Monthly Archives: July 2012
You Bought Another Groupon You’ll Never Use
Groupon and Living Social are prime candidates for impulse purchases. They appear in your inbox with something you wanted already, and then HOORAY! It’s 70% off. The lure of a deep discount paired with the convenience has led to a lot of bad decisions. If you have your payment information stored in the app, you’re just one tap and a catchy subject line away from a purchase you may never use. Many of the daily deal websites have fine print that is easy to overlook. Maybe you simply purchased and then realized you couldn’t use it up before the expiration. You could sell it off on Lifesta. Or you can use the handy service at Presentify.me to turn your ugly looking voucher number into a snazzy certificate for a loved one. Now you’ll never have to let a coupon go to waste again.
Vintage Dressed up Cats and Dogs
Long before it was trendy to dress up your teacup poodle to match your outfit, and stick her in your purse as an accessory, Harry Whittier Frees realized that animals dressed as people? Well, that’s just darn cute. He put outfits on the little kittehs and puppehs, then posed them in human situations often with funny little captions. They were published in picture books and as postcards. The real things are pretty expensive, but luckily for us, Buzzfeed rounded up 25 of his greatest hits from around the internet for your enjoyment. Check them out here.
When Your Lotto Ticket Didn’t Win
Mary Chapin Carpenter: I Feel Lucky
Lotion Wipes
Ever since the TSA guideline of 3oz liquids, packing lotion for a beach vacation has gotten very complicated. Do I pay the extra $25 and check my bag, and bring a full sized lotion? Or do I buy 20 of the tiny travel sized lotion because I know one won’t cut it? After a day in the sun, 3 oz is barely going to hydrate one leg. Even if you do check a bag, is it really worth all that space in the suitcase for a big bottle of Aveeno?
Now these guys have come along. And to be honest, they had me at Vanilla Coconut. It’s only $3 for 15 wipes, and you don’t have to worry about them leaking in your bag.
On Compassion
Forced Party Planning
So you get stuck planning everything when you were supposed to be a guest. It’s happened to the best of us. You offer to help a friend with a party she’s hosting, and then all of the sudden you’re making the main dishes, decorating, buying the booze, and not getting any credit for it. Your mister claims that this time he’s going to plan a special date for you, but when Saturday evening rolls around he still has no idea what restaurant you’re going to and what you might do after. Or maybe your friends are getting together and once again it’s your turn to pick the place. You could sulk about it and spend the whole night (that was supposed to be fun) irritated about all the work you put into the event.
Or you could look at it this way.
Now you get to make everyone do exactly what you feel like doing. No going places you don’t want to go! Wearing theme clothes you think are stupid! Eating food you don’t like! Everything is just how you like it. And once you stop being so annoyed, you can look around and enjoy how much fun everyone else is having. Sometimes the things that make us the happiest, can make us the unhappiest while we’re getting them ready. Party planning is a key example of this very concept. While it can be tedious to arrange all the details, seeing a fun evening go off without a hitch and reveling in the shared happiness with your companions can make it all worthwhile.
And if you think those party hats are too cute, check out the DIY here and make some for the next time you’re strong armed into throwing together the festivities.
Roasted Marshmallow
So you live in a city where having a fire in your backyard is actually against the law. But summer isn’t complete without at least one toasted marshmallow stuck onto a shaved down stick, and sandwiched with some chocolate. And anyone who has tried can tell you that microwaving marshmallows leads to explosion. What’s a girl to do? To toast marshmallows inside, turn on your broiler (in your toaster oven if its a hot day), line a baking sheet with foil, cover in marshmallows and pop those babies in. Turn once until they’re lightly browned on all sides-about a minute. Then smush them between two chocolate chip cookies and enjoy.
Puppies Versus Stairs
Cute things are at their cutest when they can’t really completely control their limbs. They’re still all floppy. They’re uncoordinated, and it’s just too adorable when they attempt to do things and fail because their bodies won’t cooperate. The Huffington Post article Puppies vs. Stairs: Facing Off for the First Time. You can watch videos (VIDEOS!) of 15 puppies struggling to make it up stairs for the first time. Too cute to handle.