Give Your Thirsty Hair A Drink.

I've always been a fan of Pantene® products, so I was very excited when I was invited to try a product from Pantene's^® New Moisture Renewal line.

I received a free sample of the Pantene® Pro-V Silky Moisture Whip which claims to erase the damage of 100 blow-drys. Now I don't really ever blow dry my hair, but it is dry, and really prone to frizzing around this time of year so I figured it couldn't hurt and it might just help with the frizz. 

The first time I used the whip I wasn't sure what to expect, it came out of the can looking a bit like whipped cream, and was much lighter than other mousse type products.  I applied it to my hair and was very impressed with not only how quickly it was absorbed (I apparently had very thirsty hair) but with the way it smoothed the frizz and brought out my natural waves.

Normally I use a smoothing serum along with a styling spray, but since the Moisture Whip contains a styler, I was able to use less spray, and cut the serum out entirely.  The whip is light and creamy, it soaks quickly and easily into your hair and on top of its slight hold, there is none of that wet/greasy look like serums can leave and using less of my other product meant that my hair didn't get crunchy from too much spray. This was huge, because, and I'm telling you a little secret here; I don't like to wash my hair everyday.  But if its crunchy or greasy from the products I've used in it; well I kind of have to wash it everyday.

But not with the Pantene® Pro-V Silky Moisture Whip! After just a week of using the whip, my hair is soft and silky, the frizz is decidedly less, and the bounce is decidedly more!

I'm very impressed by Pantene's Moisture Whip and will be purchasing a full size product as soon as my sample runs out.

Disclaimer:
I received a sample of the afore mentioned product from VocalPoint.com in exchange for an honest review. The opinions contained in this post are my own based on my experience with said product.

More Music From The Flowerpot

A few months ago I was contacted by the folks at Flowerpot Records to listen and review some of the albums under their label. Back in September I reviewed an album by The Suburbanites.  Today I'll tell you my impressions of Leaving Today by All Over The Place. I downloaded this album and gave it a good long listen. Unfortunately this is not the type of music I normally enjoy, not that its bad by any means, its just not my thing.

That being said, I continued to listen to the album objectively, and repeatedly, and though I still didn't like it much, after a few times through the album I could see that a lot of effort went into the arrangement and the production. The musical arrangement has a big band feel; lots of horns and percussion, a fast tempo, is present in most songs; though a few songs did slow down considerably, I preferred the faster ones.  While I'm not sure you could dance to any of these songs, there are quite a few you could definitely jump around to.

The lyrics are interesting, both poignant and funny; there is a sense of ironic dissatisfaction throughout the album. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it more than to say that a sense of apathetic longing for some something seems to run throughout each song.

I liked the fact that both the album art and the lyric sheet is included in the digital download and that you can name your own price at Flowerpot.

Though I didn't care particularly for the album there were a few songs that I enjoyed. This one particularly gives a good sense and feel of the band. Though I didn't care for this album, I would like to check out more of All Over The Place's music just to make sure they aren't really my flavor. If you'd like to check them or other bands on the label, head on over to Flowerpot Records and see if anything catches your ear.

(I was given the opportunity to download and give my honest review of this album but in no way was I compensated. The preceding was my own opinion.)

No Reviews this week.

 Halloween may be over but I'm still doing my best impression of the Wicked Witch of the East.
Not that I actually had a house fall on me. But at the same time, I sort of did. 
After living the past two and a half years in a house that was a bit too large and a bit too expensive my family and I made the (rather hurried) decision to downsize our living space. We were able to find an apartment that more than suited our needs.

Once we made it through the approval process we were two weeks away from our move in date, we then began the long process of packing and paring down possessions; its funny, but when you are living in a house that is too large for your family you end up acquiring a lot of junk and things you don't need.

Those two weeks went by very quick, before we knew it we were trading a check for a set of keys; then the real fun started. 

Find me someone that actually enjoys, moving, seriously if there is really someone out there that likes packing and moving let me know, I've got a stack of boxes to introduce them to.

We managed to accomplish the bulk of the moving in 2 days, thanks in part to my Inlaws, and of course a trailer from Uhaul. We are all still exhausted from what I've termed "manic moving" and there is still plenty of cleaning up to do in the old place.  But its nicer to be in a smaller place, and I know in a few months we're really going to appreciate the reduction in rent.

Needless to say, the last month has been very hectic for me and mine, this month could be almost on par, and I don't even want to consider December yet.  Between moving and just life in general I've found myself with less and less time to devote to blogging, or any of my other hobbies.  Though I don't want to say that I am taking a hiatus, I really don't expect to be updating all that often.  I just wanted to assure my readers that this blog isn't dead, its just sleeping.

I do plan on a post here and there, but I don't expect to have an abundance of review time until January.
I also have a few pots on the back burners, those are simmering along and I am really excited about what's in them.

Thanks for sticking around as I try to figure out my blogging rhythm, I know you won't be disappointed that you did.

Ooh That Smell.

I'm back with another review brought to you (and me) by Bzzagent.com, today I'll be telling you about the Glade Expressions collection. I received coupons for a starter kit for both the Fragrance Mist, and the Oil Diffuser from Glade, first off let me just say that these products were very difficult to find, I still have not been able to locate the Oil Diffuser, but I did get my hands on the Fragrance Mist.  I'm no stranger to air fresheners, I use them both at work and at home, and I've used a number of different brands, but they all look the same, and they are all clearly air fresheners, but Glade's fragrance mist is different, first off we have the sleek cover, its all white with a small window where the color of the can is visible, you can use this bit of color to coordinate the mister into your decor, the scent I selected was Cotton & Italian Mandarin, in a blue can, so the little strip of color visible on my mister is blue, I've a lot of blue in my bathroom so though the mister has been traveling the house, when I manage to get it back in its "spot" it matches up very well to the rest of the room.

