Category — Who Knew?

My kids tell me I severely limited their TV watching when they were in grade school: which I find hard to believe since they can sing every 80s TV theme song. But today lots of moms I know continue the practice of limiting their children’s TV viewing, especially on school nights. But if you’re going to let them watch, why not require them to Viggle?I’ve told you about Viggle before: its a way to “check-in” to your favorite TV shows, get points for watching those shows, and then redeem those points for free stuff… like Starbucks and movie tickets. (If you’re a mom or grandmom reading this its kind of like being a Nielsen Ratings home: but instead of recording your TV watching in a diary and receiving a weekly cash thank you, technology allows you to check-in with your iPhone or iPad.)

Check-in with Viggle is very simple:

• download the free Viggle app to your iPhone or iPad (the android app is in beta)
• when your TV program starts, open the app and press “check in”
• Viggle will “listen” to your TV and search for the right show. If Viggle can’t find your show, you can manually input the show you’re watching.
• confirm that Viggle is listening to the right show and voila! you accumulate points

Viggle also give bonus points for special shows, quizzes, watching commercials, and other opportunities. Then, when you redeem enough points, you redeem them for a coupon that Viggle emails to you.

So, what does all this have to do with charity? You can redeem your points as a charitable donations! Viggle lets you redeem your points from a frequently updated list of vendors. Today, in addition to Starbucks, Best Buy, JC Penney, Fandango, Amazon and other vendors you can redeem your points for:

• Covenant House: 7500 points donates $5
• Boys and Girls Clubs of America: 7500 points donates $5
• National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc: 7500 points donates $5

And Viggle would like to hear what other charities you want added to the Viggles Reward Catalogue: email them here: ideas@viggle.com

So next time your kids want to watch a little TV tell them yes: if they Viggle for charity!

I stopped with little sis Mary for a quick polish change last week at Arbre, and we both ended up joining Belly: a business loyalty reward card that works for multiple businesses!

Yes, you read that right: Belly doesn’t just work for our Arbe visits, it adds points if I visit NYC Bagel and Deli. Or Elly’s Pancake House. Or over 600 businesses in Chicago alone, with more joining everyday.

Founded and based in Chicago, Belly is growing quickly as businesses sign-up to take advantage of customers’ desire to be rewarded while not being inconvenienced. Targeted mainly at small and medium-sized businesses, Belly offers a customer retention program for small businesses whose customers may not sign up for a loyalty program for their store only: I won’t go to Arbre again, while the manicure was fine it’s not in my neighborhood: we simply had a few hours to fill before an appointment. But I joined up because I do regularly go to other businesses who use Belly. Starbucks I’m at almost daily: I’m happy to let my drink stars accrue toward a free drink. But Dog-a-holics I only visit a couple times a year. I can Belly at Dog-a-holics. Genius!

When we signed up, I used the in-store iPad and entered my email address, and received a plastic card for my wallet or keychain. But then I downloaded the free iPhone app: no more card to carry, I just bring up my barcode and rake in the points. With hundreds of locations already in Chicago, Belly is expanding rapidly, and I can find dozens of new locations in SoFlo, NYC, Texas, Arizona and even Nebraska!

And with all the points I’m raking in, I can get free cupcakes… and a whole bunch of other stuff like haircuts and comic books.

Loyalty cards have gone digital! Who knew?

I thought everyone knew what Rooster Sauce is: but after 2 restaurant meals this week with friends, I found out I’m wrong: alot of you are somehow missing out on the huge red squeeze bottle with the green tip on your table at many casual Asian restos. I use Rooster Sauce like a sweet and spicy ketchup: occasionally as an ingredient, but more often as a condiment for soups, sandwiches, dips, spreads, marinades and sauces.

Rooster Sauce is not the real name: it’s actually named Sriracha Sauce. But because the most popular brand has a big rooster on the side I – and everyone else – call it Rooster Sauce. According to the Huy Fong website, Sriracha Sauce is made from sun-ripened chilies and garlic. And according to dozens of bloggers, it’s easy to make at home. But I just buy the Rooster!

I 1st remember Rooster Sauce about 12 years ago in Paris, where it was a condiment on the table in a Thai resto. Then, I brought it in the International section of the grocery. Where I still buy it today, in the US. I never have to search it out: it’s been available wherever we’ve lived from NYC to Chicago to St Louis to SoFlo. (But FYI: I never once saw Rooster Sauce in Thailand.)

