Kiss My Astra!

Okay, this is just too cool to let it pass by. Our favorite car before the Honda Odyssey minivan we drive now was our Saturn. We never had a problem with it, it was cheap to maintain...we just loved that car! The whole purchasing process was fun, because we didn't have to haggle and negotiate, we just walked right in and bought the Saturn They really seemed to have their act together over there, with enthusiastic employees and this fresh attitude towards automobiles. Back then, most cars were being manufactured in Japan, or at least most of the parts came from Japan, but the Saturn had mostly American-made parts and the Engineer really liked that.

So, anyway, that's my personal experience with Saturn, which was really positive. And now they have this contest going on which is just too cute, called, "Kiss my Astra."

Just take a photo of you or your family kissing an Astra and you could win a free car! Go check it out here.

Diaper Dude Makes the Beach Fun for the Whole Family Again

Okay, it's hot outside. Really hot. Like "Melt me down and make a Mom puddle" hot. So what do you do? You head outside to the pool or the beach for a little time in the water. My grandmother used to say, "When babies are fussy, just add water", and it really does seem to tire the little ones out, calm them down and get them all ready for naptime when you add a little fun time in the water to your hot Summer day.

I recently checked out the perfect product for those sunny days by the water, the Diaper Dude blanket.

Don't be put off by the name if you don't have a tiny tot. The Diaper Dude blanket has a lot to recommend it even to us Moms of older children. Like what, you ask?

Well, first of all, it's water-resistant, which is great not just because you get to sit down on a nice dry spot instead of wondering just where the moisture is coming from (which is not a good thing if you have a baby along!), but is just fabulous when it comes time to put the blanket in the trunk of your car and take off. Every forgotten you have something wet in the car, only to come back to that disgusting wet-dog car smell? Ewwww.

Of course, the Diaper Dude blanket is also machine washable for when you do eventually take it out of the trunk and toss it in the washer.

It's also easy to carry and even stylish, since it folds up into an attractive messenger style bag, with a removable wipes/diaper pouch (or sunglasses and keys pouch) and Velcro straps to keep it snugly secured. the removable shoulder strap adjusts so that Dad can carry it comfortably, too (another plus). And it comes in a choice of colors: grey, brown, or orange/camo.

True, the Diaper Dude blanket, priced at $54.00, isn't cheap, but its generous size and carry convenience, in my opinion, more than make up for the difference in price for those scratchy wet towels we usually lug to the beach. Rather than relying on a skimpy beach towel, at five by about 4 1/2 feet the blanket is roomy enough to accommodate the whole family.

Convenience: 10 out of 10
Price: 7 out of 10
Family-friendly Features: 10 out of 10.
Overall Cool Moms Rule! Rating for the Diaper Dude Blanket: 9 out of 10

Yet Another BlogHer08 post!

After Friday, I was a little disappointed with what BlogHer08 had to offer so far. I'd gone in 2007 and found more content to connect with (and more delicious food in Chicago!), and I felt a little lost. The swanky Westin St. Francis is big and beautiful, but a little of the close-knit bond of sisterhood was lost in its labyrinthine halls.

But then Saturday came and BAM! hit me like a hammer.

The morning's keynote absolutely fired me up. The subject was, "Hybrid Media," which is a bit cryptic, but was all about taking magazines and TV shows into the online world.

Among the round-table of successful women was Stacy Morrison, Editor-in-Chief from Redbook, and let me tell you, she totally kicked ass! Stacy really came out there on stage with complete honesty and transparency--she says she has "No personal boundaries at all"--and I loved that about her so much that I think I will become a Redbook subscriber. Seriously.

So, about Stacy: Redbook is a magazine that's been around for 104 years, so she had a lot of tradition and "that's the way we do it," mentality to deal with when, three and a half years ago, she was brought in to take Redbook "digital," whatever that meant.

This was all so new that there were really no rules, except one: don't piss off the loyal base of existing Redbook readers, over 10 million women, when you go online.

