Popular gifts for Mother's Day

It's almost time to celebrate one of the toughest jobs; motherhood. And many families are searching for the perfect gifts to show mom how much they care. So, instead of simply giving mom flowers that will only last a few days, why not help delight mom with an item that will make her hectic, multifaceted life easier and more enjoyable. As moms look for ways to simplify their busy schedules, many are turning to consumer electronics to come to the rescue. From a tablet to manage her daily agenda to a camera or camcorder to capture special memories, Sears and Kmart have identified the top trending consumer electronics gift ideas that celebrate and help mom year-round, including:

• Cameras and camcorders to record life's precious moments
• Tablets for personalized entertainment and organization
• Must-have accessories that complement "Me Time"

"As both a mother and a daughter, I know it's always a challenge to find a gift that demonstrates just how much you appreciate mom. So, what better way to show you care than with a present that alleviates her stress and makes her life more enjoyable," said Karen Austin, president of Consumer Electronics for Sears Holdings. "Moms continue to incorporate technology into their everyday lives, and Sears and Kmart are providing great gift ideas that will touch her heart."

Blurry bifocal adventures

I've had to wear prescription glasses since I was in the sixth grade. This past year I was told that I needed to get bifocals. For me it was a nightmare of an adventure since my life entails computer screens and printed content as well as wanting to be able to see things clearly from a distance.

It took several trips to the place I purchased my glasses from, with things still not right with the no-line bifocals I selected. My advice? Make sure you clearly understand the return policy of where you purchase glasses some. I learned the hard way ...

Pendants are not just for necks

When you see the word "pendant" you may think of a pendant necklace, or pendant earrings, but there are lots more pendants out there that do have one thing in common with jewelry, they do decorate. Looking at some of the pendant lighting fixtures will give you a good idea into how many different ways you can decorate your home with this style of lighting no matter your favorite decorating style. My personal favorite is some of the globe pendant style lighting.

Art Van Furniture to have three Grand Openings in one day

For the first time in its 51 year history, Art Van Furniture will Grand Open three stores in one day. On January 22, 2011, Art Van will celebrate the Grand Openings of 3 new stores with colorful fanfare and 4 contests in Auburn Hills, Petoskey and Onaway.

"This is not only a high point for Art Van Furniture," exclaimed Art Van Elslander, founder and chairman of Art Van Furniture. "It's also a milestone for the U.S. furniture industry. I can't recall any American furniture chain grand opening three stores in one day," added Van Elslander.

Company history is also being made with the opening of Art Van's first mall location at Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills. The 44,000 square foot store features a new lifestyle center court showcasing Art Van's four styles: Contemporary living, Casual living, Traditional living and Rustic living. The new store will also reveal a new prototype Clearance Center design and vertical furniture display spotlighting the best values and fashion throughout the store.

Great Lakes Crossing Outlets Grand Opening events begin January 22, 2011 at 10am and runs until 8pm. The first 250 people will receive a free gift. Ribbon cutting ceremonies emceed by television personality Christy McDonald will begin at 1pm. Grand Opening events also feature free food, family-friendly entertainment including music, clowns and costumed characters. Guests statewide can join in on the fun by entering one of 4 contests including a 12 month car lease, 60 inch HD Television, $5,000 shopping spree, or a trip for 4 to Disneyworld. "Anyone who is in the market for furniture or mattresses should shop Art Van on January 22nd," said Kim Yost, CEO of Art Van Furniture. "This is the day to buy! We will have amazing one-time offers throughout the state," proclaimed Yost.

Art Van's two newest northern Michigan locations will also Grand Open on January 22nd in Petoskey and Onaway. The three new stores add 200 new jobs to Art Van payrolls.

You've got mail ...

We've lived at different addresses and in different neighborhoods, but I personally prefer a scenario where we have a wall mount mailbox for a variety of reasons.

One is security, having wall mounted mailboxes -- especially one with a lock is more secure than having a mail box at the end of your driveway. We've had several incidents where something was delivered and stolen, which creates a huge hassle in trying to have money credited back and/or the item re-delivered. The wall mount mailboxes at least make the box closer to your house.