On to the fragrance, ever tried one of those misters that you have to spray a few times before the smell you were trying to get rid of disappears? Or even worse the ones that smell WORSE than the original offending odor? I'm sure we've all been there, Glade Fragrance Mist is neither of these things, just one squeeze and the offending odor is gone, and the fragrance left behind is light and fresh, it really does smell of citrus and cotton, it reminds me of clothes hanging on the line and a fresh glass of orange juice, dare I say, Summer in a can? Just about, I've even sprayed it a few times just because.  It is that nice of a scent.

Between the sleek put anywhere style of the reusable container and the fragrance of the mister itself, I am hooked, even my four year old has commented on the "yummy smell" and my cat box has never been so unobtrusive as its been since I've been using this spray.

I plan to get another mister for my office (never again will fish smell assault me from the break room) and I'm looking forward to trying other fragrances. We used to be a Fabreez Family, but after this campaign we have definitely become Glade Groupies.

Lend me your ear, you'll be glad you did.

My oh my, over a month has gone by since my last review, I've been very busy though the last month so we'll have to let that be my excuse.

But enough with excuses let's get back to what we're here for: Reviews!

I was contacted last week by Wes Meadows of Flowerpot Records, asking if I would be interested in listening to and reviewing an album by one of their bands. Flowerpot Records is record label based out of Berea, Ohio, they produce CDs and tapes from indie artists throughout the state of Ohio.  I was a bit surprised at first since I'm about as far away from Ohio as you can get and still be in the Continental US, but if you know me at all you know that my first love is music (followed closely by books of course), so of course I agreed, not only was it an opportunity for a little something to put in my blog, but it was also an opportunity to find new music and I never pass that up.

I was given a list of the albums that Wes preferred I review, and I chose the one I liked the best based on band name, album name and cover art.  Which is pretty much how I used to shop for new bands back before Internet radio and such.

This is the album I decided on, The cover caught my eye before I even noticed the name of the album or the band, Lady Liberty on the phone, I don't know why it struck me the way that it did but I downloaded "I Liked Them Before They Went Political" by The Suburbanites, and listened to it repeatedly over the next few days.

From the very first track I was impressed, their vocal range is fantastic, and reminiscent of Brian Molko in some songs, in still others I was reminded of Cherry Poppin' Daddies, or Cake.

The instrumental arrangements are fresh and clever, yet still remaining true to the ska/rock genre; wicked guitar riffs and awesome percussion blend with the vocals to give the listener the impression that not only have the Suburbanites have been playing together for a long time but they know what they are doing.  The lyrics are funny and poignant by turns, some of the songs tell a story, some of them convey a feeling, but all of them are good. That said, its seldom that I find an album that has only good songs, no matter how much I like a band or an artist I can generally find a song that isn't that great, or that I just dislike, but that is not the case with "I Liked Them Before They Went Political", each song has its own flavor, and its own story to tell, and I found myself very interested in what that story had to say.

This is a fairly new album less than a month old, and sadly it seems that the Surbanites have taken an extended hiatus, I do hope they record another album at some point because I would love to hear more from them, but until that happens, do your ears a treat and check out the first track on the album

Now you're ready to head over to Flowerpot Records where you can check out and get the rest of the tracks.  While you're there, check out some of the other bands they have to offer, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

bookends and beginnings:Review: Imperative By P.A. Wilson

bookends and beginnings: Review: Imperative By P.A. Wilson: ★★★☆☆ Imperative: Book One of the Quinn Larson Quests. By P.A. Wilson   Urban Fantasy is another of my favorite genres to read, I love th...

Bzzagent Book Review: The Dark Monk

The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale, By Oliver Pötzsch ★ ★ ★ ★☆

Blurb from Amazon: 


1660: Winter has settled thick over a sleepy village in the Bavarian Alps, ensuring every farmer and servant is indoors on the night a parish priest discovers he's been poisoned. As numbness creeps up his body, he summons the last of his strength to scratch a cryptic sign in the frost.

Following a trail of riddles, hangman Jakob Kuisl; his headstrong daughter, Magdalena; and the town physician’s son team up with the priest’s aristocratic sister to investigate. What they uncover will lead them back to the Crusades, unlocking a troubled history of internal church politics and sending them on a chase for a treasure of the Knights Templar.

But they’re not the only ones after the legendary fortune. A team of dangerous and mysterious monks is always close behind, tracking their every move, speaking Latin in the shadows, giving off a strange, intoxicating scent. And to throw the hangman off their trail, they have ensured he is tasked with capturing a band of thieves roving the countryside attacking solitary travelers and spreading panic.

I received "The Dark Monk" and its prequel, "The Hangman's Daughter" as part of a Bzzagent Campaign, though I'm not a big fan of historical novels, I was excited to read these books as I love mystery and suspense and both of these books were purported to have a large helping of both.

They take place in 17th century Bavaria, a time and an area thick with fear and ignorance, where the town physician could as likely kill you as cure you, and women can be killed for the slightest whisper of witchcraft.

Both stories are well told and well crafted, the characters are three dimensional and human.  If you do read these I suggest you start with "The Hangman's Daughter" as that book introduces us to most of the characters that we meet in "The Dark Monk".

