Victoria has more secrets

Okay ladies, check out these cute new items Victoria's Secrets is offering.  And no I am not talking about your underthings.  I am talking about these new shirts, sweaters and hoodies for college teams.  They call it the Pink Collegiate Collection.  It is so hard sometimes to find sports stuff for ladies that looks cute and fits nice.  And darn it, someone has finally got it right! Touchdown for VS!

I purchased a U of M sweatshirt and T-shirt recently from the local VS store and they are super cute, fit great and even have bling, bling on them.  Sometimes the stores offer more variety than online and vice versa, so check both places when looking for your favorite team. GO VS GO!

Woot! Woot!

Woot.com

Looking for the latest and greatest deals?  Check out www.Woot.com they offer one deal per day. Perfect for those of us who like to shop but don't have the time or energy to browse.  Some of us prefer the browsing, but for me it just depends on the day.

Woot.com offers deals on items for about anything you can think of, from TV's to vacuum cleaners.  Today's deal is a Lenovo Thinkpad  offered for $349.99!  Now that is something to Woot about!  A new product is released every morning at 12am central time, seven days a week. If the product sells out for the day, a new product will not appear until the next release time.

As with any puchases your make online, be sure to read all the FAQ's on the website before purchasing. Check out the shipping and return policies.  Make sure you find out as much information about the company before you make a purchase.  The last thing you want is to be stuck with a unsatisfactory product that you cannot return. Shoppers, shop on!

If I could write you a song

There is no "if" about it,  Mike Posner can definitely write songs!  Of course I have to mention he is from Michigan, another win for Motown.  What a great new artist to pop on the scene. He has been here for a little while, producing some mix tapes, but his chart topping CD "31 minutes to takeoff" came out on August 10th and hit the BillBoard Top 100. 

He recently appeared on the ABC Dick Clark New Years Eve Special and while rocking the charts he also managed to graduate from Duke University with a degree in sociology. Not to shabby for a twenty three year old from the D.  I wonder what else is on his bucket list?

Mike Posner recently came back to Detroit to play at the Filmore on October 16th, the show had a great turnout and was a lot of fun.  One of the opening bands was the Far East Movement, singing their hit song "Like a G6".  The Far East Movement has also landed themselves on an upcoming tour with Rhianna.  I am looking forward to that.

Mike Posner's shows take him out of the country for the next few months, hopefully we will see some show dates in the U.S. soon.

These Boots are made for Walking

And that's just what they'll do............. as soon as I find them on sale and in my size!

These cute sweater boots have been in trend for awhile now, but they don't seem to be fading out anytime soon.  I have been looking for some for quite some time, but since I am one of those girls on a budget, I have to find the best deal before I buy them. Hey, times are tough out there!

But to be fair I will list all the best looking ones I find, just in case your budget is a little more flexible than mine.

•  UGG Classic Sweater Boot $140.00-  Zappos.com

•  MUK LUKS $79.99- Kohls.com 

•  BEARPAW $59.99- FamousFootwear.com

•  SNOWBIRD $30.00- Amazon.com

Don't they look comfy and what great deals!  They look so cute I don't think I could risk actually wearing them outside.  Maybe I will just wear them inside while looking out the window.  Just kidding!  Like I said, these boots were made for walking......................Are you ready boots?  Start Walkin'!

In a land far far away......

There is a beautiful town in New Zealand called Waverly, which I have never visited but hope to one day.  I know this is a beautiful town because my sister Alison and my niece and nephew Kaela and Luke live there.  My brave sister over 5 years ago finished her teaching degree in Michigan and decided it was time for a change.  She was offered the opportunity to teach in New Zealand and she jumped at the chance.  They packed all the stuff they could carry and headed off on a new adventure.  We talk as often as we can via telephone and it's great to hear their voices.  In one of my last calls my nephew Luke said to me "Aunt Lana you sound so different this time".  Nothing takes the place of being with your family or even hearing their voice but nowadays most of the updates I get from them come via Facebook in the form or pictures and posts. Facebook has a unique way of making you feel like you are right there with them. So I have come to love New Zealand as much as my sister does as she shares their experiences and adventures online. I get to sit on the sidelines to view my niece in her rowing competitions, open their Christmas presents and even check out the local boy my niece is "in a relationship" with.  Useful information that I may never have known otherwise. So here's to New Zealand for welcoming my family into your beautiful home and cheers to Facebook for keeping us connected. So anyone who wants to come with me, pack your bags, grab your travel guide and let's go!  I have to warn you though, you may not want to come back.

Just Bust a Move!

Just Dance 2

I come from a large extended family, kind of like the Brady bunch.  I have 6 sisters and 1 brother, ranging in age from 18-35 and we all like to get together for a sibling night. We try to find the time at least once a month to catch up on what is going on in each others lives and also like to find fun things to do. So this weekend we got together and one of my sisters brought the new Wii game Just Dance 2 for us to play. And this by far was the most fun and funniest time we have had. Not only do we get to see who is the most competitive but also who is the most coordinated. We get to laugh at each other and get laughed at, and being from a big family, this just comes with the territory. Wii has definitely hit another home run with this game! It is an interactive dance game that comes with a variety of songs to choose from. You imitate the dancers on the screen and earn points for correct dance moves. Not only is this a fun game but you will definitely break a sweat. The songs are from a range of genres and you can also shop for new songs and download them to your game. This game made our sibling night a huge hit and I look forward to the next time I get to bust a move.

Where does your buck stop?

As more of us savvy shoppers turn to the Internet for better deals more websites are popping up to give the customers the best shopping experience at the lowest prices.  As customer service in brick and mortar stores sink further into the dumps why should customers waste their time driving out the stores to purchase items?  You receive no better discount in the store than you do online.  Sometimes the online deals are even better, and here are a few of the websites where they are http://www.ebates.com/ and http://www.fatwallet.com/.  If you are one of the lucky few that have already discovered these sites. Bravo!  But for those who have not, these sites are a treasure. These sites are a shoppers dream, not only for the coupons and deals they publish daily but for their cash back program.  Essentially, these websites are in a partnership with all of the stores listed on their sites.  And whenever you visit these sites and click through to any store and make a purchase, the store that you purchased from compensates Ebates or Fatwallet (whichever site you visited) by paying them a certain percentage of commission.  Now this is common for most online e-commerce sites to pay commissions to other websites for sending purchasing customers to them, however this is where Fatwallet and Ebates differ from any other coupon site.  A percentage of that commission that they are receiving from your purchase they are passing back to you.  Genius!  So anytime you have the shopping urge, log on to your Ebates or Fatwallet account first, locate your store through their site and make your purchase, and a percentage of the sale will be banked into your account.  Its as easy and simple as that!  Happy Shopping.