Vote for the Snoopy License Plate

Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by kchristieh in shopping

Do you like Snoopy?
Of course you do!

Do you like museums?
Of course you do!

Therefore, please click here to sign up to show support for a personalized Snoopy California license plate. The DMV requires that there are at least 7,500 pre-paid plates before it will issue a new personalized design. Once there are 7,500 people that have signed up on this site, they’ll ask people for $50 towards payment for the plate. Proceeds benefit California’s awesome museums.

You can pay a bit extra and get a personalized plate. I think I’ll pass on that; I prefer anonymity. So far, so good on that front. I was in a line of five cars the other day waiting to turn left, and four of them were my model and color. Doesn’t get more anonymous than that.

But I’ll make an exception for a Snoopy license plate. I’ve liked Snoopy for so long that my Teddy bear that I got when I was three years old is named Snoopy.    :)

Q: Okay, so what do I need to do?

A: You just have to tell us you’re interested in a Snoopy license plate. This pre-registration won’t cost you a thing, and only requires your name and email address.

Q: I sign up. Then what happens?

A: When we have enough California drivers signed up, you’ll be contacted again to complete an application and pay $50 per vehicle towards an official Snoopy license plate – or a bit more if you want it personalized. The DMV requires 7,500 pre-paid registrants to begin production on the plate.

Q: But what if you can’t find 7,500 people?

A: Last we checked, California has 23,000,000 (that’s 23 MILLION) registered drivers. We’re pretty sure we can find 7,500 Snoopy and museum fans out there. If we can’t, you’ll get your fee back.

Q: So why is Snoopy supporting California museums?

A: Snoopy, being the community-minded beagle he is, understands that museums are for everybody.

Q: And why should I support California museums?

A: Museums are truly special places, community forums where families, friends and neighbors can meet, learn and discover together. We’re lucky in California, because our state has an incredible variety of great museums that serve a truly diverse range of interests and specialties.

Q: Who is the California Association of Museums?

A: The California Association of Museums is an organization dedicated to building a brighter future for California museums and the communities they serve, through education, outreach and support. You can find out more about CAM here.

Q: And who is Snoopy?

A: Good Grief!

The antidote to “Black Friday”

Posted on 27. Nov, 2009 by kchristieh in non-profits, religion, shopping

I’m burning out on rampant consumerism, and am trying to be more careful about how I spend my money in a tight economy. I found no reason to drag myself out of bed early this morning to join the throngs of people hitting the stores early to take advantage of the latest bargains.

Instead, here’s what I’m excited about: the LCPC Christmas Market. I’ve been helping my church, La Canada Presbyterian Church, with its alternative Christmas market for several years. You’re probably familiar with the concept: instead of buying a physical gift for a relative, teacher, client, etc., you buy something such as a goat, school supplies, tuition, etc. for someone who really needs it in your friend’s honor.

For the past few years, I’ve created a long online list of all the items available, with a PayPal button for each. It wasn’t very elegant, since you’d have to hit “back” every time you added something to your cart if you wanted to purchase something else. But none of the ecommerce packages I’d ever used – Yahoo Stores, GoEMerchant, Volusion, Miva Merchant – were cost and time-effective enough to bother with. This year I finally found the solution I’ve been looking for: BigCommerce. I had a blast creating this year’s online Christmas Market with BigCommerce, and am enjoying using it for other clients. After living through the creation and launch of eToys so many years ago, it’s mind-boggling how quickly and effectively I can now launch an online store.

Please visit the LCPC Christmas Market and put this year’s holiday dollars to good use!

