Are you superstitious?

I saw a penny, face up, on the ground in the parking lot. So I walked the 10 yards to my car to set my bags down, then walked back to pick it up. The sitting in the parked car between my car and then penny were pretty amused when they figured out what I was doing. But as the saying goes: "If you should find a penny face up, pick it up for a day of luck." I can use all the luck I can get these days.

But it got me wondering about other silly superstitions people believe in to bring them good luck. Here's a few that I found on the internet.

• Washing a car will bring rain (this one I KNOW to be true)
  
• To break a mirror will bring you seven years bad luck
• To find a four-leaf clover is to find good luck
• If you walk under a ladder, you will have bad luck
• If a black cat crosses your path you will have bad luck
• To break a mirror will bring you seven years bad luck
• To open an umbrella in the house is to bring bad luck
• To find a horseshoe brings good luck
• Step on a crack, break your mother's back
• You can break a bad luck spell by turning seven times in a clockwise circle
• At the end of a rainbow is a pot of gold
• Clothes worn inside out will bring good luck
• Wearing your birthstone will bring you good luck
• If you blow out all of the candles on your birthday cake with the first breath you will get whatever you wish for
• A cricket in the house brings good luck
• Crossing your fingers helps to avoid bad luck and helps a wish come true
• It is bad luck to sing at the table
• It is bad luck to sleep on a table (if you were drunk enough to sleep on the table, maybe you deserve the bad luck?)
• It is bad luck to chase someone with a broom (hear that all you domestic violence offenders)
• You must get out of bed on the same side you got in on or you will have bad luck
• Evil spirits cannot harm you when you are standing in a circle
• It is unlucky to rock an empty rocking chair

Interesting stuff... it almost seems safer just to wrap yourself in bubble wrap and sit on the couch watching E! for the rest of your life. But where's the fun in that? In the famous words of Aerosmith: "Life's a journey, not a destination."

Have you jumped on the social media bandwagon yet?

More proof of the power of social media – and that power isn’t just in the hands of social media users.

A new survey shows more than two-thirds of B2B marketers plan to decrease how much they spend on print advertising and increase their spending on social media. The shift in strategy expected to happen over the next two to three years.

That study published jointly this week by American Business Media, the Association of National Advertisers and consulting firm Booz & Co.

The main reasons listed for the switch? The ability to customize content for users and also build relationships on the social media sites to engage customers.

Anyone else having flashbacks to the rise (and subsequent fall) of email marketing? As more and more marketers flood the social media sites, it’s going to become increasingly hard to cut through the clutter and truly create a meaningful message that captures your target audience.

But one thing is for sure, the ever evolving realm of technology is sure to bring us yet another new cutting edge way to shine, if we know how to use it correctly. The goal: stay one step ahead of the game.

Way too long

2010 has been a crazy year. I've been trying to adjust to insane overnight hours, while still doing my best to be a mom and wife and friend and daughter and .... yeah, the list goes on.

So I regret that I've regressed on posting here. Getting a kick start again. We'll see what we can get going on -- new posts coming soon.

For now, enjoy this lovely serenade from my older son!

Monday Meal Makeover - Homemade Potato Chips

I'm not a huge potato chip fan, but I became less of a fan recently when I learned that most potato chips are actually made with corn byproducts and other synthetic (read: not found in nature materials) -- rather than potatoes. Kind of misleading if you ask me. So my husband (I give him full credit here) was craving something salty and when I imparted my newfound knowledge on him - he set off to recreate the "potato chip". And what he came up with is really easy and yummy.

INGREDIENTS:
whole potato, washed with skin on (as many as you want to make)
olive oil spray
sea salt

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray cookie sheet lightly with olive oil spray.
Thinly slice the potato either long way or short way (your preference) and place on baking sheet.
When all slices are on baking sheet, lightly spray top of potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt to your taste.
Bake 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown and "pop" off the cookie sheet with a spatula.

These taste really yummy with ketchup or salsa.

One word to the wise - they don't keep for very long and need to be stored in a breathable container. So plan to eat/use them within 24 hours or so of making them.

Here's the comparison:

Lays Potato Chips:
1 serving size= 1 oz (little more than half of a single serving bag)
150 calories
10 g fat
1 g fiber
WW=4 points

Homemade Potato Chips:
1 serving size= 1/2 large potato (about 2/3 cup)
130 calories
1 g fat
3.5 g fiber
WW= 2 points

My New Year's Resolution

Holy smokes! Just three more days until 2010 officially begins! How are you doing on those New Years resolutions? Did you know that only one in four people actually make resolutions? Worse -- only six percent actually manage to keep them. I'm happy to report that for the last three years I've been part of that six percent and I'm hoping not to break my streak in 2010.

I have three resolutions this year. Two of them are rather personal, so I'm just going to keep them between my husband and myself. If I accomplish them, I'll let you know! The third is where I need your help.

Last year my resolution was to reach my goal weight. I did this in March! 51 pounds gone forever. Now I'm struggling to maintain the weight loss. I haven't regained anything back, but I have my weeks. So I decided my New Year's resolution is to steal a page from the movie Julia & Julie (if you haven't seen it, I highly suggest it!). I'm going to keep a blog hoping to inspire all of you to make easy healthy lifestyle changes. I'll be posting the information here (my blogspot blog) and on my Facebook page as well as my PNN blog . (Don't worry, it will all be the same information so if you find it in one place no need to go check out the others... unless you're a comment junkie like me!) I hope you enjoy and I invite you to please please please give me feedback and ideas. I need your help to keep this going!

A [very] belated Merry Christmas

Hope you had a great holiday! Our boys had a great time opening gifts and spending time with their grandparents. One more family visit coming up this week (my parents)! I'm so ready to ring out 2009 and start fresh with a new year. How about you?

Happy Birthday to my grandparents!

My family is celebrating my grandparent's 75th birthdays this year at Christmastime... and of course, because of the new job, we weren't able to make the trip back east to join the party. So we made a little video for them. Grandma & Larry -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :) Hope you enjoy the day and the party!