UPDATE!!! I posted this post on 12/21/11 to later find out that this company has been thought to be a scam. For all of my readers I plan on leaving my original post up because it offers good information and maybe someday a company will actually offer deals such as these after reading posts like this. Please be warned that this company has been noted on several websites as being a scam. Also note that my reviews are based on my experience alone and I will not take responsibility for anyone's decision to try or use any of my product/service reviews. Here is the original post.

For the past few years we’ve started to learn about these daily deal sites out there. You know the ones that clog up your email with “Today’s Best Deal in your area”. It’s been the big boom since companies like Craigslist, Amazon, and Ebay. It has been the newest most innovative way for small businesses to get out there and show off their mad skills to new customers. The best part is that the companies don’t have to do any of the marketing themselves and it doesn’t cost them a thing until a sale is made. “HOLY SMOKES BATMAN! It doesn’t cost me anything until a sale is made?” Nope. These companies are sought out by the deal making websites and asked to be promoted on their site for a percentage of the deal. Which in turn makes it so the company or service provider doesn’t lose anything, actually they gain a potential customer.

Being in sales my whole life I can’t believe I didn’t come up with this idea. Half the time anyone who owns a business will tell you that if they could just get people into their place or to try their product they could guaranty that they’d have a customer for life. I wonder if that’s REALLY true. See anytime I purchase a deal from one of these sites and I use it later I make sure to post my review up on my own website or on websites such as Yelp or Urbanspoon. Now I wonder how long it will take these deal sites and the review sites to recognize what an ingenious idea it would be to incorporate the two together. Maybe build a platform where you can review your deal on one site and have it noted on all of them. Plus if you give an incentive to the reviewer for making and posting their review you’d have an exceptional amount of traffic and a better scale on whether that deal was an actual success or not.

Recently I found a site called nomorerack.com which is another deal of the day type site. It offers 8 deals a day and sometimes can offer an insanity deal which is quick to disappear if you don’t jump on it. The products on nomorerack.com seem to be up to date and trend worthy. Products that are usually too expensive to buy and try on their own, but with help from bulk buying anyone can manage to grab these deals. Don’t get me wrong I love sites like Groupon.com, livingsocials.com, and eversave.com, but they usually all pertain to dinners, nail salons and spas. I need variety! I need to try the latest and greatest electronics, health care products, and beauty products. So check out this new site and let me know what you think about it. And if anyone wants to snag my idea on bringing the review sites and the deal of the day sites together I’m for hire… let’s roll.

Ohh Coconut Oil, ohh how I love thee! If you haven’t heard the buzz about coconut oil and all the AMAZING benefits it has for health and beauty then you my friend must pay attention. Go get your pen and paper and start jotting down the recipes to living the good life with this miracle product. Thanks to Jenna Marbles for posting her blog and reminding me of what a great topic this was. If you don’t know who Jenna Marbles is please be warned that you may find her vlogs/blogs vulgar, however I find them to be entertaining and direct.

Now for the goods on Coconut Oil and it’s magnificent benefits. My mom clued me in on the stuff when she made what we called “Belly Buster Muffins”. They were these super awesome muffins that had less calories and it used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil to give them flavor and to keep them healthy. I realized how good they were when I brought them into work and more than just a couple people asked me for the recipe. Once I moved on from the muffins I found out more about this incredible oil that people were using not only in their foods, but as beauty and hair care treatments.

I’ve been using coconut oil as a moisturizer on my hands and feet for a while now. I would take a nice warm bath and exfoliate my feet then I would take a nice heaping spoonful and massage it into my feet and hands. Then I’d put some socks on (so I wasn’t performing the next Home’s Funniest Videos scene) and I went to bed. When I woke up my kicks were so stinkin’ smooth I couldn’t wait to show them off in my cutest sandals. After seeing the results with my hands and feet I couldn’t wait to try it out on my hair. As most of you know I don’t use a regular shampoo instead I use Wen which is a cleansing conditioner and I’m very particular what types of products I put in my hair. I ended up taking a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil and massaging it into my scalp and working it down to the ends of my hair. I rolled up my hair into a shower cap and slept on it. When I washed it out the next morning and blow dried and styled it my hair seemed to glisten. It wasn’t oily or weighed down it was just shiny and extremely soft. I loved what it did for my hair.

The more I read on coconut oil the more I realized that people should really be using this daily. It has been known to help people with cravings and weight loss, stress relief, infections, kidney problems, thyroid problems, migraines, etc. The list is about a mile long on the benefits of this product. You can Google it or you can check out this page to see how much an average person should use based on age and current weight.

One of my favorite snacking recipes is my air popped ranch popcorn. Yummy! Since I’m trying to watch my girlish figure I’ve learned that you can turn air popped popcorn into a dieters dream.

What you’ll need:
½ Cup white or yellow popcorn kernels
½ packet of powdered ranch dip
¼ tsp red pepper (optional)
½ tsp garlic salt
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 microwaveable glass bowl
1 plastic or paper plate that fits over the top of the glass bowl

Rub a little of the coconut oil around the sides of the bowl add the kernels to the bowl and put the plate over the top to keep the popped kernels from going all over the microwave. Put them in the microwave for about 4 to 5 minutes or so. Make sure to use pot holders to take the bowl out. Mix the coconut oil, red pepper, powdered ranch mix and garlic salt together and then pour it over your popcorn. Make sure to spread it all over the popcorn evenly. Then you can enjoy this low calorie snack knowing that you’re getting a great daily dose of your coconut oil. Let the energy begin and the food cravings be gone!

UPDATE: Here is a picture of my hair after I've used a tiny bit of coconut oil after styling it. My hair has never smelled so good and looked so shiny. I love this stuff!

I had been asked to do a blog on pearls and it's funny because I grew up learning a lot about them so I accepted the blog review right away. When I was growing up my mom was the godmother to my best friend Gale. Her parents had been friends with my parents for so long that we were brought up calling each other cousins. While growing up I remember my mother buying the most beautiful pearls for Gale. She would buy her a pearl or two every birthday and Christmas so she could string them on a necklace. This idea of having pearls every year made birthday and Christmas shopping easy for my for my mom for 18 plus years. I took interest in these pearls because they were so beautiful and unique. By the time Gale graduated college her set was finished and she had the most beautiful pearl necklace that she could wear at so many memorable events.

Some of my favorite pearls are the black and brown Tahitian pearls and the Freshwater pearls. The color choices are amazing and they have an iridescent glow to them.  I remember being so intrigued about pearls that the first time I ever bought my own pearl I bought it through a booth at Epcot. You know the one that you’d find in the China section of Epcot. Once I realized not every pearl is as beautiful as my favorite Tahitian or Freshwater pearls I stopped taking chances on “the grab bag” pearls at the booths.  Not that it wasn’t an incredible idea to have a booth that allows you to pick your own oyster and slay it for its gem, but I became such a pearl snob that I couldn’t help but hold out for the best.

To me, it’s about searching around and finding the perfect color, size and setting. It’s like trying to find the perfect pair of shoes with your outfit. With shoes you want them to be comfortable, not too flashy, they should match or compliment your outfit and you want to feel confident in them. With a pearl you want it to look beautiful but not too flashy to take away from the outfit and you want it to compliment your skin tone. It’s probably one of the reasons I’ve never been interested in a pink pearl, my skin is too pink. Black, Brown and Lavender pearls are some of the best colors to go with my skin tone and that lovely little black dress that I own. What color works best on you?