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Eco-Friday: Save Money on Your Home with These 5 Upgrades

Posted on April 22, 2016

Fifty-five percent of global online consumers across 60 countries say they are willing to pay for products and services from companies committed to positive social and environmental impact, according to a report from Nielsen. Fortunately, it’s now the mainstream for retailers and manufacturers to offer a wide variety of eco-friendly products and upgrades. Brands are listening to their customers and continuing to develop the green products they want. Here are five money-saving, eco-friendly upgrades to get started.

Dishwasher drawers

Skip the large dishwashers if you live solo or as a couple. Dishwasher drawers are perfect for smaller homes and apartments. Fisher & Paykel make a single-drawer dishwasher that’s Energy Star-qualified. The dishwasher blends in with your home decor and leaves more room for cabinets, storage and other eco-friendly appliances.

Remember that your homeowners insurance typically only covers the repair of structural damage — it doesn’t touch appliances and systems in your home. You’ll need to invest in a home warranty from a company like TotalProtect to cover the repair or replacement costs when appliances break down from everyday use.

Smart thermostat

Heating and cooling systems are often left on all day while at work or away. In some cases, you have no choice but to let them run or face a freezing home with cracked water pipes when you get home. Meanwhile, a smart thermostat like Nest can learn your habits and adjust around your life. Nest creates a cooling and system schedule and can adjust when your needs change. On average, Nest saves up to 12 percent on heating and 15 percent on cooling bills for a savings of nearly $145 a year.

Energy-saving windows

Install Energy Star windows and skylights to lower your overall energy bills and save money. But more importantly, you can help reduce your part in greenhouse gas emissions. The low-emissivity coatings on Energy Star-certified products can also help reduce UV sun damage to your furniture and carpet. From a money-saving standpoint, homeowners can save anywhere from $101 to $583 a year when replacing single-pane windows. You’ll also save the environment up to 6,205 pounds of CO2 a year.

Lighting

Light-emitting diodes, or LED lighting, prove an energy-efficient alternative to incandescent bulbs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, replacing your home’s lighting with LED and Energy Star rated bulbs can save $75 each year. Meanwhile, 90 percent of the energy from incandescent bulbs is given off as heat and wastes resources and money. Other eco-friendly lighting choices include Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) bulbs and eco-friendly halogen incandescents.

Bamboo flooring

Quality bamboo flooring is less expensive and more durable than its wooden counterparts. Bamboo grows rapidly and regenerates itself in around seven years, while it can take trees 40 to 50 years to replace themselves. Bamboo is also easy to clean and gives a modern, clean aesthetic to your home. But like any flooring, the trick is to invest in a quality product. Cheap bamboo flooring will dent and scratch and need replacement sooner. Always go with a reputable, top of the line retailer and product to get the most out of your home upgrades.

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My Superfan Tribute to the late GREAT Prince Rogers Nelson

Posted on April 21, 2016

(Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

I am an 80s kid and I was introduced to Prince when his career was just popping off.

I was, of course, too young to be listening to his music which had adult themes. I really didn’t understand most of it anyway. I just thought he was cute and I loved his look and the sound.

When I was in elementary school, I tricked my immigrant parents into taking me to see “Purple Rain” at the movie theater. They weren’t too knowledgeable about the ratings standards and had no clue it was Rated R. Oh yeah, my 6 year old sister came along too. They thought it was a musical. ooops!

It didn’t take too long for them to realize the musical drama and love story about a troubled aspiring musician and band leader playing the competitive music scene in Minneapolis was too grown for their kids.

Luckily for me, they didn’t make me leave during the risque scenes but rather told me to cover my eyes with my poncho.

My dad enjoyed the film and therefore I didn’t get punished afterwards either.

The 11-year old me was blown away! Not only did I think Prince was super cute, but I loved the energy of his music and even at that tender age, I could sense there was something magical and special about him. He had a certain mystique, a je nai c’est quoi, if you will.

LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 27: Musician Prince performs onstage at the 2006 BET Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on June 27, 2006 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

I loved every single on that Purple Rain Album and much of his subsequent records even after he left The Revolution and formed other bands and collaborated with other stars like Sheila E, Sheila Easton, Vanity, and others.

I grew up listening to his music and after I got my first job at 7-Eleven a few years later, I could finally afford to buy his cassettes and play them back on my tape deck.

My baby sister and I would dance to his tunes in front of the mirror at home and would sit and wait for someone to order up his videos on the Video Music Jukebox on the weekend when my parents went to work. We rocked to him when his videos would come on MTV or we’d hear him on the radio.

I don’t know which one of his songs is my favorite. I think “Kiss” is up on the list as is “Pop Life” and “Raspberry Beret” and “Alphabet Street” and “U Got that Look” and “Hot Thang” and “If I was Your Girlfriend“. The list goes on and on.

