Word Up

Smart, smart, smart. This is one of those "duh" products.

Word Lock has created combination locks using words instead of numbers. You pick the word from a minimum of 10,000 choices, and you can always re-set the word. Their collection includes bike/cable locks, padlocks, and luggage locks.

The padlock above sells on Amazon for only $9.99. No useless number sequence to memorize, no keys to keep track of (remember the really old padlocks?), just a simple word of your choosing. This is perfect for kids and adults.

As Word Lock says, "Easy to Set • Never Forget™, Wordlock®, Inc."

Thank You

Recently, Emily Allyn participated in a baby gift basket for Angela Kinsey from NBC's The Office. She was kind enough to personally thank everyone with a quick note.

She had a baby girl born on May 3rd, Isabel Ruby. Her husband is Warren Lieberstein.

It was fun to receive!

Thought I would leave you with this for the weekend. Yes, I moved the post!

Sigh of Relief

Talk about ingenious. These hip wrist bands, called Psi Bands and pronounced Sigh Bands, are a drug free solution for the relief of nausea. Most women who have been pregnant have dealt with some level of morning sickness, but it can also be used for motion/travel sickness, chemotherapy, and anesthesia. Now that is what you call versatile, plus it covers basically every human being out there.

The band uses acupressure by placing (you guessed it) pressure on a specific point in your wrist. You can control the amount of pressure by adjusting the colorful band. If you need a visual, you can watch a 17 second clip on the informative Psi Band website to see how it works and to answer any other questions you may have.

Next time your best friend tells you she's expecting you can buy her a Psi Band. She just might think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Never Out of Style

Animal prints will never go out of style.
I just bought a Dooney and Bourke Giraffe print leather handbag. I absolutely love it and I can't tell you how many compliments I've received in the past few days alone. I have to admit, I've never owned a Dooney and Bourke bag before. Their collection always struck me as bags for the older crowd. So either I've entered that older crowd or I'm wrong. They carry a ton of different style bags within the Giraffe print family. Dooney and Bourke also make a very fun Zebra print as well, if you are looking for something with more black. I've even seen some with some red accents.
Love, love, love this bag!

Where is Matt Now?

Here is a good reminder that we really are all in this world together:



I am a part of HARO, where Peter Shankman released this on his site. You can also find the video and more information about Matt at Where the Hell is Matt dot com.

I hope this video makes you smile so much your face hurts :)

10 Years and Counting

Today is my 10 year anniversary! I can hardly believe it. For the most part, I still remember that day pretty clearly - which is a feat in itself considering I can't remember much. Today I was doing some "preparations" like getting a pedicure and manicure. A wedding party came in for their appointments. The bride was so happy and so excited. I couldn't help but think to myself how lucky the bride-to-be is and what she has to look forward to for the next 10 years, plus. I've had 10 amazing years with my husband and we now have 2 wonderful boys. I'm thankful in so many ways and I can't wait for the next 10 years!

My husband and I are sending the kiddos off tomorrow to celebrate. One thing I'm excited for... waking up on my own, no kids pouncing on me!

Have a great weekend. I know I will :)

Windows Movie Maker

I know you are wondering just where in the heck I've been. I know you have spent many sleepless hours worrying whether I was ok or not. And I know you have been missing your weekly fashion fix a la me. Well... the wait is over and here is my story.

I can now add movie editor and movie producer to my laundry list of skills and credentials. (Remember my so-called geek squad days?)

I have found something amazing on my computer that I didn't even know was there. Windows Movie Maker. For Mother's Day, my brother made a "movie" for his wife. The movie contained pictures from their life together - their trips, their kids, their friends, their celebrations, etc.

So, I decided to follow suit. For Father's Day, I made a movie of my own for my husband. Only I included pictures from our childhood as well. It was a hoot! However, making it was not such a hoot. And that is what I was doing all last week, scrambling to get it done by the eleventh hour.

