Have a Better Life

Would you like to win a $25 Sephora Gift Card? Yes, then follow the instructions.

Head to Chic Galleria.com and enter the Lucky Brand “My Transformation” Stylist Challenge! by showing how you would style you favorite jeans for a night out. Just fill out the form and you get the chance to be one of the lucky three winners. The winner will get a professional photo shoot for Lucky Brand.

Now comes the $25 Sephora Gift Card part. After entering the Lucky Brand challenge leave a comment with your entry link on the Chic Galleria.com posting area until November 4, 10:00 am EST. The 5 Lucky Winners that will receive the 5 $25 Sephora Gift Cards will be randomly chosen and they will be announced in the contest page.

Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought about my blogs, this one specially. First it was supposed to be a health/beauty related blog but along the way it changed to shopping in general and now it’s a mix of everything.

I feel I’m confusing my readers, one day I’m blogging about Pillows, another about Relax into Stretch, another about orovo or fashion contests. I really don’t know in which category I fit in right now but I also know that variety is good. Do I have a specific niche? No I don’t. I cover several areas that I feel might interest my readers.

If you are reading this post please let me know what you think about my blog. Should I continue to write about shopping, health, beauty or fitness in general or should I follow my interests in Green stuff and write Go Green posts?

Saving money is something that I’m sure everybody is doing right now. We are all going through a difficult time and it’s time to rethink all the expenses we have on a daily/month basis. I’ve got a mortgage but I’ll wait until January to request a tax review to the bank, however there are a few points I’m going through right now:

I’m not:

• leaving TV’s and Electronics in stand by anymore while they are not in use.
• taking long showers
• letting my kids play in a full of water bath
• using the washer machines during “hot hours” (I use a “frequent hours” program from the electricity company)
• ironing only a few clothes pieces at a time
• drying clothes in the dry washer machine

I’m:

• saving on gas by staying in the office during lunch break
• trying to get a better home and car insurance quote
• thinking about buying solar panels to put on the roof
• using less paper napkins and paper towels in the kitchen and use more cloth ones (they can be washed and reused)

What about you? What are you doing to save money? Please share your ideas.

Here I’m again with a light and health recipe. This time I bring here Pasta and lots of vegetables. This recipe comes from MayoClinic.com. I came across this site while searching the web for healthy recipes and I found here very useful information regarding healthy living, diseases, health tools and much more.

The recipe I’m posting here today is healthy, low fat and tastes really good. So here it is serving 4:

Pasta with marinara sauce and grilled vegetables

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 10 large fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 red peppers, sliced into chunks
• 1 yellow summer squash, sliced lengthwise
• 1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
• 1 sweet onion, sliced into 1/4-inch-wide rounds
• 8 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti

Directions:

To make the marinara sauce, in a heavy skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes, salt, garlic, chopped onions, basil, sugar, oregano and black pepper. Simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens, about 30 minutes.

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or heat a gas grill or broiler (grill). Away from the heat source, lightly coat the grill rack or broiler pan with cooking spray. Position the cooking rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.

Brush the red peppers, squash, zucchini and sweet onion with the remaining olive oil. Place the vegetables on the grill rack or broiler pan. Grill or broil, turning as needed, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.

Fill a large pot 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (tender), about 10 to 12 minutes, or according to package directions. Drain the pasta thoroughly.

Divide the pasta evenly among individual plates. Top with the marinara sauce and grilled vegetables. Serve immediately.

I’ll continue to bring here healthy, light and low fat recipes. If you would like to be always updated subscribe to my feed and get my posts on your feed reader or email.

Enjoy your meal!!

Who doesn’t like a good sale? I’m sure you do as much as I do.

Check this out, Cheap Jordans 23 is having a huge Jordan shoes sale. Excellent prices for high quality Jordans. The variety is terrific; you can find here new Jordans and retro styles on sale. It’s something you can’t miss.

The cheap jordans models available are really gorgeous, colorful, comfortable and really, really affordable. This is a sale you can’t find anywhere else. For our convenience and depending on the currency we prefer we have the option to choose prices in Dollars and Euros.

Cheap Jordans 23 website uses EMS/USPS Express shipment to achieve a fast shipping of the shoes to the buyer. Shipment is made worldwide.

Since I ended my physiotherapy due to my back pain problems I’ve been doing some stretch exercises at home and sometimes at work (during a work pause) to stretch my muscle and prevent back pain. The exercises I do where taught mt the physiotherapist that treated me and are only for back, neck and shoulder stretches.

However our whole body can be stretched in order to allow us to have a more relaxed and pain free life. Relax into Stretch is a DVD that show us through a specific training how to achieve a high level of flexibility.

The exercises that are shown in the Relax into Stretch DVD are:
1. The Souped Up Toe Touch
2. The Spine Decompression Hang
3. The Improved Cobra
4. The Side Bend
5. The Spine Rotation
6. The Lateral Neck and Trap Stretch
7. The Headache Buster
8. The Anti-Slouch Neck Stretch
9. The Head Turner
10. The Chest Opener
11. The Overhead Reach
12. The Biceps and Shoulder Stretch
13. The Shoulder Blade and Lat Stretch
14. The Upper Back Loosener
15. The Wrist Flexion
16. The Wrist Extension
17. The Good Morning Hamstring Stretch
1. standing
2. seated on a chair
3. seated on the floor
18. The Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
19. The Lunge Hip Flexor Stretch
20. The Karate Stance Hip Flexor Stretch
21. The Karate Stance Groin Stretch Page 84
22. The Seated Groin Stretch Page 86
23. The Calf Stretch Page 89
24. The Shin and Instep Stretch Page 91

All these exercises are shown and taught by Pavel Tsatsouline, a former physical training instructor for Spetsnaz, the Soviet Special Forces.

This DVD comes with separate types of stretches allowing us to choose from a menu the stretch we are interested in. The stretches altogether go from head to toe stretching the whole body giving it complete flexibility. What makes this DVD a piece of art is that the instructions are given in a very simple and easy way to follow.

If you are interested in a relaxed and pain free lifestyle than this DVD is excellent for you. It is also available the Relax into Stretch Book version.

DragonDoor.com For supreme fitness and well being

If you blog and you have a family than you should get a Laptop. It was the best buy I did in the last few years. My notebook computer saves me from waiting for the desktop to be free because everyone in the house uses it. I can take it to every room and this brings me a lot of freedom to blog when and where I want.

I unfortunately work full time outside the house so only at the end of the day I can use my notebook computer to blog, watch a series while my kids watch a movie or just chat.

So, how do you do? Do you have a notebook computer or do you prefer to have your limit space for a computer and use it in one specific room?