Stacy decided if she was going to do this, she was going to do it right, and she changed Redbook's online site, which was really not much to begin with, into a full blog platform. It still has two of the longest running online fiction blogs today.

Stacy felt it was important to be honest and open, which is very scary to the "old media" crowd. As she put it, even today old media wants to "find the answer and keep it," rather than going open platform and sharing information. But still, she says she was never told, "No, you can't do that." Sometimes, a lot of times, she had to wait and wait and wait to cut through the bureaucracy and the red tape of yanking Redbook into the digital world, but she was allowed to do it, and that's one thing she loves about her job and her company, that Hearst (the publishing company that owns Redbook) allowed her to experiment and find out what works in what she dubs, "The era of mistakes."
Originally, Redbook's blogs were on iVillage, but, again, Hearst likes to own what they can, so, as Stacy says, they hired bright young people with, "Designer jeans and complicated hair," to run everything on their own platform.

Now, Redbookmag.com is the second-largest magazine web company (of course, Oprah is the first. Naturally!). And, even with all the changes Stacy made, there has been no drop-off in readership or subscriptions, which is simply amazing, since the magazine is often seen as family-friendly and even a little too conservative, while the website is anything but that!

Stacy even has her own blog, in which she is extremely open. But she doesn't share everything about herself, not because she is ashamed or wants to hide, but because she respects the women readers who helped to put her where she is with their dedicated readership, and she doesn't want to offend them by going over the top talking about, for instance, all the sex she is having with her boyfriend these days.

By the way, Stacy asks that we occasionally buy a magazine, too, to help pay her salary! ; )

Along with Stacy on the stage were Essence Communications Director of Digital Development, Lesley Pinckney, and Bravo TV's Senior VP of New Media and Digital, Lisa Hsia.

These two women also made incredible headway in taking their networks digital. For example, Bravo had one of the first interactive polls for its Project Runway show, and 92% of the audience answered the poll! That's an amazing percentage, when even 10% feedback is considered a good response.

When asked if they used Twitter, Lesley Pinckney, who has worked on the Academy Awards, confided that, "Time Warner would like to OWN Twitter." She was also quite candid about the "Bullshit" one had to go through to introduce new technology.

As these women noted, "Every Monday you are either the hero or the goat," because of the risks they each take to make things happen. And yet they all agreed that they love their jobs and the ability to take those risks is a key factor in making their work so rewarding.

Talk about motivation!

Friday Night at BlogHer08: Ruby Sky

I'm Old. Old, old, old. Friday night's party at BlogHer08 was at this awesome, obviously happening nightclub, just chock-full of atmosphere and ambience, Ruby Skye. And rumor was that some celebrities from TNT's new season might show up, as TNT and Greenology sponsored this event.

And the drinks were good and the food was fine, but the music was loud and the crowd was thick so the Engineer and I (he, by the way, is doing a stellar job in the "supportive spouse" role) found a seat on a comfy sofa with FiveMoms. And most of the night, we stuck to that sofa like glue, because otherwise we would have lost it to these prowling vultures that were eyeing it lustfully, just waiting for their chance to snipe it. You can't trust those BlogHers for a minute. ; )

So, a celebrity showed up, in the form of Gina Rivera from the Closer, the only other woman on the show in a major role besides headliner Kyra Sedgwick. Rivera seemed cool, but for at least an hour prior to her five-minute, "Hello, BlogHer!" rockstar-style greeting, the lights would start dancing over the walls suggestively, then the music would change, becoming more intense, and louder, building up to a crescendo and then and then and then OMG...everything would die down. This happened again and again, for anti-climax after anti-climax, so that by the time Gina Rivera came on the stage, she could have been Brad Pitt on his knees and I would have been like, "Yeah, whatever."

And this is why am I old, because I'm such a jaded, cynical bitch, aren't I? Not to mention--we didn't even make it through the entire night, but cut out early, because after a full day of sessions, a makeover, and an evening of cocktails and conversation, I was ready to call it a day.