In our case, the dogs start barking as soon as they hear the lid to the house mailboxes opened. It also affords better weather protection when you have a covered porch, this time of year in other houses it was not uncommon to end up with soggy mail if the post man didn't shut the front door of the street mailbox. The only thing worse than having items stolen from your mail is mail that's not legible ...

Online computer shopping

One of the best ways to find good deals on computers is to shop online, it's an easy way to compare prices and features, as well as getting exactly what you want on your computer. Almost every computer manufacturer, from those who make gateway computers to a number of other brands offer the ability to "build your own" system. It can however, be less expensive to buy a system that's already been manufactured and don't forget to check out re-manufactured computers, they may have a surface blemish or two, but are typically priced quite a bit lower.

Virtual bridesmaid dress shopping

Not long ago my one daughter who lives in Arizona was in a wedding. The wedding was planned for our hometown yet the bride and many of the bridesmaids lived in other parts of the country. Rather than try to coordinate a fitting here in town for all of the bridesmaids, they did their bridesmaid dresses shopping online. The dresses and colors were picked, the dresses were shipped, and everyone matched.

Without having to entail an extra trip home for any of the maids involved.

Is there a new mattress in your future?

If you are planning on replacing your mattress this year, many are turning to memory foam mattresses over traditional mattresses. Several of my family members swear by the difference in their sleep comfort levels with a memory foam versus their older mattress. It's something that's on my list of future purchases, if now is the time for you? Here's information on a memory foam mattress sale that can create not only sweeter dreams but sweet savings.

:-)

A scazillion scales

I had no idea now many different types of scales there were until I spent some time looking at the many different categories sold by Affordable Scales. From the scientific scale to the warehouse scale to the casual kitchen scale to the bathroom scale, chances are if there is something you want to weigh -- They have just the right scale for it.

Yes, you could easily say that this is a very weighty post.

:-)

Give the gift of books

There are so many great books and eBooks out there that one way to make sure you are buying someone the right gift is to give them the gift of books. If you can't personally check out their library to see what they enjoy reading or what book in a series they may be missing, there are always gift cards to both online and offline bookstores. If they are not into books, there are always magazines.

:-)

PandaLabs Offers Six Tips for Safe Online Shopping

Panda Security's anti-malware laboratory, is advising holiday shoppers to be extra wary when shopping online this holiday season. As in past years, cyber criminals have launched a war on the season through a multitude of holiday-themed scareware, spam and Blackhat SEO attacks.

"Cyber criminals know this Friday and Monday are two of the biggest shopping days of the year, and Americans are going to be sharing tons of sensitive data online during this period," said Sean-Paul Correll, threat researcher at PandaLabs. "It's more important than ever for shoppers to follow best practices to avoid infecting their computers or turning over their private information into dangerous hands."

Vans versus cars

I admit it, I'm not a fan of vans no matter if it is a Chevy Express-Van or a mini-van. While at one time I hauled around five children, I preferred a "mom-mobile" type station wagon or a Grand-Cherokee.

Though I also admit while driving around doing mom type child delivery tasks, I'd dream of the days when they were grown and I could tool around in a Mercedes S-Class type vehicle.

Even then I'd spend time checking out wiki cars websites to dream of the cars in my future. Especially after buying a lottery ticket, cars are always a part of those dreams. One great thing about the Internet is the ease in which you can research what type of car you either plan to purchase or dream about...

Shoppers Urged to Look Out for Scams and Identity Theft

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- With the holiday season just around the corner, holiday decorations and sale signs are already up at many retail stores and the bargain shopping is well underway. While the bulk of holiday sales still occur in brick-and-mortar stores, surveys suggest that online shopping continues to grow. A recent PriceGrabber® consumer survey found that 89 percent of consumers plan to at least some holiday shopping online and 37 percent plan to shop on Cyber Monday. Mobile technology is also expected to have an impact as consumers look to their mobile phones to help them score the latest deals. The National Retail Federation's holiday shopping survey found that one-quarter (27 percent) of respondents (and 45 percent of those 18-24 years old) plan to use their mobile phones for shopping-related activities during the holidays, whether it's comparison shopping, finding coupons or making direct purchases.

