Saturday Spotlight: The Importance of Planning by Emilie Lima Burke

Wake up. Pee. Brush teeth. Get dressed. Head to gym. Spin. Come home. Shower. Then what?

It is true for most people that we have a routine. Every (week)day consists of a pattern of things we have to do. If you’re anything like me, though, it’s the small details that get you caught. I hate when I have to get to the post office, dry cleaners, or bank, and I can’t seem to remember it- until after they’re closed, of course.

For this reason, I’ve joined the community of men and women who swear by their planners. I first started using a planner meticulously in my sophomore year of high school. My then-PE teacher required us to write our assignments down every day for a the second quarter as a way to earn extra credit. Being the Type A student I am (I mean, you don’t get to Princeton without it), despite the fact that I didn’t need extra credit, I decided to go for it.

You see, up to this point I did not write down my assignments because I could keep it all in my head. I was 15 years old. I had school, sports practice, and a fast food job. In the grand scheme, it wasn’t that much on my plate.

Despite not having much on my plate, every once in a while, things still fell through the cracks. I did sometimes miss an assignment or forget to study for a quiz. I’d remember a shift that I had offered to cover at work, but I didn’t remember to bring my uniform to school. It wasn’t all that time, but it was often enough. When Ms. Soltis, then, opened up this challenge, I was excited to get on board.

Just like that, things changed. I stopped forgetting things. This is important to note: Some things still didn’t get done. It wasn’t, though, because I didn’t remember to do them. It was because I was too busy or something came up. Things weren’t falling through the cracks. I was able to plan for them now.

Here I am, over six years later, still swearing by a planner.

The thing with planning, though, is that there is no right way to do it. Over the years, I’ve tried so many different planners. I’ve used a Bloom Planner, a Lilly Pulitzer Planner in multiple sizes (examples here), the free ones that show up at your door, and lots others along the way. There is only one, though, that I’ve felt has given me the freedom and flexibility to accommodate all the different parts of my life. That is my beautiful Erin Condren Life Planner which you can see below.

A photo posted by Emilie Lima Burke (@emiliecreative) on May 9, 2015 at 6:08pm PDT

What makes planners really unique is the way they give you the power to organize your life. The EC Planner, as you can see from the picture below, gives you the power to categorize your life into three boxes. The planner comes organized in Morning, Day, and Night. Those, though, are not my needs. Instead, I customize it, based on my needs for that day or week. Usually, I use To-Do, Blog, and Work, which I use to keep track of both school stuff and work stuff.

A photo posted by Emilie Lima Burke (@emiliecreative) on May 11, 2015 at 5:24am PDT

You’ll notice that here I’ve added some embellishments to my ECLP, like the hedgehog paper clip, and washi tape in the pages. It’s just a little flair that makes it more exciting for me to plan. This gives me the opportunity to be both creative and organized in the same location!

My planner has become a place for me to not only be organized but push myself to be creative on a regular basis. For example, if I make a page design that I don’t love, I only have to put up with it for a week. Then it’s on to the next one!

Here are some of my favorite planning guidelines to help you be the best planner you can be:

1. You are never wrong. Your way of planning is your way of planning. We can always try to be better, but that does not mean you were wrong. 
2. Make it suit your needs- don’t try to fit your planning style into theirs.
3. There are tons of etsy shops that make planner stickers that can help you truly make your planner your own. Do it. Forreal. Find and customize however works best for you!
4. Plan every week at the same time. Maybe you’re a Sunday night planner. Maybe you’re a Monday-gal. Whatever the case, find a day and time that works for you and stick to it every week. Rome was not built in a day.
5. It should be something you want to do. Don’t do it because you have to. Planning should be helping you. If it’s not you might want to reevaluate your system.
6. Sometimes you fall of the horse. It’s okay to brush it off and get back on. It’s not just okay- it’s expected. Sometimes you’ll miss a week. That’s why there’s always next week.

It seems to me like a lot of those tips could also apply to life… hmm.

This post, The Importance of Planning, is written by Emilie from EmilieLimaBurke.com, where she blogs about her transition from college into the real world. Her blog topics include crafting, saving money, and going on new adventures.

Want to learn more about how I plan? I’m excited to announce that I’ll be starting a planning series on my blog! You can join in on the fun! or subscribe to my email list below.

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Guest Post: Things That Can Ruin a Club

Like any other business, nightclubs and lounges have their advantages and downsides. When you open a club, there are numerous things which you need to be careful about such as competition, presence of similar bars and clubs in the neighborhood; you need to make an appealing establishment that will be first choice for many people. To be honest, if you have solid starting investment, it is pretty easy to begin with your business. In most cases, it will be successful. But starting a club and running a club are two different things. Although money can make a place attractive initially, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be so for a long time.

First important choice which you need to make is type of the interior for your club and type of club in general which you wish to lead. You can make either an exclusive or a regular club. Given that decision, it will influence your prices. Naturally, exclusive bar demands more investment. Today, many clubs have a specific topic or theme which makes them recognizable among many similar establishments. Have in mind, no matter how cool or trendy certain theme might be at the start, you will need to rejuvenate your club once in a while so that it doesn’t get stale. Interior is something that can be a great asset to your business. Good example of lounge with great interior is D.W. Alexander, Toronto cocktail bar.

