Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  Here the sun was shining, it wasn’t 19 degrees, the wind wasn’t blowing us over as we walked around, and it didn’t snow after Friday afternoon.  This was an exciting weekend for me and my friends…we were meeting our friend’s mom who came in from Florida.  She made it here just in time before the snow came in last Wednesday night.  The big girls night out was Friday night after work.

Girls night out plan: meet at the Mexican restaurant, eat chips and salsa, have margaritas to celebrate meeting mom and the end of the week, and see where the night takes us.  My friends and I have a weakness for chips and salsa, and margaritas when we get together.  What we ended up actually doing, was when we got our table at the restaurant we ordered 2 kinds of sangria and a few appetizers to share.  The food was terrific, the company was so much fun, and we laughed the whole time we were there.  We were having so much fun together, we went to one of our favorite places to introduce mom to skeeball, and just show her that we are taking great care of her daughter and it’s a fun life.  Mom loved skeeball, and we had a great time sharing our life with her.

We love going to this one place in particular because we love playing games.  At this place, there is pool, shuffleboard, darts, video arcade games, and our favorite, skeeball.  It’s kind of like an adult Chuck E Cheese.  It’s always a blast, and playing games with friends is always a good time (beating your friends is also so much fun!).  If it was up to me, and if I had more space, there are several games I would want in my apartment: a Wii, Twister, knock hockey, air hockey, ping pong, a Pac Man arcade game, and a pool table.  Essentially, when I “grow up” I want a play room with all kinds of fun toys.  For now, I have found these Table Top Games that look interesting.  I know I still don’t have the room for it in my apartment, but it’s still fun to dream.

What games do you like to play?  Did you play any over the weekend?

When you travel, or when you have a guest stay at your home, you want to make sure there is a comfortable bed for you and/or your guest to sleep.  You want something easy to use, but also comfortable.  Try the Crash Pad for a comfortable, portable bed.

The Crash Pad is a lightweight solution to the always-famous blow-up mattress.  Just like a blow-up mattress, the Crash Pad is portable, and can be used anywhere.  You can travel with it if you need extra space if you’re staying with family or friends.  You can also use the Crash Pad as a spare bed in your house or apartment.  The Crash Pad works nicely as a spare bed in small spaces, since it folds up and can fit easily in a closet or under the bed.

So, if you’re on the move and might need a place to sleep, or if you like having friends and family stay over, the Crash Pad could be your portable bed answer.

It’s that time of year…Superbowl time!  Superbowl XLV: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers.  Some people are happy, others are sad, some people really do not care who plays because no matter what there are Superbowl parties to go to, and if your favorite team isn’t playing there is no disappointment for which team this year wins or loses.

Personally, I have no ties to either the Steelers or the Packers.  What I do know is plenty of people do have ties, and we will certainly be seeing a lot of black, yellow, and green everywhere we go for the next few weeks.  Check out your neighborhoods – see how people are decorating their houses for the big game.  While you may not live in Green Bay or Pittsburgh, there are definitely fans everywhere!  I guarantee you will see some Green Bay Packers Inflatable Mascots somewhere outside.  And certainly, at someone’s house you will see a Pittsburgh Steelers Wall Clock behind the bar in the rec room.

What’s great about the Superbowl is the togetherness.  Everyone gets together to watch the game.  For some, it’s to actually watch the game.  For others, it’s purely social.  For others, it’s an obligation as a significant other to go and wear a team’s colors that you may not care much about, but you support your honey.  For the kids, it could be about the game itself, or “watching” the game just like dad, or playing their own game of football outside, while the Superbowl football game is played on the television.  Some people (like me) love the food.  Superbowl party food is great!  Pizza, wings, nachos, beer, soda, chips and dip – it’s a great reason to “cheat” on your diet.

Whatever the plan, Superbowl Sunday is a great day.  What is your favorite way to watch the Superbowl?  What is your plan for the Packers and Steelers game?  More importantly, who are you going to cheer-on on Superbowl Sunday, Pittsburgh or Green Bay?

It is pretty difficult to keep all of the bills we get in order every month.  We need to keep track of everything, and make sure everything gets paid on time, but it is so hard when each bill comes in at a different time every month.  The new Wonder File™ can help in getting our bills and other important documents in order.

With several pockets, the Wonder File™ can help keep our documents organized.  Some of the pockets in the Wonder File™ are clear, others are zippered.  The Wonder File™ even has places to hold a laptop and a calculator for a full workspace all in one!  You can even fold up the Wonder File™ for flat easy storage.

