STAYING IN THE KNOW - TRENDCENTRAL.COM

My boss forwarded me this website link and I've been hooked on it since. Trend Central reports on 4 categories - Lifestyle, Entertainment, Technology & Style. I have found the most interesting websites and articles from this site. I've signed up for their daily newsletter and it's great because they e-mail you a short summary on their findings and at my leisure, I can discover something amazing with just one click of a button.

Don't get me wrong, I love my daily fix on TMZ, Perezhilton, NY times, Drudge Report. After awhile, I keep reading the same stuff over and over. Been there, done that. Yes, there's an obvious trend....ha! This website allows me to get a break from my daily routine and it's always nice to discover something new =)

Judge it yourself. Head to TRENDCENTRAL.COM

I think this should be their tagline:

What's Hot, what's Not? Now that you know... stay in the know. Trend Central.

Ha.

GET YOUR COUPON ON....

COUPON

Definition: a printed form, often distributed as part of an advertisement, entitling the bearer to purchase a specific item of merchandise at a discount; or, a similar form which may be submitted to the issuer to obtain goods or information. Such coupons may be issued by the manufacturer (manufacturer's coupon) or by a retail establishment; in the latter case they may then be redeemed only at that particular retail store.

I recently learned from Thanh's sister-in-law "how to shop smart." I've always LOVED bargain shopping, but I didn't know you can get stuff for free or for dirt cheap! She taught me to keep alert to any coupons I see in the newspaper as well as searching online. F.E: Rite-Aid has a coupon for $2 off Johnson & Johnson baby essentials: baby wash, cream, gel, shampoo, conditioner, desitin . Sure, I have no kids (phew), BUT I have a bunch of friends expecting. I used some coupons on some of the items I also found online ($1 off or buy 3 items and get an additional $ 3 off) along with the rite-aid coupon for each item and I kid you not....I got a bunch of baby stuff for either free of super cheap ($1.29 per item, normally $4-5 dollars). Things add up!

The Rite-Aid Manager was hating on me, but it's not my fault that I know how to stretch my coupons. Plus, what does she care? It's a manufacturer's coupon. She gave me a hard time about it, but I didn't let her get to me. I told her if you don't scan my coupon, I will make sure to tell your store manager/regional manager and let's just say she scanned the damn coupon and it worked.

RAIN OR SHINE - I'M READY!

I love rainboots. They are essential to every girl's wardrobe. I recently bought some yellow tweed rainboots from JCrew that are knee high. I can't get enough of them. I am so down to jump in puddles! Sometimes I secretly wish it rains just so I can break out the boots from under the bed =)

I really like these pair of rainboots by TRETORN esp because they are waterproof with fur lining - HOT! (pic above)

Waterproof rubber boot
8 1/2" rubber shaft upper
Synthetic fur lining
Leather pull tab on collar
14" circumference
Treaded rubber outsole

Great Color! Retails at $60 dollars. Also comes in other colors : green, hot porn pink, hunter green & snow white. You can find these shoes at rei.com or piperlime.com

Other great rainboot brands (i factor price, comfort & design) include CHOOKA, HUNTER, CHINESE LAUNDRY, JCREW.

Rain or Shine..I look awesome!

Christmas 2008: Christmas Card Competition

Thanh's family back in Oklahoma always has a Christmas Competition between the siblings (there's a total of 7 of them!). Last year they baked desserts with Tham & Mary winning with their Ginger Bread Village submission! They were the team to beat. This year they decided to make homemade Christmas Cards with the nephews/nieces in charge of determining the winner. Thanh's brothers & sisters & their significant others all competed with their charming and cute homemade cards, but Thanh & I blew them away. I am competitive at heart, so this was too much fun for us!

P.S: I talked a whole lotta shit to Tham, so I"m happy I didn't eat my words. A friendly competitive spirit cannot be hated on!

Here is the card made by Uncle Alan. I think he was going for the simple, modern look
with a touch of calligraphy. Alan tried to sweet talk the kids saying his card was clean looking and how they needed to vote for him, but too bad his sweet talking had no influence over the kids. Kissing and hugging the kids won't change your card. Sorry, this didn't win!

Here's the front of Alan's card - Amateur, right? Red & Black? Come on...it's Christmas. At least, use Red & Green!

Here is Uncle Tam & Mary's card. It was so clean and nicely put together. I didn't see any glue smears. They had the snowflakes filled with the nephews/nieces pics. Way to suck up. They even wrapped candy (in the pic) under the tree!