After that, you need to have in mind that clubs lose their flavor quickly. It is business based on trends and if everyone is visiting one bar or area where there are more bars or clubs, your own club will have a small chance to profit. In that regard, it is important to rejuvenate your place from time to time, as we previously mentioned, or provide additional entertainment such as organizing appealing events. Whatever you do, have in mind that it is hard to stay on top in this business and predicting customers is pretty hard.

Furthermore, when you establish your club, you make a certain business plan. It has your potential revenues and costs. Well, if you don’t have experience in running a club, you can toss that plan away. The costs will probably be much higher than you expected. First thing worth mentioning is the wear and tear inside of the club. You will probably have to replace your furniture often as well as the other part of the establishment. This can be especially problematic if you invested a lot in your interior, people liked your bar and got used to it, and you can’t repair all the damage that has been done to it. Similarly to that, another unpredicted cost can be theft. This is something which regularly happens in most clubs and it is pretty regular occurrence given the number of drunken people. The only way you can prevent this is if you invest in additional security systems for the establishment

This post is a guest post in line with my disclosure policy.

Do You Have Hardwood Floors? 3 Easy Ways to Keep Them Up!

Keeping your hardwood floors looking great is worth the time and effort after you have made such a huge investment. In fact many people do not consider how much of an investment that hardwood floors really are. These floors often times are susceptible to scratches and scrapes and sometimes even can be stripped or damaged if the wrong household cleaners are used. If you are investing your hard earned money in new hardwood flooring then you should know how to care for them.

Natural Cleaning Choices
Keeping hardwood floors clean is really easy. One thing to remember is that you want a hardwood floor cleaner that is really going to make those floors shine. However you might not want something that is going to make them too slick as that could end up being dangerous, especially if you have little ones.

Check out the hardwood floor cleaner recipe here that you can make for yourself. The best thing about this cleaner is that it is completely toxin free and safe to use with pets and small children who might be crawling around on the floors. Some of the hardwood floor cleaners that are sold in the stores are not quite as safe and contain chemicals that could have damaging effects on children and/or pets.

Dealing With Scratches
New flooring can either be composite, think LumberLiquidators. Hardwood Bargains, is probably a better choice for composite flooring, because they are partnered with the American Forest Foundation, a noble cause for re-foresting America. There’s also natural wood flooring choices of course, which is quite a bit more expensive, but either way, the last thing that you will want to see is scratches in the finish. This can be devastating as you might feel as though you just threw away the investment that you made. Do not worry, there are many things that you can do to help you handle scratches in hardwood floors.

There are some steps that you have to take. First you will have to look at the scratch and see if it goes with the grain or against the grain. Then you can determine if wood putty will work to fill it in. Next you can use a small brush or cotton swab to apply a finish that matches what is already on the floor. After the finish dries you will need to rub the floor with steel wool and then determine if it is too deep and if the process needs to be repeated one or more times.

Want to Make Your Hardwood Floor Shine?
Many people love that look of shiny hardwood floors. If this is the look that you are going for there are a few things that you should consider. One is that your floors might need to be refinished. Finish will not last forever on the floors so if your floor needs to be refinished it will not have the desired shine that you are looking for. Next you will want to check to see if wax has built up on the floors. If you have floors that have been around for a long time then it is likely that the hardwood has a layer of wax on them that needs to be removed.

Mopping dirty floors will also keep them from having that shine that you are looking for. There are many ways that you can solve this. One is to make sure that you are always sweeping prior to mopping your floors. Another is to work in small sections of floor and to hand scrub them. Using a dust mop will help to pick up loose dust particles that you could not pick up with the broom and dust pan.

You might also want to talk the manufacturer of your hardwood floors. Some companies recommend different products or procedures based on the specific type of wood and finish that you have. Doing this can guarantee that your hardwood floors are being taken care of properly.

This post is in line with my Disclosure Policy.

Saturday Spotlight & Guest Post: I'm All About That Bass...But Not Skinny Shaming

Hello readers!  Today I'm very excited to bring you a guest post from the lovely Nina of The Grand Adventures of Me.  Nina won two awards in my 2015 Best of Blog Awards-one for funniest post and one for this post she's about to share with you, which won for Best Post overall.  It's a fantastic post, with an awesome message I agree with-so check it out!

♥ ♥ ♥

The concept of beauty is subjective. To me, I've always thought darker skin is more beautiful than lighter skin. To another person, blonde hair is more beautiful than red hair. The concept of the "norm" of beauty is also constantly changing.

For instance: look at the ideal image of beauty during the Renassiance:

For one thing, Renassiance painters looooved naked woman. Actually, any man at any given era loves a naked woman. But look at this woman. She has small breasts, a rotund stomach, a fleshy pubic area, and thick thighs. This was beauty back then. If you were a hefty woman, that meant you were wealthy and could afford to eat. This woman is beautiful.

