Brit TV 4 Me

The hubby and I subscribe to Netflix. We subbed in the past, and really enjoyed it, but dropped the subscription when money got tight. Several months ago we signed up again. We both love the instant viewing option – especially through our Wii. Who needs cable/satellite television when there is so much available to watch through Netflix, Hulu and your local library’s holdings?

I find myself drawn to British TV shows. Namely, shows with a fantasy or sci-fi element. I’m amazed at how awesome, yet still often horrible, the effects are in British TV. There are scenes that look so amazingly realistic, and then a moment later you can almost see the strings making the robot or dragon move.

My recent BBC show of choice is Merlin. I’m about halfway through the first season. The show is about Merlin as a teenager – a la Smallville and Superman. The characters and their stories have somewhat been altered from typical Arthurian legend, but overall it’s a fairly decent show. An added bonus? Lots of eye candy.

Gwen, Lancelot and Merlin
























Arthur

















Photos from BBC's website.

Yay! Mail!

It might seem kind of silly, but I LOVE getting party orders delivered to my home.

Yes, there is some work involved. I separate the orders, making sure the quality it not only up to Gold Canyon’s standards, but up to my own high standards. I trim the wicks of all jar candles and put reorder labels on everything. Then each order goes into its own bag, along with a candle care postcard and a business card stamped or stickered with “Thank You”. To make it easier for the hostess to deliver the orders, I mark each bag with its owner’s name, and put a copy of the order form into the bag.

The work takes little time, and is well worth the excitement and fun from seeing the packages waiting at my door and checking out what everyone has ordered. Also, it’s a great chance to see products in person that I haven’t ordered for myself.

As you might guess, I’m one of those people who love to get things in the mail…unless those things are bills.

In other news, an update to my recent post about my beloved iPhone. The majority of my contacts have been recovered! A clerk at my local AT&T store showed me how to recover the contacts from my sim card. Thankfully, I made it a habit to save most of my contacts to the sim card. Unfortunately, though, I still lost most of my photos, including several that had yet to be uploaded to Facebook. C’est la vie. I still love my phone.

Sweet Summer Evenings

Summer is here, and with the sunny, hot days comes the pesky bugs, especially as the evening cools. Enjoy the soothing scents of Jasmine Lime or Papaya Passion citronella candles, and keep the bugs from biting. These two 14 ounce specialty candles have the power of citronella without the smell of it ruining the effect of a peaceful evening on the porch. Priced at only $13.98, they are sure to fit your budget.

Lost

As I previously noted, and as people around me on a regular basis have often heard me remark since the end of April, I love my iPhone.

I do not, however, love what has happened with my iPhone.

Last night I when ahead and downloaded the upgrade to OS 4. I then lost nearly all of my contacts. The only numbers I still had in my phone under contacts were the six that I have as favorites (the hubby, my parents and my sisters). But, the entries don’t have names, just numbers, which means I don’t know which number is for whom.

I also lost all but 4 of my photos – including ones taken before the last backup was saved.

The numbers I lost were not only close friends and family members, but also Gold Canyon customers, doctor’s offices, restaurants. Some are easy to look up again, but what a major pain in the ass.

As you can imagine, much swearing ensued last night. Tears were not shed, but there was a strong threat of them.

I already have to head to the AT&T store today, as the car charger stopped working this weekend. Since I bought it with my phone, I am hoping they will replace it. It’s too new to just crap out like that.

By the way, if you are out of town on a day trip and need to charge your iPhone, but your car charge is on crack, might I recommend stopping at a store like Best Buy. You can do what the hubby and I did…pretend to look at iPods while secretly plugging in your phone to the display model’s cord. Works like a charm.

Home Sweet Home

I'm home from DC. The trip home was a lot shorter than the one there, since the train was running on time. While there were some annoyances with the trip home - like being seated in a car with no outlets - overall it was a pleasant trip. I love taking the train. Just look at these views! (photos taken with my iPhone)


DC was wonderful. I could have done without the heat - it was in the upper 90s the whole time - but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in the city. Hopefully I can make the trip there again sometime soon and really see the city.