Cheer someone up with a photo collage poster

Posted on 18. Aug, 2009 by kchristieh in health, shopping

Exercise is only part of the reason I try to get to Curves at 6:15 am most mornings. The other big reason is that I get to see my fellow early-rising amigas! Yesterday morning, Lisa P. gave me a few great ideas for what I could do for my sister-in-law who’s hospitalized in a far-off land. I took her up on one last night, and created a photo collage poster on Snapfish for our beloved patient. I loaded pictures of her relatives into a new Snapfish album, and kept reshuffling the images on the poster until the ones I wanted to show up larger were more prominent. Here’s the result:

I considered creating the poster on Shutterfly or Kodakgallery, but those sites had very stiff, confining layouts. I think this Snapfish poster looks much more creative and cohesive than the ones I would have created on the other sites.

Diane, if you happen to be seeing this, look for the real deal to arrive in a few days. It’s 16″ x 20″, so it should go a long way toward personalizing your hospital room and reminding you that there are lots of people who love you.

How Obama gets his cellphone fixed

Posted on 14. Aug, 2009 by kchristieh in politics, shopping, technical

Imagine my surprise when President Obama’s name showed up after mine in the queue at the Verizon store last night! He didn’t push on the “c” hard enough, but I’ve had that problem before, too.

Hopefully the Verizon folks were able to figure out how to work with his phone’s special encryption.

I wonder if he wishes Verizon carried iPhones. I sure do!

What should I do with my dead microwave oven?

Posted on 07. Jul, 2009 by kchristieh in environment, shopping

After several months of sputtering, our old microwave finally popped its last popcorn and died. I could have taken it to be repaired, but I figure a repair call would set me back at least $50, and since the oven is probably 20 years old, it might not even be able to be fixed.

I had a bunch of Best Buy coupons, so I purchased a brand-new, much spiffier microwave for $1.79. Yes, that decimal point is correct. I had lots of coupons, and the original price of the new microwave was only $79.00.

What should I do with the old microwave? Wait until bulky item pickup day? Wait until there’s another electronics pickup? Just toss it in the trash? I feel bad for producing this waste, but it made the most economic sense for us.

Right now it’s sitting outside by our garbage cans. It’s rather pathetic.

Ralphs loses competitive edge over Vons; Trader Joe’s in the lead

Posted on 24. Jun, 2009 by kchristieh in economy, environment, food, shopping, things that bug me

Imagine my horror when I discovered that Ralphs is cutting costs by eliminating the handles on its paper bags! Hopefully this will be the incentive I need to remember to carry my cloth bags in the car, but this evening it meant I chose plastic for the rest of my groceries.

It’s a tough life, but I’ll manage somehow. Or I’ll just go to Trader Joe’s.

Snow White’s revenge via the Apple

Posted on 05. Jun, 2009 by kchristieh in shopping

If I had a MacBook, I’d want it to sport this great decal sold by Vinylville on Etsy:

I love those strong Disney Princesses.

Combining Etsy, Chemistry, Physics and Mother’s Day

Posted on 08. May, 2009 by kchristieh in education, shopping

Today I’m going to interview candidates for high school teaching positions in chemistry and physics.

In honor of today’s efforts and Sunday’s holiday, here’s an amazing Mother’s Day card I found on Etsy that uses the periodic table notations for chemical elements to spell out “mo th er s.”

I’ll be very impressed if anyone wears this to their interview:

May the
m x a
be with all of today’s candidates and interviewers!

Pearls before swine flu

Posted on 01. May, 2009 by kchristieh in animals, health, my life, shopping

I’ve missed a few Etsy Fridays…so there’s no harm in pushing another retail establishment. One of my favorite birthday presents this year is a . He’s decked out with his own personal facemask, to protect him from swine flu. I was sick for most of this week (hence the absence of blog posts), so he was protecting himself. It worked! But he’ll probably keep it on until we’re no longer on emergency alert.

Pig is my favorite “Pearls Before Swine” character. His optimism and innocence remind me of myself. Here are a few recent examples:

First-class postage rate rising to 44 cents on May 11th, mitigated by Simpsons stamps

Posted on 13. Apr, 2009 by kchristieh in shopping

I’m still adding 1¢ stamps to old 39¢ stamps to send first-class mail at 42¢. I only have about ten 39¢ stamps left, so I was planning on purchasing a load of 42¢ stamps at the post office this week. Thankfully, I found out just in time that the rate is going up to 44¢ on May 11th.

