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Field of Science

The protein folding funnel and its discontents

Speaking of protein folding, here's something interesting. One of the most enduring views of protein folding from the last decade is that of an "energy funnel". The funnel was invented by the UCSD chemist Peter Wolynes in the 90s (the original paper is highly readable) and essentially depicts a plot of the configurational enthalpy (or effective energy) of the protein on the Y axis vs the configurational entropy on the X axis. In real situations this plot is multidimensional.

The funnel suggests a way out of Levinthal's paradox which contrasts the fast folding times for virtually all proteins with the vast amount of conformational space to be searched. According to the funnel viewpoint, the energy of the protein on the Y axis decreases and becomes more favorable even as the entropy on the X axis decreases, leading to fewer conformations to be searched and allowing the protein to rapidly find the native structure. The funnel has become a mainstay of descriptions of protein folding and has made its way into textbooks.

The funnel view of protein folding had always puzzled me a little for the simple reason that we usually think of the enthalpy and entropy of the protein (and in fact of any chemical system) as opposing factors. Entropy would hinder the protein even as it formed more "native" contacts and led to a favorable enthalpy. Yet the funnel seems to suggest a synergy between these two factors. Many papers have said that the funnel "guides" the protein to its correct conformational state. In this week's Nature Chemical Biology, one of the founding fathers of the field, Martin Karplus, sheds some light on this confusion and informs us that the traditional view of the funnel is indeed a little misleading.

To support his argument, Karplus illustrates two examples of protein folding studies using two kinds of systems. One is a lattice model system in which the protein is approximated by beads on a lattice. Native contacts in the protein are indicated by adjacent beads on the lattice. The other folding simulation is a standard molecular dynamics simulation of an alpha helix. In both cases the proteins are small (about 30 residues) but their behavior at low and high temperatures is intriguing.

At low temperatures, the folding landscape is more "rugged" and folding is slower. This is a well-established concept and it simply means that there is less energy for the protein to explore all the available local minima. At high temperature the landscape is "smooth" and the protein has enough energy to explore many conformational states. What is striking is that while the effective energy (enthalpy) at high temperature decreases smoothly all the way to the native state, the
free energy (which is what we should really be worrying about) has a significant barrier. Thus this barrier has to come from entropy. The crucial thing to note is that at high temperatures, the free energy is dominated by the increasing unfavorable entropy engendered by the greater number of conformations that the protein has to search.

Ultimately it's easy to forget that the protein folding "funnel" is only a theoretical construct, an intuitive model. Has anyone actually observed a funnel for a
real protein? As the article notes, for now the answer is a decided "No". Unfortunately it may be impossible to ever do so since to construct a real funnel one would need knowledge of every single conformational state that a protein visits on its way to folding. In addition since folding is a statistical phenomenon, one would also need knowledge of every starting trajectory. Needless to say, for now this is at best a pipe dream. However the funnel remains a useful construct provided we remember the subtleties and caveats that Karplus has described. Ultimately it's a model, and like other models it need not be real, but it should at least be useful.

Karplus, M. (2011). Behind the folding funnel diagram Nature Chemical Biology, 7 (7), 401-404 DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.565

  1. Nice article. I don't know a lot about protein folding - but I'm wondering if more shouldn't be made of the fact that the ribosome may be pre-conditioning the folding of proteins. Is it not true that once denatured, folding may not occur again successfully, whereas following ribosome production, folding generally occurs spontaneously?

  2. Hey Ash: Don't know when you updated last, but I notice you're not at UNC anymore, but have joined the biotech ranks. Congrats!

  3. Thanks, I am excited about the new job!

    Anon: I think you raise a good point. To my knowledge there's been work on partial folding in the "exit tunnel" but not much structural studies have been done.

  4. The funnel picture would be much more plausible if every protein showed two-state behavior. However, it appears that as we develop higher and higher resolution single molecule fluorescence techniques (e.g. Gilad Haran's 2011 Nature Paper) we're seeing more and more complex behavior that can't be described by two state models.

    The funnel is a simple model that helps explain low resolution experiments (melting curves, etc), but is insufficient. A more general theory that can explain both two-state and multi-state behavior is needed.

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

French flower pots by trial and error...mostly ERROR!

Oh boy what a week it has been so far
with one thing after another going wrong and
then to top it off I can't even follow directions! SO
you really need to visit
to see how this little project all started.
Ahh...french flowerpots.
Who doesn't want to have a few of these around!

Not looking too bad in bright sunlight, but
don't get too up close and personal! lol.

It even looks pretty good tucked in among all
my goodies on my kitchen shelf.

This ivy plant amazes me. I don't remember the last time I tried to grow ivy and I just left this one in the original pot outside and it has flourished. {even though it is rootbound!} For this photo shoot I took it out of the pot and crammed it in this one. Now it will probably die on me. :)

Not a perfect graphic, but hey isn't that what trial and error is all about? Trust me this gal is used to things being a little wonky so it fits right in at my place.

What you don't know is that I painted that silly pot several times because whenever I would adhere the graphic, wait overnight for it to dry and then wet it and try to take the top layer of paper off...it took paint off right along with the paper every time...and part of the graphic as well. I was getting very discouraged so thought hey I will try it on a box that has been painted for several days.

Yep...you see the result...Sandi did not follow
directions AGAIN and I did not wait overnight.
I thought oh what the heck...it looks dry to me
so off I went to finish it. Not so great again...
took off half the graphic as well. hee hee.
I am leaving this box as is...I think it just looks
like an old box that has lost part of it's graphic
over the years. Kinda like me...I have lost a lot
of things , but it's my mind that I miss the most! :)

I do hope you visit Heaven's Walk and read the steps
and if you try it I suggest you follow them to a T. {although I will also say that apparently my printer
doesn't have waterproof ink and the graphic smeared a little
when it was wet, but I am satisfied for now.
I will keep trying and actually do one RIGHT from
start to finish one of these days.

I painted the pot like she did too, but then had to dab
more paint on and try to blend it in around the graphic
where the paint lifted later.
Oh my...the pickles I get myself into.
But it was fun anyway and I will try again.

Yep the poor, but lovely box...ha!! Happy White Wednesday again this week. Thanks to Kathleen over at Faded Charm for
continuing to put up with my shenanigans.

A Rosy Note said...

Oh, I think they look great, Sandi! And, a little bit of the graphic torn off makes them look worn and more authentic too. I saw Laurie's post about this and thought it would be great to try. I haven't gotten around to it yet though.

C'est Moi, Julie Marie said...

Oh Sandi, you are too cute!... I love this post so much... you and I would get along great in person, kind of like Lucy and Ethel!... I think the little flowerpot looks wonderful, like it aged some over the years... and I love your description of how you put your ivy inside the pot!... hope you are having a good time, it sounds like you are... you have a darling sense of humor, and I love that!... xoxo Julie Marie PS Kitty kisses to Gypsy!!!

Paula ~ castleandcottagesigns said...

I think they look just fine...I love things a little tattered:) I saw Laurie's post on these, haven't tried it yet but soon!

Heaven's Walk said...

LOL! You poor thing! You were trying so very hard....! But they really turned out great, Sandi! They look old and vintagey and just beautiful! Even the torn part makes it look old. :) Don't be so hard on yourself, silly girl! You did just fine! And thanks for the shout out, sweetie! :)

xoxo laurie

Debra @ Common Ground said...

Laurie's post was AMAZING, notice, I haven't tried it yet, te he. You got to be the guinea pig! I think they turned out great. xoxo Debra

mercedes scott said...

Trail and error... isn't that the only way to learn? I can relate to the "instant" gratification feeling of wanting the project done "now" so I can see what it looks like! I seem to have problems waiting (per directions)... Your projects turned out fantastic -- aren't they supposed to look aged anyway?!? Happy White Wednesday :)

Miss Gracie's House said...

This made me smile...I do know just what you are talking about:)...I always get in a hurry too and don't follow directions very well...but THANKS for pointing this technique out...I have been searching for months for a way to use the images on wood...since I don't sew...I try this and *learn* from your mistakes:)...your items really did turn our cute, BTW!!!
Have a great week!

Miss Gracie's House said...

P.S. I forgot to say your little Gypsy is so sweet! And did I ever tell you, I LOVE your outdoor area you've been playing with...it is so pretty!

Lady Pamela said...

Thanks for the trial and error warning. I will pass this onto my sister who is going to try this out. It will save her some precious time and ink! *Smiles*

A Cottage Muse said...

Hi Sandi!
I want to try this too...I put it on my fall list. I like the way yours came out, looks like you've had it forever!
Hope little Gypsy is doing great!

Sherry said...

That turned out lovely. I love this idea.

Julia - "Vintage with Laces" said...

Hi Sandi, Thank you for sharing this transfer method. I'll try this instead of using gel medium soon.
Have a great weekend :-)!

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The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book

A spectacular coming-of-age adventure with digital artistry to die for.

8 /10

The Jungle Book, Disney’s latest cartoon-to-live-action adaptation, gets a lot of things right: It’s wildly entertaining, full of great vocal performances by a stacked A-list cast, and boasts a hilarious/creepy musical number by none other than Christopher Walken. But, as delightful as it is hearing Walken sing a jazzy Disney classic (fond memories of Pennies From Heaven come rushing back), the thing that makes this John Favreau-directed romp so enjoyable is its spellbinding presentation, which is worth the price of admission alone. This thing looks and sounds like pure movie magic and elicits the same gasps of wonder the original 1967 animated feature did at the time. Hell, this modern update may even be better. Time will tell.

Aside from star Neel Sethi, who plays our tumbling, red-loinclothed hero, Mowgli, every character is a computer generated, anatomically correct animal. Cartoons they are not: wolves don’t have insanely big “Disney eyes,” and birds don’t suddenly flash inexplicably human-toothed grins. These animals look real. They’re of our world. The animators and sound designers have done such good work here that it’s hard to express in words how damn amazing this thing looks, so let’s dive into the other aspects of the movie as a sort of respite before I continue gushing about the sound and visuals.