I enjoyed the Dark Monk a good deal more than the first book, the characters were already known to me by then and I had my favorite ones.  The Dark Monk is faster paced than The Hangman's Daughter, and the suspense begins to build from the very first page,  I felt that I was actually there in Bavaria, traveling from town to town in search of the Templar treasure and the monks that will murder to keep it out of the hands of "heretics".  Though "The Dark Monk"  doesn't really give "clues" like other mysteries, there is still much for the reader to deduce, and make theories on. In fact I was pleasantly surprised to find some of mine to be correct I may have even exclaimed "I knew it!" as one element of the mystery was reveled.

The storytelling was colorful, the descriptions were vivid, the suspense and intrigue were tangible, on many occasions I caught myself holding my breath or chewing my lips as I read.

There were a few things that I didn't like about these books but thankfully they can be attributed to formatting and the fact that these books were originally written and published in German.

The kindle/ebook format is poorly done, the font size and style changes through out the book, page breaks and paragraph separation is random, and at times very confusing.  However I have noticed that this is sadly a somewhat common occurrence in ebooks.

 My second issue with the stories would best be summed up as "loosing something in the translation" there is a lot of slang and colloquialisms used in the book that I just don't see being used in the 17th century.  "We're screwed" for instance, I can't help but think there could have been a less modern phrase that would have expressed the same feeling.  Sadly the books were rife with language like that, and I do have to say that it lessened my enjoyment of the story a bit.  I don't want to blame the author or the translator though, language is odd and it would not surprise me to find that there was simply no adequate English translation other than "We're screwed".

Those two pet peeve points aside, "The Dark Monk" was truly a fascinating tale, one which I am glad I had the opportunity to read.  If you have any inclinations toward historical fiction, suspense, and religious stories you should give these books a try.  I enjoyed both of them and after the teaser at the end of The Dark Monk I am looking forward to the final book in the series as well.

Book Tour: Free Kindle Book Particle Horizon @ three sisters book reviews

three sisters book reviews: Book Tour: Free Kindle Book Particle Horizon: From the blood and dust of New Jerusalem, the Legion of the LightBringer wages a galactic war against those who would replace their god. N...

Clear Hair, Shiny Hair, Once Again I Love My Hair

    I wasn't looking for a new shampoo when I received my Bzzagent invite to the Clear Hair campaign, I was basically satisfied with what I'd been using, and to be honest I've never really noticed a huge difference in my hair when I switch types of shampoo, but I'm not one to turn down sample of a product, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try a different shampoo for a month or so.

I received a full size bottle of shampoo and conditioner as well as sample bottles to hand out to friends.  I started using Clear as soon as I got my bzzkit, I was pleased with the light odor and the fact that it was a cream based shampoo, and I was slightly amused that the shampoo sparkled, curious, I checked the ingredients and sure enough mica is one of them. I don't think I've ever used a shampoo that sparkled.
I honestly didn't expect to see much of a change in my hair, and if I did I figured I wouldn't see it til at least a few weeks.

I was wrong though, within just a few uses, my hair was remarkably shiny and much softer than it had been. After a week of use I'd begun to notice that I was "shedding" less, and that my hair seemed to have a bit more wave than normal.

A month later and I am so happy with my hair, its significantly less frizzy, more wavy, softer and shinier.
There is even a bonus perk, it seems to be very beneficial to the psoriasis that I have on my scalp, I've noticed a decrease in itchiness, as well as large reduction in flaking, in fact Clear has worked better to treat my scalp issues than the leading medicated brand ever did.

I'm hooked, I love Clear Total Care, I plan to try some of the other formulas as well, but Clear is my new brand of shampoo and conditioner.

They've got a great price too, you might expect to pay $8 or more for a shampoo that does all this, but Clear has a price tag of less than $5 at many retailers, and it is available at most major retailers and drugstores both online and off.

I've been recommending it to everyone I know, If you have a love/hate relationship with your hair, or if you are tired of your lackluster shampoo, and are looking for something new you can't go wrong with Clear.

three sisters book reviews: Blog Tour: Particle Horizon: Tour of Angelhaven

Come Join us for a tour of the Asteroid planet of Angelhaven

three sisters book reviews: Blog Tour: Particle Horizon: Tour of Angelhaven: Welcome to Angelhaven. As your ship emerges from the particle displacement portal, the first thing you will undoubtedly notice is the overwh...

three sisters book reviews: Blog Tour: Particle Horizon

 Join the Blog Tour over at Three Sisters!

three sisters book reviews: Blog Tour: Particle Horizon: From the blood and dust of New Jerusalem, the Legion of the LightBringer wages a galactic war against those who would replace their go...

Take Me To The Ballgame

Baseball fans! If you’re after tickets this summer allow me to suggest Ticketamerica! You can get Atlanta Braves tickets for any game.  They have Baltimore Orioles Tickets, Boston Red Sox Tickets.  You can even get tickets for the Red Sox vs. The Orioles! Not to mention tickets for many other games and teams, as well as other events. This summer Ticketamerica has all your ticket needs.

 [Disclaimer: This was a paid post request via payperpost.com I have not actually used ticketamerica though I have perused the site both in the past and at the time of receiving this request]

three sisters book reviews: Dreamless (Starcrossed, #2)by Josephine Angelini ...

three sisters book reviews: Dreamless (Starcrossed, #2)by Josephine Angelini ...: Dreamless (Starcrossed, #2) by Josephine Angelini

Contest Alert!