Lets jump a couple hundred years and look at the ideal image of beauty in the 1960's.

I'm pretty sure Twiggy got her name because she was skinny as a twig. Or did that statement derive from Twiggy - "you're as skinny as a twig." Which came first, the chicken or the egg? From what I gather, in the 60's this was portrayed as the ideal image of beauty, which is laughable because it's near impossible for anyone to get to be this size without starving themselves. That is not to say, though, that is is impossible, because I do have friends with a very tiny frame, and small bones and they're this thin. They just are.

What I love about living in this day and time is that even though we are constantly bombarded by the media, we are given so many opportunities to become critical thinkers - active participants in what is going on around us. If I'm going to be honest, though, I'm hardly an active listener, or viewer, or reader. My mom, my sister, and my boyfriend all point out the type of music I listen to has an atrocious message. How can I stand such filth? My mom asks. I can listen to Wiggle (Jason Derulo & Snoop Dogg) without remorse because I'm not actively thinking about what I'm listening to. All I hear is a good beat that I want to run to, or dance to. But here's my problem, by not actively listening to what I hear, then I'm allowing myself to take in the words without processing it. Instead, I just wiggle wiggle wiggle.

(I promise, I'm getting to my point. English major probz. We like to be wordy.)

So you all know that song Anaconda by Nicki Minaj? Great little diddy. I love me some Sir Mix A Lot, and I most definitely got up and rapped Baby Got Back at a karaoke bar on my birthday. And, sad to say, I find Nicki Minaj catchy. The song in itself really is terrible, but there is a part that they don't play on the radio because it's dumb and annoying and serves no purpose (much like the rest of that song, but whatever.) In the very end as the music is fading, Nicki Minaj says "Oh you knkow he love this fat *ss" *her creepy laugh* and then she says "f--- them skinny b*tches" in the club." And I was astounded!

First of all, I am a skinny girl, and I do not appreciate when girls with bigger butts put it in my face. I wouldn't mind if my butt was bigger, quite frankly. But I don't care if another lady has more booty in the pants than I do, because she evidently likes red beans and rice more than I do, and maybe that's how her body is built! But I do care whenever heavier girls skinny shame us skinnier girls.

So Meghan Trainor is pretty popular right now with All About that Bass. I'm all about that bass too; I love to dance. I think the great thing about Meghan Trainor right now is that she accepts her body type, and encourages other girls to do the same, if they have curves. According to Trainor, thicker women are more beautiful because her momma told her that "boys like to hold a little more booty at night." Without getting into the whole psychology of the truth that men do prefer a significant hip to waist ratio, What Trainor says is somewhat true. But that isn't to say that a man isn't going to love his girlfriend who has a serious case of "no-ass-at-all" (which boys in high school accused me of having. It's a wonder I had a boyfriend since my butt was so small.) I agree with Trainor in that we as women are so prone to shaming our bodies because they don't match what we see on TV, and that we need to know that "every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top."

Here's my problem. Several of Trainor's lyrics go like this:

"You know I won't be no stick figure silicone Barbie doll"

You go girl, don't be a stick figure, but don't make fun of and point out girls who are. Some girls have a stick figure because of their bone structure, and yes, some girls have a stick figure because they have an eating disorder. And yes, they have an eating disorder because the media portrays that super skinny women are the ideal of beauty. I get where Trainor is going with this.

My main problem is when Trainor says,

"I'm bringing booty back Go ahead and tell them skinny b*tches, Hey No I'm just playing"

WHAT. Why is this okay?! She says it like a Freudian slip. Yeah she may be just playing, but she still said what she said. She partially believes what she said. Can't we just leave the skinny women alone? Even furthermore, can we as women agree that it is inappropriate and degrading to call each other "the b word?" It's enough that we allow men to refer to us as such, but why can't we stand together as ladies, and act like ladies without the hateful name calling, no matter the size?!

Trainor is skinny shaming. Average or overweight women should not be allowed to skinny shame. Sometimes skinny girls can't help it. Some women have high metabolism and still eat a ton. And some women, yes, do have eating disorders. And that is tragic and terrible and we should do something about that. But telling a girl that she looks like she's from the Holocaust is not only rude, but highly insensitive and inappropriate to the people who actually were in the Holocaust. And asking a girl if she is anorexic is not only rude, but insensitive towards the girls who really do struggle with an eating disorder.

And likewise, skinny girls shouldn't fat shame. They shouldn't look at women who are bigger than themselves and point out how much they eat or if they are unhealthy. Like skinny girls, bigger girls are fully aware of their size. We all have mirrors. We know what we look like. And no matter what we look like, having the confidence to look in the mirror and say "I am beautiful, because I am loved, and I am fearfully and wonderfully made" is what truly makes us beautiful.

This is beautiful.

This is beautiful.

And this is beautiful.

Let's love our bodies. And let's love each other, because you really are perfect from the bottom to the top.

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Note: This is a guest post and I received compensation for it.