The story feels like a mash-up of the original 1967 animated musical and 1994’s The Lion King (several images—a stampede, a fiery final battle—will give you deja vu). It’s a combination that goes together like peanut butter and jelly. But PB and J can get old (especially when you find it). There are no ideas, themes, plot contours, or characters in this modern update that feel fresh or exciting. This isn’t a big issue, though, as the narrative formula Favreau and his team follow is tried and true and will work like gangbusters for those stepping into the theater expecting nothing more or less than a good ol’ time at the movies.

Plot-wise, screenwriter Justin Marks stays pretty close to the ’67 original. Mowgli is found in the jungle by stoic panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), who brings the “man-cub” to a pack wolves led by the noble Akela (Breaking Bad‘s Giancarlo Esposito). Nurturing Mowgli as his adopted mother is Rashka (Lupita Nyong’o), who rears him as her own. There’s no greater threat in the jungle than prowling tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), and Mowgli has the unlucky distinction of being at the top of his kill list (for reasons learned later in flashback).

To keep Mowgli out of the tiger’s clutches, Bagheera leaves to take the boy to the nearest man village. They get separated along the way thanks to a ferocious interception by Khan, and Mowgli falls in with loafer bear Baloo (a game Bill Murray, which is always a treat). Mowgli uses a pulley contraption to knock bee hives down from a high ridge (the animals disapprovingly refer to his handmade tools as “tricks”) and the two become fast friends. They, in fact, break out a jaunty rendition of “Bear Necessities,” which will please fans of the original and likely underwhelm youngsters who bring no nostalgia into the theater.

Baloo and Bagheera embark on a rescue mission when Mowgli’s captured by monkeys and taken to King Louie (Walken), a gigantic orangutan who’s like the jungle’s Don Corleone. He wants the boy to harness the power of the “red flower” and pass it along, making him the true king of the jungle. The “red flower,” of course, is fire, and when Mowgli learns that his family has been terrorized by Khan in his absence, he chooses instead to use the “red flower” as a tool of revenge.

It’s hard to understand how the digital artists made the animal characters both anatomically accurate while also expressing the wide range of emotions brought forth by the voice actors. Animals can be extremely expressive with their faces, but the fact that these onscreen beasts are speaking English and it doesn’t look weird at all is a feat of animation that’s hard to wrap your head around. Most CG animals look too clinical and fall headfirst into the uncanny valley, but these creatures look utterly seamless. While the plot isn’t anything special, the movie has a unique momentum to it in that you’re constantly dying to see which animal will be brought to life next (the elephants are particularly wondrous).

The unsung heroes of The Jungle Book, no doubt, are the sound designers and engineers. Their work here is astonishing. The animated characters look great, but what really sells them and makes them look convincing are the sounds they make as they walk around the lush jungle environments. Baloo is a big ass bear, so when he plops down to eat his honey, you can hear and, more importantly, feel the thud. Great sound design typically goes unnoticed, but in the iconic scene where Mowgli gets seduced by giant snake Kaa (Scarlett Johansson), her hypnotizing hisses swirl around you and squeeze like her coils, Johansson’s sultry voice fading in and out, swinging back and forth on the speakers.

Favreau’s always had a knack for giving his movies a sense of constant propulsion, even when there isn’t that much going on. His movies tend to just glide by, and The Jungle Book is no exception. It’s a rollercoaster thrill ride with simple, somewhat clichéd set pieces that nevertheless work like gangbusters because Favreau’s a good filmmaker who knows what beats to hit to get maximum excitement out of an action scene. There’s a tense hide-and-seek sequence involving Mowgli and Louie in the monkey temple that we’ve all seen before (you see the jump scare coming from miles away), but the way it’s edited and shot is just so riveting that you can’t help but eat it up.

There is one aspect of the movie that is, unfortunately, a constant distraction: Sethi’s dialogue delivery. Honestly, the kid’s just not good at saying his lines convincingly, and it makes some scenes just feel weird. It’s not his fault, really. He’s acting opposite imaginary characters whose voices are provided by some of the best actors in the business. But the sad reality is that it’s pretty jarring to hear this kid speak semi-awkwardly while his co-stars coast through their lines like butter.

What Sethi’s is good at is emoting with his body; he’s a physical actor, and a talented one at that. He’s a convincing wolf child, leaping through the trees and sliding down slopes with an effortlessness and sense of purpose, like jungle parkour is all he’s ever known. The film’s best, most touching moment sees Mowgli help a herd of elephants save one of their young, who’s fallen into a pit. The sun is rising, and in semi-silhouette, we see him save the calf (using one of his clever “tricks”) and wave goodbye to his new friends. He feels honest in moments like these, and thankfully, there are several. Sethi’s a mostly worthy Mowgli in a more than worthy retelling of a gem from the golden age of Disney Animation. If they can keep up this standard when bringing more cartoon classics into the world of live action, I say keep ’em coming.

Writer’s note: If you can, watch the movie in IMAX 3-D. The sound is spectacular and the 3-D is some of the best I’ve seen. Also, the closing credits definitely benefit from the added effect.

The Jungle Book Movie review

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To put it quite simply, Megalith is a large chunk of rock floating in space. The top half is missing, and so it resembles a jagged blade with a flat top (Note: Naga should make a visual aid). The smooth "top" (remember, there is no up or down in space) has several strange temples and monuments on it. It is an extremely ancient artifact, and seems to possess great power. The Drakonian Empire discovered (or re discovered) it 50+ years ago and began research and study. Megalith warps the fabric of space-time (overused terminology, ik) and can create or destroy universes. For example, it was used to create and maintain Aetheria, as well as collapsing the Ichiri universe at the end of the Drakonian-Ichiri war.

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Indians still one win from World Series, look to clinch on Wednesday

Cleveland Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during first inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Championship Series in Toronto, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

TORONTO (AP) — Corey Kluber’s first career start on short rest hardly went the way he wanted.

Looking to finish off a Cleveland sweep in the AL Championship Series, the ace right-hander got touched up by the Toronto Blue Jays during a 5-1 defeat Tuesday in Game 4.

Kluber was pushed up to pitch on three days’ rest because of several injuries to Cleveland’s rotation. He took the loss after allowing two runs and four hits while throwing 89 pitches in five innings.

“I felt fine,” Kluber said. “I don’t think (the short rest) physically affected me.”

It was the first time the 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner permitted a playoff opponent to score. He had thrown 13 1/3 scoreless innings against the Red Sox and Blue Jays this October, his first postseason.

“We talked to Kluber after every inning and I thought he held his stuff really good,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “I thought his legs started to get a little tired.”

Following their first loss in seven playoff games this year, the Indians remain one win from their first trip to the World Series since 1997. They’ll take a 3-1 ALCS lead into Game 5 on Wednesday, when rookie left-hander Ryan Merritt starts against Blue Jays righty Marco Estrada.

Merritt’s major league resume consists of 11 regular-season innings this year. He made one start, holding Kansas City to a run and three hits in five innings on Sept. 30.

“If you told me on the first day of the season I would be pitching in the ALCS, I might have thought you were crazy,” Merritt said. “Clinching this win would be awesome. To get this opportunity is awesome. It feels good that the team trusts me.”

Francona is optimistic Merritt will be up to the task.

“I think he’s OK,” the manager said. “He talked to (pitching coach Mickey Callaway) a little bit about the scouting report this morning.”

Cleveland has been without starters Carlos Carrasco (broken hand) and Danny Salazar (forearm) this entire postseason. Right-hander Trevor Bauer left Game 3 after four batters when blood began dripping from his right pinkie, sliced open last week as the pitcher was repairing one of the drones he enjoys flying as a hobby.

The early exit by Bauer forced the Indians to get 25 outs from their stellar bullpen Monday night and prompted Francona to turn to Kluber on short rest in Game 4.

If the ALCS goes the distance, Kluber could wind up starting on three days’ rest again. Game 7 would be Saturday in Cleveland.

“We’re one win away from the World Series and that’s what we’re focused on,” Kluber said.

Kluber, who went 6 1/3 innings to win Game 1, pitched around singles in the first two innings Tuesday before giving up a two-out solo homer to reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson in the third.

It marked the first time Cleveland trailed in the series.

“I made a mistake to Donaldson,” Kluber said.

There was more trouble for Kluber in the fourth, which began with back-to-back walks to Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin. It was the third time this season Kluber issued consecutive walks, and the first time he’d done so against the first two batters in an inning.

After Michael Saunders struck out swinging, Ezequiel Carrera made it 2-0 with a bloop single that dropped in front of center fielder Tyler Naquin. Kluber responded by striking out Kevin Pillar and Ryan Goins.

Kluber retired his final five batters, striking out three. He walked two and fanned seven, matching his strikeout total from Game 2 of the Division Series against Boston.

“I thought we did a good job of battling,” Martin said. “He’s definitely a tough guy to score runs against, but we found a way to get a couple today.” provides commenting to allow for constructive discussion on the stories we cover. In order to comment here, you acknowledge you have read and agreed to our Terms of Service. Commenters who violate these terms, including use of vulgar language or racial slurs, will be banned. Please be respectful of the opinions of others and keep the conversation on topic and civil. If you see an inappropriate comment, please flag it for our moderators to review.

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Our blog | Blogads

Archive for February, 2013

Curated Just for You – Links from the Blogads Network

by Paige Wilcox
Thursday, February 28th, 2013

I’ll save you some time weeding through the Internet for this week’s best posts, so here’s a look at some links from around the Blogads network that I’ve found particularly entertaining this week:

Immaculate Infatuation’s favorite Busboys review Catch:

Reviewing a seafood restaurant from a dirty bath tub is just so on point.

WSWCM capture how the Busboys may have felt after their Catch meal:

Tomorrow is another day.

Betches Love This spotlights “Lena Dunham Auditions for Zero Dark Thirty” as the video of the day:

To be fair, I’d ask to take the cupcake, too. Otherwise, that’s just wasteful.