I love contests, I don't win often but I have won before, but I love to enter contests, and because I do I often get email announcements about contests, I don't always enter them but if a contest is happening....

There's a good chance I know.

This one came today, and it is definitely one that I will enter, and I thought I'd share it with you too.

Contest ends June 15, 2012 at 9 a.m. so click the picture to be taken to the entry page.  While you're there, check out the Julep blog and Julep.com,  There are a lot of ideas and products for awesome looking nails at Julep.

three sisters book reviews: Review: Hubris by P. A. Wilson

three sisters book reviews: Review: Hubris by P. A. Wilson: Hubris (A Charity Deacon Investigation) By P.A. Wilson ★★★★★ I love mysteries, thrillers, suspense; give me anything with a dead body an...

three sisters book reviews: Book Review: Particle Horizon by Selso Xisto

three sisters book reviews: Book Review: Particle Horizon by Selso Xisto:   Particle Horizon by Selso Xisto ★★★★★ Let me start out by saying right off the bat that I don’t read a lot of Sci-fi, and when I do ...

I've rhythm, I've got (in)sole.

I signed up for the Dr. Scholl's For Her™ BzzCampaign via BzzAgent a few weeks ago, and got my BzzKit over the weekend.  It contained a pair of High Heel insoles and some coupons for that product. Excited to try the insoles, I debated at first which pair of shoes to put them in but in the end I decided on my daily heels, the ones I wear 9 hours a day at work. These aren't uncomfortable shoes, but I figured the insoles would make them really comfy.

I was wrong.

Excitedly I put the insoles in on Monday morning, I struggled with them a bit, my shoes are strappy and the insole kept sticking to the straps, but I eventually got them in and straight.

I slipped my feet in and noticed the straps were a bit tight, but they loosened up quickly. I didn't notice any added cushioning in the heel or toe, in fact my shoes didn't feel any different aside from one thing.

The arch support.

It was uncomfortable, wasn't so much a cushion as a bump, a bump that pressed into the arch of my foot.

Maybe I just have weird arches, I thought, or maybe I just need to get used them. I decided I would give myself a few days to get used to them.

I never got used to them.

Sadly these insoles made my heels worse than they'd been without the insoles. After 2 days of wearing them I couldn't take the discomfort of the arch support anymore and removed the insoles, but prior to giving up on these I switched heels just to see if maybe it was the shoe itself, no such luck, it looks like no matter the heel height or shape these insoles just dig into the arch of my foot.

So its not the shoes.

It might be my feet. I'm not going to describe my feet to you, but I have had odd issues with shoes before, so it might be my feet. In fact I am leaning toward that theory because I've talked to women who LOVE these insoles, so I think its just me.

This is one of those products that is impossible to give a catch all review for, everyone's feet are different, for me it is far more uncomfortable for me to have a something in the arch of my foot than it is for me to walk on the ball of my foot. However you could be the opposite.

Dr. Scholl's is a well known and respected company for foot care products, and sure, even great companies can have a bad product, but I really think its just my feet and the way I walk, not the insoles themselves.

Three of my favorite things, contests, books, and amazon gift cards. Check out The Bookish Nerd for all of them!

It may not be a smartphone, but it's not dumb

Samsung Brightside For Verizon 4 of 5 Stars.

• Simultaneous QWERTY and Touch Screen Input 
• Integrated Social Networking 
• One-touch Shortcut Keys 
• 3.2 Megapixel Rear-facing Camera and Camcorder 

Today I'm going to introduce you to my new phone, the Samsung Brightside for Verizon, I've had it for about 3 weeks now, and I was well over due for an upgrade, it wasn't exactly that there was anything wrong with the LG Env3 that I'd had for the last few years, (sure it has issues with randomly shutting off, but it wasn't bad) I just wanted a new phone.

Really I wanted a smartphone.

But that data plan, whew, I simply cannot afford to upgrade my entire household (an extra $100 a month all told) nor could I really upgrade my own and no one else's, you see the quandry? It became apparent as I shopped around that:

1. "Basic" phones are really basic
2.  Some of them are rather expensive for the lack of features they have
3. There aren't a lot of "basic" or "feature" phones available
4. The ones that are available are often missing a key feature I want
5. A noticeable lack of QWERTY keyboards

I went first to Verizon, thinking that they'd sent me enough emails to upgrade that there should be some options, and there were, if I was getting a smartphone. Their basic and feature phones were not only mostly out of stock but, well, see the list above.

I next went to Amazon, its my favorite shopping site, and I figured that even if I didn't buy from there I'd at least get a more extensive list, I ran into the same five problems on Amazon that I had at Verizon, however two of the phones that had fallen under problem #2 at Verizon were decidedly more affordable at Amazon.
After a few more days of research on these two phones, (really, I research electronics to death before I purchase them), I decided to go ahead and get the Samsung Brightside.

The reviews I'd read prior to the purchase had been mixed, mostly though the biggest gripe seemed to be a lack of ability to customize the main menu which personally isn't a big deal.  I did also notice a few reviews that griped about the speed and Internet accessibility of the Brightside but that was in comparison to a smartphone, and really comparing a feature phone to a smartphone is almost apples and oranges, it goes without saying that they're different and you shouldn't expect your feature phone to act like a smartphone.

That being said. I mostly love this phone, it has a few drawbacks but is there really a "perfect" phone?

First off there is the lack of inability customization to the main menu that I mentioned, again this is not a huge problem for me, but I like the color green, if you don't like green or orange I'd stay away from this phone because what you see in the picture is pretty much what you get.