Places to See in Manhattan

Manhattan is a famously fabulous area of New York City, with plenty of things to see and do that you can tick off your bucket list.. Here are just a few places that should grab your attention.

New York Historical Society
The New York Historical Society is both a museum and a library, and it's one of the major historical and cultural institutions in the United States. At over 200 hundred years old it's also New York City's oldest museum! The museum hosts exhibitions and collections that reflect not just New York City and State, but the US as a whole. The Patricia D. Klingenstein Library is home to a staggering two million manuscripts, while the Children's History Museum is aimed at showing youngsters that history can be fun too. Lectures are held in the museum, which also has programs and resources that bring the past into the present.

At the Heart of America's Theatreland
For theatre goers, visiting Broadway will prove to be an unforgettable experience. With dozens of top class venues putting on beloved shows it's no wonder that Broadway is known around the world. It's unquestionably the most important location regarding theatre in the US, and, with Broadway's wide range of shows there's bound to be something that will appeal to everyone.

American Museum of Natural History
On the Upper West Side is the American Museum of Natural History. It's really like several museums rolled into one, and there's even a planetarium here. Whether you're interested in dinosaurs or space this museum will have something that appeals - and don't forget to visit the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life and be awestruck by the near 100 foot long model of a blue whale!

The Empire State Building
Any visitor to Manhattan should take the opportunity to visit the building that King Kong climbed all those years ago! Synonymous with New York City, the Empire State Building is, of course, one of the world's most iconic buildings. Though it's an impressive sight from the outside, inside the Empire State Building you will be able to marvel at spectacular views of the city and, weather permitting, for miles around.

The magic of Manhattan captivates all that live and visit there, from musicians, to artists to those just looking for a big break. Be a part of it and discover its fascinating history by touring its incredibly enlightening museums.

Image by Hrag Vartanian, used under the Creative Commons license.

Compensation was accepted for this post, which was written by a guest writer.

Saturday Spotlight: Nikki Tells Us How to Save Money On Beauty Products

Hello lovely readers!  Today I'm giving you Nikki from Confessions of a Makeup Addict, and she's going to take some time to teach us all how to save money on beauty products-which is a lesson I'm sure all of us could desperately use!  Enjoy, and please leave Nikki some love in the comments. 

I’ve been asked many times how to save money on beauty products. There are tons of different ways, and today I’m going to share some of them with you. Some are obvious, others may not be, so let’s get started!

• Always check for coupon codes when ordering online.  This one seems obvious, but it's one that I often forget as well.
• Use a cash-back site, such as ebates.  This is one that not everyone knows about.  When shopping online, you can shop through ebates to get cash back on purchases.  They deposit the money straight into your Paypal account.
• Shop sales. Another obvious one, but this one seems more difficult.  The best thing to do is wait until the store you're shopping in has it's semi-annual sale or a friends & family sale.  Almost every store does this.
• Leave items in your online shopping cart and close out the site.  Sometimes when you do this you'll receive an e-mail letting you know that you left items in the cart, and usually they'll send you a discount code in that e-mail as an incentive to purchase.
• Join rewards/loyalty programs.  Sign up for the rewards or loyalty programs at the places you'll shop.  You'll receive notifications of sales as well as special discounts.
• Sign up for their newsletter. These often give you early access to sales and special discount codes that you wouldn't get otherwise.
• Return products that you don’t like. If you buy something and hate it, return it! You don’t have to be stuck with a crappy product! If it doesn’t work for you, take it back and get something else.
• Check flash sales. Sites such as Hautelook have short “flash sales” where for a very limited time you can get products at a steep discount. Check often as these are typically short and have a limited supply.
• Buy travel size items. Some products you won’t use as much as others. Those you may not need a full size of, such as Benefit Benetint. The sample bottle lasts forever.
• Check out discount stores. Stores such as Marshalls and TJMaxx have amazing sales. Checking those stores often is a good idea. I tend to find a lot of perfectly good nail polish and hair products at Marshalls.
• Splurge on products that have multiple uses. Products such as the Nars Multiples, Stila Convertible Cheek/lip colors, Bronzers and highlight powders have multiple uses. I’ll be doing a separate post on my blog about this later this week.
• Search for dupes. You can typically find cheaper alternatives to some products. Lip products are typically the easiest to dupe; just do a google search!
• Shop at the drugstore. There are amazing products at the drugstore. Some are as good as or better than their high end counterparts. It’s trial and error, but if you’re on a budget, it’s a great idea.
• Fix broken products rather than repurchasing. Broken powders, eyeshadows, even lipsticks can be repaired when broken.
• DIY products. Hair masks, face masks, face scrubs, lip scrubs, even body butter can be a DIY project. I’ll be doing a separate post for my recipes soon!
• Shop blog sales. Beauty bloggers are always selling beauty products that they either do not need, do not want or do not like. If it’s something you’ve been after, why not buy it from a blogger at a (typically sizeable) discount. Just make sure it’s a blogger you trust! I do not recommend buying cosmetics on Ebay or Amazon unless it’s a verified seller.
• Back to MAC. This really isn’t the best deal, but it’s better than nothing and there are other companies that do similar things. Take 6 empty containers to MAC and you get a free lipstick. Take five empty containers to Lush and get a free mask. Take 10 contains to Kiehls to get a travel size collection.