At least I’ll get some cool Simpsons stamps then:

I know I could buy “forever” stamps, but I like to dress up my mail.  :)

Who’s your favorite Simpson’s character? Although I can do an utterly convincing Marge impersonation, I’m completely Lisa at heart. You can vote for your favorite here. Lisa’s trailing at 10%.

Top 10 tips to get a good night’s sleep

Posted on 03. Apr, 2009 by kchristieh in health, shopping

I have not been sleeping enough lately. I know, I know: that’s bad. But I have so much to do, and I get so much more done after the rest of the world goes to bed. Hopefully this weekend I’ll get some good sleep.

Here are my secrets to a good night’s sleep. They’re all low-cost and drug-free. They may be silly, but they work for me.

1. Wear knit gloves if your hands get cold.
2. Always wear socks.
3. Wear pajama pants that don’t ride up your legs.
4. Put a heavy blanket on top of the bedspread.
5. Don’t let your dog or cat sleep on your bed.
6. When necessary, have a good pair of earplugs by your bedside. I’ve tested many, and by far the best are the generic CVS brand silicone earplugs.
7. Close all shades, curtains and doors to the room to block the light.
8. Make sure all alarm clocks are on their darkest setting and aren’t set to turn on. (Mostly a concern in a hotel room.)
9. Leave your cell phone and laptop in a different room, or at least on silent and upside down / closed so they won’t light up the room.
10. If you have the luxury of sleeping past sunrise, wear an eye mask.

Which brings us to this week’s Etsy Find! I have an excellent travel eye mask I purchased at Distant Lands many years ago. It has a molded bridge that goes over the nose, so no light sneaks up to the eyes.

But it sure is tempting to wear the hand made “FREAK Them Out Sleep Eye Mask FreakyOldWoman Nightmare FOW” sold by FreakyOldWoman on Etsy.

Freaky, huh? But check this out:

Eeeek! Maybe this mask could work by scaring off your snoring sleep partner.

Actually, it does look like it’s a nice size, and I like the thick elastic band that holds it on.

Can you imagine how much you’d scare your children if you wore this in front of them? They’d be scarred for life.

Etsy Friday: Panoramic Sugar Easter Eggs

Posted on 27. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in my life, shopping

When I was little, sometimes the Easter Bunny would bring me and my sister sugar panoramic Easter eggs. They were so beautiful that even in our most ravenous moments we’d never dare eat them.

Here’s the Easter egg my sister gave to my daughter about 15 years ago. It’s still wrapped in the plastic it came in, so it’s stayed preserved. I have no idea where she got it. In fact, I’m only about 90% sure that she gave it to her. Perhaps I did. I would have, if I’d found one.

You can find beautiful sugar Easter eggs on Etsy. Here’s my favorite, from PBDoggyToo’s shop. It costs $14.95. I think it’s even prettier than my daughter’s.

Check out the inside:

The description says it’s edible, but I think it would be an incredible waste to eat this.

Sleep under the trees in this magnificent bed

Posted on 20. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in shopping

Instead of an Etsy find, this Friday I’m featuring the bed of my dreams. You can find it at Shawn Lovell Metalworks. Too bad it costs $15,000. But it’s really cool anyway.  :)

Imagine how much fun this could be: you could decorate it for Christmas, or put Easter eggs and a stuffed bird in the nest. Or maybe you’re not silly like I am.

Pink Friday at La Canada High School

Posted on 13. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in economy, education, local news, shopping

Teachers, students and parents all turned out at La Canada High School to protest that California is cutting even more from public school system budgets. We wore pink because today is “Pink Friday,” the day that teachers who are being laid off must receive their pink slips by.

