oh, hey.

Everyone loves to toot their own horn from time to time, especially if you’re a blogger and your site is one of the Top Websites in the blogosphere.

Web Site Reviews like the ones found at Talk Review provide all the information you need to brag about your site. Your Alexa rating, page rank, link stats, and site description are all in one easy-to-read chart, as well as reader reviews.

Of course, you can always use the site to scope out the competition…I mean, other bloggers from all over the world.

Tags: Uncategorized 2 Comments »

I think most will agree that the story of the Dying 8 year old that ‘marries’ his school sweetheart is sad and touching, but I’m also disturbed that the 8 year old girl’s parents would put her in that situation.

The children dressed up, rode in a limo, cut a cake, and had a ‘marriage certificate’. No 8 year old has a realistic concept of marriage, so to Reece and Elleanor, they were married, no matter how much their parents explained to them otherwise, and now Ellie is essentially an elementary school widow.

I don’t want to sound heartless, and I’m not qualified to psychoanalyse what happened, but I think the situation is really messed up. Whatever happened to Disneyland, meeting sports heroes, and ice cream for breakfast to make a sick child happy and fulfill their dreams?

Tags: Uncategorized 4 Comments »

I love Halloween. I go all out with decorating and baking, but my costumes have been somewhat uninspired. A witch, a pixie, and a pumpkin are my most recent costume attempts, and while all have been cute, they have failed miserably on the creative front.

This year, I plan on getting Mike in on the Halloween fun and proposing Couples Costumes. I think the Adam and Eve costumes are hysterical and could make for a good time, especially if we get invited to a party where some Halloween cocktails are involved. I’m not sure what parents would think when we open the door to hand out candy, but I think we might gets some laughs from the older kids.

Tags: Buy Buy Buy Add Comment »

According to a judge, Talula Doesn’t do the Hula in New Zealand. The judge made 9-year-old Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii a ward of the court so that her name could be legally changed to something more traditional. What that name is, the article didn’t state.

The judge says that names such as Talula’s “makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap”, which I agree with, but I don’t understand why the girl doesn’t just go by Talula. No one has to know what her full name is.

I had friends in high school that had no idea my name was Corrin, because they had called me Corrie for as long as they had known me. I didn’t find out my friend Jason’s name was Cass until they called his name at commencement!

While I’m not into giving my kids names that won’t fit neatly inside the ISTEP boxes, I like quirky names as long as they are spelled logically (no Ashleigh, Micaiah, Nevaeh, or Erikah), so I can’t wait to slip a doozie in as a middle name!

Tags: Uncategorized Add Comment »

I may be slightly obsessed with dental products since I had a traumatic 11 fillings in two months a few years ago. Not only do I brush and floss religiously, I’m always trying the newest teeth whitening products so that my teeth look as healthy as they feel. To compliment my whitening strip routine, I’ve recently switched to whitening toothpaste, trying several before I settled on my favorite, Tom’s of Maine.

The Smile Warehouse caters to those of us that are preoccupied with dental hygiene, offering the latest toothpastes, tooth whitening kits, toothbrushes, and bad breath care. They even sell pet care products to keep Ollie’s teeth as sparkling white as mine and get rid of his atrocious doggie breath!

Now I can go online (while whitening my teeth, of course) and stock up on all of my favorite dental supplies for myself and my dog, as well as order the newest products in teeth whitening and care. I can shop in confidenc since the Smile Warehouse guarantees the lowest price, and will beat any published price by 5%.

If you’re ever at a loss for what to buy me for a birthday or holiday, don’t forget a gift certificate from the Smile Warehouse!

Tags: Buy Buy Buy, Pretty Like a Pony Add Comment »

Like millions of others, Mike and I flocked to see The Dark Knight this weekend. Historically, I love Batman movies, but I suppose this one had too much hype to live up to, because I wasn’t impressed.

I didn’t think it was scary or near the psychological thriller it was made out to be. There was no “unknown” element to the story line and I don’t think Heath Ledger as The Joker was particularly haunting. I also had a hard time thinking of the city as Gotham city, since it was undeniably Chicago.