Those are some of my money saving tips for saving money on beauty products.  Thank you so much for reading!

Leave a comment and let me know what your tips are!

The Saturday Spotlight is my new feature specifically for blogs and handmade shops running every Saturday here on the blog. You can purchase a Saturday Spotlight feature post, which can be a guest post, a spotlight post, an interview, a giveaway, etc. on my Sponsor page!  I'd love to have you! 

Guest Post & Giveaway: Kimi Talks My Little Pony

Hello my lovely readers! Today I'm leaving you in the very capable hands of Kimi Who? who has a guest post and a giveaway dedicated to My Little Ponies.  Do you like My Little Pony?  It's like my childhood is stopping by to say hello-here you go!

I show up to my day time job with a small, bright pink My Little Pony purse clutched in my hand. It's my every day purse and I carry it around proudly despite the fact that I am an adult woman pushing 30. You may shake your head and think I'm crazy - especially if you don't have a fandom or universe you enjoy yourself. You might even think I look stupid. To me, my love of My Little Pony is completely normal.

Hi. My name is Kimi and I am what some refer to as a "Brony" or "Pegasister" - an adult who loves what is considered to be a children's television show featuring animated ponies and the magic of their friendship.


Like so many young women my age, I grew up watching the first generation of My Little Pony back in the late 80's and early 90's. I don't really remember it, but I must have really liked it to have numerous My Little Pony themed birthday cakes growing up. Regardless, clearly my adoration for cute animated ponies has somehow stuck with me through to my adult life without my realizing.

A couple of years ago, my best friend (who is male by the way) re-introduced me to this majestical world of ponies. I wrote it all off as silly on numerous occasions until I finally let down my guard and gave the show a real shot. Much to my surprise, I found that the characters were well designed with strong personalities, the plots were interesting and entertaining, the voices were quality and well suited to each pony, and overall I found the show a pleasure to watch.

Unlike a lot of cartoons designed for girls, this generation of ponies known as My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (MLP:FiM) isn't just a bunch of pastel pink ponies sitting around sipping tea and eating biscuits. There are real adventures to be had, dangers to face and even some life lessons to be learned through difficult situations.

Children are taught the values of Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and the Magic that happens when you bring those traits together. It's surprisingly not at all lame and because of the strong personalities the ponies each posses, it's entertaining and mostly groan-free for adults.

But what makes this show so special? What is it that's so intriguing?


      
MLP:FiM A Dog and Pony Show is an episode with a perfect example. The main character of the episode, Rarity is what I would describe as prissy. She abhors dirt and hard labor, but will do whatever it takes to help out her friends - including getting down and dirty if need be. Thus, she is the pony that represents Generosity.

In one of my favorite episodes, she is captured by a band of wild dogs who want her to use her powers to find gems, dig them up and do the dirty work of lugging the collection of gems around in a cart. She makes complaints about the harness being too tight and that she is getting dirty. The wild dogs tell her to stop whining and Rarity being the smart pony that she is, teaches them the difference between complaining and whining.



At the cut of the scene, Rarity has convinced the wild dogs to do whatever it takes to get her to stop whining. What you miss is that after the cut, Rarity has the dogs decorating the cave and doing all of the work of digging and lugging the gems around.

We're accustomed to Rarity being so dainty and she uses that to her advantage, using her quick thinking to transform herself from the typical damsel in distress, to tricking her pony-nappers into doing the work for her. It's all very clever, impressive and it teaches children that people (and ponies) aren't always what they seem. Sometimes the one that looks most weak, is the strongest of the bunch.
What Makes Bronies Stay 
We arrived at the show because someone thought we'd like it. We stayed for strongly voiced characters like lead pony Princess Twilight Sparkle - voiced by Tara Strong who is known for her work as Dil Pickles on Rugrats, Bubbles on The Powerpuff Girls and Timmy Turner on The Fairly OddParents... among other characters.

We stayed for the beautiful artwork and animation in addition to the quick and witty writing that caters to the child in us as much as our adult sense of humor. We stayed because we found a way to identify with the ponies and see ourselves in their predicaments and hard life choices. We stayed because we learned to hate ourselves a little bit less.

Of course there is the fan fiction, art, official and third party merchandise to go crazy over as with any other fandom out there. Personally, I collect Funko Pop and the clear variant of Funko My Little Pony figurines. A couple of months ago, I got my hands on a couple of Princess Luna figurines by Funko through a negative encounter between Hot Topic and myself.  

Giveaway Time!
I am pleased to be able to offer up one of those figurines in this giveaway! I hope that this post has given you insight to the world of Bronies and that perhaps we seem a little less strange to you. May this be the first of many My Little Pony figurines or perhaps add to your already ever-growing collection.

Giveaway is open worldwide and ends on 2/24/15 at 12AM.  Entering below agrees to all the Terms and Conditions within.