Old, old, old.

Geez. If I keep going like this, I'll have a bench picked out in the mall with all the Slver Sneaker crowd in no time!

So-So Friday Saved by Swag

Friday at BlogHer 08 held few surprises for me. I was actually disappointed in some of the sessions. For instance, I had expected to get more practical, hands-on tips from a session on social networking. Instead the panel was pretty much telling me to do what I already did, and they even seemed behind the curve. Honestly, who doesn't use FriendFeed these days? And we all know about Twitter, right? And why, for heaven's sake, are you guys still pushing Technorati? How is Technorati relevant to Moms, even tech-savvy Moms, unless they live and breathe tech 100% of the day? I love me my gadgets, but Technorati fell off of my list of must-reads a long time ago.

I found myself skipping some of the afternoon sessions and heading out to do some shopping, and judging from the crowds of women I saw streaming out of the hotel into the streets, I wasn't alone. And, as it happens, the lovely cosmetic artists in Saks Fifth Avenue took me in hand and treated me to a makeover that left me feeling refreshed and ready for Friday's cocktail party.

One of the highlights of Friday, though, was schlepping around the hotel and chatting with other bloggers, meeting sponsors and hearing about their new products and why they had come to BlogHer 08. I'm still annoyed with Apple for NOT being in that group, for ignoring the biggest gathering of women bloggers completely, as if we didn't matter. I even wrote to them about it, and I'll be really interested to see if I get a reply from Katie Cotton over at Apple.

But I digress.

I was talking about the great bloggers, and the sponsors at BlogHer08.

Which brings me to the swag.

The. Single. Best. Swag. of Friday? The Zivio Boom, from Joby.

Joby, if you hadn't heard of them, are the people responsible for this cool Gorillapod, a tripod you can turn every which way to hold your camera in the perfect position for taking family photos and the like.

But the Zivio Boom is a new Bluetooth headset, and Joby were letting us beta test it at BlogHer08.

The Boom won't be on the market until later this summer, but the Joby Zivio guys were out there fitting bloggers for it for the beta test. And when I say FITTING, I mean it, because this headset has the most custom fitting set-up I have ever seen. The incredibly patient Zivio guy had to deal with enormous crowds, and at least one really rude blogger who tried to cut in line and wanted him to "just give her one" so she could run off to a meeting that ALL OF US WERE ATTENDING, and who had no respect for the product at all, but was in some kind of free stuff relay race where the first one back to the hotel room won or something. But he talked with each blogger individually for the longest time, explaining very sincerely and passionately the reasons they came out with this headset, chief among them that the designer of the headset had so much trouble with other Bluetooth headsets out there fitting correctly that he got fed up and made his own. So this headset comes with six different ear designs, three each of the typical "mushroom" in-ear kind in assorted sizes, and three "scoop" designs which don't push so far into the ear.

I think you are with me in appreciating how awesome this product could potentially be, just from that one feature, especially if, like me, headsets usually just fall right out of your ears. I must have freakishly loose ears or something, which is just disturbing on way too many levels to contemplate. But the Zivio Boom has other things going for it as well, like a neat extendable mic that really works when the wind is blowing instead of making it sound like you are in a hurricane when you call someone on your cell phone. And it's all sleek and sexy and small, so you feel like someone in a sci-fi movie when you put one on.

Party Hopping at BlogHer 08: Part 2

On the Alltop/Kirtsy party shuttle bus.

We boarded the shuttle to Guy Kawasaki's place for the Alltop/Kirtsy party the moment we walked out of Caruso's.

