This is a great idea!

This could be great for folks with kids.


Anti-Boredom pocket kit - More DIY How To Projects

Oh, yea, and I got married last week. More info forthcoming.

How to get a lot of free (and reduced-price) stuff on your Birthday

Today I celebrated my 34th Birthday with a free caramel soy latte for breakfast and free sandwich for lunch, and no one had to open their wallet. These were all perks I received because I signed up for email updates from Caribou Coffee and Planet Sub.

If you have an email address, a printer, and the ability to leave the house, you too can enjoy free stuff and discounts on your birthday. All you have to do is put up with a bit of clutter in your in-box. (Planet Sub, by the way, doesn't send me email except on my Birthday.)

This year was an all-time record for freebies and discounts on my Birthday. Here's what I got:

A free Birthday Burger of my choice at Red Robin.
A free drink of my choice at Caribou Coffee.
A free six-inch sub of my choice at Planet Sub.
25% off one item at Borders Books and Music. (I also have a $5 Borders Bucks coupon to use with it.)
$10 off a pair of shoes at DSW. (I combined this with a $5 coupon I already had, getting my wedding shoes for 35 bucks!)

Doing a little research in the bloggersphere, there are websites and blogs devoted to finding where you can sign up for free stuff on your birthday. Here's a top ten list on about.com. This website is dedicated to Free Birthday Treats. This writer for the Star-Tribune has discovered the joy of free Birthday stuff, too.

See? Now your friends don't have to shell out any bucks for your Birthday dinner. Hell, you don't even NEED friends at all! (This blog does not endorse friendlessness, however).

Whenever your birthday is, have a good one, and a free Blizzard on me.

Funny and True

Michael Jackson

When I was in the third grade, a friend came up to me and told me about this musician she was "in love with." His name was Michael Jackson, and she showed me a picture. I had never heard of him, and I couldn't understand why she liked him. I would have been 8 at the time, I'm guessing, so I wasn't really into boys yet. Apparently, she was.

A couple of years later, I went over to a friends house after school and saw "The Making of Thriller" on MTV. I had grown up watching shows about the making of movies, but this one was different for me. I remember vividly watching Rick Baker make the werewolf mask for Michael Jackson and thought, "I want to do that!" I think it was the first time I wanted to do something behind the camera rather than in front of it. I credit this show as one of the reasons I studied film in college.

Even though I bought my first and only Michael Jackson album last year (the 25th Anniversary release of Thriller), you could not grow up in the 1980's and early 90's without being inundated with Michael Jackson music, videos, and, sadly, the tabloid news about him. It seems strange that he's gone, but almost fitting that it was so fast and unexpected, kind of like his solo career.

Roald Dahl's Writing Hut

I have always been interested in the workspaces of artists. We Love You So posted an excerpt from an article about whether it was better to write standing, sitting, or lying down, according to several writers, but they also posted this wonderful link to a virtual tour of Roald Dahl's writing hut, which includes clippings and artifacts. It makes me wish I had my own little writing hut, though I'd probably never want to come out of it some days!

If you, too, are interested in workspaces, check out the On My Desk blog for some inspiration.

Another really good tea to try

I bought this tea for myself at the Gateway Market, even though I'm in my thirties and have no kids. I am wary of buying herbal teas, as I've had quite a few that tasted like they were mixed with battery acid or some maple syrup that had gone bad, but I figured if this was aimed at kids, it must be pretty mild. I was right, and it's really good! It smells really sweet, like Strawberry gum, but it tastes very mellow. I think this would be great to give to kids instead of pop or juice, even if you had to add a little honey to it. This is just another reason I love Republic of Tea teas...they should pay me to say that!

The Republic of Tea will donate a dollar for every cannister of their Little Citizens line of tea purchased to Room to Read, an organization promoting education for the children of the world, so it's worth trying.

This video tutorial is inspiring me today

This is a how-to video, but it's actually artistic itself. You're watching someone create something that is then used to create something else. I wish I could draw better.


Stamp Carving from Geninne D. Zlatkis on Vimeo.

C/O Geninne's Art Blog

Is anyone else Tumblr-ing?

I discovered this new service today called Tumblr. It's kind of a hybrid between Twitter and blogging. I found it through another blog, and thought it would be handy to use it like she does, as a place to post things you found on the 'net, stuff that's not worth a whole blog post. I don't know how long I'll stick with it, as I could probably do something on Blogger that's similar. lookieloo.tumblr.com

Has anyone else tried this service? So far, I'm not totally digging the interface.

Wedding Accomplishment: Dress Purchased

As I was running out of time to attempt to make my own dress, and the one I wanted was sold out in white at JCrew, I decided to go shopping with my sisters/bridesmaids on Saturday. I set my deadline as June 1st for choosing something. I walked into the White House/Black Market store and found my dress in about 5 minutes. Leslie picked out the winning number:

Here's a link to it on their website.

The amazing thing is, at this store I was two sizes smaller than predicted. Scary! I'm so relieved to have found something, and so quickly.

Links: Homemade Bubble Bath, "Wild" Blog, Grilled Cheese

I haven't done a links post in a while, but I found a few inspiring/interesting things today, so what the hell...

Some recipes for homemade bubble bath at Real Simple: http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/ask-real-simple/ask-real-simple-make-own-bubble-bath...

 I'm very excited about the movie Where the Wild Things Are, and I really like the new blog set up to explore the things that inspired the movie: http://weloveyouso.com/blog/

After reading this, I wanted to run out and make myself a grilled cheese sandwich, and it was 9 o'clock in the morning: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104057146