 The touchscreen is very responsive, (almost too responsive as I've called my voice-mail a few times by accident), I expect that some of the sensitivity will diminish once I get a screen protector for it, but normally a light and quick tap is all I need to access features.  Occasionally I do have to double tap a key but these incidents are few, and I tend to attribute them to either not making a good enough contact with the key or, cold thumbs.

The keyboard is great for the most part, I love that the keys are slightly upraised, and that the touch screen is still active when the keyboard is in use, the keyboard is a full featured keyboard, there are 36 alpha-numeric-symbol keys, normal right? eeeh, kind of, but the Brightside adds some extras, press the Fn key and G and you get .com, A and S get you ¡ and ¿ respectively, as well as a few more symbols that you don't normally find on a keyboard, this is mostly cool, but as its a different set up than my old phone, and I'm still not used to it, well, I've had some odd typos.

Speaking of typos, there is one big issue with this phone, which doesn't bother me, but it is something to take into consideration. There is a glitch that causes the phone to freeze when you try to activate predictive text. Again, not a deal killer for me, I don't care for predictive text, I know I'd eventually end up on damnyouautocorrect if I had it, but for some people it is a must have. If it is for you I'm going to say right now you shouldn't get this phone.

The Brightside runs Opera mini, which is much fast than the browser on my previous phone, and it renders web pages a lot better than the Env3 did.

The camera is great, the quality is a lot better than my old phone and the shape and feel of the Brightside along with the placement of the camera key makes taking pictures a snap. There is also a camcorder feature that I haven't used yet, but if the sound quality of my ringtones and the image quality of the pictures are any indication then I'd assume the camcorder to be perfect for short videos of kids or pets.

This phone really can't be beat if you want more features than basic calling and texting but don't want to fork out the money for a data plan, I am very satisfied with it, I can surf, update my social sites, and even chat with friends and family via a IM app. I can't imagine a better feature phone.

I give it four stars over all, the only thing keeping it from that fifth star is the fact that its customizations are limited, and that predictive text glitch.  Even though these issues don't bother me, they are still issues, and I have to take them into consideration.

But all in all I would and do recommend this phone to anyone who doesn't want all the bells and whistles (and price) of a smartphone, but still wants to be able to access email and social networks.

three sisters book reviews: Review: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

three sisters book reviews: Review: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini: I don’t often read Young Adult novels, in fact, I think that prior to Starcrossed, the last YA series I read was Harry Potter and that wa...

Switching things up.

I've got two of the greatest friends in the world, we've been through a lot of drama together, and a lot of ups and downs but out of everyone I know, these two women are not only my dearest friends, but they are the closest thing I have to sisters.

Obviously we must have a lot of things in common, but the biggest thing we have is our love of books, (in fact it was the mutual love of a book series that brought us together to begin with.) Though all three of us have various blogs, both of the personal and the review genres, we've decided to collaborate together on a book review blog.

So as of today, my book reviews, and literature related posts will be located at Three Sisters Book Reviews Now of course, I will be linking those posts here just to let you all know when one is up, but there shall be no more book reviews here, but there will be plenty of other things to keep you informed and hopefully entertained.

I hope you'll join me over there.

Its Ok To Be A Quitter.

I've made a lot of goals for myself this year, some of them are a lot more attainable than others, some I've already reached and one in particular I'm still struggling with but I've made some really good strides toward.
I'm talking of course about my goal to quit smoking, you may recall the review I wrote on Voxiva's Text2Quit program, which is a very helpful program; unfortunately, I - much like anyone else who has been smoking for a long time - needed more than just one quit aid.

My second step in my goal to quit was reading Allen Carr's "The Easy Way To Quit", now, I'm not a fan of self-help books for a number of reasons, and though this book did at times reinforce a lot of the reasons I dislike the genre it was/is an invaluble tool for those who want to quit smoking. The book goes into at depth the brainwashing and social conditioning we experience as smokers, the reasons we smoke, and the way to begin to change your thinking in regards to smoking and quitting.

My third step was joining the "Ex Community", this site was by far the most welcoming and supportive of the sites that I came across, its kind of like a Facebook or Myspace for ex-smokers and those who are becoming exes. At the "Ex Community" you can make friends, earn badges, comment to others, post your own blog entries, and post things on your wall or on the walls of your friends. Its a fun and positive environment, full of very supportive folks.

My fourth and final step has been the NicoDerm patch. This has been the most effective for me, at least when I remember to put it on, I truly don't want a cigarette if I'm wearing the patch. There were few drawbacks with the patch, the only ones I experienced were slight levels of twitching (like I've had too much caffeine), itchiness were the patch is, and weird dreams if I happened to leave the patch on overnight (only did that once). I have had the patch catch on clothing and it does not stand up to the temps I like to shower at, other than that I've had no issues aside from remembering to put them on.

I've had a fair amount of success with a combination of these sites and products, I had even managed to completely quit for nearly 3 weeks. Sadly I've suffered a recent slip, and am smoking again. Thankfully its not a full slip, I haven't had more than 3 cigarettes in any one day, and as of today, I'm back to 0 and wearing the patch again.

Its not a quick process, to quit, and I know this, but I'm taking it seriously, its something I desire, and something I will do. I know that each time I slip and give in to smoking, I learn more about my personal reasons for smoking, besides just the addiction to nicotine. It becomes easier to not have a cig when I can rationalize why I want one.

