smell of her perfume.

Now take the aroma of a grapefruit.

The Smell and Taste Institute in Chicago  conducted a study to determine what makes women smell younger to men.

A grapefruit fragrance, it was determined, created the illusion of a much younger (about 6 years) woman.  

So, ladies, on your mark.  Get set. Go to your cosmetic store.  Or your supermarket.  Whichever is closer.  

Choosing a perfume to suit you can be as complicated as picking out shoes, hairstyles, or clothes.  What smells good on your friend may not compliment you; that's because our scent is determined not only by the fragrance in the bottle but also by our own bodily chemistry which blends with the bottled scent to become our very own. 

 

Follow these fragrance pointers to achieve the impression you're aiming for:

Be patient to get the full impact of the fragrance.

Change your perfume with the seasons.

Change your perfume depending on where you are.

Shop for perfume when your sense of smell is the greatest--in the afternoon.

Dry skin requires more fragrance than oily skin.

Wait until you're showered and dried before application.

Consider your pulse points for maximum effects.

Don't wear another fragrance on the day you plan to test new ones.

Don't overdo your perfume.

Fragrant spray near pearls or costume jewelry can damage them.

When You Can't Be There to Help: Home Health Aids

I met with "Wedding dance lady" the other day for lunch.  She told me about her mom who had open heart surgery.  WDL thought her mother was suffering from some dementia since the operation.  She was concerned at the moment that mom was getting confused about her medications.   

Luckily I could dip into my cache of suggestions and came up with the following:

There are many medication aids available, such as pill organizers as well as pill box timers and clocks.

Should WDL want "human" monitoring, she can enlist the help of a reminder call service, the internet and television, or motion and other sensors combined with video phones and telemonitors.  

Nothing takes the place of diligent caregiving.  But when distance and time interfere, it's nice to know that there are products and technology to lend a hand.

Possible Remedies for Aging Skin

AMA, American Medical Aesthetics, specializes in the use of advanced cosmetic lasers for the skin. "Witty leader" at the gym is trying it out.  Sure the sessions come with a hefty price tag but she is hopeful that all her skin imperfections will disappear with the as-painless-as-possible treatments.  

Check out cutting edge remedies for sun spots, age spots, acne, spider veins. If this works (and I'll keep you posted with my observations), then it will be possible to look younger and healthier without undergoing  cosmetic surgery.