This is the front of Tham & Mary's card. Mary told me she bought a gift bag and used that for the outside of the card. How is that homemade? just kidding. this was gorgeous, but sadly the kids didn't choose this the winner.

So happy to tell you that our card WON. All the kids UNANIMOUSLY voted for our card. Whoop whoop! We knew what we had to do to win - we had to tailor the card to the KIDS!

Back of the card: We didn't want to leave the back blank and boring. Using my Cricut machine (I highly recommend), I cut out the letters - S, N & W at 5 inches so it would look clean. I found this snowflake inserted cut outs at JoAnn's and decided they would be the perfect "O" and voila. The blue gift wrapping paper was the perfect color to match the ice blue front.

Inside the Card: Thanh got into this competition and really went all out. With the help of the Internet, he was able to learn how to make pop out reindeers (we had a total of two reindeers popping out on the creases). He still needed my assistance by adding the bling - gems, fury red nose, red bow with a shiny bell & googly eyes helped to bring the deer to life! Glue Guns work wonders!

Inside of our card: We knew this much -There were 9 nephews/nieces so we wanted to make every kid a funny reindeer! Each face received antlers, red bow & googly eyes just to make them silly. Plus every stocking was filled with fake money (sorry we are broke - times are tough) & candy canes. We were going to fill them with candy but it would be too heavy and the card would have fallen apart! Had to give it to the T Man for thinking about making a fake chimney and hand cut the 3 layer fire. I insisted in making Santa's legs in the chimney. I used the Cricut Machine again to cut out "Merry Christmas" and it's hard to see, but we used a bunch of fake bling bling gems and glued them onto the edges of the letters. On the top of the ledge to the right side I thought it only made sense to add milk & cookies since Santa just visited.

Front of our card: Outlined in lights and silver star tinsel with 3-D gifts and light bulbs filling out the base. Kids LOVE bright lights =) To keep the lights in tact, we used wire on the edges to keep the outline tight and right, BUT we were running late to the competition so at the last minute we just used see through satin tape since we were in a hurry.

We ROCK. Next year - ugly christmas sweater competition. no JOKE, we will dominate again!

polite in public - jrhrts party!

WBTV current/casting/ba/drama/comedy clan unite!


Trio Terrors: Blondie, Dopey & Mugatu (Jen/DJ/Stacey)



Double fisting! The bar was almost closed!
Me, Jana, DJ & Stacey


DJ had his pimp moment photographed!

Current & Development Gals

Molly, Chase, Stacey, Lauren, Jana and I

Had a blast with some co-workers this past Tuesday. It was the jrHRTS holiday party and let's just say that our gang knows how to have fun. Open bar from 8-10 PM...what a night. Let's just say at the end of the night, I took the blonde marilyn wig and became the BLONDIE i always wanted to be =) It was a great introduction starter - is my hair too frizzy...you like me do...what do you think, too light off my skin?

Plus they had this photo booth by POLITE IN PUBLIC and everyone in your group gets a copy of the picture within minutes! We were glued to the booth. Don't hate that we're awesome! Check out other pictures from the event: politeinpublic.com (would love one of these at a wedding!)

UGLY JEN- belated Halloween!

sorry i've been bad about posting lately, it's been super busy...

If you are laughing, it's a-ok. Halloween is always fun. My co-workers decided to go the political route and dress up as Obama & Sarah Palin. I didn't want to be the mainstream "witch, butterfly, tinkerbell/super hero". This year I went as Betty Suarez from the ABC show UGLY BETTY.

My friend from ABC sent me the Ugly Betty poncho and all I had to do was wear a colorful/weird button top (mine was blue & white), but I didn't want to wear a crazy ugly skirt since i had to walk around work. I toned it down with a black skirt, black stockings and black shoes. The hardest thing to come up with was the BRACES. Now everyone that watches the show will know that Betty is NOTHING w/out her brace face. Being clever & creative, I bought plastic clear vampire teeth for 99 cents at the party store and cut off the fangs. I then took a blue sharpie pen and colored in a small square on each tooth. Lastly, I took a paperclip and bent it as straight as i could to make the wire to wrap on the top and bottom. Voila! Tres Geek, but ces't chic!

So without further ado, here is UGLY JEN!

jcrew discount

Great coupon to use for internet purchases - type in EXTRA30 in the promotion field and receive a 30% discount on all items! Just got a couple of everyday tops for work and play. Had to pass this on!

