Category Archives: check it out

No More Talking, Let’s Dance: The Only Reason I Watch Vampire Diaries

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You’re like totally cool and so hot.

Oh yeah he is.  And if it wasn’t for Mr. Ian Somerhalder I wouldn’t even be watching this show.  He’s so much hotter than when he was wimpy ol’ Boone on Lost. Ooh, but rumor has it, he’ll be back for this final season on Lost. Woohoo!

Thank God for Turkish video sites…otherwise I wouldn’t be able to embed this hotness (my fave part about a minute in).

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

If you need a better quality video, you know, to appreciate the fine cinematography and whatnot, try this YouTube clip (I have a feeling CW was blocking all embedding ability which was why I was left to find a Turkish, embeddable clip).

Holiday Gift Guides: Just Had to Share

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I figure I spent SO much time working on these suckers these gift guides that the least I could do was share them with y’all.  You just might find something cool and exciting.

I think in a week or so, I might share my personal gift guides as well.  Or would that be a wish list…hmmm.  Could be useful, you never can tell.

Until then, I’ll be spending the next week or so working on some gratitude and manifestation exercises.  So don’t be surprised if my next couple of posts start to get a little woowoo…consider yourself warned.  😉

Free Audible Audiobook Giveaway

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Who doesn’t love free?

Who wouldn’t love a free audiobook?*  I know I sure would.

The fine folks at Audible.com are giving away one free audiobook as their way of showing thanks this season. The best part, it’s totally free. You do have to sign up, but it’s not a trial (so no credit card info).  It’s completely and totally free.

I’ve been meaning to try Audible.com, but I just wasn’t sure I was someplace where I could listen long enough to get into it. But now, I think I’m going to have to give this freebie thing a try. I mean you can’t go wrong with free, right?

Now it doesn’t cover every book in their library (they have thousands), but it does give you a good enough sample to choose from.

I remember having loved The Great Gatsby so I think that’s what I’ll go with.  Click HERE for your free audio book.

*As one would expect, there are a few limitations on this Thanksgiving freebie…offer not open to current AudibleListener members. Limit 1 audiobook per customer. Some audiobooks may not be available outside the United States and Canada. Offer expires November 26, 2009 at 11:59pm ET.

Chritmas Trees: Live or Artificial?

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I think the last time I had a live Christmas tree I was in high school back in New Jersey.  Though come to think of it, I believe once we moved, we went to a large artificial tree.  So it must have been even longer still.

Since moving in with my hubs, I’ve been using a smallish, table top artificial tree.  I figured if the cat decided to attack (or climb, or pull down, or whatever) that it would cause much less havoc and damage.  Last year we didn’t even decorate since we were away for early November and then I had to focus on the 50 Days of Giving giveaway promotion when we got back.

Since then, I’ve been toying with the idea of either upgrading the size of my artificial tree (as the cat has been leaving it alone from day one). Or maybe going real this year.  But now that we’re talking about moving next summer when classes let out, I’m not so sure I can bring myself to making the big purchse.

Enter the folks at Living Christmas (they’re located in Redondo Beach).  I’ve mentioned before that it turns out you can rent just about anything…well, now you can even rent a LIVE Christmas tree!  They carry different sizes and species.  And all things considered (if you go real on a regular basis), they’re not all that expensive.  Very cool.

And if you want a chance to win your live three this year, then head on over to JessicaGottlieb.com and enter her giveaway. I’d wish you good luck, but well, I know I’m going to win it this year!! 😉

And speaking of giveaways…don’t forget to enter for your chance to win $60 worth of grub at NORM’S

You Can Rent the Strangest Stuff

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I’ve mentioned recently about my experience working towards going green in my day to day life.  As such, I love to read books and blogs on the topic (speaking of, I love Sophie Uliano’s book, Gorgeously Green).

The other day I came across a list of the 18 different things you can rent instead of buying.  I knew about some of them, such as the Flex Car, large equipment, party supplies and designer purses.  But pets?  Textbooks? Caskets?  A wife???

Wow, I guess you really can rent just about anything these days.  The good news, in some cases, you’re not only saving money, but you’re also saving the environment.