Tom and Lorenzo give a rundown of the Oscars’ red carpet fashion:

There’s plenty more Oscar/after-party coverage on the site, too. My favorite highlight went to J.Law’s after-party dress.

GalaDarling shares a few of her favorite February things:

I can definitely vouch for her manicuring rec. Looking forward to more from this column!

#SMW13 Recap: The Democratization of Fashion: Are Consumers Haute Or Not?

by Kate Studwell
Monday, February 25th, 2013

Last week, I had the pleasure of chatting with Eugenia Chien of Polyvore, Stefan Loble of bluffworks.co, and Carrie Hammer of CarrieHammer.com about a shift we’re seeing in today’s fashion industry. Historically, the industry has had a top-down approach to fashion; trends were decided months before designs were produced or shared on the runway. Rather than asking fashionistas what they liked, brands told them what was “haute” and dictated where fashion was going.

Now, platforms like Kickstarter, Polyvore, Pinterest, Etsy, Storenvy (and the list goes on) allow consumers to put the power back in the hands of the people. Rather than just following trends, consumers are revolutionizing the industry. They can’t find what they want from the big brands, so tastemakers are creating what they (and their friends) want.

Check out this great recap of our convo below!

Expanding Your Blog Across Multiple Platforms: Advice from the blog experts

by Paige Wilcox
Friday, February 22nd, 2013

SUXORZ 2013: Recapping the Worst Social Media Campaigns of 2012

by Paige Wilcox
Friday, February 22nd, 2013

Happy Valentine’s Day! – Links from the Blogads Network

by Paige Wilcox
Thursday, February 14th, 2013

For anyone who has been having this week, these links from around the Blogads network are for you:

GalaDarling fills us in on “50 Ways to Have a Very Un-Valentine’s Day:”

This list really starts out with a bang.

WSWCM nails today on the head:

Like looking into a mirror.

DogShaming’s Zoe celebrated Galentine’s Day last night:

No one’s tying that girl down.

Immaculate Infatuation always knows the best places to go eat your emotions:

I’ll take a deep-fried sweet potato for one, please.

WTF, Pinterest? reminds us that we really didn’t want a Valentine’s Day gift, anyways:

I think Le Vian Chocolate Diamonds are missing from that list.

Beyonce Bowl 2013- Links from the Blogads Network

by Paige Wilcox
Thursday, February 7th, 2013

In honor of Beyonce’s killer showing of hardwork and excellence at Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show, let’s go ahead and celebrate her in addition to some other fierce ladies around the Blogads network:

First, The White Sade reminds us why we’re meant to be the fourth member of Destiny’s Child:

I make funny faces with friends, too! Wow, celebrities are just like us.

Tom and Lorenzo grace Quvenzhané Wallis with their latest WERQ:

I’d like to know where I can get a puppy purse like that.

IMBOYCRAZY always gives the most entertaining “blind leading the blind” advice:

I appreciate the confirmation that sleeping with your makeup still on is the mark of an exciting life rather than just being lazy.

Apocalypstick unleashes “the battle cry of the female blogger:”

Hypothetical winky faces are the worst.

Raise your blood orange mimosas, and cheers to all of the above with thanks to The Forest Feast’s recipe:

It’s always the right time for mimosas. Brunch be damned.

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Mozilla Firebird 0.6 - Release Notes

Mozilla Firebird, formerly known as Phoenix, is a redesign of the Mozilla browser component, similar to Galeon, K-Meleon and Camino™, but written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform. More information about Mozilla Firebird is available here.

This document covers what's new, download and installation instructions, known issues and frequently asked questions for the Mozilla Firebird 0.6 release. Please read these notes and the bug filing instructions before reporting any bugs to Bugzilla.

We want to hear your feedback about Mozilla Firebird. Please join us in the Mozilla Firebird forums, kindly hosted by MozillaZine.

What's New

  • New default theme

    Mozilla Firebird 0.6 sports a crisp, fresh and attractive theme, based on the amazing Qute theme by Arvid Axelsson. Also, the new theme has icons for the Bookmark Manager toolbar.

  • Redesigned Preferences window

    The new Options window puts the most often used preferences into seven convenient panels, each with a descriptive icon selector.

  • Improved Privacy Options

    With a single click (and a confirmation) you can clear all privacy data including form data, history, cache, cookies, etc.

  • Improved Bookmarks

    Among other bookmark enhancements, the Bookmarks menu now features a context menu. Try it by right-clicking on a bookmark in the menu.

  • Talkback enabled

    You are now able to submit Talkback information when Mozilla Firebird crashes, which makes it much easier for developers to fix critical bugs. For more information read about Talkback in the FAQ.

  • Automatic Image Resizing

    With this feature, Mozilla Firebird shrinks any image that is bigger than the window to make the whole image visible. When this is done, the cursor over the image changes to tell you that if you click, the image is restored to full size. Instructions on how to disable this feature can be found here.

  • Smooth Scrolling

    Instructions on how to disable this feature can be found here.

  • Access to more preferences

    You are now able to edit lots of advanced preferences that are not exposed in the Options window by entering about:config in the location bar and press Enter.

  • Profile Chrome

    You can now install Mozilla Firebird extensions in your own profile folder instead of in the actual program folder. This means that you will be able to upgrade to new versions of Mozilla Firebird without losing all your extensions. Note that it's up to the extension authors to allow their extensions to use this functionality. Some extensions may not offer this as an option yet.

  • Mac OS X

    Mozilla Firebird is available for Mac OS X. It's still quite rough around the edges but it's a start.

  • Lots of bug fixes

    There have been too many bug fixes since Phoenix 0.5 to keep track of them all. It's better. Trust us ;-)

Download, Install and Uninstall

PLEASE NOTE: You should create a new profile for Mozilla Firebird 0.6. To create a new profile, start Mozilla Firebird by running MozillaFirebird.exe -p and click on the "Create Profile" button. If you don't want to delete your old profile and are willing to incur the risk of new bugs, you should at least delete your profile's downloads.rdf file.

You must also delete your old Mozilla Firebird directory rather than just overwriting the files there. Not doing so WILL result in problems and you should not file any bugs on Mozilla Firebird unless you've first done a clean install and tested on a new profile. As Mozilla Firebird stabilizes more this will not be necessary but until then these steps are absolutely necessary. provides Mozilla Firebird binaries for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Mac OS X:

Contributed builds (These are unofficial builds and may be configured differently than the builds.)

Solaris: (readme) (readme)

AIX: (readme)

Localized builds. Contributed by the volunteers of the MLP:

Once you have downloaded the binary, use Winzip or gzip to unzip Mozilla Firebird to an empty directory then run MozillaFirebird.exe.

To uninstall Mozilla Firebird, simply delete the Mozilla Firebird directory. This will leave your profile in place for use by future Mozilla Firebird installs. If you wish to remove your Mozilla Firebird profile you can delete the Phoenix folder from your Windows Application Data directory or remove the .phoenix dir from your linux home directory.

Known Issues

This list covers some of the known problems with Mozilla Firebird 0.6. Please read this before reporting any new bugs, and watch it regularly (we'll update it as new bugs are found in the release).

  • Mozilla Firebird utilizes large chunks of Mozilla Application Suite code. Many of the problems you may experience in Mozilla Firebird are actually problems in this Mozilla core code. If you find a problem with page content or connectivity then it is probably a Mozilla problem and should be reported to the Browser product in Bugzilla, not to the Mozilla Firebird product.
  • Menus, and folders on the bookmark toolbar do not always collapse correctly for Mozilla Firebird users on Windows.
  • The "Don't ask at startup" checkbox in the Profile Manager is not working.
  • "Use this theme" checkbox in theme install doesn't function properly and you may have to switch themes by going to Tools > Options > Themes. Also, some themes will not completely switch without a restart.
  • Form auto-complete is still an unstable feature and may lead to crashes.
  • Disabling of form auto-completion is not working.
  • Firebird on Mac OS X is new and still very rough around the edges. Expect platform inconsistencies.

For additional issues, FAQs, Tips and Tricks plus general Mozilla Firebird help be sure to check out David Tenser's very useful Mozilla Firebird Help site and the Mozilla Firebird forums hosted by MozillaZine.

Frequently Asked Questions
  1. What can I do to help?

    We need all the exposure we can get. Make it your mission to convert 5 friends, family members or coworkers. If you're a student, get it distributed at your college. Submit a story to Slashdot and other news sites about the release. Make some noise on your blog. Mass distribution via the Internet is possible--look at Kazaa. Spread the word!

  2. I use another browser because...

    If you're not using Mozilla Firebird, tell the development team why. We read the feedback at the Mozilla Firebird forums.

  3. I sent you mail and you haven't responded.

    Use the forums. The Firebird team reads them regularly. E-mails are likely to be ignored.

  4. Where can I get themes and add-ons (extensions)?

    Extensions and Themes.

  5. Who is working on Mozilla Firebird?

    The main developers include Dave Hyatt, Blake Ross, Pierre Chanial, noririty, Ben Goodger, Dean Tessman, Mike Kaply, Jan Varga and Brian Ryner. Asa Dotzler provides help doing releases, bug triage, the website, and other odds and ends. David Tenser helps with documentation and the website and Arvid Axelsson maintains the default theme. Notes of appreciation, offers to help and most other inquiries should be directed to the forums.

  6. Where's the Mozilla Firebird source? Mozilla trunk + mozilla/browser + mozilla/toolkit.

  7. Mozilla Firebird is just Mozilla with a couple UI tweaks.

    The 40,000+ lines of code already added or changed from Mozilla beg to differ.

  8. What happened with the name Phoenix?

    It had to change because of trademark issues. The new name is Mozilla Firebird.

  9. Where is the mail client?

    Many of the current users of the full Mozilla Application Suite are also using it for mail and news. This isn't possible in Mozilla Firebird since it's a browser only. However, you don't have to give up Mozilla's mail client by switching to Mozilla Firebird. You can download builds of the new Mozilla Thunderbird mail application, the perfect complement to the Mozilla Firebird browser.