It was a typical SF night Thursday--meaning we were all either wearing jackets or shivering in the cold--but the shuttle was so hot inside the windows fogged over, and we could no longer see the graffiti on the walls of the buildings outside.
I was looking forward to meeting Guy, whose tweets I always enjoy, but it was so packed at his place I never even ran into him! His home is beautiful, though, and food and wine flowed freely in the yard behind his house out in exclusive Atherton. We had a great conversation with the YouData guys. Then it was back on the bus for the trip back to the hotel and two more parties: the Newbie mixer and the People's Party. We were only able to stay a while at each, but I lost count of how many business cards I passed out in that time!

Party Hopping at BlogHer 08: Part I

Union Square, taken from our hotel room window.

Thursday night at BlogHer 08 absolutely rocked. I felt like a celebrity superstar, schlepping from one party to the next and hobnobbing with all the sponsors, including the wonderful folks from Johnson & Johnson and MomCentral, who started the evening off right with the first meet-up at 5 PM.

The BlogHer conference is being held at the Westin St. Francis this year, a hugely swanky hotel full of conference rooms and suites and even a shopping avenue with a Victoria's Secret (or, as the girls today call it, Vic's).

In the lobby of the St. Francis is the hotel bar, called Caruso's, and this is where MomCentral and J&J set up shop, footing the bill for drinks for all of us invitees. That's right, this was an invite-only party. And I was on the A-list, Baby! Why? Well, you have seen my reviews on the blog courtesy of MomCentral, and you might remember that back in April I headed out with a group of Mommy Bloggers to Camp Baby, on behalf of J&J. And, fabulous folks that they are, they both remembered me. So I actually got TWO invites. Woohoo! Heady stuff, fame. ; )

Anyway, in addition to the free drinks (as if you really needed anything more), books were laid out for bloggers to look through, and maybe pick a few up and take back to review on their sites, if the fancy took them.

Funny story: I am looking at all these wonderful books, and I turn to the lady next to me and say, "Wow, don't these just inspire you to write a book yourself?"

And she says, "Actually, I did. And that's my book right there. Would you like me to sign it for you?"

I swear to you, that's exactly how it went down, unlikely as it sounds, and that's how I met Diane MacEachern, author of Big Green Purse, a book about "using your spending power to creat a cleaner, greener world."

And of course I spoke to all the great folks from J&J and MomCentral, who are so sweet that, although they had thoughtfully made up impressive name badges for all of us, completely neglected to think of themselves, and so were walking around with pen-scrawled stick-ems they had hastily concocted. Isn't that just like us women, thinking of everyone else first and ourselves last?

I also ran into Lindsey Grossman, who is working on Raggs (more about Raggs and other fun stuff for your kids soon), PHAT Mommy, Tracee from SoSiouxMe, BusyMom, Lara from Notions of Identity, the SoCal Moms in the elevator (all of them looking chic and fashionable), and Liz from This Full House.

And that was just the FIRST party of the evening!

Over the Bay and through Muir Woods, to BlogHer '08 We Go!

Actually, you won't want to take that route, because it is definitely the long way round, but since the Engineer and I were in CA a few days early, we've been taking in the sights! We've seen the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and hiked through Muir Woods and Cowell State Park's Redwoods. I'll have some pics for you eventually, since the Engineer took them on the digital camera but didn't bring the cable to download them to the laptops, grumble grumble grumble...

BUT! Now we are on our way to BlogHer, or at least as soon as he gets off work (and he's been putting in some late hours while I've been chilling my heels here at the hotel, let me tell you, so he may cut out early).

You can see what I honest-to-goodness look like in the photo by this post, and if you are going to BlogHer, too, PLEASE come up to me and say hi! I'd love to meet all the Cool Moms out there in person.

But if you aren't going, and you're interested in what happens at these kinds of things, when opinionated and assertive women get together and talk about why we blog, and our families, and our politics and our personal philosophies, especially after we have a few drinks in us, then have no fear, I will be blogging along the way so you can share in the fun!

First, I will be microblogging over at Twitter whenever possible, so follow me at www.twitter.com/coolmomsrule.

Then, I will be posting HERE, of course, when I can, so check in often to get the latest dish on your favorite bloggers, with a little more depth than 140 characters.