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Portable Laptops: The Best Models for Traveling Light

Laptops are one of the best portable options for those on the road, whether travelling for work or pleasure. The humble laptop has come a long way since those older, heftier models and there’s now no need to sacrifice power and performance for portability.

High specs at low prices

Claims that laptops are soon to be completely replaced by tablets have been greatly exaggerated. A tablet does have a lot going for it in terms of portability but, most cannot match the performance capabilities of a modern laptop. The large storage capabilities of for example, an HP Pavilion 15n223sa, mean you can easily transfer a huge amount from your desktop to your laptop without the need for Cloud storage. More power and more memory equal faster performance, which is a hard task for most tablets to replicate!

Portable but robust

Travelling with a personal computer does of course come with the risk of damage. Many of the latest models on the market however, are built to withstand the general wear and tear of daily travel. This issue has been addressed by the latest range of Samsung laptops, with models such as the Samsung Chromebook XE303 being both powerful as well as light.

Samsung’s product range includes models with a screen size of only 11.6 inches; these smaller screens are the perfect work aid when travelling. Keyboard size isn’t an issue either as smaller screen laptops generally come with a full-sized keyboard.

High performance in your bag

One of the best features of the latest range of laptops is their long-life batteries. When you’re on the road you need to know that your computer can handle a variety of tasks, that won’t immediately suck the life out of your battery. Manufacturers have taken this issue into consideration with power efficiency options; meaning an extended battery life of up to seven hours for some models. An example of a small and exceptional model is the Packard Bell 10.1”, which offers a 320GB HDD and comes with a battery life of up to eight hours! There’s no doubt that these smaller personal computers are the ideal option for vacations and business travel. They are also great for people such as students or those who work in cities, who are always carrying their laptops around. It’s also important to match the right computer travel accessories with your new computer to ensure you can use your laptop wherever you are!

Take a look at the latest models on offer and see just what you can receive for very little money.

Sources – tesco.com Samsung.com Amazon.com

This post is in partnership with Tesco and was not written by My So-Called Chaos.

Teaching Netiquette-The Internet Etiquette

“Say please.”

“Say thank you.”

“Cover your mouth.”

“Be nice.”

“Treat others how you’d like to be treated.”

“Use your manners.”

Every parent has had to correct their kids in one way or another when it comes to manners and how to treat others.  There's a certain underlying etiquette in our society when it comes to manners and behaviors when around others.  We've moved on from caveman grunts and groans and have adapted a modern approach to dealing with others...well, most of us have anyway.

But when it comes to the internet, some of us still have caveman tendencies.  Technology has moved above and beyond what I ever thought possible.  Just a short 10 years ago there was no way I’d ever thought I could watch movies on a phone or have my kids download game apps or connect with old friends via social networking.  The rapid rise of these amazing abilities like forums, boards, and social networking hype, we seem to have lost touch with decency.  Internet bullying has become extreme as well. Our internet manners and etiquette haven’t quite caught up to our technological advances and we should be staying ahead of the game.  It's our responsibility to teach kids that their internet life will follow them in real life (IRL) and there's certain do’s and don'ts when interacting with others online. Enter netiquette- the online etiquette.

• When a website has a list of rules, obey those rules.  There's a reason the rules are in place and obeying the rules and regulations gives those visiting that particular site the best possible experience. Plus, not adhering to the rules can put your use of that site at risk.

• Spell check everything written.

• Do not use all caps.  This indicates shouting.

• Honesty is the best policy, both IRL and online.

• Never ever give out personal information online.  There's never a good enough reason to give location updates or give out phone numbers online.  Make sure kids using the internet understand this rule especially.

• Don’t send texts or emails late at night.  It can wait until the next day, especially if its not an emergency.

• Only shop on sites that are secure.

• When posting pictures, make sure its nothing that will haunt you for the rest of your life.  Everything that is posted online DOES NOT DIE WHEN IT GETS DELETED.

• Just be yourself.  If you wouldn’t say it to someone's face, just don’t say it at all.  Your online reputation is just as important as IRL.

• The Golden Rule applies online too.  If you wouldn’t want it done to you, don’t do it to someone else.

• Always re read everything before posting and if it violates any rule, don’t post it.

We need to realize that our online persona may as well be our “in real life” persona..  Ask yourself and your kids some questions before hitting the send button-  "what kind of person do I want to be online?" or "is this how I really am?" and "would a college or future employer find me honest and credible?"

Netiquette is now a part of modern parenting. Its important to raise a generation of internet respectable kids and make this thing called "technology" safe and enjoyable for all of us.

This is a guest post from my lovely sponsor KidsEmail, which is a service that provides a safe email for kids!

Travel Tips from Anna in Wonderland

This is a guest post by Anna from Anna in Wonderland.  Please leave her some love readers. :) 

When people realize I have lived in 5 different countries (before the age of 30), they remark that I, or my parents, must be extremely wealthy. While I won't negate that I did grow up more privileged than many people, my parents haven't paid for much in regards to my travels since my first study abroad adventure in 2006. You can also finance your own travels relatively easily--although it does take a bit of know how. 