Previous versions of the Release notes: 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5


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Good Karma

We believe that it’s important to give back to the community that we live in, and we are proud to have contributed web design services to the following organizations:

  • Berthoud Art in the Garden
  • Berthoud Run/Walk Club
  • Berthoud Town Forum
  • Berthoud Schools Fund
  • Berthoud Sportsman’s Club
  • Berthoud Troop 6 BSA
  • Christmas in Berthoud
  • Committee for a Strong Library
  • GEMS
  • Ivy Stockwell Elementary PTO
  • Kiwa Day Camp (Girl Scouts)
  • Michelle’s Friends
  • Tyler Carron 5k Run/Walk
  • Wildfire Community Arts Center

Links, Articles, and other Great Resources

The following are useful or fun links, professional associations, sites of my friends and business associates, and general information that you may find interesting:


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Creating visual worlds..

the studio

         WeirdTales Designs is a small web & graphic design company, focusing on vintage, retro, romantic, fantasy, rustic and dark inspired designs. The studio consists of two partners, Val Frimon (founder and lead designer), and Manos K. (designer and web developer).

Our base of operations is the greenish The Hague, Holland, though during the summer we relocate to sunny and wonderful Greece. We provide web & print solutions for businesses and individuals. All our website templates are not only beautiful, with great aesthetic and unique, but also functional and user-friendly with SEO and social networking in mind. All our work is done in house and every effort is paid to ensure high quality of result.OUR VISION    VAL’S STORY    MANO’S STORY


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Sweden school killer fueled by ‘racist motives’

Authorities have confirmed that the young man who killed two people in a Swedish school was driven by xenophobia. The assailant allegedly ran a racist YouTube channel.

The motives behind a 21-year-old sword-wielding attacker who killed two people and wounded two others at a school in Sweden became clearer on Friday as media reports began to describe a background of xenophobia and racism. Police sources had already told the press after the incident on Thursday that they were investigating a “political motive.”

“We are convinced that the assailant was driven by racist motives when he carried out the act,” police chief Niclas Hallgren told Swedish radio.

Read the full text news in resource site…
Source News: DW


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Welcome to Nanjing [+ hotel and attraction map]

Nanjing is located in Jinagsu province of which it is the capital. It’s a beautiful city, it’s modern and has a progressive feel. It has a long history dating back as far to 472 BC, and has been the home of many of Chinas emporers thus giving the city a rich treasure trove of cultural relics and historic sites. The city has also been central in the formation of modern China.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen Statue

Nanjing’s rich history traces back to 495BC and has been the country’s capital on more than one occasion. It was the capital of the Ming empire from 1368 to 1421 during which time it was also believed to be one of the largest cities in the world.

In the 1842, during the Opium War, British troops invaded Nanjing and it’s where the namesake, Treaty of Nanjing was drawn between the Chinese and the British.

In 1911 the city was central in the revolution led by Dr Sat Yun Sen which led to the downfall of Chinas last emporer and the Qing Dynasty. It was at that time the then new Republic of China was formed. Chiang Kai-shek took over leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) political party led by Dr Sat Yun Sen in 1925.

As much as the city has seen some great times in Chinas history, it has also seen some of the worse. The year was 1937 when the Japanese, just after taking control Shanghai, invaded Nanjing and in a bloody battle took control of the city. During their 6 week occupation the Japanese were brutal, inflicting was is now refered to as the Nanjing Massacre where 300,000 Chinese died.

Not long after the Japanese occupation had ended, old political battles re-ignited, and the growing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by Mao Zhedong, which had played a lead role in driving the Japanese out of the country, was keen to see the in-power KMT party step aside. After failed negotiations of the Americans for peace between the two groups in 1946 a civil war saw the demise of the KMT party. The KMT party fled to one of Chinas islands and formed what is now Taiwan.

Nanjing is now a modern metropolis home to over 8 million people, many of which are foreigners. Nanjing is a major education center, transport hub and tourism center.

A two day visit to Najing was enough to see:
Zhonghuamen Gate – South Gate, Zhonghua Lu
Nanjing Museum – 321 Zhongshan Donglu
Presidential Palace – 292 Changjiang Lu
Confucius Temple (Fuzi Temple) – Qinhuai
Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre – 418 Shuiximen Street.

But, theres many more historic sites and places to see in Nanjing including:
Zhongshan Mountain located in East Nanjing
Sun Yatsen Mausoleum – Zhongshan Mountain
Ming Xialing Tomb – Zhongshan Mountain
Linggu Temple – Zhongshan Mountain
Purple Mountain Observatory – Zhongshan Mountain
Botanic Gardens – Zhiwu Yuan
Nanjing Treaty History Museum – 116 Chao Yue Lou
Ming Palace Ruins – Zhongshan Donglu
Jiming Temple – Xuanwu Hu
Yangzi River Bridge and Bridge Park
Martyrs Cemetery – Yuhua Lu
Zifeng Tower (one of the worlds tallest) near Gulou Metro Station
Hunan Road – shopping and food street at Shiziqiao Street
Zhenghe Memorial Park
Drum Tower – 6 Zhongyang Lu
Bell Tower – Beijing Dong Lu
Mochouchu Park and Lake – Hanzhongmen Street
Yuejiang Tower Scenic Spot – 202号 Jianning Road

Map of Attractions plus Nanjing hotels


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York Hospital Hospitality Shop starts loyalty program - WellSpan Health News
WellSpan Home

WellSpan News

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York Hospital Hospitality Shop starts loyalty program

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Brenda Williams of the York Hospital Hospitality Shop, left, scans Krista Swarr’s loyalty card as she makes a purchase. WellSpan staff members can earn one loyalty point for every dollar spent. Sign up for the loyalty program at the York Hospital Hospitality Shop, and you will receive a 10 percent off coupon.

The York Hospital Hospitality Shop is joining the likes of Weis, Giant, Rutters and Sheetz by rewarding customers for their shopping loyalty.

The program is a basic points for purchases. Customers will earn one point for every dollar spent in the Hospitality Shop. The points-for-purchase program excludes candy, balloons, flowers, food, beverage, magazines and newspapers.

“This is a form of thank you to our loyal customers,” said Christi Brown, director of volunteer services. “Consumers are very familiar with other loyalty programs, and they have come to expect them.”

To be eligible for the loyalty program, customers need to enroll by completing a simple form. Once you are enrolled, you will receive a loyalty card and an enrollment coupon, which entitles you to a 10 percent discount off your entire purchase (exclusions apply and the coupon may not be used in conjunction with any other discount/offer such as Appreciation Day in November). The coupon expires in 30 days. All coupons in the loyalty program have the same restrictions.

There are four loyalty levels: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Customers receive a 10 percent off coupon when they reach the bronze level after accumulating 100 points.

Three hundred points are required for the silver level and a 20 percent off coupon. The gold level requires 500 points. At that level, customers receive a 30 percent off coupon. The platinum level is reached after 1,000 points have been earned. Customers at this level receive a 50 percent off coupon.

“In addition to the four loyalty levels, there are other benefits,” said Brown. “Customers will receive a 15 percent off coupon (with exclusions and restrictions) during the month of their birthday. Other benefits of the loyalty program include special double point days and invitations to exclusive sales events.”

Stop in the York Hospital Hospitality Shop today, fill out the loyalty program form and receive your 10 percent off coupon.

Are you sure you would like to cancel?

All information will be lost.

Yes No ×

About the provider search

This search will provide you with WellSpan Medical Group and Northern Lancaster County (Ephrata) Medical Group primary care physicians and specialists. If we don’t have a WellSpan Medical Group physician to meet your criteria, the search will expand to include community physicians who partner with WellSpan Medical Group physicians through the WellSpan Provider Network or provide care to patients on the Medical Staffs of WellSpan’s Hospitals.

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Use your MyWellSpan patient portal any time to view available appointments, and pick the date and time that best suits your schedule.

Go to MyWellSpan

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If you don't have a WellSpan primary care provider and would like to schedule a new patient appointment with a provider who is accepting patients, just log into your MyWellSpan account, and go to the Appointment Center section. As you progress through the scheduling process, you will be able to see the offices that are accepting new patients in relation to your zip code. If you are not enrolled in MyWellSpan, go to https://my.wellspan.org, call 1-866-638-1842 or speak with a member of the staff at a participating facility to sign up. New patient scheduling not available at all practices/programs.

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If you already have a relationship with a WellSpan practice, simply log into your account, and go to the Appointment Center section. As you progress through the scheduling process, you will be able to schedule an appointment with any provider or practice that already counts you as a patient. Online scheduling varies by practice/program.


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Eldar Djangirov's Breakthrough Music

Apr 17, 2013

A Jazz Appreciation Month celebration should honor both the originators of the music and the new, emerging original voices. Our 89.1 Jazz premiere this morning achieved that goal. Breakthrough is the new CD by pianist Eldar Djangirov and his trio for a new label: Motéma Music.

Do not be deceived by the disc title. This is not Eldar’s first CD. His first recording was released in 2001 when he was 14 years old. But by age 14, he was a veteran having made his first professional appearances at age 9 in his native Russia. Among Eldar’s early champions were piano legends Dave Brubeck and Marian McPartland. At age 12, Eldar was Marian’s youngest guest. Pursuing piano studies and a recording career, Eldar was soon mentored by Chick Corea, another pianist of prodigious technique and significant emotional impact. The wise counsel of the three masters has not been lost on Mr. Djangirov who controls his dynamics and phrasing to convey the meaning behind the music. Breakthrough is a marvelous jazz piano CD. Djangirov’s rich, multi-layered original compositions such as Hope and Tokyo Pulse are balanced with classic covers of Somebody Loves Me and No Moon At All as well as Radiohead’s Morning Bell. We welcome another Breakthrough by pianist Eldar Djangirov to WEMU and what he will do to perpetuate jazz music


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Tuesday, 31 December 2013

For the New Year

2013 has been challenging in several ways, certainly for us and probably for many others too. This John Newton hymn has been an encouragement to me, during the year. It was a joy to hear it announced in church,this week, in the Sunday morning service.