My suggestion for those trying to quit would be to first join the Ex Community and then get yourself a copy of Allen Carr's "The Easy Way To Quit". NTRs are helpful, but not necessary. For me, between the book and the community, a lot of the fear and reluctance that many smokers experience when contemplating quitting, literally disappeared in a puff of smoke, the patch just soothes the cravings which really aren't as bad as they are often implied to be.

Interupted Thoughts.

Its been hard to find time to blog recently, among the normal ebb and flow of my daily life, spring is fully here now and I always feel a little scattered in spring, (I blame it on allergies) but I think I've shaken off the last of my histamine haze and I should have a bit of extra time this week. I've not yet managed to make a meal with the olive oil I last blogged about, but to be fair we haven't been doing a lot of cooking. I will though, hopefully this week. I've got both the Kindle Fire, and the Samsung Brightside to tell you about, as well as a pair of earbuds that may be the best $10 I've ever spent. Not to mention I still want to tell you all how I quit smoking, and I've even got a couple of books to tell you about. Guess I better get to it eh? Stay tuned. I'll be right back.

It tastes good and its good for you! Its Olive Oil!

Last week I joined a word of mouth marketing company called bzzagent, and today I got my first assignment, I'm really excited to get started with this and wanted to share the buzz here on my blog.


Let's talk about olive oil! Now, I'm not terribly familiar with Filippo Berio, but being of partial Mediterranean decent I am familiar with the health benefits of olive oil, benefits that can be gleaned through both ingestion and application of olive oil.

I do know that Filippo Berio started manufacturing and producing olive oil under his name in the early 1850s and by 1900 his olive oil was Italy's #1 exported olive oil. Also right around that same time, American scientists had published several nutritional articles citing links between the "Mediterranean Diet" and a lower occurrence of health problems.

The key ingredient in Mediterranean cooking is olive oil, and you can clearly taste the difference between a dish prepared with olive oil and one prepared with canola or vegetable oil. and can you even imagine the horrible shock to the taste buds it would be to find an Italian salad dressing that was made with any other oil?

Since Olive oil contains a wide variety of valuable antioxidants that are not found in other oils, its health benefits are rather amazing and extensive, and not at all limited to internal health.

Olive oil can be used on the skin as a very effective moisturizer, it can be used as a hair treatment to help the scalp and the hair, and even ingested alone as a mild laxative. Olive oil is nothing if not versatile, I personally use it in some form nearly every day and recommend it for cooking and beauty needs.

If you'd like to find out more about the health benefits of Olive oil you can take a look at the health info here. While you're on the Filippo Berio site, you can read about the rich history of both the brand and the oil itself.

Keep an eye on the blog here, I'll be trying out and sharing a few recipes in the next few weeks, I'm really excited to try the Gorgonzola Chicken Thighs.

I've been wanting to post a ticker like this for a LONG time

Soon I'll be updating on and reviewing the methods I'm using to quit. I never thought it could be so easy.

Would you like to take a survey?

Wait, before you answer that, what if I told you it was a paid survey? what if I told you that you could make anywhere from $0.50-$3 per survey? I bet you'd tell me you've already tried to make money with surveys and there is always a catch, or that the payouts don't make it worth your while, or any number of other reasons, valid reasons, why you don't want to join a paid survey site.

I speak from experience, After nearly having to abandon an email address, and getting nothing but frustration from survey after survey which I didn't qualify and very small payouts for the ones I did, for I'd given up, I was only going to take surveys if they came through Swagbucks.
I went through and deactivated all my survey site accounts, unsubscribed from the emails and let out a sigh of relief as my spam mail slowly began to dwindle.

Not long after this, with a new wariness and skepticism I once again began to search for another means to earn gift cards and such. My main focus was on Amazon gift cards because you can really buy just about anything on Amazon, and among other things, I had my sights set on a Kindle Fire.

I don't remember what exactly my search phrase was but one of the sites that turned up was something called Amazon Mechanical Turk, or Mturk for short. Now after my previous experiences there was no way I was going to just sign up for it without a bit of research. After I'd satisfied myself that it was not only legit but it wouldn't flood my email I signed up for an account.

Mturk is a virtual marketplace where requesters can find workers, and workers can find work, the hits range from surveys to writing tasks, and many more, some are specialized some are not, but you can always find something that you are qualified for.
From the requesters side, it works like this: say you are a University student working on a thesis and you need to gather information, well with Mturk its very easy for you to gather your info, all you have to do is submit your survey to the site, set the number of people you want to take the survey, and how much you plan to pay for each hit, then you just sit back, and wait for your results.

From the workers side its much simpler, you simply decide on the amount of money you wish to make per task and then search for hits you are qualified for, after you've been active for 10 days you can either transfer your earnings to an Amazon gift card or transfer it into an attached bank account (sadly no PayPal option). The bank transfer takes a few days, and I have not tried it yet so sadly I have no information there.

I was skeptical to be honest, I really didn't think I'd actually earn anything this way but after a few days the hits started being approved, my approval rating went up, more hits became open to me, and my account balance went up.  I joined a forum called TurkerNation and they not only offered very helpful tips but gave me proof this was a legitimate way to earn money.

Not a lot of money, mind you, this is not a way to pay bills, but you can easily make 10 or more a day, I've been using the site for a bit over a month and I tend to do mostly surveys, as I can average about 3-5 in an hour, and I never do hits that pay less than $0.30, but I've also done writing hits, things like 150+ word blog posts and reviews, for these I am generally paid between $1-3 per hit.  I only "turk" in the evenings, and only for an hour or two so I average roughly $5 a day.

