Don't buy Mohawk carpet.  Buy any kind of carpet but Mohawk.  We recarpeted our home, all 5000 square feet of it, a few years ago with what appeared to be a beautiful carpet.  And it did look beautiful for a while.  But within a few months, it started wrinkling.  I called Carpet World, the store where we purchased it.  They restretched it.  A few months la...

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S500 is a remarkable piece of office equipment.  Although a fairly pricey $400, it has paid for itself over and over in the year we have had it in my husband's office.  One press of the scan button and you turn paper into PDF's.  It can scan one side or two at a speed of about 18 pages per minute.  ScanSnap will do color or black and white. ...

Getting Things Done has literally changed my life.  That may sound like a cliche, but it's still true.  Written by David Allen -- "the personal productivity guru"-- this 21st century self-help classic takes you from paper stacks, to-do overload and total confusion to a glowing light at the end of the tunnel.  Allen teaches you about the power of the s...

As a totally converted Getting Things Done fan, I was thrilled to get a copy of Ready For Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life.  And I wasn't disappointed.  David Allen, the "personal productivity guru," will make you think and fire you up with inspiration as you read through the 52 short chapters.  Ready for Anything doesn't give you the compl...

I've always had extremely dark circle under my eyes.  Doesn't matter how much sleep I get, what I eat or anything else the so-called beauty experts suggest.  Several years ago I tried Bobbi Brown concealer, and it worked better than anything else I had tried.  But at $36 a pop, combined with only one store (not close) in my town carrying it, it was a luxury I tried to rat...

Likk the look of tanned skin, but hate the effects of the sun?  Me too.  I've tried many of the self-tanners on the market and been disappointed in most.  Either they streak, or make my skin look orange or have that overpowering sun tan oil smell.  Vaseline Intensive Care's new "Healthy Body Glow" is finally the self-tanner that makes my skin have that natu...

When Food Network debuted Quick Fix Meals with host Robin Miller, I thought this at last might solve my cooking problems.  Not enough time, picky eaters (and there are no longer small children in my household), varying schedules for everybody and too many last minute trips to the grocery store.  Rachael Ray and her 30 Minute Meals hadn't done it for me.  Freezer cooking ...

A year ago I would have said toothpaste is toothpaste.  Just get the cheapest.  But then I had a really bad episode of gingivitis.  I've had trouble with gingivitis off and on all my life, but this was definitely the worst yet.  I couldn't get in to see the dentist right away, so I decided to experiment by changing from Crest to Colgate Total.  What a difference...

My teenage daughter won't go into Coldwater Creek with me, but when it comes to clothing for travel, this company can't be beat.  Their "travel knit" really doesn't wrinkle.  On a recent trip, I packed my black Coldwater Creek travel knit pants, hung them up when I got to our destination and never felt wrinkled at all.  I love to travel, but have always hate...

I love to cook. And I'm a really good cook.  Give me a Saturday in the kitchen with the food network in the background, and I'm happy.  Problem is, I just don't have enough of those Ssaturdays or any other time.  I'm busy, and my family is busy.  We all have different schedules and activities.  But we do share one goal:  we all want to eat.Desperati...

Author and motivational speaker Larry Winget is known as the "pitbull of personal development," and there's a reason for it.  He speaks in no-nonense language and makes Dr. Phil look life a softie.  In Shut up, Stop Whining & Get a Life: A Kick-Butt Approach to a Better Life, Winget does just that -- kick butt.  He tells the reader he wants "shake you up&qu...

Fantastik has been around for a while; but I never used it.  Finally, a friend suggested I give it a try.  I have white kitchen cabinets, and I am cooking all the time.  Grease and grime accumulate, and I'm always cleaning the cabinets.  Nothing seemed to quite get rid of the grease -- at least, not without a lot of grease from me -- the elbow kind.  I even tried Gr...

It's rare to think of a mainstream magazine as inspirational, but that's exactly what MORE is.  Designed to sell to women over 40, it's chock full of tips, ideas, articles and pictures that portray women of 40, 50, 60 and older living full and meaningful lives.  I picked up this magazine in the grocery store check-out line when I was feeling discouraged about being 50, pul...

Don't we all want our lives to be real simple?  I certainly do, which is why a few years ago I picked up a copy of Real Simple while in the grocery store check out line.  It was, specifically, the week of Thanksgiving, and the issue I purchased provided just the quick and simple ideas I needed for a busy Christmas season.A crystal bowl full of fresh lemons from the super...

I have to write a fairly large amount of business letters, both for my husband's office and volunteer work I'm involved in.  When I impulsively purchased "How To Say It: Choice Words, Phrases, Sentences and Paragraphs for Every Situation," I had no idea I would be using it almost as much as I turn to my old dog-eared and faded Reader's Digest Thorsarus.  "Ho...

It's another great cookbook from Southern Living.  Homestyle Cooking is full of the recipes I grew up with and still love to cook.  Just a peek at the chocolate cake on the cover and your mouth will start watering.  Not to mention your mind forgets about calories.  This is a compliation of all those delicious Southern recipes, including peach cobbler, fried catfish, bisc...

Gardening is a passion of mine and over the years, I have made this look a part of my home.  I really believe the outside should be an extension of your home and I am fortunuate to live in an area of the country where we can enjoy our backyard, deck and screened porch about eight months of the year.  Garden Style,  one of the many decorating books put out by Better Homes and Gard...

Most cooks I know seem to have a love-hate relationship with food processors.  They either can't cook without them or they find them totally useless.  I've had the Cuisinart Custom Prep II Food Processor for a couple  of years now and find it to be a handy kitchen toolCuisinart makes a lot of kitchen products, but are probably most well known for food processors.  An...

I love funny works of fiction.  The Ivy Chronicles is a humorous, easy read that follows a high-powered New York career woman who becomes a consultant to the wealthy who are tyring to get their little ones into private nursery schools.  The author, Karen Quinn, bases the book on her real-life experience as a nursery school admittance consultant.Ivy, the main character, kicks out her d...

I guess I've read every novel and short story written by British author Rosamunde Pilcher.  She is absolutely my all-time favorite writer, and "Winter Solstice" is my favorite of the favorites.  It's also her most recent book and according to Pilcher, unfortunately her last.Pilcher takes the reader inside the lives of several characters in England and Scotland. ...