Perhaps not the most up-beat hymn for the New Year but full of true comfort from the Lord Jesus who says to His people, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Begone unbelief,
My Saviour is near,
And for my relief
Will surely appear:
By prayer let me wrestle
And He will perform,
With Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm.

Though dark be my way,
Since He is my guide,
'Tis mine to obey,
'Tis His to provide;
Though cisterns be broken,
And creatures all fail,
The word He has spoken
Shall surely prevail.

His love in time past
Forbids me to think
He'll leave me at last
In trouble to sink;
Each sweet Ebenezer
I have in review,
Confirms His good pleasure
To help me quite through.

Determined to save,
He watched over my path,
When Satan's blind slave,
I sported with death;
And can He have taught me
To trust in His name,
And thus far have brought me,
To put me to shame?

Why should I complain
Of want or distress,
Temptation or pain?
He told me no less:
The heirs of salvation,
I know from His word,
Through much tribulation
Must follow their Lord.

How bitter that cup,
No heart can conceive,
Which He drank right up,
That sinners might live!
His way was much rougher,
And darker than mine;
Did Jesus thus suffer,
And shall I repine?

Since all that I meet
Shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet,
The medicine is food;
Though painful at present,
Will cease before long,
And then, Oh how pleasant,
The conqueror's song!

If this all seems strange and unknown, do take a look at these video clips.

Wishing all my readers a truly happy New Year.

2013 in review

I can't quite believe that this is almost the end of 2013. The year has flown by. These are some highlights of the year, from the blog: some are popular posts and some events that we really enjoyed.

The post on UK home education resources was popular and I've now given it a separate page.

Fun Science is one of the all time most read posts on the blog. I love afternoons exploring science in a fun way.

We visited Rochester on a very windy March day. The Castle is definitely worth visiting and the city has close associations with Charles Dickens as well as fascinating buildings from different periods in history.

14 ways to save money on home education resources is the most read post on the blog.
Our kittens arrived. They are so much bigger now.

In science, we learnt about the blood.

In early July,the family went on holiday to a beautiful thatched cottage in the Devon countryside.

In August, I took part in the Schoolhouse Crew Five day blog hop. I wrote Five Days of booklists.

The two lists, 70+ Picture books and Reference books for use in home education have been some of the most read books of the year.

My youngest son joined in with the learning more "formally". We did work on letters in the garden.

By October, we had reached the nervous system in our learning about the body.
This year, I've been privileged to review some really helpful books and resources but Seasons of the heart was probably the highlight. I'm hoping to read it each day in the New Year.
Through this month, we seem to have been making bath bombs on a semi-industrial scale.

Happy New Year to you! I hope, although this isn't a promise, to be able to put some verses on the blog, later today, which have been an encouragement to me, this year.

The Schoolhouse review Crew has a post linking to Crew Members' posts looking back on 2013. Do pop over to see how others have spent the past year.

Thursday, 26 December 2013

After Christmas soups

Winter days call for soup. The remains of the Christmas chicken or turkey makes excellent stock. Making stock in the slow cooker is surprisingly easy.

We ended up preparing more parsnips than we ate on Christmas Day. This recipe from Delia Smith is a tasty way of using up excess parsnip. The first time that I made this, I didn't think that I would enjoy the combination of parsnip and apple but was pleasantly surprised.

Years ago, I borrowed a library book about cooking for older people on their own. One of the recipes was for Stilton and Brussel sprout soup. This has become a favourite, for those of us know love sprouts, although with our own tweaks and in larger quantities. This is my recipe but do realise that I don't weigh ingredients for soups precisely! If you like sprouts then this is for you!

1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
Brussel sprouts about 300g of peeled and halved sprouts, alternatively use frozen spouts
1 litre chicken or turkey stock
pinch of nutmeg
sage to taste
Stilton or other blue cheese about 100g

Peel and chop the onion. Soften the onion in the sunflower oil until just browned.
Add the crushed clove of garlic and the sprouts. Cook for 1 minute.
Add the stock and seasoning. Bring to boiling point and then simmer until the sprouts are just soft.
Add the crumbled Stilton and serve.

This serves 4.

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Joy to the World

Joy to the World! The Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! The Saviour reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
The wonders of His love.

Isaac Watts

Wishing you a very happy Christmas centred on the Saviour of the World.

Monday, 23 December 2013

Making an Ice Bowl

We recently made a rectangular ice bowl.

 Younger Daughter had borrowed The girls' book of crafts and activities, published by DK, from the library which contains instructions for making an ice bowl.

This require two plastic bowls which I don't possess. I wasn't willing to let my china or Pyrex bowls be sacrificed in the cause of education although we did talk about how the expansion that occurs when ice is formed might cause them to break. Instead of using bowls, we decided to use plastic rectangular freezer containers.

We used two containers-one larger than the other. First we put a couple of centimetres of water in the base of the larger container and froze this.

The second tub was put inside the first and taped in place.

The gap between the two containers was filled with water, rosemary, mint leaves and some late rose petals.

Both containers were frozen. The next day, the containers were removed.

 Don't let your four year old lick the ice bowl-just saying but it might lead to an emergency application of water to the bowl and tongue. This does lead to some quite dramatic cracking sounds!

If this wasn't being made for educational purposes and not handled and tasted after manufacture, it could be used to serve ice cream!

Wednesday, 18 December 2013

Chocolate wreath

We are a family of chocolate lovers so I was delighted to be given the opportunity to review a large Festive wreath from Hotel Chocolat. This is a chocolate wreath containing nuts and cookies.

I was a little concerned about the fate of a chocolate wreath in the Christmas post but I need not have worried. It arrived well packaged in a cardboard box

surrounded by packaging beans. Recently, we had some parcels arrive with a large amount of packaging which didn't seem to be recyclable. However, the beans around the wreath are apparently compostable and so are currently residing in our compost bin!

The actual wreath was in a chic black and white box
 with a white ribbon, now in the craft drawer!

The wreath itself, well, it was appreciated!

The chocolate is described as 50% milk chocolate so tasted much more "chocolatey" than most milk chocolate. The nuts were very small so I wasn't concerned about letting my almost five year old try some of the wreath.

The nuts and cookies also made a pleasant contrast to the smooth chocolate texture.

Everyone who tried the wreath was impressed. I had to hide part of it away for a family member who was away when it arrived!

The Christmas Wreath could be used as a special dessert after Christmas lunch.

  • Well presented.
  • Recyclable packaging.
  • Attractive chunky wreath
  • Wonderful, moreish taste.
  • Appealing textures with smooth chocolate and crunchy nuts and cookies.
There is really only one and that is that at £21 this is really more than I would want to spend. However, if there is someone on your present list who is a chocolate lover and this is in budget then this is recommended!

Obviously, this isn't suitable for anyone with a nut allergy but the list of contents is clearly stated on the website and on the packaging so this isn't really a con.

We loved the taste of the Christmas Wreath.

Disclaimer: The Christmas Wreath was provided by Hotel Chocolat. for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review. The views are my own and those of my family.

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

Museum of London

The Museum of London is a fabulous resource for exploring the history of London. The younger two children have been learning about the Stuarts so this seemed an ideal time to visit the War, Plague and Fire Gallery and to have a wander round the Expanding City (1666-1850s) Gallery before starting to learn about the Georgians.

The Museum itself is in the middle of a modern, and to my taste, rather ugly modern development, called the Barbican. It wasn't encouraging on a grey December day! Outside, however, there is  large monument to John Wesley with his own description of his conversion.

Whilst the Museum is in a modern development, the remains of the Roman walls of Londinium are just outside. It is amazing to think that these walls are about eighteen hundred years old.

The galleries are fun, interactive places for children with plenty to see, hear, touch and smell. My favourite part was a short film about the great fire with a model London in front of the screen. All the words in the video are quotes from three diarists of the time.  For a taster, take a look at the information and video on this page. There is also a linked website just about the Great Fire of London.

The Expanding City Gallery is large with a section devoted to Pleasure Gardens filled with manikins in period costume. The lighting in this area is low and between this and with the limitations of camera and operator, the pictures are poor. This is the best that I managed.

The Fanshawe dress is amazing-there is a picture here but this doesn't do justice to the beautiful woven silk.
I loved the trinket boxes.

We wandered through the Victorian shops, saw the prison and onto more modern times. Lyons tearooms were appealing although nothing to do with either Stewart or Georgian times!

This is a recommended afternoon in London and is free except for special exhibitions. There was more than enough in the free section to keep my four and seven year old busy for almost a couple of hours.

Thursday, 12 December 2013

Frugal festivities

This can be an expensive time of year. Christmas is to remember the birth of the Lord Jesus but we also enjoy a time with family and friends. Still, the added extras can spiral.

I work on the basis that it is never worth spending more than I can afford for Christmas. People are more important than things.

Just a few ideas for reducing the financial load.

  • Many Christmas items are much cheaper in advance. My younger children like chocolate coins: these were half price in October and had a long best by date. The same applies to boxes of biscuits and supermarket pyjamas.

  • Children don't need loads of presents and certainly not more than can be reasonably afforded. Some of those presents can be useful items: we often give pyjamas as part of the present. Usually they are an item which would be needed anyway.

  • Children can learn to make presents or manage a small budget. We have found that pound shops can be a useful place for children to buy presents with pocket money.

  • Gift labels can be made from the previous year's cards. I make these when I take the cards down. Scissors which make a zigzag edge are an advantage but not essential. A hole punch and some ribbon or wool complete the tag.

  • Wrapping paper doesn't need to be expensive-it is only going to be thrown away or recycled. I have tried to make my own but my level of creativity isn't high, again, the pound shop has come to my rescue.