I ate several wonderful meals. If you are in town and looking for a delicious pizza, I highly recommend Ella's on 9th street. It's downtown - close to a lot of the attractions. The wood fired pizza is heavenly. Want something sweet? Try the Double Chocolate Pudding. It is OMG delicious! I loved the place so much I ate there twice. I could have easily eaten there every day.

A few photos from my iPhone:

margherita pizza (buffalo mozzarell a, basil, tomato sauce, olive oil and sea salt)


My lunch partner's meal - Calzone con salsiccia (pepperoni, sausage, ricotta, parmesan, tomato, onions and sweet peppers )


From another trip, mozzarella carrozza (lightly breaded and fried blend of mozzarella, ricotta & parmesan with a balsamic-tomato sauce)


My roommates and I also ate at a fantastic place called Oya. I don't have any photos of our meal, as it was too dark to really take any. My complaints don't stem from the actual food, but rather our server and the atmosphere. The place was beautiful. The noise, however, was too much. I could barely hear myself think, let alone have a conversation with my dinner companions or hear the server talk. It was also a little too dim, making it difficult to read the menus.

I ordered from the prix fixe menu. For $29, I got a salad, meal and dessert. I choose the spinach and pear salad, sans bleu cheese and the Grilled Beef Sirloin (coriander pepper | ginger carrots | fingerling potatoes). For dessert, I opted for Bittersweet Molten Chocolate Cake (Mandarin orange anglaise | vanilla ice cream). My companions ordered sushi for dinner and shared a strawberry shortcake for dessert.

I ordered my dessert when I ordered my meal, as that is when the server asked what I wanted. However, when my friends received their dessert, I was left waiting for mine...and waiting...and waiting. Finally I was able to flag down our server to ask for my dessert. It was heavenly once it finally arrived.

Then she brought us our check. When we asked for it to be split by what we each ordered, we were told that the only way it could be done is if we do the math!!

All in all, I would go again. Next time, however, I'll be sure to clearly explain our preferred method of payment before we actually order.

I hope to make the trip again sometime. I think it would be great for the hubby and I to take the train to Harpers Ferry, WV and spend a couple days there, then hop back on the train and head to DC for a few days.

DC daze

Hello from Washington! After a long train trip here, today was spent walking around the city. Now it is time to get down to business...at least a little.

So I'm heading from one session to another. Tomorrow will be full of running from one end of the convention center to the other. Should be fun!

Oh have I mentioned that I love my iPhone? I decided to leave my laptop at home this trip. Nearly everything I do on it I can do on the iPhone - including posting on my blogs! An added bonus? It weighs a lot less than the laptop.

Dear Maven - Homeology

Dear Maven,

We are loving all of the new green cleaning products but a couple of questions arise. Is the All Purpose Cleaner anti-bacterial? The kitchen counters are shining, but can I eat off of them?

No, Homeology products do not claim to be anti-bacterial products. The reason? We love Homeology for what it was intended for—a natural, safe way to clean without harsh chemicals.

To kill germs you can bet there has to be some pretty heavy stuff involved. By law, any product claiming to be an anti-bacterial product must use specific active ingredients. We did not want to use those type of ingredients in Homeology products as they can be much too harsh for everyday use. And harsh is being polite—I’ve used some of these anti-bacterial products and I wish I’d brought a biohazard mask to save me from the fumes.

The only time I would recommend using those harsher chemicals is when cleaning up after you’ve worked with raw meat. (But only in the areas needed and only as needed.) Otherwise, think of Homeology as your main squeeze when it comes to everyday use and for clean-ups from spills.

We have chosen Homeology to be a well-balanced blend of cleaning with minimal chemicals and impact on the environment. Bonus: Homeology smells great, too. And yes, Homeology is non-toxic so you can eat off your counters after you spray them.

Happy Homeology cleaning,

Maven

Dear Maven is a column in our monthly demonstrator’s newsletters. I have not written any of these articles, but am sharing them here for your information.

Dear Maven - "Economic" Reductions?

Dear Maven,
I recently went to the grocery store and was disappointed to see that my favorite ice cream has been shrunk down to a miniature sized container. It got me to thinking – what if Gold Canyon starts cutting corners to save a buck in this shaky economic climate? Should I be worried?