And I will also be posting photos (yes, really!) over on Flickr, because I DO have the iPhone (no, not the newest one, unless Apple wants to step up and SUPPORT MOMMY BLOGGERS by giving me a G3*), and I DO have the cable to download those photos IMMEDIATELY to the laptop if necessary.

So, if Dooce and Elisa Camahort get into a spitting match, you will see it here, folks! ; )

More soon, from BlogHer '08 in San Francisco, straight from the Westin St. Francis hotel!

*Just kidding. Unless Apple really does want to support Mommy Bloggers, of course! And why isn't Apple going to BlogHer, anyway? Microsoft is. I'm a big Apple fan, but hey, show us the love, Apple!

Momtourage? Sure, why not?

As of yesterday, iVillage.com's Momtourage, which, "celebrates
moms and the people who help them raise their kids (the "mom-entourage"), with
robust new features, tools and content" is up and running, according to a recent press release.

I've never been an iVillage subscriber, but I wanted to let you all know about this launch, because along with the Momtourage launch comes a chance to WIN stuff!

"Momtourage Showcase" gives Moms an opportunity to share their own anecdotes and advice. Doing so enters you in a drawing to win a new member to your own Momtourage, like a personal chef to cook your meals, a babysitter to watch the little ones, or even a professional cleaner to come over and rake up the mess in your home (just kidding. Mostly. That's what it would take in my house!).

In addition, three Grand Prize Winners will also receive a special dinner, prepared by one Bravo's Top Chef program's contestants, for all their Momtourage members to enjoy! And you know how important it is to let all of your helping hands how much you count on their help and support (don't you always appreciate a thank you, too?).

But wait, there's more! Each of the Grand Prize Winners' Momtourage members have a chance to win a $500 spa certificate!

Enter today through August 1st, by visiting www.momtourage.com.

A panel made up of both iVillage editors and celebrity judges will select the ten finalists on August 15, 2008.

A Great New Place for Moms to Meet!

I'm very excited today, because a great new Mom forum has opened up on the internet, and I already feel like I am part of it: BabyCenter Community.

The brand new BabyCenter Community is very close to my heart, as I had a chance to meet Tina Sharkey, Chairman and Global President of BabyCenter, at the Johnson & Johnson Camp Baby meet-up for Moms in April up in New Brunswick, New Jersey

If you are not familiar with BabyCenter, well, I'm surprised, because it is the internet's largest resource for new and expectant parents. The new BabyCenter social network, available in public beta at http://community.babycenter.com, enables new and existing members the opportunity to share and connect with each other.

Here's what Tina Sharkey had to say about BabyCenter Community:

"Moms come to BabyCenter seeking trusted, personalized information, but they stay for the connections they make with other parents. Social networking has changed the face of communication, and BabyCenter wants to bring together these parents in a place where they can easily share experiences, milestones, information and the joys and journey of parenthood.”

Here's how BabyCenter’s new community will help parents form new friendships. On the site, you can:

• Create public and private groups around any topic,
• Share photos and video among friends by uploading to Profiles and Journals,
• Distribute a personal blog feed from other blogging platforms into a BabyCenter® Journal,
• Pass Notes to other members, post Shout-Outs, comment on Journals,
• Match with people who share common interests, locations, childrens’ ages and more
• Publish “kid-isms,” the hilarious things kids say, and
  
• Tag photos and profile to help others find you.

If the layout seems similar to that of "Maya's Mom" to you, you are very perceptive, because that's the model BabyCenter, who bought Maya's Mom last fall, used to create their new social community.

I love the format of Maya's Mom--that's the first Mom network I joined when I started blogging as a Mom-- and I think that Baby Center's new social community will be a fantastic networking opportunity for new parents, especially new SAHM's!

Check it out!

Please don't ransom my evening gown!