  • Postage is expensive. Sorry, Royal Mail, but in recent years, we've sent fewer cards and more Christmas letters as e-mails. No, I haven't written the letter yet! We still send cards to people who are not on line or who might especially, appreciate a card.

  • Decorations can be home made. There are numerous ideas around for salt dough and clay tree decorations. Some of the most beautiful decorations I have seen were made with evergreen boughs. We try to make our own wreath from items from our garden.

  • Chicken often tastes better than turkey as well as being cheaper. If there is a turkey enthusiast, in the family, then a turkey crown can prevent waste and having "I'm trying to use up the turkey" dishes.

  • Don't forget to make stock with the bones. The stock can be frozen for future use.

  • Some things just aren't necessary: crackers just seem full of tack that will be thrown away in five minutes-is my middle name Scrooge?
Anyway, over to you. How do you save at Christmas?
Frugal Family 2013

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Four Picture books about Christmas

Christmas books are an area where I'm quite picky.

My criteria are that the books have to be attractive and something that I enjoy reading aloud-as always-but in addition, books about the Biblical account should not contain pictures of the Lord Jesus and that books about general celebrations shouldn't include Santa as fact. So the list of books that we enjoy is quite short although usually padded out by books about snow

Books about the Nativity:
 The birth of Jesus by B. Ramsbottom sticks closely to the Biblical account. It has large print for early readers and of the two books about the Nativity, I much prefer the illustrations in this one.

Long, long ago in Bethlehem: the birth of Jesus by Carine MacKenzie. This book, again, has large print. The information on each page is short and simple.

General books about the season:
Jungle bells by Nick Butterworth is the story of how two mice managed to outwit a cat with the aid of a special present. This story always makes me laugh even though I'm usually on the side of the cat!

An Edwardian Christmas by John S. Goodall. This is a beautiful book, with no text, depicting an old fashioned Christmas. I love looking at this as do the children. Sadly, I think this is out of print but can be obtained second hand.

For more Christmas books visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog from 18th December.

Monday, 9 December 2013

Best books of 2013

These books are divided into my own reading and read alouds. The books that I read aloud are mainly to my seven year old daughter and a few for my five year old son.

Here are the top five in each category for this past year.

My reading-a rather eclectic selection!

Renee of France Simonetta Carr

Bleak House Charles Dickens

Dyslexia 101-truths, myths and what really works Marianne Sutherland

The well trained mind Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

The Irish Puritans:James Ussher and the reformation of the church Crawford Gribben

Read alouds

Milly Molly Mandy and Co Joyce Lankester Brisley

Charlotte's web E.B. White

The railway children E.Nesbit

The good news must out Rebecca Davis

Heidi Joanna Spyri

It struck me that half of these books are classics which have stood the test of time and can be obtained from the library or second hand.

My own reading tends to be a mix of longer books and easier books, often children's books. My excuse is that I'm checking them for suitability but often they are a pleasure to read. Does anyone else need a few "easy" books for relaxation?

Friday, 6 December 2013

Learning about the English monarchy

A friend recently asked about resources for learning about the English monarchy. I've pulled together a few that we enjoy. They are aimed at younger children up to about eleven. Please add your own favourites in the comments.

Ladybird books did a two volume series on the monarchy by L du Garde Peach and Brenda Lewis. The volumes that we have are out of print but available cheaply second hand.

There also appears to be a new one volume Ladybird book, by a different author, which I haven't seen.
The older Ladybird books are appealing to children as they have a picture on one side of the page and text on the other.

Our Island Story is an older book by H.E. Marshall. It tells the story of Great Britain up to the reign of Queen Victoria and is suitable for reading aloud to children probably from about six to ten or independent reading by competent readers. This has several chapters covering the complex Middle Ages. It is also available on CD although I haven't listened to this so can't comment on accent and speed.

Usborne have produced a sticker book about the monarchy. My daughter loved this during Diamond Jubilee year, when she was six. It has paragraphs of information about the monarchs and of course, stickers.

The out of print, People in History by R.J. Unstead tells the stories of people in Britain in a way accessible to primary aged children.

There is a plethora of historical fiction for children about English history and the monarchy. The My Story series feature characters at many major events. In addition to these,  authors to look for include Rosemary Sutcliffe especially for her Eagle of the Ninth trilogy, Cynthia Harnett and Barbara Willard. These books are suitable for the older end of the age range.

Woodlands resources has a section on British history and another on the monarchy. The latter page is a must and filled with fascinating facts about the Queen, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as about Royal homes, why the Queen has two birthdays and lengths of reigns of various monarchs.

The Queen's official website is here. This website has recent pictures of the Royal family, information about how to greet the Queen, the Court Circular which has details of the official engagements of the Royal Family, details about the Honours system and much more.

Other resources
There are various posters showing English monarchs. We have one which has pillars for the lengths of reign of monarchs. We refer to this often. On looking this up, it is published in 1969 and is, of course, out of print. This would explain the comparatively short pillar for our current monarch, Elizabeth II who has actually been on the throne for 61 years.
This is a more modern poster in timeline format.

Usborne produce cards of monarchs.

I haven't played the Monarchy game available from Ichthus Resources but another home educating mother has recommended it to me.

Places to visit
This has to be incomplete as there are so many places associated with the Monarchy. These are particularly recommended:

  • Buckingham Palace. The Royal Standard flying indicates the Queen is in residence whereas the Union flag means that she is out. It is possible to visit the State Rooms although this is quite expensive. I haven't visited so can't comment on this as a trip.
  • The Tower of London is definitely worth visiting for its rich history and the Crown Jewels,
  • Hampton Court was one of Henry VIII's palaces and has frequent interactive events with actors dressed as Henry and his court.
  • National Portrait Gallery is only a few minutes walk from Buckingham Palace and has portraits of many of the monarchs. The Tudor gallery is especially stunning. Entrance is free.
Please add to these resources in the comments.

Wednesday, 4 December 2013

December Inspiration

I can't quite believe that it is December but the dark afternoons remind me that it is real. The children are hoping for some of this stuff. It is coldish, about 2C this evening, but so far there is no snow.

This month, Kirsty at Young Hosannas is blogging a Christmas children's craft activity each day. I particularly like the Bible verse but the clay stars are also on my to do list.

Frog Academy is a new-to-me Christian UK home education blogger. I'm particularly enjoying the art-this is the Mondrian post. I have a post with links to Christian UK home education bloggers here.

More on art, Se7en have a post about Monet with an interesting chalk pastel technique which could be used to learn about symmetry as well as art. Very convenient as we've are working on symmetry, at present.

International Pisa testing has been in the news recently, particularly, as the UK has shown no improvement. This BBC article gives an overview of the tests and a chance to try the maths test-have a go, it isn't bad!

Last, Middle Son showed me this amazing photograph, apparently, the largest in the world. It is a 360 degree view of London and a fascinating way to look at the city. We've enjoyed focusing on the detail: the plants in roof gardens and the sport being played. A great virtual way to explore.

Monday, 2 December 2013

Making bath bombs

Making bath bombs uses the reaction of acid plus alkali producing a gas (carbon dioxide) plus water. The reaction doesn't take place until the chemicals have water added.

Bath bombs make excellent presents and are fun to make. The ingredients used are things that are relatively safe and are found around the house or in household products (citric acid is in lemons) so young children can take part in making these. They should wash their hands after touching the chemicals and be old enough not to eat the ingredients. My four and seven year olds made these, with supervision from me.

Sodium bicarbonate
Citric acid (we bought ours from Just a soap but I am sure that this can be brought elsewhere)
Almond oil (I am sure that other oils can be used)
Food colouring
Optional: essential oils or vanilla essence

Add 3 tablespoons to sodium bicarbonate to 1 tablespoon of citric acid in a dry mixing bowl. Mix well, add a few drops of food colouring to required colour.

Add essential oils or vanilla essence. Be sparing with the vanilla-it contains water and will lead to the sodium bicarbonate and citric acid reacting. Large quantities will mean that there will be no acid and alkali left to react.
This is what happened when we added a large quantity of vanilla essence

Add almond oil slowly to combine. We started with 1 teaspoonful but needed to use rather more than this to make sure the mixture stayed together.
Put the ingredients in a model. We used doll's cups as well as a brought mould. The cups worked just as well.

Allow the bath bombs to dry then turn out into cupcake cases.
Store in boxes to give as presents.

Do label these as bath bombs and not for eating! I thought that the red bath bombs looked rather like coconut pyramids.

Put in the bath to start the reaction and watch the fizz!


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Click to Home
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Get information about animal and business licenses, garbage collection, recycling, water billing, vehicle stickers, and the Village clerk.

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Find out about Economic Development, Building Permitting, Planning and Zoning

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Learn about the services and divisions of the Fire Department and find volunteer opportunities.

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Browse for information the Community Relations Unit, police divisions, police blotter and registered sex offenders.

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Speedy Noil

September 20, 2013 | Updated: 2:39 p.m., September 24, 2013

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Speedy Noil of Edna Karr High School is this week’s New Orleans VooDoo Athlete of the Week.

Karr quarterback Speedy Noil led his team to a stirring 4th quarter comeback against St. Aug on Friday.

In the final seven minutes, Noil threw a 42 yard touchdown to Kenneth Simmons.

After a St. Aug turnover, Noil broke off one of his signature runs, a 47 yarder that took the ball down to the St. Aug three yard line.

Noil then ran three yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Karr beat St. Aug 33-24.


text:
Gun violence kills teen who performed at Obama’s inauguration

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

A Chicago high school student who recently returned from performing at President Barack Obama’s inauguration was killed at a park Tuesday.

It happened in the middle of the afternoon, just blocks away from her high school on the south side.

Hidiya Pendelton, 15, was a majorette in the King College Prep marching band. After her inauguration performance, Hidiya was planning for a trip to Paris with the band. But those dreams came to a crashing halt.

Hidiya Pendelton, 15, died after she was shot in the back Tuesday.