Oh, Honey. I can almost feel your disillusionment leaping at me off my computer screen. On those bad days when all we want to do is change into some giant sweatpants and have our way with a gallon of ice cream, the last thing we need is to see that someone’s trying to rip us off and charge the same (or even more!) for a lesser product.


Well rest assured that Gold Canyon is dedicated now more than ever to delivering “The World’s Finest”® products to our consumers and Demonstrators and always will be. Every component that goes into our products is selected because of its capacity to out-perform the competition at every turn.


Sure, it’s tedious to test 37 different wax and wick combinations only to toss them all and start from scratch, but at Gold Canyon, that’s what our Research and Development team does. It’s that tireless spirit that ensures that you and every one of your customers is pleased with the end result – a flawless product that you deserve!


So the next time you find yourself lying awake at night pondering which of your favorite products is going down the tubes next (“Will it be my lip gloss? What’s next? My wrinkle cream? Maybe my chai tea latte?”), just know that you can always count on Gold Canyon to maintain the same level of quality to which you’re accustomed – “The World’s Finest”.

Dear Maven is a column in our monthly demonstrator’s newsletters. I have not written any of these articles, but am sharing them here for your information.

Dear Maven - Diffusers

Dear Maven, The Diffusers are such a wonderful product and the perfect gift for teachers, but as a Demonstrator I am always getting requests for scents that are not available in the Diffusers. When will Gold Canyon be coming out with more scents?

Ah, the one question I get over and over . . . “Why can’t I have [insert favorite scent here] in [insert product line here]?

Let’s address this now before it’s asked again. Oh wait, too late. I think that’s the ding of my inbox now as I type this.

Well, dear Demonstrators, I admire you for your persistence in trying to please your customers. After all, where would we be without persistent Demonstrators? However, I must explain the reasoning behind this mystery.

The reality is, it’s really not much of a mystery. Gold Canyon is known as “The World’s Finest” and this I KNOW you know. Well, because of this fact, we can’t just offer every fragrance in every product line and still meet our high standard of quality.

One thing you may not know is our R & D (Research and Development) department Coworkers are super perfectionists. When we hire for R & D, we actually look for this on their resumes! These highly trained scientists worthy of Gold Canyon aren’t exactly falling from the sky either. With the experts we do hire and their mission of providing “The World’s Finest”, they don’t exactly have extra time on their hands. Currently, only the best-performing fragrances are offered in Diffusers. But don’t worry—R & D is always developing and testing more fragrances that may be offered in the future!

As professor at GCU, I use Diffusers to keep my classroom from smelling stale. We have developed the Give Teacher an “A” Gift Giving set that is the perfect back-to-school gift for teacher of all class ages. It is flameless, comes with a cute ruler ribbon exclusive to the set and a full set of decals to ensure your Diffuser is always in season. And, since the fragrance lasts 3-5 months, you don’t have to worry about ordering a refill until winter break!

Bottom line: I know how you and your customers all love Gold Canyon fragrances so much and I really can’t blame you for that. So, I’m sure this won’t be the last time you or I hear this question, but maybe now you can explain things a little better. Perfection takes hard work people and no one would want their Sugar Cookie fragrance to be under par now would they? I didn’t think so!

Dear Maven is a column in our monthly demonstrator’s newsletters. I have not written any of these articles, but am sharing them here for your information.

Vacation...all I ever wanted...

Ahh….vacation. Last week I took several days off of work. The hubby, puppy boy and I all headed to Michigan to visit my family. It was a much needed break. We had a wonderful time seeing family and just spending time together.

Le sigh. I’m back to work today.

While in Michigan, I picked up several plants from my dad. There broccoli, peppers (2 types), eggplant, and a few varieties of tomatoes. I think that’s it. Yesterday, since I was still off of work and back at my house, I put several of the plants in the ground. I also planted lavender and sunflower seeds in pots. Hopefully they will grow well and I can transplant them.

Now I just need to get the materials to expand the garden. Then I can put several seeds in the ground. Oh…and I also want to buy or start a few more veggies.

This weekend is shot for doing anything around the house. I work Saturday during the day, have a Gold Canyon party at night. Sunday I have church in the morning and a Gold Canyon Party in the afternoon. I work on Monday, too – and have a meeting after work – so that day is also shot. Perhaps the following weekend?