Everywhere I go there are constant reminders that Halloween is just around the corner. From my email inbox to the coffee shop–pumpkin coffee, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin everything!

This is a fun time of year. Adults seem to enjoy the change of season, children like to dress up as their favorite super hero, and—if I’m being honest—I think we all enjoy the candy. I like to drive/walk around to see how people have their homes decorated for the season/holiday. So far I have only come across a few decorated homes, but I did see a few interesting items including a black cat with marble eyes. That was pretty creepy. I am excited to see what decorations come out later this month.

I know while I like seeing how people decorate, my friend is already looking to see what costumes she is going to buy for her 2 little girls to wear on Halloween for trick-or-treating. She always comes up with really cute costumes for her kids.

What are you all looking forward to for Halloween?

Are you looking to clear up space in your cabinets? Do you have so many cans in your cabinet that you just cannot see everything in there? How many items go to waste or pile up because you don’t see them and buy them again? Your solution? The new As Seen on TV product called the Can Tamer Carousel.

Think of the Can Tamer Carousel as a newer version of the Lazy Susan. The Can Tamer Carousel is two tiers. You can fit the Can Tamer Carousel in a cabinet, pantry, or fridge. If you don’t want to keep the Can Tamer Carousel in a cabinet, feel free to leave it out on the counter. The Can Tamer Carousel spins all the way around so you don’t need to go digging looking to see what cans you have to use. And, the Can Tamer Carousel holds up to 39 food cans!

So next time you need to go to the grocery store, don’t worry about buying duplicate items; simply spin around your Can Tamer Carousel to see what you have. Go crazy at the grocery store this week – you have 39 food can slots to fill!

This weekend was a great time to spend outside. The weather was absolutely perfect, especially for DC. On Saturday we had a BBQ, and there was not a better day to have to spend outside grilling. This was a BBQ specifically for Peter to celebrate his birthday

For just about every BBQ that Peter has at his house, he and his friend make man burgers. These are not your regular burgers made bigger…these are serious, unhealthy, meat filled burgers. Peter has different recipes for these burgers, but recently he has been tackling what he calls the “American Burger.” This is a burger he has officially tried making twice, and the second time, this weekend, was much more a success than the first time around. Essentially, the American Burger is about 1/2 pound ground beef with bread crumbs, whiskey, and BBQ sauce, a weave of about 5 pieces of bacon, macaroni and cheese, all covered in beef gravy served on a kaiser roll (because no other roll is large enough). The difference between this week’s burger and the last American Burger attempt was the macaroni and cheese.

The first round he used Kraft macaroni and cheese (you know…the blue box). It worked, but not the way he wanted. This time around he made macaroni and cheese from scratch and baked it in the oven. This way, when the mac and cheese went on the burger it held together much better – and clearly that is very important when eating a ridiculous “man” burger.

These manly recipes are fun for him…so for his birthday I had purchased a “Man Recipe” book so he could brainstorm more crazy recipes to eat massive amounts of food. The first time I ever saw Peter make one of these burgers, he wrapped bacon around a mini sausage patty and put it inside the ground beef before grilling. This didn’t turn out too well, the burgers started to fall apart. So, aside from the recipe book, maybe Peter should consider investing in the Fill n’ Grill Burger Maker for the next time he wants to stuff his 1/2 pound burger with whatever meats and unhealthy foods he comes up with next.

I hate to complain, but I have to just get it out. This weekend was a great weekend. I spent time with my family, hung out, baked, relaxed, went to the USA vs. Jamaica World Cup soccer game, ate great food, and had a pretty nice weekend all around. My complaint: a HUGE pain in my back.

On Saturday night, after dinner, I got out of the car and it felt like I had a gigantic knot in my back. We tried rubbing it out, but not only was there not enough strength to get rid of it, I was feeling sick from the pressure. I decided the best thing to do was to leave it alone. I could handle losing a little bit of sleep as long as the pain went away the next day. No such luck. I woke up on Sunday morning after a restless night of back pain to even more pain. It felt as if the knot grew from brussel sprout size to racquetball size. I didn’t have a choice though – I had a jam-packed day and had to push through. I thought for sure walking around in the warm weather would certainly soften up the lump in my shoulder blade. No. We tried rubbing it out again, but it simply wasn’t working. Since I am not a girl who is used to being injured or having any kind of pain, I continued to believe it would just go away, not realizing that a Copper Pain Patch might be just what I needed to feel better. Nonetheless, I went to sleep on Sunday night and woke up Monday morning in an unbelievable amount of pain in my back. The pressure was so unbearable the pain was making me not feel good and it traveled up my muscle into my neck and gave me a headache. But, I cannot call out of work over such minuscule issues – so I went in – in pain (probably not the most intelligent decision). All I have to say to the rest of this story is, “thank goodness for the mothers in this world! I would be nothing without you, moms.”

My mom suggested I skip the gym. While I hated the suggestion, I decided better safe than sorry and I could always go later at night if I was up for it. My friend Joana at work is a mom. She suggested taking a pain reliever. I never think to take medicine! So, I took some medicine after I ate breakfast, and in about an hour I started to feel better – not perfect but better. Throughout the day I continued to take medicine. By the time I got home at night the knot was still there and I could feel it a lot, but it wasn’t causing me nearly as much pain (and at the very least the headache went away).

I made the decision, all on my own, to skip the gym even at night. I know my gym partner is counting on me for our circuit training today during lunch and I do not want to let her down.

