Dreading the hectic schedule and homework hassles that come with the new school year? Relax. Jamie Woolf, author of Mom-in-Chief: How Wisdom from the Workplace Can Save Your Family from Chaos  offers some “best practices” from the business world that will make the back-to-school transition far less stressful.

Strategy 1: “Talk up” the new school year. Imagine what it would be like if your boss approached every assignment with sighs, eye-rolls, and a constant barrage of negativity. You wouldn’t feel very inspired to do your best work, would you? Of course not! Well, the same principle applies to school. If every other [Read more →]

Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones, inspired us with the keys to high quality longevity.

Bestselling author and psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman’s newest book, Have a New Kid by Friday,  shows parents how to reverse negative behavior in their children–fast! With his signature wit and encouragement, Dr. Leman offers hope and real, practical, doable strategies for regaining control and becoming the parents you always wanted to be. Focusing on changing a child’s attitude, behavior, and character, it contains chapters for each day of the week and a special section with advice on everything from rolling eyes to sibling rivalry to talking back to punching walls- plus strategies that any parent can carry out. Your relationship with your child can change in just one week!

Here’s an interesting idea from Polly Campbell at the Cincinnati Enquirer: Add a bit of vodka to your pie dough to make an easy-to-handle dough that stays tender. Have you tried it? Let me know!

Perfect crust’s easy as adding a bit of vodka

With ripe peaches in full supply and local apples about ready, it is pie time. [Read more →]

Allison Thorpe from Functional Fitness joined us this morning with some encouragement to “get moving”. Allison explained how functional fitness trains our bodies to handle real-life situations. Check out their website for more information on this hot new fitness trend.

Where did summer go? As the kids gear up for back to school it’s nearly time to hit the books. Before they get bogged down with school work, why not create a book that’s just for fun? Use blurb.com to create your own personalized book. Consider starting now to gather photos to create books for everyone on your holiday gift list, too!

Contain yourself! Grouped, standing alone or hanging, planted containers do a lot to add impact to your entry. Try a pair of urns flanking your doorway or ivy-climbable trellises on either side of the garage door.

Start getting fan mail! Plant ornamental grasses for an easy, low maintenance backdrop to your mail box. Or tuck in small shrubs and evergreens to add year round architecture long after summer blooms have faded. Top the post with a cooper cap or uplight with a solar lamp.

Welcome home! Make your front door matter. A door painted a bright, rich color can change the appearance of your house before it’s even dry. Want to go further? Add new hardware, light fixtures or a spectacular wreath. Looking good! 

Ellen Whitehurst shared ideas on prosperity and good fortune with us this morning. Visit her website for more ideas to live an “empowered life”

Today we talked about great ways to save money in nearly every area of our lives. USA Weekend listed these great websites a couple weeks back. Check them out for simple money saving solutions!

Clothes
Time retail purchases right. You’ll find the best prices Thursday evenings, six to eight weeks after an item arrives in stores. By then, retailers are expecting the next shipment and want to move the old stuff.

You can search 275 outlet centers and 12,800 factory stores by location, store name, category and brand name at Outletbound.com.

Gas

Find the best prices before leaving home. Go to GasBuddy.com and plug in [Read more →]

Danny Gold taught Champagne 101 this morning.

Champagne/Sparkling Wines in order from dry to sweet:
Brut Natural
Extra Brut
Brut
Extra Dry
Dry
Demi Sec
 
Champagne comes from Champagne, France all others are Sparkling. If you see a bottle of non French Champagne marked Champagne it must be followed by the term “Methode Champenoise” meaning they make it in the same process.
 
Cava is the equivalent to Spanish bubbly done “Methode Champenoise”
Prosseco is the equivalent to Italian bubbly done “Methode Champenoise”