Last night, Miss Venezuela, a beautiful woman who was kidnapped as a child, won the Miss Universe pageant. She says that the kidnapping led to her ultimately learning what she called, "poise under pressure."

This morning, on the news, they recounted that story. And then they showed Miss USA tripping over her evening gown on the runway, and they actually tied it Miss Venezuela's childhoood kidnapping, saying, "Talk about poise under pressure!"

Unbelievable.

image: yahoo photos

Nom nom nom freebies day!

I very nearly forgot to put on my cow costume! Chick-fil-a is celebrating Cow Appreciation Day today! Dress like a cow, get free chicken!

Also, thanks to Queen of Spain, I now know that it is Free Slurpee day, too! It's only a little slurpee (7.11 oz), but check out any participating 7-11 to pick your thirsty cold goodness up today.

Summer of Me Update!

Well, I was sure that I would be in trouble with this week's weigh-in, because I just came back from Wyoming, as a lot of you know, and while I was there my wonderful Aunt Ruth made sure we had delicious free ice cream from her ice cream parlor almost every night.

Ice cream.

Free.

If that doesn't completely wear away your willpower, I don't know what will.

When I came back, I weighed myself. I had lost four pounds since we started the Summer of Me, and I thought I was back up two pounds. But that was weighing myself at night, when I usually weigh-in first thing in the morning. So I got up this morning and realized...

(dun dun DUN!)

..I had only gained 1/2 a pound! Woohoo! So after that week, I am still down a total of 3 1/2 pounds. I have a long way to go until my ten pound goal at the end of the month, and my fifteen pound goal when the kids go back to school August 18th, but I'm still on track.

Yay!

I also want to give a shout-out to Griffin, the co-founder of Oygenfit, who wrote me a really nice email. I've had them on the sidebar for quite a while now, and he wrote to say thanks, which is awesome! I love Oxygenfit, and they really do fit right in with a healthy woman's lifestyle. They have portable workout equipment you can take with you when you travel, and I'm seriously thinking I need that for BlogHer this month in SF. Check them out!

Cody, Wyoming and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center

The town of Cody, Wyoming is tiny, with just over 8000 citizens on almost every day of the year (during the Fourth of July celebration, the population doubles, to nearly 20,000).

Crime in Cody is close to non-existent--most locals don't bother to lock their doors at night. The food at Peter's, the local deli, is incredible. And to top it all off, the residents are invariably friendly.

But what Cody is most famous for is the man who gave the town its name, founder Buffalo Bill Cody.

If you know the name of Buffalo Bill, you recognize it for one, or both of these reasons:

He started a famous "Wild West" show, with legends like sharpshooter Annie Oakley, that toured the world, even performing before the Queen of England.

And he is the man most associated with the near-extinction of the American buffalo.

In reality, Buffalo Bill killed 4280 buffalo over a period of 18 months--no small amount, but a pittance when compared to the 20 million believed slaughtered by trappers at the time. Later in life, he even argued for the conservation of the species, fair dealings with Native Americans, and a woman's right to vote. He even paid the women in his Wild West show the same wage as the men, something unheard of at the time.

Which is why, if you go to Cody, you simply cannot pass by the chance to visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center to find out more about this complex man and the true history of the West.
The Historical Center is actually made up of five museums:

The Buffalo Bill Museum, The Whitney Gallery of Western Art, The Draper Museum of Natural History, The Plains Indian Museum, and my boys'favorite, The Cody Firearms Museum, housing "the most comprehensive assemblage of American firearms in the world".


And yes, Buffalo Bill's favorite gun, nicknamed Lucretia Borgia, is part of the firearms display.

Thirsty Moose

We had been told that this area of the Grand Tetons was the "Moose Salad Bowl," so we were tickled pink to see our very first moose not even 5 minutes into the drive.

As you can tell from the lack of antlers, this was a girl moose.

Unfortunately, our first moose was also our last and only moose.

But we saw plenty of other wildlife!