The easiest way to use Rooster Sauce is to just put it on the table and let everyone spice up! But if you need some ideas on how to use Rooster Sauce:

• Spicy mayo for dipping sushi, egg rolls;  spreading on BLTs and tuna or salmon burgers; or mixing into cole-slaw or macaroni and cheese
• Blood Mary mixes perk up with a squirt of Rooster Sauce
• Make pasta arrabiata with Rooster Sauce in place of red pepper flakes
• A stream of Rooster Sauces wakes up instant ramen noodles ( college kids: take note!)
• Jump-start deviled eggs or chicken wings
• add Rooster Sauce to cocktail sauce for shrimp, crab or scallops

Spicy Mayo Recipe

2 parts mayonnaise
1 part Rooster Sauce (adjust to taste: some like it spicier so try equal parts; some like it milder so try 4:1)
Wedge of lime

Mix, and serve! (For a party, I put the mayo in a small dish, squirt circles of Rooster Sauce on top, and wedges of lemon on the side. It’s pretty, and festive!)

Rooster Sauce: Who Knew?

The photo was everywhere: Lenny Kravitz walking down the street talking on the phone…with a traditional telephone handset wired to his iPhone.

Voila! The perfect gift for my son and TBG, both iPhone addicts who like to pace while they talk, and both notorious butt-dialers. The POP Phone is a retro-style wired handset that connects to mobile phones, iPads, lap tops and other devices.

I found my POP Phone at Urban Outfitters, in an assortment of colors from black to red to purple to yellow…and everything in between. I chose 2 red POP phones: tres cool! Check online: POP Phones are popping up all over: Best Buy, West Elm, CB2, as well as online vendors like Amazon. And prices vary $17-35, so shop around!

Moi tip: POP phones aren’t just for phones: they can also be used for iPads and computers: if you use Skype or VOIP calling, I’ve found that if your connection is static-y or breaking up you can get much clearer reception with the POP phone. Adaptors may be necessary.

And I did test wireless retro handsets for mobile phones: I didn’t find them to be as clear at the wired POP Phone.

Who knew retro handsets would be sooo cool: Lenny knew! I’ll be gifting a few more POP Phones in 2012.

Lil Sis Mary was being released from the hospital after surgery, and had to be sure not to get her incision and staples wet in the shower. I’m on it: my friend Carla just shared a showering after surgery tip and I was thrilled to be able to pass it on to Mary:

Press’n Seal! Cut off a piece of cling large enough to cover the area you need to keep dry, press carefully around the edges to “seal” the cling to the skin, then shower! When finished, just toss out the used cling and tear off a fresh piece for the next shower. In addition to surgical scars, Press’n Seal would have worked great when TBG had a PICC line after surgery, and when he had his knee in a cast.

Simple, effective and cheap! Press’n Seal can be found at your grocery or home goods store, $5 – $8 depending on size.

Who knew?

From the bed of…

Little Sister Mary is unexpectedly in town this week: she flew from Texas to Chicago for an unplanned surgery, so arrived with 1 suitcase and 1 daughter, 1 husband and 1 son to follow shortly. In all the rush and confusion of course things were forgotten, so from her hospital bed Mary started giving me lists of things she needed from Target, Gap, Bed Bath and Beyond, grocery store, etc:

• hot pink pillowcases
• pink eyemask
• cotton t-shirts
• bottled water and Crystal Light packets
• Monistat Chafing Powder

Monistat Chafing Powder? Wait: you’re in the hospital, shouldn’t we check with your Doctors before you order yeast infection ointments?

Mary looked at me like I’m crazy: Don’t you read the blogs? I use Monistat powder as a primer for my BareMinerals makeup.  Hunh?

Once home I spent an hour googling it: she’s right. Since being introduced, women have discovered that Monistat Chafing Powder has similar ingredients to much more expensive makeup primers: $7.99 for Monistat v $20, $30 or more for similar cosmetic primers. I just converted from wearing moisturizer and concealer to BareMinerals make-up, and living in very humid climates, had been trying to deal with makeup dripping down my face. That’s why I need a primer!

(What’s a makeup primer? I didn’t know either, so I looked it up: it’s a basecoat for your foundation, that leaves your skin smoother and helps the makeup adhere better. So on hot humid days, your expensive powder foundation isn’t running onto your white tank top! Apply after moisturizer, before foundation.)

Who knew? Monistat is now in my medicine cabinet…and happily not for a yeast infection.