But while technology can help consumers research potential purchases and find great bargains, it can also make them more vulnerable to identify theft and scams.

Meijer to give peeks into Black Friday sales

Meijer to Provide Customers with a 'Sneak Peek' at Holiday Ads

Black Friday and Other Holiday Ads can be Previewed Online Several Days Before They Go Public

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Nov. 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- As customers prepare to launch into holiday shopping mode, Midwest supercenter chain Meijer is making it easier for shoppers to plan their strategy by allowing customers to see holiday ads in advance. The announcement was made today by Jeff Handler, senior vice president of marketing for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer.

"This is just one more way to make the holidays easier for our customers," said Handler. "Several years ago, Meijer set the trend by proactively releasing our Black Friday door buster ads several weeks in advance. Providing the opportunity to see our holiday sales early is just another way for us to make the season fun, not stressful, for our customers."

Here comes the bling

There have been several weddings that my daughters have attended recently, these things seem to go in waves as far as timing. Several of the weddings have included more than matching bridesmaid dresses but Bridal Jewelry as well that is picked out for everyone to match and in a few cases, specially designed to match the dresses and the theme of the wedding. One creative mother of the bride actually designed and made the jewelry for the bridal party.

Life without a disposal...

I've grown accustomed to living without a dishwasher, since the kitchen in our home is really too small for one anyway. However, I miss having a garbage disposal. Almost every place we lived before had an Insinkerator disposal. Which made life much easier [well except for a few potato peel incidents] since most of the members of this household don't do a good job in scraping off their plates before putting them in the sink. It was also easer to deal with errant straws and other objects accidently dropped down the drain. On more than one occasion I've had to plunge the kitchen sink, only to discover straws...

And the sign said....

When you think about address signs you may think of the traditional sign that is attached to your home, but as you can see by the picture shared in this post, there are other ways to let people know where you live. Some are fond of the more traditional address sign or just the house number. House numbers can be simple, decorative and/or reflective.

With the internet there are hundreds of possibilities when it comes to finding just the right address plaque for your home's style. You can add an additional message as the pictured sign has, or your name or just your street and house address. Many of the signs are made from recycled material, which means for those of you who are environmentally conscious? You have options to decorate your home while still being kind to Mother Earth...For those of you who are cost conscious? Look for special deals of the day and free shipping offers...

Finland's most popular mailbox goes world wide

You may not be familiar with bobi mailboxes but they are made by Bobicompany and are reportedly Finland's most popular mailbox. The company went world wide and are considered by many to be the best in contemporary mailboxes. According to the company, the Bobi and the Bonbobi are the two most popular designs and are USPS approved for use in curbside delivery in the USA.

There is more than one style and a variety of different color options with a bobi mailbox. I'm personally a fan of the red ones, I think it would make a nice addition to most homes, though the navy blue one that they offer is also a great color option for those of you wanting something different than the traditional black or steel mailbox.

Donna Karan your home...

I could spend hours shopping on the DonnaKaranHome.com website. Dreaming of the various combinations of items that are sold there that I would use in my dream home in my mind. Where changing the color of a room is possible within moments as I browse from screen to screen finding a scheme I like better than the one before.

I've probably redone my dream bedroom in my head hundreds of times, debating which style of bed frame I'd like and which Donna Karan Home bedding design would be "the one."

Even the bathroom of my dreams would have amazing bath accessories with a huge garden tub (with a jacuzzi of course) and a separate stand up shower. It would of course not be the only bathroom, since a dream house would have to include a scenario where there was not just one bathroom for our household.

Window shopping on the internet can be the things dreams are made of....

Start thinking LED

It's not even October yet, but if you are going to replace your Christmas lights, there are some good deals out there on led christmas lights that may save you money now as opposed to closer to the Christmas season when the prices generally go up. I typically buy Christmas decorations after the holiday when they are seriously marked down, the downside is remembering that I actually bought items and finding where they are. However, the one year I forgot what I had boughten, when I found it the next year, it was like a mini early Christmas...