Eventually, I’d go to college and one day after getting a job, I’d get a chance to join his official fan club and land a coveted floor (3rd row reserved for Fan Club members) seat during his concert stop at the then MCI Arena in Washington, DC. I swear there were a few moments during his set that he and I made eye contact and connected.

Whether it (the eyes connecting part) happened for real or not, I was so happy to be in that moment, absorbing the essence of a true performer, one who could play multiple instruments, command a stadium, seduce thousands of women at the same time, all while balancing on a pair of 5 inch boots!

There will be no other performer like Prince in this or any future generation because he was/is irreplaceable.

As one of his SUPER FANS, I am still in shock of the news that he has passed away. I am grateful however, that he leaves a wonderful anthology of great music (including some yet to be released to the public which I intend to get whenever they become available).

Thank you, Prince Rogers Nelson. You played the soundtrack to many of our lives. Thank you for the music, the memories and the nostalgia that will be with us forever.

Rest in Paradise, dead friend in my head. Love you!

images: Warner Brothers, WikiCommons, Screencapture Youtube

And his first hit which I loved dearly was “I Wanna Be Your Lover”. Check it out here!

Prince – I Wanna Be Your Lover (1979)

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We’re in Another Cycle Where A Bunch of Hot Models are Preggers

Posted on April 21, 2016

Every once in a while a bunch of hot models (like here and here and here) get knocked up at the same time and we collectively hate them. And when I say “hate”, I mean “get jealous of them for staying relatively hot and thin and looking like they just ate a big meal, not like they’re incubating another human being in their uterus, while we’re sitting over here 6 years later, still looking like we just gave birth two days ago.”

ha!

Anyway… we are in a new round of a bunch of models being pregnant and they’re online and in social media looking cute, as usual. Here are where you can find recent pics:

Victoria Secret model Behati Prinsloo shared a sexy baby bump photos (US Weekly)

Former model and current actress Liv Tyler (The Leftovers) took a stroll with a friend and Instagram shared it (PopSugar)

Another Supermodel Bar Rafaeli did a swimsuit bump share too. (In Style)

Model and new mom Chrissy Teigen shared a super cute photo of herself holding a new daughter Luna, affectionately called LuLu (Celebrity Baby Scoop)

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Here are 10 Things to Do to Avoid Spring Allergies

Posted on April 20, 2016

With Spring, we welcome warmer weather and more opportunities to play outdoors. Spring also is a time when many children and adults feel the effects of allergies. Allergens can be in the home too.

Most people don’t realize that their home is probably making them sick, says Robin Wilson, founder and CEO of Robin Wilson Home in New York City and an ambassador to The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, but there are simple solutions to help eliminate the “wheezes and sneezes.”

Here are her tips for help contain some of the sources of allergy suffering:

1. For allergy and asthma sufferers, make sure and use hypoallergenic pillows and anti-allergen or hypoallergenic pillow cases and covers. Wash your pillow case once a week, your pillow protector at least once a month and wash your pillow at least twice a year. Replace pillows every three years

2. Don’t use a vinyl shower curtain because it holds mold more easily and off gases. Use a nylon curtain instead. It’s also less expensive.

3. Use non-VOC paints which won’t off gas, leave an obnoxious paint odor and stir up asthma or allergies. It looks just as good on the wall as regular paint.

4. Avoid wall-to-wall carpeting. Tile and hardwood floors are a much better choice, but must be vacuumed or cleaned on a regular basis to eliminate dirt and dust. Shake out and vacuum area rugs on a regular basis as well. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.

5. Watch for mold in the dishwasher and refrigerator pan which can build up quickly in the kitchen.

6. One of the biggest trends today is eco-friendly cabinetry because it has no formaldehyde adhesives and is made with low VOC stains. Consider frameless cabinets which won’t collect as much dust.

7. Use slip covers on sofas and chairs which can be washed regularly to eliminate dirt and dust.

8. Keep pets out of the bedroom, and bathe them often to reduce the dander.

9. Freeze stuffed toys for 24 hours to kill dust mites and other bacteria that may have built up.

10. Keep windows closed at night so pollen from outdoors don’t get in and settle on surfaces.

Following these tips should help minimize the sneeze attacks this Spring.

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Chrissy Teigen and John Legend welcome Daughter, Luna Simone Stephens

Posted on April 17, 2016

Congratulations to Chrissy Teigen and John Legend on the birth of their first child together, Luna Simone Stephens.

The Lip Sync Battle host shared the news on her Instagram, today, April 17.

“She’s here! Luna Simone Stephens, we are so in love with you!” the model captioned a photo of the baby’s measurements on a scree. “Sleepy! Very sleepy!”

Welcome to “Team No Sleep”, guys.

Congrats!