School let out early after taking exams.  Hadiya and about 10 people were hanging out, huddling under a canopy in nearby Harsh Park to avoid the rain.

Police say that’s when a boy jumped the fence and ran toward them shooting.

Hadiya was shot in the back and later died at the hospital.

Two other boys were hit.  A 16-year old was last listed in serious condition and a 17-year old suffered a graze wound to his ankle.

Police say they don’t believe Hadiya was the intended target.  They say she was not in a gang, but preliminary reports are most of the people in the group with her were gang members.

None of them stuck around to help the shooting victims, or to give police any information about the shooter or exactly what happened.

Students at King College Prep are really taking the news of her death hard.

They say the halls of the school were unusually quiet as students mourned Hadiya’s death.

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  • sharong4

    May the child RIP. I hope they catch the person who did it and hang him upside down and beat him with bats. Killing him would be too good.

  • charles

    Still wonder why girls and woman hang out with these stupid ass thugs, gang bangers???? And you all wonder why they get caught up in crap like this stay away from the trash smh……

  • Deja

    You want solution!???? here it is. Kill them all! Kill all those who have contributed nothing and wont contribute anything to society. They don't care about themselves, they obviously don't want to act like civil humans, so kill them and their parents because ( I speak of most cases, for there are good parents whose children become cretins and criminals) they haven't done their job to guide their offspring. There is no saving most of those brainwashed savages on the streets. Too harsh? okay let's be fair, give them a chance to straighten up, but if they refuse to act accordingly and continuously break the law kill them or exile them to some remote place where survival is very unlikely. Jail doesn't scare these rabid beasts, KILL them!! This girl deserved to live, she was going to be amazing. She didn't deserve this!!! America would solve a lot of their problems if they just killed the cretins who want to be in a gang or just cause issues. Kill them all!!! demolish the violence!! This demonstration of zero tolerance will in turn discourage those of the younger generation to not become involved in crime. Give the ultimatum live right or die. Simple


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Friday, June 12, 2015

Big Game Hunter

When I was twelve, my aunt and uncle came to visit from Alaska and take us on a road trip from Washington to California. I’m not sure what possessed them to take their newborn baby and four nieces prone to motion sickness down the coast highway, but we made them pay. Our cousin never stopped screaming and we never stopped barfing. It must have been miserable for them to hear the sounds from the back seats.

Our destination was our uncle’s stepfather’s house somewhere on the northern California coast. I think we went there for the two to reconcile, but all I remember was the taxidermy. The man was quite wealthy and spent his riches on safaris. Not photo safaris. Not pet-the-giraffe safaris. Kill all things safaris. The upper floor of his house was one large room devoted to displaying his trophies. There was an entire stuffed bear, posed on its hind legs, its arms outstretched, and its jaws agape. An African lion stalked the room. Elephant tusks were displayed on walls, while the feet served as the base for glass-topped tables. Overlapping zebra hides covered the floor. I was quite impressed by the glamour of the dead animals.

I spent the night on a sofa in the den, watched over by a stuffed bobcat. I was forbidden from touching the slightly decaying feline, but I never took my eyes of its own shining (glass) orbs. Like the room upstairs, I was at once repulsed and attracted.

I’ve come to despise the big game hunter and his legacy of death, but there is some allure to the safari look. As long as it’s a safari that takes no more than photos and leaves no more than cash in the local economy.

Dress, Equipment. Shoes, Gianni Bini. Sunglasses, Toms. Earrings, Ali’s Boutique. Necklaces, thrifted and consignment. Bracelets, Claire’s, thrifted, vintage, and Garden of the Gods gift shop. Bag, vintage.

And here I am carrying an alligator bag. At least I didn’t shoot the alligator. (And, hopefully, he was enjoyed by a few people before the bag came into my possession.)

My own little hunter chases squirrels, but contents himself with the big blue ball (which I must toss endlessly into the doggy pool for him to retrieve).

Anonymous said...

I have the same necklace (the one with an elephant)- it is very old (80's)- and it always brings Africa to my mind

IrishRedRose said...

What a funny/ghastly road trip story. Hope you weren't on Highway 1? The Big Scary Drop-off cliff views never helped my motion sickness as a kid!

The faux ivory necklaces fit the theme here. Do you ever go to Rio Vista? There's a bar there called Foster's Big Horn which is another fabulous wild game museum of death. It's all from the 30s-40s era, though, so I must admit it doesn't bother me as much as that kind of stuff going on today would. The place is VERY vintage and does have a cool atmosphere.


text:
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Here are pics of most of our "ghost hunting" equipment.
Have any questions about our equipment or any other related issue
please contact us. Thank you for your interest.

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Our Olympus SP-600 Came with a Decent Kit,
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The Olympus SP-600 Takes Great Pics.
Unforfortunately, No Night Vision Capability
But it Takes Great Pictures & Video.
The Bell & Howell DNV900HD Does Have
Night Vision. We have a handle gripped mounting bracket
for our Polaroid Infrared Light.
NOTE: With most NV cameras, you need to use
an extra Infrared light to boost the view depth.
The B&H isn't great for taking regular pictures,
but the NV video does much better
when the IR light is added.
We use the EMF Field Tester, K-2 Meter
& Gauss Meter for detecting energy fields.

The P-SB7 ITC Research Device (Spirit Box)
AM/FV Frequency Sweep Radio is perfect
for hearing realtime EVPs.

Our Olympus & Sony Digital Voice Recorders
Are Used for EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) Sessions.
NOTE: Make sure when you buy a digital voice recorder
that it has USB capability. Otherwise, it's harder to get
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We Use Our Ryobi Digital Thermometer
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Don't Forget Your Basic Essentials:
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We' love to hear from you. Let us know if you hve any questions. You can email us at
Proceeds going to help with production costs for our upcoming paranormal show "What Lies Beyond? A Quest for the Truth." Please show your support. Thank you!


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Monday, November 29, 2010

Where to get THE perfect school bag?

Happy Monday, my dear friends! :D

It's kinda sad that the Thanksgiving weekend is over, but at the same time, I am excited because Christmas is almost here! Yay! :)

I was preparing my school stuff last night, when I suddenly realized that I need, okay fine, more like want a new school bag. The one I'm using right now is a silver hobo bag. It's big enough to fit my books and notebooks and other stuff, but the problem is it's a little too big. Don't you hate how your things don't stay put because there's just too much space inside your bag? I do. I love my bag, but right now, I just need something a little smaller.

So, I was looking through CSN's sites to find some cute leather messenger bags or perhaps a satchel. I found this:

David King Small Messenger Briefcase, $80.99

It is also available in Black and Dark Brown.

I also checked out Anthropologie, and I saw this:

Transcontinental Satchel, $348

Wishful thinking... it's just too pricey for a school bag. That's like the price of two or three text books. *sigh*

So, then I went to everyone's favorite, Forever21's site to see what they have.

Leatherette Braided Handle Handbag, $32.80

Double-Zipper Oversized Shoulder Bag, $44.80

Soft Distressed Leatherette Tote Bag, $24.80

Hmmm, I don't know which one to pick. I guess I will stick to using my silver hobo bag for now, until I find the perfect school bag. Do you have any suggestions as to where I should look for a good school bag?

Have a great week, everyone! :D

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Wedding: Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie

Hi, everyone!

How are you coping after Thanksgiving and Black Friday?

I hope you're all doing well. We'll go back to our usual routine of school and work, but no worries, Christmas is almost here. :D

A few weeks back, I made a post on celebrity engagement rings, and some of you have told me that you'd like to see a post on celebrity weddings. I am happy to finally find some time to make one. :)

For today's wedding post, let's take a look at Hilary Duff's wedding to hockey player Mike Comrie.

I love her updo! I'm not sure if it would look good on me, but it looks great on Hilary.

Can you see her huge 1 million dollar engagement ring?

Her bouquet was made up of blush dahlias, tied with a linen ribbon.

Look how beautiful the train is on her mermaid-style Vera Wang wedding dress!

Hilary with her sister and maid-of-honor, Haylie Duff.

I would love to be her bridesmaid! They all wore Vera Wang, and Hilary gave them diamond bangles as thank-you gifts.

Mike Comrie wore Tom Ford, and his groomsmen wore Gucci.

They wed at a private estate in Santa Barbara, California in front of about 100 guests.

They danced their first dance to Stand by Me.

Some more details:

They wanted a rustic, organic, and classic feel.

their wedding favors

The cake:

Hilary chose to not frost her wedding cake because she wanted it to have a "vintage home-made look" to go with the "warm and fuzzy feeling of the wedding".

Personally, I think I want frosting, but she got the feel she was going for, so it's all good. And I love the flowers - on the cake and all over the table. :D

***To see more photos and read more details, check out***

I think it was a beautiful wedding. What do you think?

I wish everyone a relaxing Saturday night and a peaceful Sunday! :)

Friday, November 26, 2010

My recent purchase: Bath&Body Works (and an Award!)

Happy Friday, everyone! Or should I say Happy Black Friday?! :D

Are you finished with your Black Friday shopping?

For today, I just want to share with you what I bought from Bath&Body Works.

I love Bath&Body Works because they have tons of scents to choose from. They also have an assortment of items - from fragrance mists, cologne, eau de toilette, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, body butter, to home items such as candles and plug-in home fragrance sets. They also have amazing deals, especially today because it's Black Friday. :)

One of my all-time favorite fragrances from them is White Citrus.

Lavishly spritz our refreshing Fragrance Mist all over your body to leave skin lightly scented with our exclusive White Citrus, a fresh, modern interpretation of classic citrus.

Fragrance Top Notes: Lemon Zest, Sparkling Grapefruit NP, Juicy Tangerine
Fragrance Mid Notes: Mandarin NP, Ginger Flower, Waterlily, Apricot Nectar, Lily of the Valley, Freesia
Fragrance Base Notes: Clean Woods, Sheer Musk (Captive)

They have a 3 for $10 deal on their travel-size items.