Now, you never have to worry about where you put your bills, and how you will pay them.  The Wonder File™ can hold everything for you so now you don’t need to worry about where anything is located.

I mentioned to you before that I do not have an iPhone.  I have a plain old regular touch screen cell phone.  I think it may have some cool features, but I basically use it to make phone calls and send text messages.  Because of my basic phone needs, I do not have Apps on my phone, but I do know a little bit about them, and I know there are so many Apps out there that anyone with a phone can find at least one App to love.  Today, I would like to talk about what seems to be one of the most popular Apps out there right now: Angry Birds.

I first read about Angry Birds on a blog a while ago, and I didn’t think anything of it.  Then, I came across a posting somewhere that said soon there will be an Angry Birds board game…and apparently this is a very big deal.  So I did a little more internet surfing to find out more about how people really feel about Angry Birds.  It’s a game that is taking over the world of Apps.  Everyone who plays doesn’t want to stop.  My friend told me her mom will play on her iPad and if the iPad battery dies, she will take over her son’s!  Did you know you can even buy Angry Birds stuffed animals?  I am so glad I haven’t played this game because I know I would be part of this Angry Birds following.  However, from what I hear, the coming-soon, Angry Birds Board game, is said to be a modern day Mouse Trap.  Do you remember Mouse Trap?  That was a fun game.  And since so many people love playing Angry Birds on their phones, it must be fun to play as a board game with other people.  I’d like to give it a try…what about you?

It’s interesting to see how things cycle.  When I was younger, we played cards and board games.  I used to love Candyland.  But I didn’t really love playing Candyland.  I would say I wanted to play, open the box, steal the princess card and game over!  And Hungry Hungry Hippos will always be a classic. But then as we got older, we played pool, and everyone wanted a Fold Up Pool Table in their basement. And then, when we got even older we went back to cards for gambling, which you can now play electronically with a Touchscreen Video Poker Game.  And now, it seems board games are back “in” and I couldn’t be more excited about it.  Board games and quiz games are so much fun; I hope it never goes out of style again!

What are some of your favorite games today to play?

How much coffee do you drink a day?  What is the right size for your morning cup of coffee?  10 ounces? 12? 18?  How about 31?  Yes, would you embark on a 31 ounce cup of coffee?  Starbucks has recently announced their new Trenta size that is in fact 31 ounces.  Coming out in February in California, the Trenta will only be available for Tazo shaken iced teas, iced tea lemonades and iced coffees.  But don’t worry if you don’t live in California, the rest of the country will be able to see how much iced coffee you can drink too.  Imagine – 31 ounces!  Are you going to give it a try?

Personally, I simply do not start my work day without a cup of coffee (hot, iced, with milk, etc)…a regular 16 ounce cup of coffee.  At the office we do as much as we can to be environmentally friendly.  So it’s really nice that we are provided, not only, with as much coffee as we need all day long (in case it is 31 ounces we need to get through) but there are mugs that get washed and reused every day.  Of course, sometimes my morning workouts start so early that I do not even like to wait until I get to work for coffee, so I like to bring it with me on my morning commute in a reusable travel coffee mug.  If you like the idea of the paper cup, but also like to be kind to the Earth, check out the Eco Mug.  It has the same look and feel as the 16 ounce coffee cups from your favorite local coffee shop, but this one you can reuse every day…and you can refill it throughout the day too.

How do you prefer to drink your coffee in the morning and/or throughout the day?  I take the refill method in my reusable travel mug or coffee mug.  I do not think I could drink 31 ounces from one cup…maybe 31 ounces throughout the day, but even for me that’s a lot.  But I will say, when the Starbucks Trenta comes to me, it might be difficult not to give it a try.  Will you take on the 31 ounce Trenta?

How many nights a week do you get a good night’s sleep?  How often do you wake up feeling achy and stiff because something just wasn’t right?  If you sleep on your side, there may be a new product out on the market that might be just the ticket you need to sleeping well…the Side Sleeper™.

I just saw the Side Sleeper™ on TV the other night, and it made me wish I did sleep on my side so I could wake up without the back-ache.  The Side Sleeper™ is designed in a way that will support the head, neck, and back.  The alignment that the Side Sleeper™ provides should help lessen stiffness.  And with a more accommodating body pillow, you will wake up more relaxed in the morning after using the Side Sleeper™.

