Check it out at iPosture.

The body wash is nice and thick and a little bit goes a long way (so I hope it lasts a long time).  I haven’t found a scent I loved this much since I came across Lucky Chick’s Mimosa Jasmine & Violet Body Wash a few years ago.  It is a mix of rose petals, rich vanilla, and other notes (like jasmine) and if I had to describe it in one word it would be glamourous.  The scent is very feminine, and almost vintage (I think that is the rose notes), just like an old hollywood starlet.  The body butter is very rich (which I love, because I have such dry skin) and the scent lingers almost all day–you really don’t need to wear another perfume with it.  It is so luxiurious and I am completely addicted.  I want to buy gallons of this stuff so I will always have it on hand. It is truly amazing stuff and I think everyone should try it

The only good thing about the cold and snow over the weekend was that most people didn’t want to venture out of their houses, and that meant this was a great time to do some Christmas shopping. We went to the mall on both Saturday and Sunday and both days the malls were unusually pleasant (not too crowded, and reasonable lines) and we were able to make a ton of progress on our holiday shopping.

We got almost everything taken care of in our shopping and I am so proud of my gifts. I don’t want to write about them as I don’t want to ruin any surprises but I will write some about the good ideas that came up.  If you aren’t sure what to buy, and you want to stick to your budget, here are things you may want to consider:

1. Cool Christmas Ornaments.  I know it sounds cheesy, but Hallmark has some cool ones that could work for everyone (fashion ones, star wars, fairy tales) and some have fun blinky lights and sound.  These make great stocking stuffers and won’t break the bank (and who doesn’t love an ornament, especially if it has a personal touch).
2. Stuff from REI (or another outdoor place).  Who doesn’t need hiking socks (don’t believe me, go peruse match.com–almost every profile has hiking listed as a hobby)?  They also had hand warmers, pocket knifes, winter hats, and gloves.  And most of that stuff is in the $5-$15 range, and is actually useful.
3. Sees Candies.  Forget Godiva and the other fancy chocolates, go old fashioned and pick up some chocolate covered molasses chips or egg nog truffles from Sees — all under $10!
4. Children’s Books.  Even adults love these these .  Almost everyone has read Harry Potter, so J.K. Rowlings’ The Tales of Beedle the Bard would be a great gift.  For your favorite fashionista, check out This Little Piggy Went to Prada, and for your favorite couple how about the story of Rosalie and Truffle with a nice bottle of wine.
5. A nice candle and some bubble bath. Everyone deserves some R&R and in this day and age who makes new year’s resolutions that don’t involve less stress.  An easy gift is to get someone a cute candle and some sort of bubble bath (or bath bomb or bubble bar).  Put this together with a mix cd or some of your favorite relaxing songs (Norah Jones is always one of my favorites here) and it is perfect kit for a quiet night at home.

Hope this helps with your Christmas gifting.  Happy holidays

When I first heard of Swarovski it was in reference to those little crystal figurines you find in old people’s collections of cats, deers and bears.  Although over the last few years Swarkovski has been heard in compbination with fancy designer clothing, as the little crystals that adorn on all kinds of dresses, tops and accessories.  So I was a bit surprised to find out when one of my fabulous friends was wearing this cool chain pendant and she told me it was from Swarovski–I had no idea they made jewelry.  Well they do, and the best part is that it is chic, glittery and won’t break the bank.  Plus a lot of the designs are so basic and sophisticated they make great gifts (especially for mothers and grandmothers).  The jewelry comes in the sophisticated navy boxes, emblazened with the Swarovski label and logo–very classy.

Here are some pictures of some of my faves (you can buy all these pieces online):

Here is an example of a mockup I made for an operations dashboard–this literally took me under a minute.

It is written in flex and you can save your images, if you do a lot of mockups you can also buy a version for $79 (which is pretty good considering the time this can save).  It was easy to learn and very intuitive.  I wish it had even more UI elements and the elements were more flexible (like being able to add buttons in a table)–but it is still really cool.

If you ever design web sites, or need to communicate requirements this is a great tool for quickly putting together wireframes.  Check it out at: Balsamiq Mockups.