It is getting pretty hot outside, which means we can put away our winter coats and bring out the flip flops! Unfortunately for our puppies and dogs, they don’t get to put away their coats. So, this year, give your dog what it needs this summer…a chill collar.

The chill collar is a collar for your dog to keep it cool in the hot weather. If your dog is going to be playing outside, just fill up the chill collar with ice cubes to keep your dog’s temperature cooler. You can also use the cool gel freezer pack that comes with the dog chill collar for while your dog stays inside.

Your dog will love you for the chill collar. Your dog will be cool in the hot summer months with the chill collar, and you will be the proud dog owner who made your dog happy with the chill collar.

We always want our pets to be in great health. Just like humans, we take our pets to see the doctor, we give our pets their medicine, make sure we feed them healthy food, and we give them lots of exercise. But do you brush your dog’s teeth? Do you take care of your pet’s breath and gums? Now there is Plaque Attack to help keep your pet’s teeth healthy.

Plaque Attack makes cleaning your pet’s teeth and mouth easy. No more brushing your dog’s teeth. Simply spray Plaque Attack to prevent gum disease and bad dog breath. In about two weeks of using Plaque Attack your pet will begin to have less plaque and tartar on its teeth.

Not only will you be keeping your pets teeth in great health with Plaque Attack, you can sleep easy knowing that Plaque Attach is made with 100% all natural ingredients – only the best for your furry family member.

Love to take your pet with you everywhere you go? The new Wander Carrier might be just the pet carrier you need to take your dog or cat from place to place.

Kurgo’s Wander Carrier is the perfect bag for carrying your pet. The adjustable shoulder strap makes it comfortable for you, and the padded mesh interior makes the Wander Carrier comfortable for your dog or cat. The Wander Carrier is safe enough to carry small dogs and cats up to 18 pounds. You can even use the Wander Carrier to not only carry your pet from place to place, but the Wander Carrier fits nicely on a car seat and you can use a seat belt to buckle your small pet in.

No longer worry about uncomfortable carriers for your dog or cat. With Kurgo’s Wander Carrier, you and your pet can travel with ease. Don’t worry about storage either, the Wander Carrier folds up nicely when you need to put it away.

One of the greatest parts about summer is the freshly grown vegetables. When I was younger, every summer I went to camp. And every summer one of my friends would bring some fresh tomatoes, snap peas, and green beans from her parents’ garden; and every summer I would look forward to those fresh home-grown vegetables.

As you may know from previous blog posts, my mom has blessed me with her “I am unable to grow or keep alive any plant” gene. She has also blessed me with her “I love home-grown tomato” gene. So how is a girl who cannot grow tomatoes supposed to eat home-grown tomatoes? I have great friends! Well, at least, I used to have great friends. When I lived in Pennsylvania, people would actually have vegetable gardens and bring me vegetables. Now I live in a city, and no one really has gardens…or a yard to start a garden. So, now I have to come up with a way to get my fresh tomatoes in the summertime.

I have come up with a solution. Have you seen the new As Seen on TV product called the Tomato Factory Planter? This Instant Tomato Factory is the perfect tomato plant grower for someone living in the city. Now, let’s not get crazy. I didn’t say that the Tomato Factory Planter is a miracle vegetable grower. The person who owns the Tomato Factory Planter still needs to make sure it gets water and sunlight…which is the part I am bad at. No matter how much love, water and sunlight I give, it never seems to be right, and I essentially kill the plant.

So, here is my proposal: To any of my family or friends out there, please buy the Tomato Factory Planter. If it’s the hard work and labor involved in “gardening” don’t even worry about that – there is no need to weed the instant Tomato Factory – just sunlight and water. So, you just buy the Tomato Factory Planter, grow beautiful tomatoes, and let me know when they are ready and I will come pick them up! Thanks so much for participating in my plan in advance!

We love our pets. We like to make sure they always have what they need and can get everywhere they need to go. Sometimes our pets need a little help. The new convertible pet step and ramp is the tool that can help our pets get to where they need to go with ease.

Maybe your pet needs the convertible pet steps to get up onto the bed. Maybe your older dog with limited mobility needs the help of the convertible pet ramp to get up onto the couch. The convertible pet step and ramp is great for small, medium size, and aging pets that simply cannot reach those high places they love to rest. The convertible pet step and ramp is also useful to helping your pet get into the car if you need to go for a ride.

Show your pet how much you love them. Make getting up onto the couch or your bed easier with the convertible pet step and ramp. The convertible pet step and ramp will work for your pet’s lifetime…steps for when he/she is small and young, and a ramp for when mobility is tougher.

How often do you spend time outside? How many days a week do you go to your kids’ soccer practice, baseball games and the grass is wet and you just want to sit in a chair? How frequently do you forget your chair? How often do you simply not want to lug your chair out of your car just to use it for an hour? Welcome the Pocket Chair™.

The new Pocket Chair™ is the solution to tailgating, gardening, camping, and basically any event you would need to carry a chair to sit outside to. The Pocket Chair™ is big enough to hold up to 250 pounds, but versatile enough that it can fold up and fit into the 7” carrying case and be placed in your pocket.

So now, instead of worrying about leaving space in the trunk or back seat for a few folding chairs to your next outdoor activity, load up the car with food and friends, and give everyone a Pocket Chair™ to put in their pockets to carry themselves.