Doesn't sound like much? Well, just a few days ago I was able to purchase the Kindle I wanted, and I'm already planning my next purchase.

Check it out for yourself, do your own research, sign up at Mturk and check out TurkerNation, its a great way to make some extra money.

Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane (Downside Book 4)

Sacrificial Magic (Downside Ghosts #4)
Author: Stacia Kane
Publication Date: 3/27/12
Publisher: Del Rey

READING, WRITING, AND RAISING THE DEAD
When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess.
Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks.
As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice. 

So this isn't going to be a review, because I haven't read the book yet, but I've read the first three, (and a few short stories that go along with them), as well as following Stacia's updates on the books progression, so I am beyond excited for the release.

The Downside books are part of the Urban Fantasy genre - which is one of my favorite genres of literature - The heroine is Chess Putnam, a church witch with a nasty drug addiction, and a talent for routing ghosts and getting herself into dangerous situations.

The first three books were a thrill a minute, I found myself chewing on my fingernails, and biting my lip numerous times throughout all of the stories.

Stacia has created a rich and intrinsic world for this series, one so full of vibrant and varied characters, and settings that at times I swear I could smell the smells of Downside, and feel the fear of the murderous ghosts. To make this world she's created even more realistic Stacia has gone so far as to create slang and colloquialisms for her characters, if you read it right you can even "hear" the accents and the speech patterns in the dialog, Terrible, Chess's Boyfriend is the best for this, he's got this drawl that well, lets just say Chess is a lucky girl.

*AHEM* Pardon, I got a bit distracted there. I wouldn't call this a romance series, there aren't any bodices to rip, and unless you count that one time she OD'd Chess really isn't the type of girl that needs to be rescued and carried off.  But there are some pretty hot and heavy scenes that just might leave you tingling too.

So here we are, Sacrificial Magic is just a week away from being released and all of us in the Downside Army are salivating. From the blurb above it looks like we're in for another stomach twisting thrill ride with Chess, and good old Lex is coming back around, you just know that's going to be trouble right there, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't bite my lip in concern for what Chess might have gotten herself into this time.

I expect Amazon to be getting a lot of my money in the next few weeks, because the latest installment in Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts is just the tip (a very tantalizing tip) of the new release iceberg that is heading our way.

Click the cover up there if you want to pre-order Sacrificial Magic, or buy the first three books, which really you should do too because I can almost guarantee that as soon as you read one of these books you'll be just as addicted to Chess and Terrible as I am.

Free stuff, the fun and easy way.

There is so much going on, new releases in both books and music, new electronics and websites. I really have been putting off updating because I didn't even know where to start.  That won't cut it, so I thought I'd tell you all about where I've been spending a good portion of my web time and what I've been getting there.

You may have noticed the widgets in my sidebar, you may even have clicked on them to check out what they were about, but if not, well even if you have, I'm going to go into a little deeper detail about one of the sites.

The site I'm going to tell you about today is Swagbucks.com,

Click to find out how!

You maybe familiar with it, you may even be a member, I know I was a member for easily a year before I started to actively use it, but I'm so glad I decided to give it another shot, and I'm going to tell you why, but first let me tell you about the site.

Swagbucks, is a loyalty program that rewards its users (called "Swaggernauts") with "swagbucks" which can be redeemed for entries in "Swagstakes" or saved for things like jewelry, electronics, gift certificates and even real money if you have a paypal account!

Earning Swagbucks is easy, there are a number of ways you can earn and it can be lots of fun, I have a couple of favorite ways to do it.
First, I use the search engine every time I need to search. Searches can garner anywhere from 5 to 35 swagbucks, the results are nearly as good as Google or other mainstream search engines, and its nothing to use a different engine if my results aren't satisfactory, there's also a bit of thrill when a random search turns up 8 swagbucks.
I also do the surveys, you can earn a lot from the surveys you qualify for, sadly a lot of them are looking for demographics I don't fit.
There are tasks to do, games to play and videos to watch, all of which earn swagbucks.

As I said earlier I've had an account for nearly a year, but I never really did much with it, however once I took a second look I really started getting into it, and I started earning stuff.  It quickly became one of my favorite sites.

Why Swagbucks? There are a number of similar loyalty programs out there, they're all the same right? Well I've tried a few of them but I keep going back to SB because they just don't compare on any level, not in their earn ratio, not in site aesthetics and definitely not in fun.

I've already earned over $30 in amazon.com gift certificates in just a few months time, and found some really fun games to pass an idle 10 minutes.
If you are an amazon nut like me, or you just like free stuff then you can't beat Swagbucks its like getting paid for just doing the things you already do online.

I Haven't forgotten.

I've just been massively busy, so much to do, there has been no time for reviews, but I will be back. And we'll have lots to talk about then.

"Starships" Nicki Minaj's new single is out of this world!

On February 14th, just two days after her stunning and controversial performance of "Roman's Holiday" at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, Queen Barbie, Nicki Minaj gave all her fans some more love and premiered  the second single off of her upcoming album: "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded" during Tuesday's "On Air with Ryan Seacrest".

I, for one was and am absolutely gaga over it. Its infectious from the first few notes, and it demands that you get up and dance even before the lyrics start.

A smooth blend of euro-dance beats and a techno rhythm accompany Nicki's impeccable rhymes and flow.
Though it seems to be a bit of a departure from her previous releases, and there is more singing than rapping, "Starships" is still pure Nicki.

 

Though its not rare for me to fall in love with a song it is a bit more rare for me to immediately HAVE to have a single upon first hearing, I usually wait and just get the entire album after its been released.