If you sleep on your side and you find you may not be waking up as refreshed as you would like, or your body feels stiff, the Side Sleeper™ might be the new pillow to try.  If you do try it, or if you have, let us know what you think about it and if it helped you get a good night’s sleep.

Less than a year ago I took a leap and I moved to a new city.  After moving, it was time I get out and make some new friends.  I joined different groups, and participated in all kinds of different activities to meet new people.  One of the clubs that I joined was a book club just for girls.  It wasn’t your typical book club with 5-10 girls who get together at someone’s house and discuss the book.  The best part about this book club was that it was made up of hundreds of girls, they met at a bar, and the book discussion was more of a starting point to socializing.  At this book club is where I met 3 girls who have become 3 of my closest friends.

My new friends and I started off as book club friends, but almost instantly became true friends.  We started spending time together outside of book club at least once a week.  We continued to go to book club and read those books, but we also started trading books within our own little group; books we enjoyed that we wanted to share with each other.  Essentially, we started a spin-off book club for just us.  There were times that we were reading 3-4 books at a time just because we didn’t want to miss out on a book.

I read as much as possible: in my apartment, waiting for the train, on the train, riding the bike at the gym, etc.  One of my favorite places to read before it got so cold was on a bench right outside my apartment.  It was so nice outside, and sometimes it was just nice to read outside in the quiet.  The worst part about it is when it got dark outside and it was time to come in because I couldn’t see.  I recently came across an item that would have solved this issue for me (and because I found it, it will resolve my problem for the future).  It is a Book Lite.  This is a great item because it clips right onto the book so it can go with me anywhere.  So if it is dark on the train or waiting for the train, I can still read my book.  The Book Lite will make it easier for me to keep up with my friends and all the books we like to read all at the same time.

Recently, my friends and I decided we didn’t enjoy the books that book club was having us read, so we made the choice to stop going to that group and just do it for ourselves.  Our first “meeting” will be at the end of this month…we chose to read Harry Potter.  We are meeting at a Mexican restaurant for our first event.

Are you in a book club?  What do you like most about it?

I love to cook at home in my apartment.  I like knowing exactly what I am eating and how it is prepared.  My friends also enjoy cooking at home.  It really helps us with our healthy living, and also helps save us money from going out every night for dinner.  The problem is that we live in smaller spaces, and do not have much room for all of the kitchen tools and appliances we would like to use.  The new 12-in-1 Chef Basket is a new kitchen tool that could help us with our small-space issue.

The 12-in-1 Chef Basket folds flat to save space in the cabinets.  On top of folding, the Chef Basket can be used for many different kitchen purposes including rinsing, straining, steaming, deep frying, and cooking food.  So not only do you save space by having a kitchen tool that folds, you will be able to save even more space with the Chef Basket by having less kitchen tools individually taking up space in the kitchen.

Now, those of us with small kitchens and not a lot of cabinet space can count on the 12-in 1 Chef Basket to fold flat to store in a drawer.  We can now cook as if we had big kitchens, just like we want.

A short while ago I posted to you my New Years Resolution to organize my closet, but I hadn’t finished.  I promised you an update on how I would finish up my closet organization, and this past weekend I figured it all out.

Let me first give you an update on my closet.  All of the clothes are perfect hung and I can see every article of clothing.  Now every morning when I wake up with just enough (or sometimes not enough) time to wake up, pick out and out, get ready and go, I can do it without making a mess.  It’s wonderful.  I also don’t have to go digging through loose shoes and opening every shoe box just to find the exact pair I need to find.  What a great way to get dressed in the morning.

So now, let me tell you about the new stuff.  What I had left to do was find a way to store some clothes that didn’t need to be hung and some accessories that could also be put into drawers and/or folded.  In my head I wanted something like Yaffa Blocks like I had in college, but that could hang because I certainly don’t have the floor space in my closet for big blocks (that space is saved for more shoes!).  After searching, shopping, buying and returning, I found exactly what I was looking for – a Shelf Organizer.  This shelf organizer is just what I needed.  It is plastic so it holds my heavy sweaters, workout clothes, and my scarves that I tend to fold instead of hang.  It has 6 shelves, so it is a great size, and it hangs.  I am thinking about getting a second one to store my purses and other bags in my coat closet.

So there you have it.  The 2011 Closet Organization Challenge success!  Clothes are hanging, shoes are hanging on the door and placed nicely in boxes, and clothes are folded and organized.

Have you completed any part of your room organization triumphs?  Keep us posted.