As I said in my previous post, we’re lucky that La Canada has enough reserves to absorb most of the impact of losing $1.9 million from the state this year. But I learned at this morning’s PTSA meeting that we’re expecting to have to cut $11 million from our spending in the next three years. Ouch.

I found out today that a friend got a pink slip in a nearby town, and another friend who was training new teachers saw all those people get pink slips. She won’t be training new teachers anymore (since there won’t be any) but she’s lucky she’s been around long enough to keep a job with her district.

It’s hard to believe California once took pride in its schools.

In keeping with my tradition of highlighting my favorite Etsy find of the week, here’s the pink slip I wish they were handing out instead.

I’m not blue, but my earrings are

Posted on 06. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in my life, non-profits, quotes, shopping

It’s Etsy Friday! Today I’m featuring the bluerific earrings from Katie’s Crystals that I’m wearing to Gala tomorrow night. They match my cool blue dress and my surprisingly blue eyes.*

I still haven’t written my speech yet. I could recycle the speech I gave in October, but I don’t want to bore people. Stay tuned. I figure it’ll be a success if I can cut through the chatter and get peoples’ attention. I’m not worried: I’m an alto.

I can’t decide whether to incorporate a Suze Orman reference or include the great quote** I heard this evening while (admittedly enjoying) watching “House Bunny.” I’ll probably go with the former.

*Is it just me, or do you never see blue eyes? I’m always surprised when I actually see someone with blue eyes like mine. Maybe it’s because my husband, kids and dog all have brown eyes, as do most of my friends. There are so many more races here than I grew up with in New Jersey, and most of them aren’t known for their blue eyes.

** “Kindness is just love with its work boots on.”

Car wreck, financial wreck, the joy of childhood and the love of a dog

Posted on 28. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in animals, economy, inspirational people, my life, parenting, shopping

While I was on my way to take my daughter’s car to the body shop today,

three people called me on my cellphone, but I was a good girl and didn’t pick up the phone. But when I stopped at the corner of Lake and Walnut in Pasadena, I took my camera out of my purse and snapped some pictures of the people protesting in front of IndyMac:

Later in the afternoon, my daughter and I had fun watching these delightful children in the fountain at Paseo Colorado in Pasadena. They waited patiently for the water to come back up, and  would step on where the water had come out previously to get it to come, just like adults press elevator buttons over and over.

When the water finally came, they laughed and giggled with such delight that it took a cold or hurried soul not to stop and smile. I think Paseo Colorado management should pay kids to play there and make us all happy.

When I got home, my dog ran to the window to greet me.

It’s the little things that bring the most delight.

I won’t get any awards for dog training, but that’s ok

Posted on 28. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in animals, my life, shopping

As soon as I adopted my new dog last fall, I signed us up for dog training classes. He proved to be a quick study, and was putty in the hands of the wonderful, original Dog Whisperer, Paul Owens of Raise With Praise. He was ok with me, too, but he liked Paul’s chicken treats better.

It was hard to find time to train my dog at home, however. But we’ve managed to do pretty well on sit, stay and come. I’ve even got him trained to sit at the top of the stairs and wait until I ask him to come down. If I don’t do that, I might trip over him. He’s turned out to be my canine shadow, so I need to be careful.

My biggest breakthrough came a week ago, when I took delivery of a chair with sides from Staples. It prevents my dog from jumping on my back from the couch, or poking my thighs with his nose. He literally cried for 10 minutes when I got it, and for a few minutes each day for the next few days, but now he realizes that he can’t bother me while I work. I play with him about 20x more than I played with our old dog (see above picture) because he needs the attention. But I can’t play fetch and rub his belly 24/7.

Today’s Etsy Friday Find is the cool dog trainer lariat necklace to the right. The artist who designed it, BirdlandCreations, has lots of other witty and stylish jewelry.

I’m sure I could train my dog to jump through a hoop. He would have been a great circus dog. But he might not have as many belly rubs there.