Thanks Lil Sis!

Every August we start to hear the question: Is it OK to wear white after Labor Day? Mais oui! In fact, as I’m writing this its a sunny 42° September morning in Chicago, and I’m wearing white jeans and long-sleeve black t-shirt. However, it is time to switch-out my summer white Furla bag for a Fall bag.

Last week TBG had a short trip to London, and while normally I’d finagle my way to go with him, the trip was so short I didn’t even consider it. Due to international travel hassles, TBG arrived at Heathrow nearly 3 hours before his flight, and after a touchy-feely British TSA invasion, he ended up with nearly 2 hours until boarding time. How to spend a few hours in the airport: shopping at Harrods, bien sur! So when the cab brought him home Friday night, Mignette and I were downstairs to greet him. The first thing out of the cab: a giant shiny green Harrods bag. For Moi.

In the bag: a new bag! I scored a new black Jimmy Choo hobo bag, light weight with lots of interior pockets. (Apparently it was also available in plum, but no returns to Heathrow!) For the last 6 days my new bag has stayed in its Harrods bag, decorating our bedroom floor, but this morning I decided to make the seasonal bag switch. (Yes, I use other bags throughout the season, but I always have a go-to bag ready each season. And btw: I do have a winter-white bag I usually use around the holidays.)

So I dumped the contents of the Furla onto the bed, anticipating a quick switch to the Jimmy Choo. Even I was surprised at a few things I found on the bed:

• a folded up stack of $20s: $80. Who knew?
• 2 iPhone earbuds and a charger: apparently I fear going into iPhone withdrawal
• 3 different bottles of eye drops
• about $4 worth of change: no wonder the bag was so heavy
• a fan, and battery operated pen-fan: I was using the bag in SoFlo, so that makes sense.
• 2 containers of migraine pills: both with pills (on my trip to Boston in July I had the containers but no pills: and a migraine )
• lipgloss, eyeglasses, empty eyeglass case, tide-out, Altoids, hand-creme, plastic hairclip
• reusable plastic shopping bag (which Trader Joes would probably like me to use)

Naturally no wallet or sunglasses: they were on the dresser. But not bad! The change is heading to Starbucks for a “free” chai latte (tall, skim, extra water, extra hot) and the $20s are my little secret…TBG never reads my blog.

Note: I didn’t ask, and I haven’t checked, but I’m guessing it would have been cheaper for me to fly with TBG to London than his airport shopping spree.

Color Blocking is the hot summer fashion trend that is carrying over into the Fall: combining 2 or more bold colors that normally don’t go together.

I’m taking fashion to the tailgate: I’m color blocking my M&Ms! For TBG’s book party a few weeks ago, I went online and purchased single-color bags of M&Ms in the traditional Notre Dame colors of blue and gold, plus added a few bags of green M&Ms, which ND has been sporting more and more the last few years. Ten 7oz packages at $6.99 each with shipping almost $100: yes I did! Then I mixed them together to flaunt the ND colors. (You can buy the bags already color-mixed, but that costs even more!)

But a few handfuls later, those M&Ms quickly dwindled and only the photos remain.

Now that Notre Dame tailgating season has commenced, I wanted to recreate the ND color theme: at a lower price.

So yesterday on my now-weekly Target trip: voila! I bought the 42oz party size bag of plain M&Ms for $6. Last night watching Flipping Out (how appropriate!), I poured the entire bag into a bowl and picked out the blue, green and gold M&Ms and put them in a clear water bottle for decorative, sanitary tailgate munching. Then, I picked out the red M&Ms, leaving me with a bowl full of orange and brown M&Ms: perfect for Halloween next month.

And the left-over reds? Dessert!

Not bad for $6 and an hour of TV-watching.

note: yes, I know that is not the traditional ND blue: but have you seen this year’s The Shirt: Kelly Blue!

Recently (ok, 6 years ago, but still…) we removed the beige wall-to-wall carpeting furnished by our condo developer and installed hardwood floors in the living room, dining room and kitchen. With our blue and white beachy decor we enjoyed the new feeling of lightness and openness. But the last 2 years, TBG has been asking for an area rug under the coffee table: he just thought it looked a little bare. Since we usually only visit the condo a few weeks a year, it was never a priority and we casually glanced at area rugs when we shopped, I checked out rugs in the mountains of catalogs the postman delivered, and I honed in on the flooring selections in my baskets of shelter magazines. Finally, a decision: flokati!

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