Summers in the North East are pretty much like riding in a roller coaster while jumping up and down. Exciting, interesting, and bound to make you sick.
The last few summers here in Rhode Island have been a stretch of wet weather followed by a stretch of heat wave weather. I can’t say we’ve had all that much rain (we most likely got our fill during the floods a few months ago) but the heat has reared it’s ugly head.
On top of that, I have had trouble sleeping for the past five or six weeks. If I can get five hours, I consider it a good night. This heat of course makes this worse. And the worst of all, my mattress has pretty much kicked the bucket (if mattresses can do that) and provides no support while I sleep.
In a few weeks I hope to go shopping for a new mattress, until then…warm milk anyone?
I am quite proud to say that I quit smoking cold turkey almost 8 years ago. I have not so much taken one drag of a cigarette since then.
The other day I came across a site talking about electronic cigarettes, which are basically small vaporizer that emits a tiny amount of nicotine. Some studies claim that electronic cigarettes are a safer alternative to regular cigarettes, while others say that the nicotine is more addictive when inhaled from an electronic cigarette.
Either way, I am glad that I quit years ago and don’t have to deal with the ridiculous price of “cancer sticks” anymore.
Vacations are no doubt a luxury item and usually one of the first things to be cut when money gets tight.
Yet, as a mother, I always like to try and do something for the kids during the summer. This year we’ve already gone to Florida but still I wondered if there was something fun for kids and maybe a little out of the box as well.
I found what I was looking for in Missouri of all places. Apparently a National Kids Fest is held for nearly two months – from June to August and offer a ton of fun things to do for kids of all ages.
Although we probably won’t make it, if you’re interested now is the time to think about purchasing one of many affordable Branson vacation packages.
Okay, I usually don’t like to complain (oh, okay, maybe sometimes I do) but when I buy something is it foolish of me to expect it to…I don’t know…work?
Years ago, for my very first desktop computer, I purchased a Gateway. Last year when I was shopping for a laptop to make work easier and more convenient (and mobile) I figured I would once again go with Gateway.
Big mistake. I’ve had nothing but problems with this computer. I’ve had to send it away three times, once because the screen just wigged out and twice because overheating issues killed it.
Although I would love to buy another notebook, I’m stuck with this one for awhile. But I’m telling you, next time I’m going with something with a better track record like the Sony VAIO.
Hey, let’s face it, we’re all getting older. And the older you get the more you seem to hear about fighting the signs of aging – wrinkles, age spots, fine lines, crow’s feet, etc..etc..etc..
Luckily, I’ve been blessed with smooth skin. Unluckily I’ve been cursed with skin that breaks out easily and eyes that naturally have dark circles under them which are made worse by chronic insomnia.
So I search for an eye cream that can help but won’t aggravate my sensitive skin. Do you know what I find? 90% of eye creams on the market talk about reducing fine lines and eliminating the signs of aging from around the eyes but don’t mention if they do anything to help dark circles.
Even the top rated eye cream I could find didn’t say anything about brightening up bags under the eyes. The few creams I’ve found that do refer to dark eye circles mention it almost as an afterthought and none of the ones that I’ve tried have made any significant difference.
So for now I guess I’ll have to stick to using a little extra foundation under the eyes to cover the dark marks. I’ll also ask anyone out there who knows of an affordable and effective eye cream to let me know. I’m also open to natural alternatives if anyone has a good recipe for one.
And for all those eye cream companies out there I want to let you know that wrinkles aren’t the only problems us women face so try thinking outside the crow’s feet once in awhile.
Despite my normal enthusiasm to use the Internet for anything and everything possible, online shopping is something I still have hesitation for. Probably the biggest reason is my impatience, I hate waiting for my purchases to show up days or weeks later. The second reason for my dislike is the shipping costs although I will admit that most sites have deals on shipping and many offer free shipping on orders over a certain dollar amount.
On the other hand, shopping online is convenient I can’t deny. I can purchase groceries, prescriptions, and any gifts I need to buy all without leaving my desk or dragging my bored child from store to store. Additionally I can pre-order that DVD I know I’m going to want as soon as it comes out, order my vacation pictures printed and mailed, and buy any office supplies I’m going to need in the future.
In some cases it might be cheaper to shop locally. In some cases it might be easier to shop online. As it stands now, I’m split about 80/20 in favor of shopping in the real world. When I do shop online I mostly stick to Walmart which offers free “ship to site” shipping to the store near my home and Amazon which offers really good prices on entertainment and has a low $25 limit for free shipping.