My Vacation Blogging: Epic Fail

So we spent last week in Cody, Wyoming, on vacation/family reunion. We left on the 2nd of July and just came back on the ninth, and I had posts written for the time we were away up until the 4th of July, when I planned to start sending you all some wonderful shots from Cody, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons from my Iphone complete with captions and, of course, my own unique prose. ; )

*Sigh.* So much for the best-laid plans!

Blogger mobile and my iPhone were completely useless in Cody It seems that AT&T has virtually NO coverage whatsoever in the entire state of Wyoming--I never had any bars at all, and I was utterly and completely disconnected from the entire world.

And even though I still put some blog posts, complete with fabulous photo shots, into my drafts on my iPhone in an attempt to catch you all up quickly the very moment coverage was available, once I was home Blogger mobile shot me in the foot. None of my emails would send via their 'Blog to E-mail' setup until I was literally connected to my computer in my house. I don't think Blogger knows what "mobile" means.

So please don't think that I forgot about you all! You were very much in my thoughts.

Now, on to the photos!

~Viv

Red, White, and Blue to you!

Happy Fourth
of
July!






Here's some more great photos from my Uncle!
Native Americans dance during a Pow-Wow
held at the
Buffalo Bill
Historical Museum
in Cody, Wyoming.

Blue

This week, I'm not here. That's right, you are imagining this post!

No, really, I'm on vacation in Wyoming; but don't worry, I have taken care of all of you with some special posts set up ahead of time.

This post--the third in my Red, White and Blue series--contains images taken by my uncle in Cody, Wyoming, where they are raising money for a new library in town. Local artists have painted several fiberglass grizzlies, which will be offered up at auction to raise the funds for the library. Here's some more grizzles for you:

White

Yesterday, I told you that the Fourth of July always makes me think of Red, White and Blue.

Today's post is all about the white. And there's a little green thrown in as well!

What am I talking about?

Bright, white teeth, courtesy of Recycline.

My kids recently tried out two of Recycline's Preserve toothbrushes, and they are now a staple in our house, because:

1. They look "cool" (according to my boys). They have a very modern look.
2. The handle is made of 100% recycled plastic.
   
3. Recycline Pure toothbrushes are only $2.04 at Target stores nationwide.
4. When you need a new toothbrush, you can go to the Recycline to print out a label and mail back, (for free!) your Recycline Preserve toothbrush. And it gets recycled into plastic decking, picnic tables and boardwalks! (That's where the green comes in.)
   
5. You can get coupons right now to save money on the Recyline Preserve at the Recycline website!
   

So there you go, bright white teeth, and good for the environment, too. That's definitely a win/win product in my book!

By the way, Recycline has other products available at that website in addition to the Preserve toothbrush. Go check them out!

Red

With the Fourth of July coming up, I'm thinking Red, White and Blue! And when I think red, I think strawberries!

I love cold strawberries in a bowl with just a touch of sugar, or a few sliced strawberries on top of my cereal. And for a special treat, strawberries in shortcake are yummy!

I'm in luck this year, too, because the California Strawberry Commission (yes, there's a commission!) says this year's strawberry harvest was even better than expected, with ripe, red, bursting-with-flavor strawberries overflowing your grocery store shelves.

Here's my personal favorite Fourth of July (or any holiday) strawberry recipe:



Mom's Fruit Cup (this is my Mother's specialty!)

Ingredients:
2 cups Red, ripe strawberries, sliced into halves or quarters
1 qt orange juice, your favorite brand
1 small jar maraschino cherries, including juice
2 peeled, cored, sliced apples
6 bananas, sliced
flaked coconut

Optional:
1 small can mandarin oranges
1 kiwi, sliced
1 carambola, sliced (star fruit)


Directions:
Mix all but coconut together in order of ingredients; the o.j. and juice from maraschino cherries make your base. You will have a lovely fruit cup in a delicious sweet red syrup.

Sprinkle coconut over top just before serving.

Makes enough dessert for your family gathering!