Every driver needs this in their car in case of an accident

Posted on 26. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in life lessons, my life, parenting, shopping

Every driver needs a in their car. Period. This compact zippered case holds insurance and DMV information, a disposable camera, a pen, a clipboard and a checklist that details what to do in case of an accident.

I purchased one for my daughter last summer when she got her first car. I am so glad I did, for this evening she was in an accident and says that having this kit allowed her to stay focused and do what needed to be done.

Thank God she’s alright. That’s by far what’s most important. I partially credit this kit for keeping her ok after the accident, because she was able to maintain her wits about her and drive home. If she’d been too flustered trying to figure out what to do, she might not have been able to do that.

By the way, I bought a kit for myself last summer. Having everything in one place keeps my glove compartment more organized, and now it gives me a little more peace of mind that this truly does help in an emergency.

I purchased my kit at The Container Store, but I’ve also seen them at Target. You can also purchase them from several vendors on and other online stores. It might be the best $14.95 you ever spend.

My new mug: Chloe O’Brian for President, 2016

Posted on 25. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in inspirational people, shopping, tv

Now that I’m trying to drink tea instead of Diet Coke, I figured it was time to get a few new large mugs. I couldn’t find any I liked online, so I made my own. If you don’t watch “24″ this won’t mean much to you, but it features my heroine, Chloe O’Brian. To spiff it up, she’s sporting an Aretha Franklin inauguration hat and posing for a presidential candidate poster, a la 2016. I put the graphics together in Fireworks, and then had them printed up at Shutterfly. You can download my image here. Feel free to make your own mug!

My kids don’t understand why I like Chloe so much, but to me it’s obvious why I love this self-described “stay-at-home mom”:

• She’s always on the right side.
• She’s a total geek, and knows how to do just about anything.
• She says it like it is.
• She’s not afraid. Ever.
• She’s incredibly loyal.
• Her bosses couldn’t do their jobs without her.

My gosh, she sounds like Chuck Norris!

I’m not sure she’d be the best President, since she probably wouldn’t want the job, but I thought the mug was fun anyway. I love Jack Bauer, too, but I’d never pretend I want him for President. He might be a little too…trigger-happy.

My #2 favorite sound: capiz wind chimes

Posted on 20. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in my life, shopping, videos

When I was little, my grandparents lived in one of the coolest houses in the world. It was an old stone house that was three stories high (plus an attic, I think) on a beautiful suburban lake. They had a tiny canoe, a sailboat, and fishing poles. There was a public beach a few houses away, so we’d sometimes swim there. The town would launch fireworks from the beach on the 4th of July, and we’d all gather in my grandparent’s backyard to watch them.

My second most favorite sound in the world is the sound that their wind chimes made. (Click here to go to a page where you can hear the sound.) They were made of capiz shells, and looked something like the ones to the right. They’re not too loud, or too soft, so they’re the perfect accompaniment to a spring, summer or fall day with a soft breeze blowing. I can’t have them where I live now because it’s too windy. I’ve tried replicating the joy of wind chimes over the years with heavier-duty metal ones, but they’re just too loud for me. These days I keep my windows closed since I’m near a freeway, but I miss that soft sound.

For Etsy Friday, I’ve chosen some cool wind chimes I’ve found on the Etsy site. If the links don’t work, it means these have sold since I created this post, so click on the seller’s name to see other wind chimes they make.

I love this sea glass wind chime from tskDesign’s shop. I bet the thin metal pipes aren’t too loud.

My sister used to make things out of sea glass, but she never thought of making wind chimes.

I like how the artist combined the glass, wood and metal.

I bet the glass chimes on this one from windechoes’ shop sound somewhat like the capiz shells.

It probably wouldn’t hold up to our intense winds, however.

I like the clean, geometric design, and how the delicate, organic shape of the glass contrasts with the industrial look of the metal circle.

This one

I wish I knew what it sounded like! I bet it’d be neat in a pond.

