Club Penguin: Puffles

If you've got a kid 10 yrs old or younger, chances are you've heard about this new craze sweeping kids' worlds. It's called Club Penguin. I got educated about the world thanks to the pester power of my nephew. After doing my due diligence as a responsible aunt and godmother, I found out that Club Penguin was a pretty cool site, with a lot of learning opportunities for kids, combined with kid-safety features and moderators (latest update I heard is that the company has even been acquired by Disney already). So I've been supporting my nephew's latest obsession by signing him up and paying for his monthly club membership. The website has a gift shop as well, where you can purchase Club Penguin merchandise for your child (or for you too, if you want to join the bandwagon, or look cool to your kids and their friends). Most of them have Puffle designs (these little critters you can buy in Club Penguin's virtual world - their version of Tamagotchis). They offer shirts, caps, keychains, plush dolls etc. Go window shopping with your child at: http://clubpenguin.com/clubpenguinshop/index.html

Ipanema Ikatu Strap Flip Flops

I know, i know, what you must be saying. Why the heck would I be going to the net to buy these, when they're sold locally here as well? Well I've done the rounds of all the stores here that sell Ipanemas, and I swear I couldn't find any silver ones anymore. I bought a pair of gold ones some months back and completely fell in love with them! That's why I'm dying to buy a silver pair now. Having failed to find them in local stores, and even US websites, I finally found them in a UK site which happens to ship internationally (for only an additional 1 UK Pound, how cool is that!). So if any of you are desperate to get your hands on these sandals, check out the site below. They have all the available colors. Price is about the same as the price they go for in stores here. Note also that the sizes in the site are UK sizes, so convert accordingly. An 8 there, for example, is a US 9. The sandals cost UK Pounds 17.99 + 1 for shipping.

http://www.islandcosmetics.com/p/Ipanema-Ikatu-Strap-Flip-Flops.html

S3 Pooper Scooper

My weekly Sunday afternoon routine usually includes taking my cute beagle, Maxi, for a walk. That's Maxi up there. Pretty old photo though, he's a year old now. A perennial dog stroll problem is what to do when he poops on the road or sidewalk. The thought of cleaning up the mess manually, even with a plastic bag on hand, is just plain yucky to me. So I started browsing the net for various options. I was amazed at the wide range of gadgets you could find as "pooper scoopers" :-) Having surveyed the options, I settled on this one, the S3 (S3 standing for Sanitation Safety Stick). No complex mechanisms, can be used even without a plastic bag, easy to carry around. It's shaped like a bat, that opens up into 2 sections. It functions like a portable dustpan. Plus it even has a built-in light, so it can also be used as a flashlight during late night walks. It costs $24.99 and is available at the website below. Check out the site too for the video explaining how it works.

http://www.kakaking.com/s3.htm

Organic Batter Blaster - Pancakes in a Can

This is either the coolest thing ever or the dumbest. I gotta admit though, I'm curious enough to try it to actually order it. It's pancake batter right in a can. No need to mix ingredients anymore, nor scoop up the mix and pour into a pan. You just shake the can and press the nozzle to release the batter onto the pan (sort of like how you would use whipped cream). It's a lazy person's dream come true! Plus, for all you health conscious folks, you'll be happy to know that it's all organic too. I actually haven't found an online store yet selling this, which is probably just as well since ordering aerosol type of products online can be tricky. Safety regulations usually prevent them from being shipped internationally. If you happen to take a trip to the US though, or know someone coming from there, you can get them at Costco. For more info on this product, plus a video that shows how it works, go to http://www.batterblaster.com/

L'Oreal Eyeliner Mistake-Proof Marker

I've never tried using liquid eyeliner make up because they looked too complicated to use. Only my make-up expert sister could manage to use this with one eye closed (literally, ha ha!). Then she told me about this new product of L'Oreal which hopes to take out the complexity from using liquid eyeliner. Pretty cool item. If you look closely, you'll notice it's designed like a pentel pen marker. So it's like you practically just draw a line onto your eyelid. My sister and I ordered 1 each. I finally tried it last week, and I think the results were pretty good, considering I'm such an amateur when it comes to make-up. My sister's standards are high - so of course she thought I could have done better :-) Available at walgreens.com for $ 7.49.

Blackberry Goodies: iBerry Theme

This is probably the closest I will get to enjoying the iPhone experience for now. I found this cool new Blackberry theme as I was working on getting the new Yahoo IM downloaded into my device. Pretty slick theme :-) To find it, go to your device's Internet Browser. Then click the link to Games, Themes n Tones from BPlay. You'll see it sold there for $4.99. Enter your billing info, and you then get the link to download it. Nice!