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These are worth your five minutes:

Firefly Season 2 - this one is gathering fan demographics and testing the feasibility of a possible "on demand" independent production of everybody's favorite unjustly canceled space cowboy show. Shiny!

Get free e-books from Tor--including Scalzi's Old Man's War--just by signing up to their newsletter.

In completely unrelated news, todays woot! offering is a pretty decent 1GB mp3 player for under $10. I just ordered two of them. Woot!

2007 Halloween Tricks & Treats #12

Halloween tee-shirts from Diesel Sweeties.

I need (not merely want, need) "Rock is Dead." And "Chewie is my co-pilot." I'm not sure how I've lived so long without these shirts.

Saying goodbye to Summer--I'm SO OVER IT

*Sponsored Post*

With summer winding down (what? Labor Day? You mean it's September already? When did that happen?!), now is a good time to take advantage of summer clearance sales and stockpile goodies for next year. I pray to God that Husband and I will have moved into our own place by next summer, so it really is tempting to stock up on stuff like Wind Chimes with which to christen the big back porch that our new home is sure to have. Man, I can see it now. Lazy summer nights on the porch, watching the fireflies and sipping a cold one while Husband stokes the grill, the tinkling chimes lulling me into peaceful relaxation... that's the life, folks.

Of course, by now I've about had my fill of summer and am SO VERY READY for the most wonderful time of the year: October! Yay! 'Tis the season for Halloween Decorations! Man, I love fall. It really can't get here soon enough for me.

Product Love: Blister Block

This is NOT a sponsored post. I pimp because I love.

I've been meaning to tout this for a while now. Band-Aid brand makes this stuff called Blister Block stick. I picked some up at Wal-Mart (in the bandage aisle) a couple of months ago out of sheer desperation when I forgot to wear some socklets with a particularly blister-inducing pair of shoes. I totally didn't expect it to work, but like I said, I was desperate.

Well, it worked. This stuff works so well that I've given up socklets and those sandal-fitting toe covers (if there's a name for those, I have no idea what it is) altogether. Instead I rub this stuff on in all the spots where my feet are prone to blisters, and whaddya know, I don't get blisters. Awesome.

It seems a bit pricey (especially for a cheap-skate like me), but a little goes a long way, so one stick should last quite a while. My one stick has gotten me through sandal season so far, and it's not even close to running out.

Coolness.

Crocs are... cute? Really?

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I've always turned my nose up at Crocs because, well, they're ugly. I don't care how comfortable they are, I just can't handle that much pure fug on my feet, and besides, they're not allowed at my office, anyway. Except, I just checked out some of their new styles, and, well, these are pretty cute. Cute enough to be tempting. I'm pretty sure they'd pass muster with the dress code, and as much running around as I tend to do on a daily basis, cute, comfortable, affordable shoes are pretty much my new Holy Grail. These are a decent price to begin with, and with these ShoeBuy coupon codes, it looks like I can get them for a steal (aren't online coupon sites the best thing ever?).

I already blew my fun money budget for this week helping to line J.K. Rowling's heavy pockets, but just you wait, Crocs Sassari - Chocolate/Gold. Next payday, you will be mine.

Freeze It!

This is a sponsored post, but that doesn't make it any less true. My love for this product is a pure love.

My mom has a fun tendency to get hung up on one product that is her magical cure-all for everything. For my entire adolescence, it was Alkaseltzer Plus, for all things reasonable and otherwise.

"Mom, I have a cold."

"Take some Alkaseltzer Plus!"

"Mom, I stubbed my toe!"

"Take some Alkaseltzer Plus!"

"Mom, my date stood me up!"

"Take some Alkaseltzer Plus!"

So after years and years of that sort of thing, you can bet I was glad when she found a new favorite cure-all, even if I'm the one who found it first, by doing something as simple as throwing my back out. After my chiropractor sent me home with a handful of Biofreeze samples, my mom tried some on one of her many aches and pains, and a new catch-phrase was born:

"Mom, I'm hungry."