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About Baby Powder, Ovarian Cancer & a $72M Lawsuit

Posted on April 12, 2016

Like many women who grew up with the old hygiene tale that you need to put baby powder in your underwear to be fresh, Jacqueline Fox a Birmingham, Alabama mom did too. Religiously and regularly.

The sad part is that Fox eventually died from Ovarian cancer which has been linked to abestos found in talc which was included in Johnson & Johnson‘s Baby powder for years.

Earlier this year, a St. Louis, Missouri jury awarded Fox’s family a $72 Milion wrongful death verdict because the jury ascertained that despite knowing the research of the dangers of talc, the company continued to include it and profit from Talc’s presence in Johnson & Johnson’s powder and other feminine hygiene products.

The suit was part of a broader class action claim, AP reported.

AP pointed to a 1997 internal memo from a company medical consultant said “anybody who denies” the risk of using hygienic talc and ovarian cancer is “denying the obvious in the face of all evidence to the contrary.”

This month, a few outlets reported on how the company profited from myths about hygiene and put communities, like the African American one, at increased risk because of widely held beliefs among its members about baby powder for hygiene.

Fox was African American.

Also, a popular Shower to Shower brand ad in 1988 stated “just a sprinkle a day keeps odor away.” Others reminded women: “Your body perspires in more places than just under your arms.”

There are 1,200 pending lawsuits over the company’s talcum powder, USA Today notes.

For a while now, pediatrician have told new moms to avoid using talcum powder on their babies to keep them dry and fresh though newer versions of baby powder no longer contain talc.

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Thanks, mom! Pez cancels Easter Egg Hunt because of Obnoxious Parents

Posted on March 28, 2016

Remember when I once wrote that there is no wrong way to parent?

Okay this didn’t count:

International candy company Pez was forced to cancel its latest annual Easter egg hunt when parents ruined it by early bum-rushing the field where the eggs were hidden, knocking over other people’s kids and being obnoxious in the process.

PEZ Candy abruptly canceled its third annual Easter egg hunt Saturday after parents stormed the field in Connecticut, according to a company news release.

Children as young as 4 were pushed aside by parents eager to grab as many of the 9,000 eggs hidden in three fields, CNN reports.

“When it came time, at like 10:30 a.m. ET, the parents just bum-rushed that area,” West Haven resident Nicole Welch told CNN affiliate WFSB. “When my son left, he had a broken basket, and he was hysterically crying.”

Sheesh! Way to go, mom and dad!!

Chill. This is not the right way to be a helicopter parent.

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Yeah,You Can have An Adult-Friendly Baby Shower following These 6 Tips

Posted on March 25, 2016

Baby shower etiquette is serious business, but this doesn’t mean you need to throw a stuffy, ladies-only afternoon affair. Welcome male friends, husbands and other relatives to the event and turn the shower into a good time with loved ones.

With a little planning, you can redefine the concept of a traditional baby shower. It’s possible to throw an adult-friendly baby shower that delivers on the baby goods the new mom needs while an amazing time was had by all. Here are some tips to get started.

1. Set the stage

There’s no rule that says a baby shower needs to be at a restaurant with white linen tablecloths or in a tranquil garden. Think about a party instead of a formal affair. Make a playlist of favorite music and throw a backyard barbecue instead.

Tell guests to dress casually and light up the Tiki torches for an evening event. The more the baby shower feels like a party, the more guests will respond with an inspired attitude.

2. Mix up some drinks

Just because the mom-to-be can’t partake in a tasty cocktail doesn’t mean that everyone should have to go without. In fact, the more guests loosen up and have a good time, the happier the mom of honor will be.

Mix up a decadent, non-alcoholic drink for Mom with fresh cucumber slices, sprigs of mint and a twist of lemon or lime. For all other guests, create a signature cocktail with a signature drink with your favorite liquor like Ketel One vodka. Add a floating ice cube with a tiny plastic baby inside and see whose ice cube melts the fastest to win a “my water broke” prize.

3. Play a fun game

Guests lament the dated baby shower games and awkward moments of guessing if a diaper is soiled with chocolate or coffee. Instead, play something people will actually have a fun time doing. The Huffington Post suggests a clothesline game where guests hold their smartphone in one hand and a piece of baby clothing in the other. Whoever can pin up the most clothes on the line with their hands full wins. It’s also good practice for parents who will spend the next 18 years with their hands full.

4. Give away cool stuff

One upside to even the most boring of baby showers is winning prizes. Make the prizes memorable, and give away iTunes gift cards, a six-pack of craft beer, a gift certificate for a pedicure or a fun gadget like a wine aerator. Think of gifts you would actually want for yourself and treat your guests in kind.

5. Celebrity Mom trivia

If you need an icebreaker, start up a round of Celebrity Mom trivia. Ask questions about who has adopted the most children, who had a scandalous fall-out with her own mother or who is the best dressed. Turn it into a competition with small teams ganging up on each other. The winners get a subscription to their favorite celebrity trash magazine and title of “Celebrity Mom Guru.”