Local LA Pumpkin Patches Go All ‘Ice Age 3’

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Everyone knows that Halloween isn’t worth it’s weight in candy if your little ones don’t get to visit a pumpkin patch.

This weekend, two local LA pumpkin patches will be taken over by the crew at Ice Age to help to get the season off right.  As part of a nationwide initiative, Fox will be hosting Family Fun Days this Saturday and Sunday, October 24 and 25, at two pumpkin patches in our community with professional pumpkin carving artists, movie giveaways and other festive activities that create the perfect fall outing for the entire family.

You will have the chance to win prizes including DVD copies of the first two installments of the Ice Age trilogy, and branded Ice Age glow sticks to keep Halloween night fun and safe.

If you get the chance, stop by Shawn’s Pumpkin Patch in Culver City or Lopez Pumpkin Patch on West 3rd (across from the Grove) this coming weekend to take part in the festivities.

Times like this, I wish we weren’t D.I.N.K.s (dual income, no kids).  So please, have some fun for me!!  I’ll enjoy a pumpkin spice latte instead.

Photo: JMT Images

Just Call Me Judge LA Blogger Gal!

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Okay, Judge Judy I am not.

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But I have been invited to be a judge for the 2009 .INFO Awards.

The .INFO Awards program was first launched two years ago and focused primarily on Germany. With the 2009 program, they’ve expanded the awards and are allowing .INFO sites from all over the world to submit for consideration.

If you’d like to submit your .INFO site, you have until Friday October 23, 2009. Judging will be open to the public starting at 9am November 2, 2009 and will close on Friday, November 6th. The top 3 winners will be announced on Monday, November 9th.

Prizes:

First place: US$7500
Second place: US $5000
Third place: US$3000

The .INFO sites will be scored on 5 criteria: presentation of content, functionality of the website, design, usability and originality. The full list of rules is available here.

This will be a first for me, but something I’m very excited about. With all the time I spend on the Internet, I’ve got to be a good judge of websites. 😉

You can follow along on Facebook or you can follow @Afilias on Twitter.


LA Mommy Bloggers Sure Can Cook

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Or would that be they sure can no-cook?

Today at my nearby Pavillions grocery store, local Mommy Bloggers (just writing that makes me cringe a little, but hey, it’s a niche, and I can respect that) got together for a no-cook cook-off.  Basically,  they had ten minute to shop, $25 to spend on groceries and then 25 minutes to cook.  I was there to show support for my favorite LA mommy blogger, Mar Vista Mom/Sarah Auerswald.

I have to say, Pavillions really had it together.  They added a few colorful touches at our normally, well organized and quite clean store, washed the ladies’ shopping carts down (or so my favorite express checker told me) and otherwise, put their best foot forward.  They had big wigs in from the main Safeway home office as well as from our nearby Vons home office.

They set the ladies up outside and thankfully, it was a gorgeous day out today.  Tara, the “lifestyle expert” (sorry, I didn’t catch more than that) they got to emcee the cook off was awesome.  She really kept up the banter during the 25 minutes of cooking time.  I love how in the end, while the judges were tasting everything and scoring the meals, all the ladies were passing around what they made and tasting their own meals.  No competition there 😉

All in all, it was great fun.

Check it out some of the photos…

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Let the Shopping Begin!

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Why Yes, There Was A Lot of Rotisserie Chicken Being Used

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Peel That Onion Sarah, Then Chop, Chop, Chop!

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Don't Those BBQ Sliders Look Yummy?

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Bloggers On iPhones...Imagine That?!?! Tweet Tweet!

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They're All Winners (though @eshachory in the middle won the big prize!)

I don’t have all the bloggers names and links that participated, but here are a few of their Twitter accounts: @SAuerswald @eshachory @coupongals @jessicagottlieb  @yvonneinla – you can take it from there.  They all said they’d be posting their recipes at some point, so be sure to follow along or pick up a copy of the Daily LA sometime next week.

Update: here are the bloggers that participated -> Coupon Gal, Yvonne in LA, YumGloss, Sarah Auerswald, Jessica Gottlieb, the LA Examiner article