"Put some Biofreeze on it!"

For once, I had to agree with her enthusiasm, if not necessarily her application. Biofreeze is good stuff. It's crack for the chronic back pain set, making you feel tingly and warm and taking the pain away. Trouble is, it's about as convenient to get a hold of as crack, too, and also about as expensive.

This explains why I'm actually glad, in retrospect, that I woke up one morning last month with the mother of all neck cricks. I was all out of Biofreeze, and in a panic, I called my mom. "Mom! I have the mother of all neck cricks!"

"Put Biofreeze on it!"

"I can't! I'm out!"

"Well then, I don't know what to tell ya."



*whimper*

I popped some painkillers, trudged to work and suffered through the morning, unable to turn my head. By lunchtime, I'd had enough, so I packed my stiff, sorry self into the car and headed to Wal-Mart to find something that could possibly fill the void left by my beloved Biofreeze.

I scanned the shelves. I started to lose hope. And then, there it was.

Freeze It.

What's that? I asked myself. The packaging sure looked a lot like my favorite brand of crack. I picked it up and examined it more closely:

"Compare to the active ingredients in Biofreeze(r)!"

Could it honestly be? An affordable equivalent right there in the Wal-Mart pharmacy? One that I didn't have to make a special trip to the chiropractor's office or take out a small loan to purchase? This was simply too good to be true.

And then I tried the stuff.



Did it work as well as its snooty, high-maintenance twin?



Yes. Yes it did. And it stole my heart. I was so overcome with gratitude and adoration that I even caught myself making out with it.


Because that's the stuff, baby.

Of course, I had to tell my mom about this stuff; and now we have a new catch phrase:

"Mom, my toast is burnt!"

"Freeze It!"

Freeze It, indeed.

Jim who now?

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I think I'm about the only person left in Western civilization who has never seen an (American) episode of The Office. There are good reasons for this, primary of which is that several years ago, I came to the conclusion that I was watching far too much television (yes, believe it or not, I used to watch way, way more than I do now. Hush.), and that I could probably live without any more sitcoms in my life. So I gave up half-hour comedies and never looked back. The other reason is that I had seen the BBC version and, though I didn't get hooked on it, thought it was pretty high-larious, and, well, Hollywood doesn't have a very successful record of trying to Americanize British sitcoms, so I naturally assumed that the American version would suck.

According to almost every person I know, I assumed wrong.

So now Target has The Office Season One for $19.99, and I guess that leaves me without any excuses not to start catching up to the bandwagon. While I'm at it, I might as well finally get myself a copy of Angel Season 5 for $27.99. That's not the best price I've seen it for, but with one of these Target coupons, I can get $5 off. Oh, wait--I'm a few dollars short of the $50 requirement. Oh noes! How will I ever make up the difference? You know now much I can't stand shopping at Target! [/sarcasm] But seriously, somehow I don't think that will be a problem.

And then I'll finally be able to get to the bottom of all this Jim and Pam business.

This post is sponsored by Coupon Chief, the first place I always look for coupon codes.

Cheap DVDs!

All FOX Television DVD sets are on sale for $19.99 at Best Buy. It says FOX TV, but it must include 20th Century Fox productions that aired elsewhere, because Buffy and Angel are included. Angel Season Five, you will at last be mine!

(Psst! And if you buy them at the store in person and use this coupon, you can get them for only $9.99!) Never mind. I didn't realize when I linked it that it's not an online coupon, it's just a scan of a hard copy somebody picked up in the store. I'm pretty sure printing copies and trying to use them isn't kosher.

Found via Whedonesque.

Do uTango?