Not this song. I had to have it, thankfully it was released the same day for purchase on  iTunes, and I have been listening to it every day.

Not going to lie, I may have even been doing a little dancing in my chair as I've been writing.

Personally I think this track showcases Nicki's ability to switch flawlessly between singing and rapping, and though this song does have a decidedly dance-pop sound and the lyrics are not as in your face as some of her previous releases, there is still a huge amount of talent evidenced in this song. 

"Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded" is set for release on April 3rd, and if "Starships" is any indication of what's in store on that album then I may even order my copy in advance.

If you've been under a rock, go ahead and click that video and see what I mean, and then go ahead and try NOT buy the single.

Random things.

 Hi Folks!

I've been up to my ears in research since my last post, well research and quitting smoking; you'd be surprised at how much of my thoughts and energy have been directed into kicking that habit. I'm still not all the way there but I'm getting close!

So aside from that I've been searching, and researching, finding and trying out interesting things to write about, I do have a number of different topics planned for the next few weeks, and I hope you'll find them as interesting as I do.

Check back here periodically as I plan to have at least one new post up every week, later today I've got a song review coming, so make sure you come back for that!

Up In Smoke

I was 16  when I had my first cigarette, I didn't think much of it even though my smoker friends told me that I was stupid to start and I'd get addicted, I didn't think I'd be like that, I was only smoking socially, and only one or two cigarettes at a time, I never expected it to become a daily habit but eventually it did.

By my early 20s I was smoking heavily and at 22 I tried to quit for the first time, it didn't work.
In the 10 years since I've tried  a number of times to quit, usually at the request of a partner or family member, I've tried cold turkey, the gum, substitution, all manner of "quitting methods" I've had varying levels of success with each method, but inevitably I always go back to the cigs.

Now I'm nearing my 33rd birthday, I have a child, and I'm still smoking, when I go outside for a cig my daughter asks me what I'm doing and why, and I feel bad when I have to explain not only that I'm addicted but also what that word means.

Mostly though I've begun to worry that she'll see both her father and I smoking and start the habit too,  maybe a lot younger than either one of us.

It really is time to quit.

This time I decided to go another way, I did a search for Smoking Cessation and started browsing.

I found, among all the information and scare tactics a very promising looking website.

Text2Quit is a web, email and SMS based program created by Voxiva, and developed with The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

After registering with the site, smokers are given access to a 5 step program to help prepare for and aid in quitting, the site offers a survey to determine the best cessation medication for you, once you've set up your smoker profile, the site tailors information specifically to your needs, you also get sticker stats on the site, that update on how much money you've saved, and how your health has improved since your last cigarette.
Once you've registered with the site and provided a contact number you will begin to receive helpful texts containing tips and tricks to keep you motivated to quit, you can send them a text any time requesting more tips or pep talks, and when strong cravings hit, there is even a trivia game to distract you.

You can also select a "Text Buddy" to receive motivational texts from, I picked the "buddy" who's smoker story was closest to my own.

Text2Quit is fun and surprisingly helpful and motivational, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is trying to or plans on quitting.

I'm still working on quitting, but I've cut back drastically and the Text2Quit program is definitely helping, and I'm looking forward to soon being able to say "No, I don't  smoke".

Getting Started.

From time to time we've all wondered "what am I doing here?" and though this is normally a personal and somewhat existential question, today I will answer that question as it lies, in regards to what I am doing here, on blogger, writing, again.

The idea for a review blog came about randomly one night, after I drank a cup of  Sleepytime Sinus Soother from Celestial Seasonings, I've enjoyed Celestial Seasonings teas for the majority of my life, and they are hands down my favorite brand of tea.

My favorite has always been their "Sleepytime" tea and their "Sleepytime Extra" so when my Mother in Law bought me a package of Sleepytime Sinus Soother,

I was excited to try it, in fact I was so excited to try it I did so without really even needing to have my sinuses soothed.

The tea tasted fantastic, and the little bit of sinus congestion I had dwindled away, unfortunately so did any element of sleepiness.

Within 15 minutes of ingesting the tea I began to feel more awake than I had prior, then I began to twitch, sleep was not anywhere on the game plan, my sinuses were clear and I was wide awake, I did suspect the tea was the culprit but dismissed that idea because hey it was "Sleepytime" right? Well, yes and no, turns out the tea has a number of herbal "stimulants" nothing that really should have kept me awake to such a degree, but as I don't normally ingest a lot of stimulants and since I wasn't really sick I deduced that the tea really had been what wired me until 3 am.

A few weeks later I came down with a pretty wicked cold, I was stuffed up and congested in pretty much every way you can be stuffed up and congested, so I thought, in between nose blowing and coughing that this would be the perfect time to try the tea again.

So I did, and this time I noticed that not only did it clear up my sinuses, but it didn't wire me, in fact it made me sleepy.

Herbal remedies are a bit different than pharmaceutical drugs I mean if you take an aspirin and you don't have a headache its not going to give you one, but it seems that herbs can often have different effects and taking remedies you don't need could have unexpected results!

But I learned my lesson, found a great tea for when I'm sick and came up with an unoriginal yet fun idea for a blog.

Not too bad eh?

So here we are, back to today and why I'm here, I think I just explained that, yes, I'm here to review things, to impart consumer insight and shed some humor on shopping.

I've no idea what I'm reviewing next so if you have something you'd like me to review or something you need an opinion on, drop me an email or a comment and we can work something out.