I am currently looking for a decent online photo developing company. I’ve heard Snapfish is good and offers a lot of special services while CVS and Walgreens are affordable and I can pick up my prints nearby. If you know of a good place to order pics online, leave a comment and let me know.
At the beginning of the year I wrote a list of 100 goals that I would like to accomplish. One of the goals was to weigh a healthy weight which for me is between 130 and 140 pounds. Since I’ve been overweight for the last 17 years, I wanted to make sure I approached this is the smartest way possible.
I’ve never been one for fad diets, I don’t want to heavily limit my food choices since I know that will lead to failure, and I don’t believe in diet pills. To me diet pills are a wild promise that something that isn’t easy, will be easy.
Even with this negative opinion of diet pills, I was intrigued when I heard about Alli – the only weight loss pill approved by the FDA. And as usual when I am intrigued, I search online to learn more.
I can across many, many, manyalli reviews from various sources with various qualifications. First mentioned is the way Alli “works” by blocking some of the fat in the food that you eat from being absorbed allowing up to 50% more weight loss than just dieting and exercise alone. The example they give of this is that you can lose 15 pounds by including Alli instead of just 10 pounds with just watching what you eat and exercising regularly.
And it is true that the FDA approved Alli as being truthful in its claim – it will block some fat. But it’s important to know, and Alli is the first to say it, that without dieting and exercising Alli isn’t going to do you much good.
Furthermore, as far as I’m concerned, I would rather not take a pill if I don’t have to.
To sum up, if you want a little help losing your extra weight, Alli won’t hurt and may even help a little. But if you are looking for an easy way to a size four, this isn’t it.
One of the missions of Living My Big Dream is to help people make their dreams come true. Changing or starting a new career is a common dream, especially in this economy.
If your dream is to become a lawyer you already know that you have many years of schooling ahead of you. You can also expect to have to take one of the most difficult tests I know of…the LSAT or law school admission test.
Years ago I enjoyed collecting study guides and working through them just to keep my mind sharp. I managed to find an old copy of a LSAT study guide. I was astonished by the depth and intensity of the material required.
I’m glad I’m not going to school for law but if you are I wouldn’t limit myself to a simple study guide to prepare for the LSAT.
Since the Internet is a wonderland of educational knowledge, I frequently search for new ways to learn new things. Recently I stumbled on what I find to be a great way to study LSAT prep. Knewton.com offers live and interactive classes as well as a fountain of resources for further study. While most LSAT prep courses cost around a thousand for a few months, Knewton’s full course is less than $700 for an entire year!
That price includes not only the live classroom time but also nearly 6,000 LSAT questions that you can use to create custom quizzes and 59 full-length practice tests. And just in case you need the pot sweetened a little, you can try the site out absolutely free for 7 full days and you’re guaranteed your money back if not satisfied.
But what if you don’t think you need a full year of studying? Or maybe your test is coming up next month and you don’t have the time for in-depth study. Knewton.com offers a “Cram Session” from now until the next test date in June for only $199.
If you are studying law or hope to study law in the future, I would highly recommend registering for www.knewton.com.
Next month marks the three year anniversary of Living My Big Dream. As I mentioned last month, I’m trying to polish things up a bit and maximize this blog to provide more for my readers and earn more profit.
One of the things I’ve committed to doing is creating a media kit that is available to other businesses that are interested in advertising on LMBD.
In order to provide you with advertising that might really appeal to you, as well as provide clients with the best exposure for their products, it would be nice to know more about my readers.
If you could please click the below link and complete the short survey (it’s a pop-up so turn off those blockers!) it would help me provide the best service to everyone involved. The survey is only 8 questions long and shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to finish.
Big time stores spend lots of money on security features such as alarms and guards. But for those individuals that have small stores or even just stalls at local flea markets security is just as important.
Buying a security alarms isn’t a feasible option for people operating out of flea market stalls and often small stores have an alarm to protect the store while closed but nothing to stop shoplifting during business hours.
One affordable option if you are in this situation is convex mirrors. You’ve probably seen them in stores near the ceiling and often in corners. These mirrors allow you to see what customers are doing when normally they would be out of your line of sight. Not only that but thieves are less likely to steal if they think that are being watched and can be caught.
The best part is that you can get one of these convex mirrors for about a hundred bucks! Search online for deals or you can keep an eye out for shops that are closing and selling their security mirrors.