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From the "Looks Too Good to Be True" Files: you can earn cash rewards and even eventually fund your retirement simply by doing all of your regular online shopping. Yeahbuhwhat?! It seems the utango rewards program gives online shoppers the opportunity to sign up for free and earn rewards for logging into uTango and shopping their affiliate merchants, which include the likes of Target, Starbucks, and Barnes & Noble, places I shop all the time. Apparently, if I start shopping at them via uTango, I can start earning $200 per year, and if I stick with it over a lifetime, my loyalty could earn me up to a cool million in retirement funds!

This is awesome. Not only can I make free money just by buying books, CDs, ground coffee, clothes, jewelry, adorable inexpesive pre-fab furniture, housewares, home decor, and about anything else I normally shop for online, but I can also research and book my travel through the utango rewards program and earn even more. Pretty much everything I ever do online, commerce-wise, is included in this program, so there's not a single reason I can think of not to sign up. And did I mention the part where it's free? Wow. Double this with your credit card's rewards incentive program and you could really rack up the extra cash. Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

Free Postage Offer from Stamps.com and Coupon Chief

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Postage rates are going up again on Monday. Postage increases are always a pain in the hinder; I'm rushing to mail everything I can this weekend and use up the stamps I've got, so that I won't have to mess around with buying any three-cent stamps. Snail mail is getting expensive, too, and with the USPS's customer non-service and track rate at losing packages, pretty soon we're going to run out of reasons to send things via regular mail instead of something more reliable like FedEx or UPS. In the mean time, though, here at least is a chance to catch a break on postage: My favorite coupon site is listing a Stamps.com coupon for $25 in free postage when you sign up for their 4-week free trial. As if that's not a cool enough freebie, you also get a free digital scale. You know how much I love bargains, especially when they involve freebies. I'm all over this offer.

Phone Envy

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My husband and I are still, overall, pretty happy with the free cell phones we picked to go with the new plan we signed up for last year. They're not the sleekest phones on the block, but they do everything we need them to, and we've had too much fun with the built in cameras. Still, that doesn't stop us from the occasional bout of cell phone envy. This free BlackBerry Pearl, for one, really makes me want to consider canceling our current T-Mobile account and signing up for a new contract. Hmm. I wonder, if we do some shopping around, if we could negotiate a couple of BlackBerries into our current plan? Might be worth checking out, especially since we recently realized that the phone numbers they gave us are routed outside of our actual calling area and are long-distance from the landlines of pretty much everybody we know. Not cool, T-Mobile. Not cool at all.

T-Mobile's free BlackBerry offer isn't the only hot free phone offer going. Motorola's giving away a RAZr with their plans, and from Cingular you can get a free Sony Ericsson Walkman phone. This one has both a camera AND an MP3 player, as well as a built-in radio, all of which definitely ignites my phone envy. It even comes with an eMusic coupon good for 50 songs, AND the phone can double as a modem for your laptop. Want! The RAZr's not bad either, with its Verison VCast package which would be a nice compromise to my pesky "no high-speed internet at home" problem and let me catch up on my favorite TV shows. Sure, the picture is wee, but better a wee Battlestar Galactica than NO Battlestar Galactica.

Yes, I definitely think it might be time to rethink our current plan (I'm pretty sure we didn't sign a contract, so it's doable) and check out other options.

Sunglasses killer to sunglasses seller?

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If you're paying attention, then you already know that I'm a fan of inexpensive replicas of designer sunglasses, what with my penchant for getting sunglasses lost or broken. I love sunglasses, period, and it's great to get that fashionista look without having to invest a lot of money in something that probably won't last me very long. I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way, enough so to make selling them a fairly lucrative business venture. Wholesale Sunglasses are now easier than ever to come by, thanks to CTSWholesalers, who just launched a new web site devoted to hooking up entrepreneurs with all of the supplies needed to launch just such a business. Below is a press release detailing what they're all about, with contact info for anyone interested in pursuing such an endeavor:

CTSWholesalers Launch Website for Wholesale Sunglass Buyers

CTS Wholesale Sunglasses today launched a web site dedicated to helping sunglass retailers who sell designer replica sunglasses.