And if you’ve read this far and are wondering what my #1 favorite sound is, it’s . It’s the sound of hope and joy all wrapped up in one.  :)

It’s hard to stop the babies when there’s chemistry involved

Posted on 13. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in international, parenting, shopping

I’m pretty proud of myself for this week’s Etsy Find: a “sugar and spice and everything nice” card for the baby shower for a chemistry whiz friend who’s expecting a little girl.

There was definitely chemistry between Great Britain’s 13-year-old Alfie Patten and 15-year-old Chantelle Steadman about 9 months ago. Alfie, who looks like he should be in 4th grade, became the proud papa to little Maisie Roxanne this week. Click to see the video.

So sad. I hope it works out for them.

It’d be easy to judge them, their families, and the society in which they (we) live. But if there’s one thing parenthood has taught me, it’s humility. I’m just grateful I’m not a grandma right now, and will just keep doing what I can to teach my kids to make good decisions. And when it comes to sex, I’d better be the teacher, because they’re not getting any sex ed. at school.

Maybe this situation will be a wake up call to others who can help prevent more 13- and 15-year-olds from becoming parents.

If I had short hair and lived in a colder climate, I’d buy these hats

Posted on 06. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in shopping

It’s the second week of my quest to bring you the coolest products I’ve seen on Etsy. This week I found some amazing hats. If I had short hair, and didn’t live in L.A., I’d definitely buy these.

I LOVE the “Jersey grey Aretha Franklin inaugaration inspired bow detail hat” by oddsandsod’s shop. This classy little hat is made of a jersey/lycra fabric, and it’s adorable. There’s no way I’d realistically wear the chapeau that Aretha Franklin donned for inauguration, but this hat’s downright cute. I have too much hair to pull it off, however.

I also love the “Leia Wig, Fleece Edition” from ansleybleu’s shop. Wouldn’t that be cool on Halloween, or for movie nights? I had a boyfriend in high school who dressed up as Luke Skywalker for the second Star Wars movie. If I’d had this, I could have dressed up, too. My kids would be completely embarrassed if I wore this wig, so they’re lucky I’m not getting it. I still like it, though.

And finally, if my dog was a girl and would promise not to eat it, I’d purchase “The Aretha Hat for Your Girlie Dog” from bowwowbonnet’s shop. My little dog would tear this apart in about a minute, but there’s probably someone out there who would appreciate it. It’s silly and frivolous, but that’s healthy sometimes!

Maybe I’ll buy my son “The Amazing Beard Hat.” It looks like a fun way to keep warm.

My Favorite Etsy Find of the Week: Math Clock

Posted on 30. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in shopping

When I need a break, I often click on the Etsy Pounce button. It’s really cool to see all the imaginative and beautiful stuff people make and sell.

Each Friday, I’m going to post my Favorite Etsy Find of the Week. So go stimulate the economy and get a unique handmade gift for someone…or yourself!!

This week’s favorite item is the Math Clock, sold by eagleapex.

I wish I could go back in time and give this to Mr. Kern, my old math teacher. I remember the time he held up my test and said something like, “Miss Christie got the answer wrong, but her handwriting is so neat that at least I could understand how she got there!” I think I got a few points for that. I’ve taken that lesson to heart ever since.  ;)

I remember what most of these mean, but I definitely forget a few. When I get a chance, I’ll look them up here.

You can wear Aretha Franklin’s inauguration hat

Posted on 27. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in art, politics, shopping

Here’s my public service for the day: graphics which allow you to “virtually” don the marvelous “church hat” that Aretha Frankin wore to Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Just copy the images below, remove the backgrounds, and you’re good to go. I’ll also link to a few other formats that have the backgrounds already removed. I’m including one with a bright pink background, since that’ll be easy to remove the background from.

Interested in buying the real thing? According to the blog  To Live and Buy in L.A.,

Orders are pouring into Luke Song’s Detroit-based Mr. Song Millinery, a store the Queen of Soul has patronized for 20 of its 25 years. Though the heather-gray wool hat ain’t cheap — it costs upward of $500 — Hsu writes “fans are welcome to drop $179 on a similar satin-ribbon version.”