Chasing Harry Winston
I really liked Lauren Wiesberger’s other books (The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing) so I picked up this one while I was in the airport waiting for my flight. The book is about 3 almost-30 characters who are living in New York (I love stories about New York, Los Angeles and Paris–don’t know why but I always have). This book falls firmly into the chic lit genre; and I found the story cute and entertaining. I felt like I could relate to some aspects of each of the characters; although there wasn’t one character that really fit me (Emmy was too single and pure, Adriana too pretty, and Lee a bit too neurotic). Each of the characters were still very likable and their trials and tribulations make for fun tale.

Shining City: A Novel
I came across this book in one of my many newsletters. The premise is that the main character, Marcus, inherits a dry cleaning company, which is really a front for a brothel, form his recently deceased brother. I thought this sounded very interesting, however I was disappointed by the story line. The first 50 pages made me feel so sorry for Marcus and very depressed about my own life. And even though everything ends all fine and good in the end (although not necessarily in the way you might expect) I found the book to be quite uninspiring. So despite the racy cover (I must admit it was kind of scandalous to be reading a book with a mostly naked woman on the cover) the book is disappointing.

Tales Of the City
This book was recommended to me by my friend Kara–and it was a quick and enjoyable read. The book takes place in San Francisco and brings to life a city of free spirits, scandal, and love. There are a lot of characters and each has their own story. I read this book very quickly since each chapter focuses on one character and is only a few pages–it is great for people with short attention spans. And even though the story takes place over 20 years ago the lessons and stories are still pertinent to today. The book does leave you handing though (lots of spawned threads without any closure) so you will need to pick up the sequel (which I haven’t yet, but intend to do so).

The Articulate Executive: Learn to Look, Act, and Sound Like a Leader
I haven’t read this book because I managed to lose it somewhere. I could have sworn it was in the trunk of my car, but on surface level digging I wasn’t able to locate it (on a side note, I really need to clean out my car). It might also be in my closet (which is very similar to the Bermuda Triangle–things just disappear). Maybe with my project of deep cleaning and going through the closets I will uncover this book’s location. Until then I don’t have much to review.

Being able to pay solely on results seems to be an ideal situation.  For online advertising one of the panacea’s is being only able to pay for ads that actually being you revenue (so being able to target people that are likely to be customers).  This is also ideal for an employer, paying for the actual work done.  One of the biggest problems with these pay per work sort of situations is that it neglects to take into account the influence an action can have on future desicions.  For example, with online advertising a user might see an ad and while they might not click it they remember the brand or the website for future purchases–so in effect that ad influenced a later purchase decision.  It is also the same reasons why you don’t just hire a bunch of consultants to do all your work (since they essentially get paid for what they do)–as having full time employees creates team unity, encourages sharing and collaboration, and the knowledge spread around the team has a greater impact in overall performance than a bunch of people working independently.

Thought I would share the article and the findings since they are very interesting and can help many people rethink the way to compensate their employees.

Go to YellowPagesGoGreen and provide your address and information to opt of receiving those pesky phone books (they would always just pile up until I had about 3 or 4 when I would finally say too much and throw them in the recycling bin).  After all, when was the last time you used a phone book for its intended purpose? (I have used my to stand on to reach the top shelf most recently)  You can find better and more up to date information on the internet most of the time anyway

About a year ago he turned me onto a site, Financial Sense, and suggested I spend 10 minutes per day reading a few of the articles.  While I don’t read it everyday I do read it frequently and I must say I have learned a whole lot about the economy and commodities.  This is the type of site they should make kids in economics classes read as literature.  Most of the articles are written by advisers or fund managers who are trying to win business with their thoughtful articles, but they offer up a lot of free and good information.  There are lots of opinions expressed on the site, but it is the type of discussion that you would imagine professional economists have with one another.  It is definitely interesting, and if you aren’t super interested in finance and economics you probably think it is boring, but if you take the time it is a great resource.  I don’t invest in commodities or currencies (yet) but if you do this is a great site to get lots of thoughts on those markets.