The title of this post, however, may be a bit of a misnomer as with many of my experiences, you still had to pay for a flight and/or a visa. 

Tip #1 Get a Job

If English is your native language, this is likely the asset you're going to be able to sell the most when it comes to working abroad. In 2009, I taught English to about 100 Hungarian kids to finance a year in Budapest. Other alternatives include au pairing, interning, working at summer camps and working holidays (depending on your nationality--this isn't super easy for Americans, however). Companies like Jobs Abroad and BUNAC. are great resources to begin your search.   As far as teaching English goes, a country like Hungary (I went with the Central European Teaching Program) won't pay you shedloads, but it will cover your time there (and you'll get a free apartment and utilities). Likewise, the CIEP Foreign Language Teaching Assistants Program in France is pretty well known, but will also only cover your time in France (without an apartment or utilities, which you will have to pay for). Although I have not taught in Asia or the Middle East, those are supposedly amongst the most lucrative and you may even get your flight paid for.    Tip #2 Study Consider going to university or getting a Masters degree abroad. They are typically cheaper than in America and you may be able to get funding from outside institutions, or your own school, to attend. My Masters degree at the University of Amsterdam was completely paid for, thanks to the fact that I was given a University of Amsterdam Merit Scholarship. If you do decide to study abroad, consult your school or department about funding, as they can help you find scholarships and studentships that past students have successfully secured.    Tip #3 Take Subsidized Trips Certain countries or programs will subsidize trips for specific groups of people. One of the most notable subsidized trips is Birthright Israel, which takes Jewish young people ages 18-26 on a free trip to Israel. Obviously now isn't the best time to go, but it is something to consider if you fall into that category. The recent trip I went on to Poland was subsidized by a museum. You can read about it here if you are interested. My parents also went on a trip subsidized by the Chinese government in 2008, which you can read a bit more about here. Bear in mind that subsidized trips, however, are typically not holidays and will have an itinerary for you that you must follow as a condition.    Tip #4 Apply for a Travel Grant Many places will offer you a travel grant to travel, especially if it is for a specific purpose. About.com has a great list of travel grants that you can peruse and see if one fits you.   Tip #5 Volunteer Working, or volunteering, in the Peace Corps can change lives and allow you to live abroad for two years. This is an ideal job for those who are service oriented--however there are some drawbacks. In order to participate, you must sign on to two years of work and cannot return home permanently (visits are allowed). You must also be willing to live in conditions that may be below your normal standard and must be in good health. You must also be an American citizen. However, many people have found this extremely rewarding and a great way to touch people outside of the US. You can also do service trips through places like Habitat for Humanity  which you can pay for outright or invite friends and family to help you fundraise in a good old fashioned crowd funding scheme.  

Lifehacker has a fabulous article entitled "How to Book a $1700 Vacation for $700 by Volunteering," which will appeal to anyone's favorite causes from education to human rights to animals welfare. I hope these tips have gotten your gears turning when it comes to travel. If you have any further questions or would like me to do a blog post on any of the programs I have participated in, please let me know and I will be more than happy to do so. 

www.annainwonderland.co.uk Lifestyle and Beauty Blog 

http://www.youtube.com/TheAnnainWonderland YouTube Channel 

www.anna-scanlon.com

Expectations versus Reality: The Hidden Pressures on Women {Guest Post from Anna in Wonderland}

Hello readers!  Today I'm going to turn the blog over to the beautiful Anna of Anna in Wonderland!  She's put together a wonderfully thought provoking blog post for you and I hope you give it a read and leave her some love.  Before I turn it over, a little bit about Anna:  Anna is an intelligent and gorgeous American girl living in the UK.  She's a PhD student, an author, and a beauty blogger who covers a wide range of things.

Find Anna: Blog | Facebook | YouTube | Website

Expectations versus Reality: The Hidden Pressures on Women

When you’re in high school, or maybe even the first couple of years of college, you have your whole life planned out. In ten years, you’ll be working a job you love, not ever wasting a day in your life doing something you hate. You’ll own a cute little three-bedroom apartment or house in the city of your choice, decorated with the latest shabby chic West Elm furniture (you’ll have outgrown Ikea by then). You’ll be married to the partner of your dreams and you’ll likely have at least two kids by then, or at least one and another on the way. You’ll have lived abroad at least once and have all of your student loans paid off. You may even has a masters degree thrown in for good measure.

While dreams are great to have as they motivate you to succeed and steer you toward what it is in life you’re working toward, they rarely all come true at once. It’s not to say that you can’t have it all, but if you set all of your goals to have an expiration date, you’re really just setting yourself up to fail. While financial goals, employment and home ownership (or lack thereof for the Millennial Generation) is a topic that can be explored at great length, this article is specifically about women and their own personal life choices.

Today, 30 seems to be the magic number when you become a grown-up and everything should be in order. You should be married, especially if you are a woman. You should have kids or be thinking about them, especially if you are a woman. You should be financially secure and saving for retirement. You shouldn’t be working low wage jobs. You should, you should, you should….