I got the fragrance mist and 2 of the body lotion.

It's perfect to bring to school - fits in my bag, doesn't take too much space. I really love this because sometimes I'm in a hurry and I forget to spray some cologne/perfume - but since I have this in my school bag, I don't need to worry. The lotion comes in handy, especially now that we have to constantly moisturize.

This is also good for all you travelers out there because this 3oz. bottle is TSA compliant for carry-on luggage. :D

What's your favorite Bath&Body Works fragrance?

I also have an award to pass on today.

The rules:

1. Thank the blogger/s who gave you this award

A big thank you to Pretty Wonderful and Katie for giving me this award! :)

2. Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experiences using five words.

- Oh my gosh, this is difficult. Can I not follow the 5 words rule?

My philosophy: I just like blogging about interesting topics - movies, food, shopping, makeup, beauty stuff, wedding-related posts... Topics that are not only entertaining, but also informative.

My motivation: I am motivated by knowing that I have blogger friends who take the time to read my posts.

My experience: This, I can do in one word: rewarding! :D

3. Pass on to ten other bloggers.

I pass this on to:

I have more shopping posts coming soon! And also some more awards to pass on.

Have a great weekend, everyone! December is fast approaching! :D

Thursday, November 25, 2010

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

And for all our friends from other parts of the world, Happy Thursday! :D

I am thankful for a lot of things. To name a few, I am thankful for:

-My family - We don't always get along and we all have our differences, but at the end of the day, we only get one family, so we really should love and appreciate ours. I know sometimes our families drive us crazy and we say one too many times that we wish we had a different one, but I doubt that we ever mean it. So yup, I am thankful for my family.

-My friends - I haven't seen them in months, but I know and I feel that they will always be there for me. I am soooo excited to see them for our annual Christmas get-together in December!

- My life - It's not perfect, but nevertheless, I am very thankful.

-My blogger friends - For making me feel loved and appreciated! Thank you!

What are you thankful for?

Another aspect of Thanksgiving that we all love is food, of course!

I am going to be in charge of corn bread and potatoes au gratin.

What are you guys having for Thanksgiving?

I probably won't be able to take pictures of the whole cooking/baking process, so I will leave you with these images:

potatoes au gratin

***all images from

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Beauty haul :D

Yay for Thanksgiving break! Who's excited for Thanksgiving? :D

I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a day away! Time really flies, next thing we're gonna celebrate: Christmas! :O

I am finally done with midterms, yay! I can now resume my regular blogging schedule. I still do have some homework, but it'll work out. :)

For today's post, I have a beauty haul!

I got an assortment of beauty products. I will definitely do a review on them.

Should we go through all of them?

Covergirl Outlast Smoothwear Lipliner, $3.29 (Ulta)

There are 12 shades available. I have it in Plum (135).

Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Blasting Mascara, $8.39 (Ulta)

They have 4 shades available. I have it in Very Black (800).

Covergirl TruCheeks Blush, $5.69 (Ulta)

They have 6 different combinations. Mine is combination #1.

Covergirl TruBlend Liquid Makeup, $8.49 (Ulta)

They have a loooootttt of shades to choose from. I picked #3 Natural Beige.

Covergirl TruBlend Minerals Pressed Mineral Foundation

I can't remember how much this was. I think it was discontinued or something. :/

MAX Factor Vivid Impact Shadow Duo, $8.69

I actually gave this one to my Mom. I'm gonna have to ask her what she thinks of it. :)

I can't remember what brand this lipstick is, what shade, and how much... it's been a while since I got it. Haha, but I will surely get those details down when I review this lipstick.

So yup, that's it for my haul. What are your recent beauty buys?

Monday, November 22, 2010

Giveaway winner! :D

Hi, everyone! I hope you're all hanging in there and getting ready for Thanksgiving! :D

I have one more midterm left for tomorrow - hopefully that goes well. And I also want to thank everyone who wished me luck - I got a gooooood score on my Sociology midterm. :)

Anyways, enough about school... it's time to tell you guys who won the $55 CSN Stores giftcard!

After deleting some non-entries and putting all the entries on Excel, I ended up with 100 entries. Entry #22 won!

And, the winner is Toni Tralala!!! :D

Congratulations, Toni! :D

Thank you to everyone who entered! And I might have another giveaway coming up, so please watch out for that one.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Flashback Friday, Harry Potter, and a movie trailer

Happy Friday, everyone!

Thanksgiving is in less than a week, and one more week until Black Friday! :D

It will be a short post for today since I have to go study for my two midterms. :/ Even Harry Potter has to wait. :(

Have you guys seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

Enjoy this funny video of the Harry Potter stars speaking with an American accent:

Aaaahh, love them! :D

Flashback Friday:

Do you guys remember these?

Ring Pops!

Chupa Chups!

Here is a trailer of Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman:

A lot of people are saying it looks like Twilight - it kinda does - maybe because it was directed by Catherine Hardwicke. I'm pretty sure it's different from Twilight, though. What do you think?

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! It closes on Sunday, November 21st at 11:59pm PST. To all who joined, thanks and good luck! To those who haven't, there's still time to enter. :D

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone! :)

***Oh, and it's supposed to rain here in Los Angeles this weekend??? Whaaatt?***

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Perricone MD Cold Plasma Review

Happy Wednesday, my dear friends! :D

About two months ago, I was lucky enough to win a Perricone MD giveaway hosted by!

The skincare product I received was the

Perricone MD Cold Plasma.

Cold Plasma represents Dr. Perricone's most comprehensive and efficacious work to date.

Through Dr. Perricone's patented delivery system, Cold Plasma offers the skin all it needs for optimal health. Cold Plasma helps correct the ten most visible signs of aging: wrinkles, enlarged pores, dryness, redness, discoloration, uneven skin tone, impurities, loss of firmness, loss of smoothness, and loss of radiance.

Whatever your age or skin type, Cold Plasma delivers extraordinary results.

After reading that great description, of course I was soooo excited to use this moisturizer. It came at a perfect time because I was in need of a new face cream - and I've heard that once you enter your twenties, you should start really taking care of your skin and thinking about wrinkles... By the way, would you say that that is true?

Anyway, it sounded promising and I was really hoping it would make my skin better - fresh, beautiful, radiant... you get the idea.

And that is why I was sad that it made my face itch. :(

It made my skin really itchy - especially my jawline. I thought maybe it was really supposed to do that and maybe my skin was just adjusting to this new cream... but, I asked my sisters (who also used it) if they were having the same reaction, and they said they weren't.

My sister, Belle, said that it makes her skin tingle and itch just a little bit, but then it goes away. Ann, my other sister, said her skin didn't itch at all. So I guess, it was just me. The Cold Plasma cream just didn't work out for me. :(

I stopped using the cream after a week of applying it twice a day (a week of super itchy skin, I should say). And yeah, guess what, the itchiness went away... permanently.

To be really honest, I have no idea why it works for my sisters and not for me. I have combination skin, but so does Ann - so I don't think skin type has anything to do with it. I am at a loss...

I wouldn't tell you to just take a risk and see for yourself because this moisturizer costs $150. If it works well, I would say it's pretty much worth it because a little goes a long way - it would probably last you around 5 or 6 months. But if it doesn't, you just kissed $150 goodbye. And we don't want that.

I know a couple months back, Perricone MD offered free samples of this Cold Plasma cream. If you are interested in trying it, maybe they can work something out for you. :)

- lightweight

- not greasy

- moisturizes and smoothens skin

- blends well

- will last long

- has a cute little spoon (seen in the photo above) so we don't have to dip our fingers in the cream

- The package came right on time - they give you a tracking number.

- I still use a little bit of the cream to put around my eye area - kind of like an eye cream. It works pretty well for me like that. I've noticed that my eyebags are now smaller and not as dark as before.

- Many reviews I've read pointed out the smell. Some said it smelled like spoiled fish and that it made them puke. I didn't think so, though. It doesn't have the best scent, but it's tolerable.

- the price: $150 for 1 oz./ 30mL

For more reviews, click here.

Have you tried Perricone MD Cold Plasma? How did/ does it work for you? Are you thinking of trying this cream?

In other news, has a new contest for us! Visit their site and enter their contest for a chance to win a set of five mascaras. :D

Ten winners will win CoverGirl Lashblast Fusion, MaxFactor Limited Edition, MaxFactor Vivid Impact, Maybelline Lash Stiletto, and Maybelline XXL Pro. :D

You have until November 30th to enter. Winners will be chosen on December 5th.

For bloggers in Pennsylvania and Virginia - Prestige Cosmetics will be at college bookstores with free basket raffles and free makeovers.

For bloggers in Pennsylvania and New York, watch out for Coty as they promote their holiday fragrance gift sets at your local Rite Aid.

Lastly, please don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! Click the link if you haven't joined in. Enter for a chance to win a $55 CSN stores giftcard! There's still plenty of time to join - it ends on Sunday, November 21st at 11:59pm PST! :D

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A Royal Engagement

Hey, fellow bloggers!

Just a quick post for today, before I go blog-hopping... I was on Yahoo!, and I saw that Prince William just recently proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Kate Middleton (soon-to-be Princess Kate... or Queen Catherine, as the article said)!

I was like, "Oh my gosh, this totally belongs to yesterday's post!"

The royal wedding will take place either in the Spring or Summer of 2011.

Prince William proposed while they were on a safari in Kenya. I think it's cute and funny that he carried the ring in his rucksack the whole time they were there - the Prince said that he continuously looked to check that the ring was still there.

He gave Kate the late Princess Diana's engagement ring.
A closer look:

According to Yahoo!, the ring is "an oval blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds from the jeweler Garrard".
I know we are all looking forward to what will probably be THE wedding of 2011 (or possibly, the century?).
Coming posts:
Perricone MD Cold Plasma Review
Travel Destination post
Wedding post
Shopping post
I hope everyone is having a great week! :D
Oh, and don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY - win a $55 CSN stores gift card!