The following two are jpgs:

Here it is in a PNG and TIFF format.

Spell a name or a word with photo art

Posted on 21. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in art, politics, shopping

Check out Krista’s Creations. You can choose which photograph you want to represent any letter you choose, and spell out a name or a word. Then, you can customize the shading and the background, and pay to have them print it out for you.
Here’s what I chose for today:

The inauguration tchochke I crave the most

Posted on 10. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in art, inspirational people, my life, politics, shopping

Imagine my delight when I received this invitation in today’s mail:

Of course, my skepto-radar starting beeping wildly. After all, it’s only 10 days before the inauguration, and I didn’t think they’d expect me to get plane tickets and a hotel room at this point. However, I do have an awesome dress, but I’m saving that for Gala. Anyway, I was right: the accompanying literature explained that this was just a “commemorative invitation” that invites my “prescence at any of the public events in what will be the most open and accessible Inauguration in American history.” And then it tried to sell me stuff.

Here’s what I wish they were selling: the Inauguration edition of Marvel’s The Amazing Spiderman #583 comic book. Obama liked Spiderman comic books as a lad, so this must be pretty cool for him to be featured in one. Read more about it here.

It goes on sale on Wed., Jan. 14th. I used the Comic Shop Locator to find the comic book store closest to me, and you bet I’ll be calling them.

If I were in a comic, I’d want to be in Pearls Before Swine. I’d be Pig’s best friend. We’re quite simpatico.

Should I pay for college or buy a bed?

Posted on 20. Dec, 2008 by kchristieh in economy, shopping

My daughter’s 17th birthday is fast approaching, and I need to decide what to get her.

Should I save for college or get this $47,000 bed?

I think I’ll skip the bed. My daughter always liked Belle better than Cinderella anyway.

Perhaps this is why some of the first casualties of this economic crisis are high-end baby stores.

Why do we treat dogs better than humans?

Posted on 19. Dec, 2008 by kchristieh in economy, non-profits, shopping, things that bug me

When Andy Bales‘ Facebook status said that the Union Rescue Mission urgently needed teen gifts for the last day of its Christmas Store, I kicked into high gear. As the mother of two teens, I’m a pro at shopping for that demographic. So I went on a major spending spree at Target and had fun choosing everything from basketballs to electronics to hooded sweatshirts. I headed down to Los Angeles’ Skid Row, and dropped off the goodies at the Union Rescue Mission loading dock.

On the way back, I passed through some of the worst of Skid Row. My heart broke. There were throngs of people spilling into the streets, including families with little kids. The streets were so thick with pigeons that I had to slow down to avoid hitting whole flocks. Then, just as I thought I was out of the bedlam, there was a body in the road. Dead? I don’t know. But traffic was stopped on the north side of Pershing Square as we waited for the ambulance to arrive. I sat in my car, only feet away, hoping to see some sign of life. I saw none. It was all too much…I cried. I felt so foolish for crying. After all, I used to volunteer at Union Station in Pasadena. I’ve also updated the Outreach portion of our church website for years, and have read many stories about and seen many pictures of Skid Row. But this was way more than I expected.

I had one more errand to run: I wanted to drop off some extra dog supplies at the Pasadena Humane Society. After I made my donation, I walked around the facility. What a contrast to the hell on earth I’d just seen downtown. The dogs, sad as they were to be in pens, were many times better off than the humans I’d just seen 30 minutes before. They were kept in clean cages and were well-fed. Volunteers were going from cage to cage to cuddle them and let them know they were loved. There was only one pigeon.

I bet that many of the people on Skid Row would have been happy to trade places with these dogs.

What kind of society is this that we treat our fellow humans this way?