I do think that Christian Bale is the best of the Batman’s so far (I’ve included a completely gratuitous photo of Christian for everyone to enjoy) and I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal better than Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, but it wasn’t enough to live up to Batman Begins.

Tags: Uncategorized 1 Comment »

What do you get when you combine water skiing, snowboarding, and surfing? Wakeboarding, of course! All those kids you see flipping and speeding around the lake on a skateboard without wheels are on to one of the most popular summer sports.

I’m not much of a thrill-seeker, but those that get a rush from gliding over the surface of the water behind a speed boat at upwards of 25 mpg know that Ronix wakeboards give them the smoothest and fastest ride, so that they can raley, switch, and batwig their way to the X-games.

Not only does Ronix make the best boards around, they also have a full line of accessories including wake vests, boat bags, and hats and hoodies to complete your wakeboarding persona.

Tags: Buy Buy Buy Add Comment »

There is nothing like getting a relaxing pedicure that makes your toes soft and pretty, but I draw the line at letting fish chew off calluses.

A spa in Washington DC charges customers up to $50 to soak their feet in warm water tanks with up to 100 “doctor fish” that nibble away dead skin. Customers then receive a normal pedicure, with the fish taking the place of the razor typically used to remove dead skin.

The fish don’t have any teeth, so they can only bite at the dead skin, but I still say give me the razor any day. Having 100 fish swarm my feet does not sound like a relaxing treatment to me.

Tags: Pretty Like a Pony 21 Comments »

We’ve started the count down to our next trip to Disney World (76 days until Mickey “sees us real soon”), and the things to do in Orlando are endless! We’ve consulted all the online travel guides and have made dinner reservations at all the best Disney restaurants (O’hana, California Grill, and San Angel to name a few), we’ve mapped out the rides we’re going on at the Magic Kingdom (Peter Pan is a must) and Epcot (we’ll be getting fast passes to Test Track and Mission to Mars), and we even have a a day or two set aside to just relax by the pool (or visit Typhoon Lagoon).

Trusted Tours is the online travel guide that I go back to again and again. They never run out of hotel, tour, and dining suggestions, and you save up to 20% when you book through their website.

You can stay on top of the best vacation deals and newest tours by signing up for their newsletter, and if you do so by July 31st, you’re also entered to win a $150 iTunes gift card. Perfect for filling your iPod with new tunes and hitting the road!

Our next trip is to see my sister in the city, and get Mike on some New York City tours!

Tags: Ciao Baby 6 Comments »

Much to my husband’s dismay, I love fruits and veggies. He swears he’s some sort of super-taster and that all fruits and veggies are bitter, but I just think he has an adverse reaction to anything that is good for him.

Obviously, he wouldn’t enjoy this week’s Four Foods on Friday, because he’s crazy anti-veggie man.

1. Fruits and veggies. Do you prefer them peeled or not?

I used to be a strictly peeled fruits and veggies kind of person, and I do occasionally enjoy taking the skin off my apples, but I have learned to love crispy roasted potato skins and peach fuzz.

2. What’s your favorite fresh fruit or vegetable smell?

I don’t think fresh veggies smell all that great, but I’ll take a wiff of a fresh cut watermelon or pear any day.

3. What’s the worst food smell you’ve ever smelled?

When I lived in Indianapolis, I worked in the same building as Oceanaire, and one summer their grease trap backed up and I was never able to eat there again. They had terrific food, but after smelling what the remains of fried fish smell like, I couldn’t stomach it.

4. Share the recipe for the dish that you love to smell cooking in your oven.

Sugar cookies! I made several batches a few years ago, and the house smelled fabulous for days. I’ll have to remember that smell, because sugar cookies are too much damn trouble to make and that fresh baked smell will not be coming from my house again!

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

NOTE: The cookies taste way better when you let the dough chill overnight, and taste even better when you take the time to roll the dough out and cut it into stars and snowflakes. Seriously. It does!

Tags: Yum Yum 8 Comments »