It is an amazing tool, really - The Windows Movie Maker. I know it automatically comes with Vista and some XP editions. (But if you don't have it you can download it here.) It's quite intuitive and very fun to make. I will say my two main complaints are:
1) For some reason, 90% of the time I added a picture or moved a picture or created a transition (from one pic to another), my Windows Movie Maker would pause in Not Responding mode. Very frustrating, actually, because it would literally take 1-5 minutes to come back. This is no exaggeration. It could be because I'm on a laptop, I have no idea. I'm sure it doesn't happen to everyone or this product would be out the window (no pun intended).
2) Once the movie is complete, if you want to create a DVD (as opposed to watching it on your computer), it's actually not that easy... unless you have Vista Home Premium or better. I have Vista Home Basic, so I had to go through some trial and error to figure out what was going on and then do a little research on Google to figure out how I could download this movie I had spent (no joke) at least 25 hours making. I wasn't going to spend that amount of time on something, only to have it work on my computer damn it!

Disclaimer: the hours do include me scanning older pictures, many of them in fact. But nonetheless, the process was very time consuming. I must admit it was worth every minute and I know my husband appreciated it very much. The movie is 20 minutes long. I added music to it, so the whole ensemble was so fun to watch. A walk down memory lane. I highly advise using the program, unless you don't have the time. Then pay someone to do it!

There are quite a few features. If you have a microphone for your computer, you can narrate (or you could pretend you are Ralph Edwards from This Is Your Life and go from there). There are effects you can add to your pictures like zooming, panning, fading in/out, a ripple, sepia, and many more. And there are transitions you add which are fun ways to get you from one photo to the next. And of course, you can add movies from your video camera or computer. I think you can even capture still moments from those movies. So, there is a wealth of possibilities for the novice movie editor.

Now the question remains, can I add movie star to my resume since I am in the movie? Right...

Kate Spade Private Sale

You heard that right! Private Sale. Well, how private can an internet sale be? But let's go with it people.

June 17-20, enjoy up to 60% off. I've checked it out and the prices look terrific.

Now you check it out!

As to what I've been up to the last week... that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Comfort After the C-Section? Yes!

Czela Bellies - Fabulous fun and flirty underwear for the recovering C-section mom!

Talk about finding a niche market. The owner of Czela Bellies has designed something I have never seen before - which is refreshing, to say the least.

New moms who have just gone through a C-Section can still feel fabulous underneath... even if their abdominal muscles are screaming. The design, which is patent-pending, provides comfort and style for the new mom. Comfort and style? You don't hear those two words in the same sentence very often.

I absolutely love this print pictured above. And if you are lucky enough to have a hubby who thinks pregnancy is beautiful, he'll be digging these little pieces of eye-candy too. However, depending how you feel (remember you now have a newborn and just underwent surgery), you might want to keep these little treasures your own secret... for a few weeks anyway.

In addition to all the cute boutiques and maternity stores that will be fighting to get their hands on these, we also hope to see these in hospitals across the globe.

Once A Year

I link to Creative Kidstuff quite a bit on this blog. The store is awesome and the people who work there are amazing. It's a wonderful concept. However, you don't need to live in the Twin Cities to get the perks. They have an online shop as well.

June 5-8, they have their "Once, and only once a year" sale where you can take 25% off everything in the store (and online).

What kid doesn't love the Parachute? It's a hit with all children. And this one even comes with balls to pop around. When you take the 25% off, it's only $37.49!
A take on Bocce ball, Boochie looks like it would be much easier for kids. Only $25.50 after your 25% off.
Rain, rain, stay here today. We have to paint our boots all day. $30 on sale day.
Simple toy. Great backyard fun. Especially if you have a hill! The See Me Tunnel. Will be $27.
Start the brainwashing young, is what I say. Maybe pretend play will turn into reality with this Breakfast in Bed Tray. This thursday only $13.75! Let the brainwashing begin.
Keep the Math fresh in the kid's heads this summer with these addition flash cards. Then it won't take them a month to get back into the swing of things. Also comes in subtraction, mulitplication, division, fractions, time, and money. Great concept. Each only $7.50 after 25% off.
And so, so much more.