This past weekend I scored and bought this wool permison skirt that retails for $128 for only $14 bucks and some grass green cordiror pants for $20 bucks. It'll be a bright winter for me =)

Happy shopping and strech your MONEY Honey!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN - only if you dare!

GEEK ALERT: MAGIC JACK to the rescue!

I went into my dentist's office and while waiting, his receptionist RAVED about this product she bought from QVC called the Magic Jack. Basically you plug your home phone into this jack and then plus the magic jack into a usb port on your computer and you will be able to call free long distance in the US and Canada for FREE. It's both Freezy & Easy! All you need is to have a computer with dsl.

The cost is 39.95 for the equipment (one-time fee) and you get free calls for the first year and every year after you pay $19.95 for the service if you want to continue. Ok, so it's not completely free, but it's practically free! With a 30 day free trial, it's worth a shot, don't you think? =)

No more home phone bills. Free call waiting, voice-mail, directory assistance, voice-mail, caller id. I read a lot of good reviews and what got me was the receptionist told me you can bring your home phone number with you anywhere! if you are travelling and have a computer with dsl, you can transport the home jack to any new location and still receive your calls! It's the 2008 invention of the year =)

http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp

GEEK ALERT: iwant an ibangle! tres chic for your everyday geek!

Fashion forward electronics - gotta love! IBangle, a new concept designed by Gopinath Prasana. Although not in production (yet), I def. foresee this as the new ipod of the future. It's just a matter of time. Everyone likes their gadgets small, easy to carry around & sleek and sweet. Well here you go - iBangle - tres chic for your everyday geek! *

Notable concept features:

1) Worried about losing this gadget? Have no fear. There's a blue button in the inner blue band that when pressed, fills up with air expanding allowing a snug fit around your wrist. Can I say Unisex? In no time, this will be coming out in a variety of colors just like the iPod!

2) Audio is transmitted via wireless ear buds. Ridding the messy wires, now that's what I'm talking about!

3) There’s a multi-touch track pad for easy navigation. It also has a few additional buttons for music control. No screen, but the designer figures you can navigate just fine with it’s audio-oriented navigation system.

4) Design - Appears light weight, sleek, modern and easy to transport.

Wow wow wow. I love it! If this ever comes out, I can only wonder how much it's going to COST!

more pictures: http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/10/21/this-ipod-is-full-of-air/

DIY: PORTRAIT PICTURE

What a great DIY portrait project. Design Sponge Online featured Alexandra Hedin, lifestyle and entertaining expert's latest DIY idea. These modern silhouette “portraits” of your family (friends, pets, bf/gf, wife/hubbie/ ex-wife/ex-hubbie, pets) is so creative, but super easy to make! Had to share.

What You’ll Need:
1. Camera

2. Printer (or have your pictures printed at a copy center)

3. 8.5″ x 11″ labels

4. Scissors

5. A Canvas of your choosing

6. Paint

How-To:
Step 1: Take a picture in profile

Step 2: Print profile picture on an 8.5” x 11” label (Available at office supply stores)

Step 3: Cut out the profile using fine tip scissors. Be sure to catch all of the details!

Step 4: Remove the backing of the label and apply the outer part of the label to a canvas. I had pre-painted mine with a chocolate brown paint and let dry overnight.

Step 5: Using the label as a stencil, fill in the negative space with paint that contrasts the base canvas color.

Step 6: Remove the ‘label stencil’ and let dry.

Step 7: Touch up the edges of the profile with base color of paint if needed.

vote - you can vote however you like

remarkable and amazing.



make your vote count this year - see you at the polls on nov. 4th!

THE DAY THE PENIS ASKED FOR A RAISE

I, the Penis, hereby request a raise in salary for the following reasons:
I do physical labor.
I work at great depths.
I plunge headfirst into everything I do.
I do not get weekends or public holidays off.
I work in a damp environment.
I work in a dark workplace that has poor ventilation.
I work in high temperatures.
My work exposes me to contagious diseases.
Sincerely,

P. Niss

The Response

Dear Penis:
After assessing your request, and considering the arguments you have raised, the administration rejects your request for the following reasons:
You do not work 8 hours straight.
You fall asleep after brief work periods.
You do not always follow the orders of the management team. You do not stay in your designated area and are often seen visiting other locations.
You do not take initiative - you need to be pressured and stimulated in order to start working.
You leave the workplace rather messy at the end of your shift.
You don't always observe necessary safety regulations, such as wearing the
Correct protective clothing.
You will retire well before you are 65.
You are unable to work double shifts.
You sometimes leave your designated work area before you have completed the assigned task..
And if that were not all, you have been seen constantly entering and exiting the workplace carrying two suspicious-looking bags.
Sincerely,

V. Gina

SO WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD??