I just turned 30 last month, and despite my declarations that I’m totally okay with my life choices in one of my previous blog posts, I can’t deny that sometimes doubt creeps in. I’m in a relationship, but I’m not married. My partner is quite a bit younger than I am. And kids aren’t even on my radar for several years to come (although they are there). As a woman, this can bring forth all sorts of problematic uninvited questions into the status of the things in your life that supposedly signify adulthood. Questions as to whether your partner is going to marry you suddenly linger in the air. Conversations on your now apparently waning fertility are the topic du jour among perfect strangers who have literally just learned your name ten minutes before telling you your eggs are rotting.

This kind of judgement gets worse if you peruse websites that discuss the lives of beauty gurus and bloggers, the idea that they are acting immaturely for their age is a pervasive topic. “Can you believe she was barefoot on the street? She’s 25 for heaven’s sake!”, “She’s 24 and she and her boyfriend don’t want to move in together?” or “He’s 32 and dating a girl who is eight years younger than he is? That is so inappropriate,” are just some of the examples of sentiments echoed over and over again. It is clear, especially for women, that there is a very definite pattern your life should be following. If you’re not hitting those milestones with socially acceptable timing, then god help you.

The thing is, I’m a PhD candidate, I’m running a semi-successful blog (getting almost 11,000 or more hits per month after only 10 weeks of running it), have two Masters degrees, have authored two books and have lived in five different countries. Despite this, I have a lingering feeling I have failed as a woman for making it to the ripe old age of 30 with neither a ring nor a baby. If you read horrible misogynistic comments from Reddit’s Red Pill-ers, they will speak about how women like me are now being “punished” for not accepting the love of someone we weren’t excited about in our early 20s and must be doomed to a life of loneliness and childlessness in our 30s (since no men will want us after we’ve “expired”). Nevermind that many women get divorced from the spouse they met in their 20s by their early to mid-30s….

Despite the advancements women have made as a whole, it is still very clear to me (although it may feel less so to women who have followed the “norm”) that our worth is still defined by a partner and our ability to mother. But where does that leave women who have no desire for either? Are they less of women because they are not interested in these things that supposedly make us women? Additionally, it almost becomes that being partnered is a cultural way to signify that you are now an adult—but do those who never partner, either by choice or other reasons, never become adults in the eyes of society?

The funny thing about all of this is that I don’t even look 30. When questioned about my age, people are typically shocked, pinning me for early to mid-20s. Although my partner is in his early 20s (I know, scandal!), our age difference only becomes a topic of conversation when we tell people. This makes me wonder how women who actually look 30 feel and if they are questioned about this topic even more often than I am.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Why do you think there is pressure to reach certain milestones by certain ages? Do you think men feel this pressure as well? Have you ever felt as though you were pressured to do something by a certain age? Let me know here on Angie’s blog or shoot over to my blog or Twitter to give me a shout. I’d love to keep the conversation going.

Fashion Tips for the Well-Endowed from Anna in Wonderland

Hello readers!  Today I'd like to introduce you to one of my fabulous May Sponsors-Anna in Wonderland.  She's a savvy fashionista so she's here today to offer you some great tips for wearing flattering outfits when you're big-breasted-which I am as well, so I'm paying extra attention to these as well!  Here she goes: 

As a woman with massive breasts (ha!) I have learned a few tips and tricks to wearing flattering outfits. Here are just a few of my tips. 

Do not buy things without a waist.
Shift dresses are not your friend, no matter how much you want them to be. They may be on your side if they are structured, but unstructured dresses or flowy tops will just make you look bigger. You can create a waist on some shirts or dresses by adding a belt. You need to experiment with this, though, as not all tops or dresses can be belted. Sometimes a little too much fabric can fold over the top. 

Along that vein, baggy clothes and hippy styles are not going to work. 

Turtlenecks and boat necks are not your friend.

Unless you're trying to accentuate your chest, boat necks (high round neck) and turtlenecks are not your friends. They make your boobs look much bigger and are bound to make them extremely noticeable.

Choose a jacket with a belt.

Choose single breasted jackets and thinner knit sweaters/jumpers These can have a slimming effect on the body. Better yet, choose a single breast with a defined waist. 

Halter Tops.

Some fashion sources say that halter tops should be avoided at all costs, however I find that they work quite well for women with big breasts. They are rather supportive and as long as there is enough material to adequately cover your breasts, they can be a great summer staple and a good bikini top option. 

Horizontal Stripes.

Horizontal stripes are a no-no on a large bust. They can maximize the appearance of your chest. Vertical stripes are sometimes okay...experiment with them to see how well they work. 

Support.

Make sure you have adequate support! This cannot be stressed enough. Because of this issue, strapless tops and camis are not recommended for everyday wear, however strapless dresses may sometimes allow it if the dress is structured and well made. Above all, you'll need a good bra for these styles, so make sure your ladies have adequate support. 

The Run Down.

 Avoid baggy clothes or clothes that aren't fitted. Go for lower round necks or v-necks. Try coats with a waist and add a belt when possible.

What's your best fashion advice for busty girls?

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