CTS Wholesale Sunglasses today announced the launch of their new site at online sunglass store for selling at high traffic areas.

The retail sunglass industry has high operating margins and the dealers can make a nice profit buying the sunglasses in wholesale and then selling these at retail counters or stalls in malls and fairs. "Sunglasses that typically cost $15 a dozen can be easily sold for about $8 per pair, earning a very high profit per sale," reported Kirk Bachelder while announcing the site.

Our sunglasses do not carry any brand names and are 100% safe for the dealers to sell
The site contains information about a large variety of replica sunglass designs that are inspired by leading brands. "We do not sell fake sunglasses and do not recommend that the retailers sell them", cautioned Kirk. "Our sunglasses do not carry any brand names and are 100% safe for the dealers to sell," he added.

The site will also carry special offers like a starter pack with an assorted collection of 36 pairs of latest and popular designs and a rack to hold 24 pairs, at a low $99. A newbie retailer can test the waters and explore the market with this low investment package before jumping in with larger stocks.

The helpful customer service and blazing fast shipping ensures that the dealers get their shipments before the time most of the other wholesalers have even dispatched the goods.

The retail sunglass industry is very popular with entrepreneurs because of the high margins. People prefer to buy cheap 'compare to' or replica sunglasses that look like the eyewear from the leading brands but cost much lesser. They do not feel the pinch if these sunglasses are lost or broken. They can also try different looks easily to match the season and the mood.

About CTS Wholesalers:
CTS Wholesalers offers tips and guidance to the sunglass retailers about the best ways to maximize the profits in marketing their wares at the malls, stores, exhibitions and flea markets. Visit the site at www.CTSwholesalers.com.

Contact Information:
Kirk Bachelder - Member
CTS Wholesalers
3525 Brady Ct. N.E.
Salem, OR 97303

Phone: 503.364.3486
Fax: 503.589.4121

Of course, if you're just looking to shop for sunglasses instead of selling them, they have a ton of cute styles available at their online wholesale sunglasses shop, for prices even a sunglasses killer like me would be happy to pay. Right now I've got my eye on these faux Versace sunglasses for $28.00, if I can only decide between the pink or the brown.

Magic carpets not included.

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I just found an awesome guitar-themed area rug that will be perfect for my husband's theoretical future practice room/recording studio. Yes, once again I'm virtual-window shopping for stuff for my theoretical future house. As my theoretical future house naturally comes with hardwood floors, I'm going to be in need of a few area rugs, and Designer Floor's area rug catalogue has plenty of cool, funky and traditional options. I think I'm particularly fond of this Chinese "Peace, Love & Prosperity" rug" from their contemporary collection. I'm not sure what color schemes my new home will have, but once I do, I'm sure I won't have any trouble finding a tasteful rug here to compliment my decor. Since these are machine-loomed rugs as opposed to made by hand, they're also durable and affordable as well as beautiful.

Ready to Hang With the Heat Miser

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I know Spring seems like a strange time to think about heating, but it feels like a perfect time, 'cause I'm currently freezing my toes off. I think my office must set the HVAC thermostat according to the predicted outdoor temperature instead of the ACTUAL temp, because despite the weatherman's predictions, it's not hot enough outside for the A/C to be blowing as hard as it currently is right now. Cheeze whiz. I've got on my jean jacket, my husband's hoodie is drapped over my legs, and I'm still shivering. What I wouldn't give for a nice, cozy wall heater right about now.

Speaking of heating units, we've been shopping around Craigslist and other listing sites for rental houses and duplexes that fit into our budget, and most of what I'm seeing has decorative faux fireplaces. It's a shame, because I love a real fireplace. Even an electric fireplace would be better than no fireplace. I wonder what the chances would be of a future landlord allowing us to install one? I guess that's something to add to the list of stuff to consider.

Shop, lose some weight and get toasty--at a discount!