I’m glad that I brought the gifts down there today, but I feel like it’s just a drop in the bucket of what’s needed. I wish I could make more of an impact, and I wish that our society as a whole cared for the needy better.

PS – I had my camera with me, but I didn’t think it was respectful to take pictures. I looked for pictures on the internet that depicted scenes similar to what I saw today, but I couldn’t find any. There were tons of pictures of Skid Row, but none that were nearly as dramatic as what I saw. I checked Google Street View, and their cameras only show a minute fraction of the number of homeless I saw today. Go to the corner of 5th St. and San Julian St. in Los Angeles and see for yourself. Then do something.

Best cheap stocking stuffer: CVS earplugs

Posted on 07. Dec, 2008 by kchristieh in shopping

I’m a light sleeper. That would be great if I were one of my ancestors, and needed to be on the alert for wild animals or marauding tribes. But in suburbia in 2008, it means I hear the freeway, the cars driving past, the guests who wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and the dog up the street. I’m lucky that’s all I hear; I can’t imagine how sleep-deprived I’d be if I lived in a densely populated city.

I’ve become a connoisseur of fine earplugs. The foam ones that you scrunch up and shove in your ears are the worst: they usually fall out by the middle of the night, and don’t offer much hearing protection. Awhile back I discovered silicone earplugs made by BioEars, and even blogged about them. They work very well, but I recently found something even better and cheaper. When our local CVS store didn’t have any BioEars in stock, I decided to spend $1.99 and try their generic brand of “Ultra-Soft Silicone Earplugs with Microbial Protection.” Oh. My. Gosh!! They work incredibly well. They form easily to the shape of your ear, and are just a little bit sticky, which makes them far less likely to fall out. They block noise incredibly well, to the point where I just hear my breathing and heartbeat. Sure, if there’s something really loud, I hear it. When I wear these, I sleep very soundly and have lots of dreams. Amazing dreams. But I don’t bore you with those.
I’m going to buy some as stocking stuffers for my relatives this year. At just $1.99 for two pairs, you can’t beat them!!

PS – DON’T get the Tyr silicone earplugs for swimming. They’re completely useless.

Here are links to past stocking stuffers:

• Monkey Key Covers
• Bottle Camp Tripod
• Twist Magnet Pen (but the ones I gave didn’t have Dora on them!!)

Here’s how Sarah Palin could dress well for far less than $150,000 a month

Posted on 22. Oct, 2008 by kchristieh in politics, shopping, startling statistics, things that bug me

When I first heard that Sarah Palin spent over $150,000 on clothing, grooming and accessories for herself and her family in September, I was skeptical. That’s over $5,000 a day. But a multitude of media outlets (even Fox!) are now reporting that Palin spent that much Republican money at Neiman Marcus ($75,063), Saks Fifth Avenue ($49,426), Macy’s ($9,448), Bloomingdale’s ($5,103) and others.

I dress well, but even if I tried, I couldn’t spend that much money. Palin should have had a fair amount of nice clothing already since she’s a governor, but let’s assume she needed to freshen things up.

Here are some nice outfits from some of my favorite retailers that I think would look lovely on her:

Instead of shopping at designer stores, she could have purchased these CAbi outfits:

[CAbi asked me to remove the pictures. Too bad you'll miss seeing their wonderful clothes!]

Here’s one from J.Jill. It’s a little more casual, but I think it would look stunning on her:

And don’t forget Ann Taylor. They probably even have Ann Taylor stores in Alaska.

So there. Even if she got a brand-new outfit or two a day, she could still look terrific for way under $5000 / day.

As for the reported $4,716.49 on hair and makeup, that’s insane. I can’t even braid my own hair, let alone put it up in a granny bun, so maybe she needs help with that. But she could get her hair cut and styled for under $100 at some very high quality places here in the Los Angeles area. If she needs to go every day, she’s wasting her time!

All of this aside, I’d feel incredibly guilty spending this much on clothes when so many people are starving around the world and struggling financially in this country.