6. Make it meaningful

Take a moment to talk about some hysterical, touching or interesting things the guests have done with the mom-to-be, who can use the time to honor her beloved friends and family while others get to know each other. Your guests will get better insight to how they’ve impacted the mother’s life and carry on their influence into the baby’s life.

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This is the Science of The Easter Egg

Posted on March 25, 2016

If you celebrate Easter, you’ll likely be embarking on the questionable quest to hide a bunch of hard-boiled eggs around your house and hope—oh, hope beyond hope—that all of them get found. Before the hunt, though, you’ll have to dye those eggs in a stinking bath of food dye, water, and vinegar. The vinegar part has always bugged me. Hard boiled eggs have a pungent enough aroma on their own; why do we need to add another acrid smell to the dying process?

It’s not just to keep the kids dunking instead of drinking, it turns out. Most food dyes are acid dyes, so called because they only work in acidic conditions. The vinegar—a solution of 5 percent acetic acid in water—is there to bring the pH low enough that the dye will actually bind. But is there an ideal pH for perfect egg-dying saturation? A normal box of food dye says to add 1 teaspoon of vinegar for every half-cup of water—but would tweaking that acidity by adding more or less vinegar get you better results? WIRED decided to find out.

First, some explanation: Why does acid make the dyes dye better? The colored molecules themselves are sodium salts of a phenolic acid. Once those dyes get thrown into water, the sodium ions fall off, leaving behind the negatively-charged part of the molecule. Add vinegar, and you’re adding lots of free protons—positively charged hydrogen ions—which fly in to take the place of those missing sodiums. The hydrogens, now associated with the dye molecules, are important because they allow hydrogen bonding. Their slightly positive charge acts like a magnet, attracting it (and the dye, in tow) to slightly negative atoms in the protein molecules and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the eggshell.

The color you see on the egg—red, yellow, blue, green–depends on how each particular dye molecule absorbs and reflects different wavelengths of light. But the saturation of that color depends on how strong a bond you can get between the egg’s calcium-filled surface and the dye molecules. So you gotta add vinegar. But how much?

Continue reading at WIRED

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For the Anniversary of The Bellyitch 100, We’re Giving it Away FREE!

Posted on March 25, 2016

This blog launched in 2007 as an online journal to chronicle my third and last pregnancy with my daughter, Gabrielle (who we call GiGi).

Eventually, it grew in favor and popularity among moms-to-be and started to stand out on its own as a source for celebrity pregnancy news, information and images.

It also gained widespread acclaim for its annual listing and summary of the most expensive baby strollers, diaper bags and luxury cribs.

The Bellyitch Most Expensive.

The features brought readers from far and wide who were curious about the items wealthy and affluent families purchase for their babies and it became a go-t0 resource of the top and most posh baby items loved by the rich, powerful, famous and in between.

Every two years, I would pore through hundreds of paper and online brochures of top companies and hand-selected those that skimmed the cream of the top. I selected those items that I personally noticed were coveted and used by celebrities and Madison Ave or Beverly Hills wives and their nannies. Those that topped the price bracket in each genre usually also made the cut as did those that were manufactured using the best quality materials, well-constructed, durable, double stitched and clearly took quite some time to assemble.

Readers, fans and voyeurs of the fab life enjoyed the chance to gawk at the favorite items that their favorite celebrity loved the most, what they outfitted themselves in while pregnant, which strollers they pushed their posh tots in, how they outfitted their celebrity babies, which exquisite piece of crib furniture their newborns napped in and what “it” bag they flung over their shoulders while out and about with baby dodging the paparazzi.

In 2012, I noticed that a few websites also started to list the most expensive items in blog posts so I decided to finally stake a claim in the market by penning an eBook. It was published in 2013 as a giveaway to readers and then I sold it. But on the 3 year anniversary of the launch of the book, I am sharing it again for FREE!

You can get it HERE for FREE!

I have not since returned to the ‘most expensive’ baby items genre and have conceded it to others out there who do similar round ups. Therefore, this book will not include the more recent companies that have launched since 2013 like 4 Moms and others.

In the Bellyitch 100; we’ve arranged 20 of the top brands in each category: strollers, diaper bags, cribs, infant clothing and maternity clothes.

I hope you enjoy this labor of love and fabulousity that we’ve assembled just for your viewing pleasure and shopping too if you are so inclined and blessed to be in the position to purchase one of these top-of-the-line items.

Stay fab!

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Dishwasher drawers

Smart thermostat

Energy-saving windows

Lighting

Bamboo flooring

1. Set the stage

2. Mix up some drinks

3. Play a fun game

4. Give away cool stuff

5. Celebrity Mom trivia

6. Make it meaningful