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If you've been paying attention, then you know I'm a big fan of couponchief.com. I check them out every time I get ready to shop for something online. This month they've got a Target coupon for 10% off any online purchase with no minimum. They're also still promoting a Weight Watchers deal for 25% off of 3 months, and they just added several great Office Max offers. What's drawing my attention is the My Wines Direct deal for 10% off and free shipping, which seems like it might be a good way to sample some of The Budget Wino's recommendations. Or it would be, if Oklahoma's liquor laws allowed them to ship here; but that's a rant best saved for another post.

Crafty!

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In the spirit of turning crafty hobbies into extra income, another avenue to sell your art online is Artisans Market. Set up a gallery of your wares on their site and for 20% they'll do all of the marketing and sales work. They have categories for handknit goods and beadwork, as well as paintings, sculpture, carpentry… you name it: if it's arty, you can probably sell it there.

You can shop for it, too. They feature some gorgeous hand-made jewelry, clothing, accessories and plenty of other unique gift ideas. They even sell hand-crafted furniture and home décor. I think I'd like to get a whole bedroom set made to match this funky cabinet. I could kill hours just browsing through their galleries and coveting the pretty.

The Budget Wino -- no, not me.

Though I have become something of a wino lately. Well, I wouldn't seriously go that far--I do enjoy a nice Merlot in the evenings, but due to diet considerations I've cut back to a few nights a week. I hardly think that qualifies me as a wino. I hardly qualify as a connoisseur, either, though I've slowly but surely been improving my wine education over the last couple of years to where I know that there's more to it than white, red, blush or sparkling. I'm to a point where I can walk confidently into a liquor store (you can't get wine in the grocery store in OK), pick out a Merlot or a Shiraz or a Chianti, and have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting.

Wine can be an expensive hobby, though, and my budget keeps me in the cheap end of the spectrum. The first opportunity I had to try some pricier, fine wines was on my honeymoon, where we were both in the mood to splurge and be a bit spendy, and where we could buy it by the glass. I feared that this would ruin me for all of the wines available in my price range, but you know? Maybe it's because my palate is unrefined, but I couldn't really tell the difference. Most of the cheap stuff I've tried tastes just as good to me--sometimes, even better--that the expensive wines we drank on the boat.

So it's nice to know that I'm not the only one. The Budget Wino shares both my sentiment and my frugality, and blogs his experiences with wines costing $10 and under. His reviews are practical and descriptive in a way that even a novice can understand and know what to expect. He's giving away a free wine guide to anyone willing to offer up their mailing address, and he even created a wine ratings spreadsheet to help you quickly scan his ratings a select a wine.

And he's got me wanting to stop and pick up a bottle of Pepperwood Grove on the way home.

Another link snagged from Get Rich Slowly.

Cingular Experience

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Whenever I see the AT&T logo, I'm reminded of an old Bloom County strip that portrayed said logo as the Imperial Death Star. Over the years, in my own experiences and those of people close to me, I've come to think of it as an apt analogy, especially when it comes to AT&T's customer service. So I'm not exactly feeling warm and fuzzy about Cingular going back to being "The New" AT&T.

I've heard horror stories about Cingular, too, but what phone company hasn't had their horror stories? My sister worked a couple of years in their call center, and she was impressed with them as an employer. The Cingular call center is actually a pretty big employer here in Tulsa, so it will be interesting to see how the switch back will affect the local economy. My mother has also been a Cingular customer for a couple of years now, and the switch has made her relieved to know that her contract is about to expire.

But those of us who scorn AT&T yet covet the new Apple iPhone might find ourselves out of luck. According to Wirefly, the iPhone will head up an exclusive line of new AT&T phones. It's being rolled out under the Cingular brand, but it's going to come with AT&T service.

So I guess the big question is, is the iPhone worth the hassle? Or I guess a bigger question is, will this brand change and partnership with Apple combine to have a positive impact on AT&T's customer service? I hope so, because yes, the iPhone does look to be worth it. It would sure be nice, though, if it would come without any hassle—but what technology does come entirely hassle-free these days?

