Shopping Scandal

Have you noticed how babies and children have very smooth, translucent, moist skin? As we age and accumulate sun damage on our skin, we not only develop lines and wrinkles, but we also get dark blotches and loose the translucency of the skin...that alabaster look of young skin. Sun exposure and hormonal changes - both during pregnancy and menopause or  with the use of oral contraceptives, all conjure to speed up the aging process and look. Retinol, a form of vitamin A, has long been known and used to make your skin more youthful and beautiful and a favorite of skin doctors. Retinol and its prescription form called tretinoin increase the turnover of cells, letting new cells replace older ones. It also increases the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid by your skin. All of this results in an increase in elasticity of you skin, less wrinkles and a naturally moisturized skin....hence the more youthful look. Retinol has been in my beauty bag for years and I saw my...

So...what is Alexa? And what is Echo Dot?                                                   Echo and Echo Dot are electronic personal assistants that work with voice commands using software called Alexa. They're like robots - artificial intelligence little wonders - without any clunky legs! You can ask them to do things for you, like play music, sing, control your home lights, control your heating system or air conditioner, garage doors, sprinklers and locks. They can also control your TV, make phone calls, do math calculations, scan maps, estimate distances, check the weather and traffic, and scan the internet to find answers to almost any question you have. They can also keep lists of things to do, shopping lists and and send it all to your phone. And it ca...

Let me tell you about my collection of immortal Clarks shoes. I have more than a dozen pairs of these shoes that refuse to leave my house (and I'm happy about it!).  They seem to never age, never break and never die. From the beginning I was amazed about how soft they were inside, like a glove on my foot...no tough seams hurting my feet. That's very important for me because I often get blisters on my feet from protruding seams or sharp borders. These shoes were soft and nice to my feet from day one...And the older they got, the softer and more comfortable they got. I have this 11-year-old pair of  leather clogs. They're a bit wrinkly (I haven't treated them well!) but still in good shape. I'm not a person that sits down to polish shoes or put any kind of leather protection on them, so I'm surprised they last so long and in such good shape. I clean them, but that's it. They' been through mud, sand, hot asphalt, snow and of course, water, ..since I so...

Here's a video for you to see...  I've seen what people talk about these days...Most people are happy and excited (including me!) about the eclipse, but some fear terrible disasters or prophecies to happen. So..if you're concerned, you're not alone, but there's really such a low ( I mean uber-low!)  probability that it's a shame so many are missing out of the wonder of the eclipse. Don't worry...really :)   Don't worry and get in party mood! :D Wherever you are in the United States, you will either see a total eclipse or a partial one. Get certified sunglasses ( see my post about which are the brands that the American Astronomical Society recommends! ) and go see it...it's a unique experience. It will be visible in the UNited Kingdom, Caribbean and many other places, but it will be much less impressive. For example, the UK will only see 4% of the sun eclipsed by the Moon. I am not lucky enough to be in the path of totality...

Buying a backpack is not just about style and looks, it's also about the health of your kid's back health and his or her needs. From what I noticed , there are a few popular brandnames of backpacks ..so I have included those in the links below. Here are a few useful tips! Teen Vogue, Forbes and a few other magazines I checked out tend to coincide often and mention a few most frequently (Jannsport, SwissGear, Kipling Northface, Everest, Patagonia). 1. Before your child uses it, fill the backpack with what the child must carry to school and make sure it's no more than 15% of the weight of the child. 2. Choose a style that has 2 wide, contoured shoulder straps, as these distribute the weight evenly over the back. Adjust the straps to make the bottom of the backpack rest over the lower back, not too far below the waistline. 3. If your child comes back from school at dusk, choose a backpack that has reflective parts or attach reflective material to it. 4. Think of ever...

 It's that time of the year again...The fall is near and kids are going back to school.  If you're stressed out about all you have to do to get the kids ready....get inspired by the calmer weekdays that you will have...with time to relax, sip your coffee and have a less chaotic day. Yes, kids are the light of our lives, but we sure miss time with ourselves sometimes!   It's not easy to handle the mornings, particularly if you have many kids but here are some tips I've lived to keep the stress level low in the mornings! It's the way to do things for me since I myself was a kid! 1. Keep a schedule.       You may need to wake up a little earlier once classes begin, so it is better to go to bed a bit earlier. It may be difficult at first, so start a few days before classes start. That will give your sleep cycle to adjust.      Keeping a schedule helps you and the kids stay rested, fresh and ready for school and work and a...