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?

SARAH PALIN: I may not answer the questions the way that the moderator might like to hear them, but the way that I know Joe Sixpack and the hockey moms want to hear it. I can see both sides of the road from my house. But what's important is that we not look backward to where the chicken has been, also to look forward and see that the chicken is a maverick who was bold and a real hero for going against his own flock.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

CHENEY: Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he w ants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the other side. Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like the other side.That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heartwarming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken 2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

COLONEL SANDERS: Damn -- I missed one.

potty training - japanese style

'>ftp://

This is the funniest potty training video... I wish I was trained this way!! Happy Thursday!

ORIGINAL PENGUIN CLOTHING ON SALE!

On sale for $39 (currently sells for $128)
Loving this manigan. I don't like it buttoned up, but so versatile and grey this fall for me is the new black!



$29 (Originally $98)
You can either rock it, or not.





$26 (Originally $89)

Love this essential blue striped long sleeved top! Dress it up, dress it down, with jeans, or no pants at all, just glasses and black sunglasses =) Risky Business!



I love bargains. Thanks to Regencyssecret.com for having a huge private sale for the clothing brand ORIGINAL PENGUIN. Over 70% off, these fall pieces included sweaters, t-shirts, jackets, sweaters all affordable. Back to school shopping on a budget! Shout out to Chris for hooking it up!! I love this brand - clean & crisp, but with some personality. If you like Original Penguin, check out Ben Sherman & Modern Amusement - 2 other brands I love!


bensherman.com

modernamusement.com

advice: remember your ROOTS, go to the GYM and get to know ESTELLE!

Went to see GYM CLASS HEROES, ROOTS & ESTELLE perform at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood last night. GCS are my rock heroes, roots stayed so true and estelle is one classy act - if you don't know her, get to know her! Hot hot hot! Each act def. earned mad respect. They gave the audience a 4 hour show -they all killed it! Watch the videos and you'll understand that this live performance was fucking fantastic! I convinced my 3 friends Mike, Chad & his brother to push our way to the front - we were like 3 feet away from the stage - it was AWESOME!

Highlights of the night:
- These 6 boys (think SUPER BAD) were in front of us passing a blunt around. No one cared, but not once, but TWICE did 2 of the 6 boys fall to the ground appearing to be passed out! We kinda freaked out and I got worried, but i think they either were dehydrated or were too weak sauce for the weed! The fucked up thing was the other friends didn't care to help the boys because they wanted to watch the performances... selfish & straight shady!

-I won the drumstick used during the gym class heroes performance thrown out by the drummer at the end! I think Chad's perfect push ups helped because his chest was so rock hard that the stick bounced off his chest towards me- ha!

-Travis of GCH, is a hottie. Sweating with a bull ring dangling from his nose and fully tatted throat down, I was in travisland. Didn't realize he's one freaking funny cat. He would talk in between the songs and he took the audience back to 1981 remembering and telling us "he did a back flip out of his mom's coochie and the doctor was like WTF and he was like Oh I'm here!" He did justice performing live!

- Roots were just simply amazing. Also, the tuba player for ROOTS was off the chain. He was just blowing and dancing away - barely rested. I'm just saying...if he can blow that much on stage, you can only imagine....(no I'm not a perv, everyone around me was saying the same damn thing!)

I forgot how much fun concerts were - at least when they give one hellava show!

GOING TO THE GYM

To rock out - Watchig GYM CLASS HEROES with opening acts THE ROOTS & ESTELLE tomorrow - 24 hour count down!

EXTREME MAKEOVER EDITION: BOOKSHELF!

Was inspired by seeing this makeover on designspongeonline.com and I'm going to do the same thing with my hallway shelf and cd rack. Now I have to figure out what color combo...

Thinking: Hot Fuchsia& Brown, Orange & Brown (Go Giants) or maybe Charcoal Grey & a light grey?

Presto-Change O - Doable makeovers!!

BEFORE




AFTER



Designspongeonline.com is such a great website. So creative and inspiring. There is one section where they have people upload before and after photos of items ranging from chairs, couches, desks revamped and better than ever! It's amazing how they take things that look like garbage and turn them into treasures to be loved and adored! With new paint and fabric, the costs are minimal to get something so special and lovely. What a bargain!

I feel inspired and plan on revamping a chair. Wish me good luck and I'll post pics later!