I guess I really shouldn't spend too much time worrying—by the time I can afford one of these things, they're sure to have all of the bugs worked out, and maybe by then AT&T's exclusive hold will no longer be. Hey, if I'm going to dream of owning an iPhone, I might as well dream big.

Decorating in a Minute

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I'm probably a year away from being able to buy any new furniture to go with my theoretical future house, but that doesn't stop me from being fairly obsessive about shopping online for it any more than not having a complete moving fund yet keeps me from constantly checking the rental listings on Craigslist. So I'm pretty excited to find such Stylish furniture at FurnitureMinute.com. I'm kind of in love already with this Bombai sofa set, and considering this sofa bed in place of the futon I had planned for our all-purpose spare room. The sofa set would go great with this coffee table. I like the sleek, simple, clean design of it, and after about 10 years with the Pier 1 wooden chest that's been serving as my coffee table, I'm so ready for a change.

I'm also digging this bedroom set. I like the cherry wood, and I think the black leather padding on the headboard would appeal to my husband. It looks like a pretty good gender-neutral compromise, definitely worth bookmarking for future consideration.

Did I mention that they offer site-wide free shipping? I'm usually hesitant about buying such large items online because of the potential for astronomical shipping costs, but on this site it's not even a consideration. Fabulous.

Come in, we're open!

My Etsy shop is live and open for business, and all of my stitch markers are up for grabs.

Swarovski binoculars?

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It turns out that Swarovski binoculars are not, as I first thought, blinged-out, crystal-encrusted, high-fashion vision enhancers. They are instead high quality, high-powered, light-weight binoculars perfect for hiking trips and other travel. They seem pretty pricey, but Eagle Optics offers free financing on any order over $200.

They also have plenty of other, more affordable binoculars to choose from. Speaking of high-fashion binocs, I've got my eye on these Sonata theater glasses. I've got a cheap pair of travel binoculars that I take to the theater and keep by my window for gawking at the wildlife around my house (and by that I do mean animals, not my neighbors), but I've always wanted a good pair of nice looking, powerful opera glasses, and these seem to fit the bill.

Just a good idea.

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I like the idea behind this. Chin Choi is a new, UK-based clothing boutique that sells nothing but classic, quality black & white wardrobe basics. You won't find the newest spring trends here, but you will find Black Trousers in a variety of real world sizes, several variations of the Classic White Shirt, and plenty of Cashmere Jumpers (that's "sweaters" to us bloody colonials). The prices are out of reach of my current budget, but considering that these are versatile pieces that are made to last and designed to never go out of style, I think it would be worth it to save up for, say, these palazzo trousers.

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub

*COVET*

Something for Everybody

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Isn't this compass pretty? It's part of the nautical collection from The Old Gift Shop. They have gifts and collectibles for about any genre that floats your boat, from pirates to military to high fantasy to ancient Egypt. I'm especially coveting this chess set from their medieval collection. The nursery rhyme figurines are also pretty cool, although I gotta say that the "Baa Baa Black Sheep" figurine looks mildly obscene. But maybe that's just me.

Ink me.

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Are you like me and tired of waiting around at office supply or chain discount stores for an associate with the right set of keys to show up and unlock a cabinet so you can get new ink for your printer? Or of having to make a special trip to get your cartridges refilled? Sure, refilling saves money, but it can be a hassle, and the quality of the cartridge degrades so that you have to shell out for a new one eventually to ensure print-outs that are totally streak free. That's pretty important when you're printing your own pictures.

I don't know why it never occurred to me before to shop for ink online. There are plenty of options for doing so, but I found that Databazaar.com has a printer cartridge for just about every make and model of printer currently on the market. Their prices are low, with even bigger discounts for multiple quantities, and shipping is free. I don't know about you, but the convenience of being able to ink up my printer with only a few mouse clicks from the comfort of my ergonomic office chair, without having to shell out extra for shipping? I think I'm in love.