Fun with Scholarships

So my little cousin is going to be a senior in high school this year, which means she's started her college search. (It also means that I'm probably going to have to stop calling her my "little" cousin.) She's the youngest in her family which means that her parents have already sent a couple of kids to college, so financial aid is an issue. She's started doing some research on college scholarships because she knows how helpful those will be for her and her family. Luckily, she's a really good student, which makes it easier.

I've been helping her out a little bit with the search. I used to love doing scholarship research when I was in high school. (Yeah, I'm a huge dork.) It's great when you find sites where you can do searches for free. It's still amazing to me just how much different stuff is out there, from minority scholarships for various groups to essay contests to scholarships contests from Fortune 500 companies to college grants from different foundations and nonprofit organizations. She and I have also found some cool scholarship opportunities specifically for young women.

And then of course there are all of those college scholarships for athletics, which I certainly never qualified for. My cousin tells me that there's going to be a new show on the CW this fall where the premise involves a girl who becomes a cheerleader because she loses her scholarship and needs to find a new one quickly. I wouldn't know anything about a show like that because I'm way too old to watch the CW. (Ahem.) I don't think my cousin is going to end up a cheerleader, but at least the scholarship part of that is something that a lot of young people can relate to.

Casino Practice

I mentioned last week that we're heading to Las Vegas for the first time later this year. None of us are really experienced gamblers, but we can't go to Vegas and not spend some time in the casinos, right? So we were thinking of trying our hand at a little online gambling before we go. I know, I know. Not something you want to just jump into without really knowing what you're doing. So, we found this cool site called casinoscandinavia - it's a site that has ratings, reviews, and other info about a lot of the different online gaming sites that are out there. There are also some posts about news stories and other issues related to the industry. It's a good way to us to sort of get our feet wet, learn a little, and maybe improve our sad gambling skills (in a responsible way, of course) before we head to Vegas.


*Casino research brought to you by casinoscandinavia.

Foodie Friday: Wondering what to make for dinner?

We've all been there. Sitting around in the afternoon, wondering what we should make for dinner that night. For the best answer EVER to that question, click here.

No, really, go ahead and click. You won't regret it.

Credit Scores Are Sexy

I mentioned that other day that I was looking into online trading and some other stuff to help me be more in charge of my finances. I'm also going to do something that I've been procrastinating on for a long time - get a copy of my credit report and make sure that it's all in order. I'm usually pretty good about the actual bill paying and staying out of debt, it's just the "housekeeping" stuff that I tend to put off. (My currently unbalanced checkbook will back me up on this.)

Of course, I don't actually want to pay for a credit report, because that wouldn't be very financially savvy of me. So I went looking for a site where you can get all three of your credit scores for free.

The one that I found has some interesting ads. One features Ben Stein and a talking squirrel...




...and the other involves hot guys in tight jumpsuits...



...so how can you go wrong?

Also, I just noticed that one of the sexy credit scores in this commercial is Greg Vaughan, who used to be on General Hospital. I know that Lucky Spencer would never lead me astray about my finances. My credit score feels healthier already.

It's Slumber Party Time!

So the time has come... the time I've dreaded for so many years... it's slumber party time.

Yes, my daughter is finally old enough - and has begged enough times - for her first real slumber party. Since summer is almost over, I decided to let her go out with one last big hooorah... an end-of-summer sleepover to end all sleepovers.

Of course, my last sleepover was probably a good 20 years ago and I didn't exactly plan that one myself... so I'm a little worried about what I'm getting myself into. Luckily for me, as a super-awesome blogger (ahem) I've got the Internet to help me out (thank you very much Local.com).

Unfortunately, my house is not readily equipped for 6-10 girls as overnight guests. So I'm going to have to pick up some extra pillows, blankets and the piece de resistance: comfortable air mattresses. (If there's one thing I do remember from sleepovers back in the day, it's that sleeping on a hard floor is never comfortable - no matter how nice your sleeping bag is.)

According to my daughter, the most important thing is the food. We can't get by with just standard snacks. We need candy. Not just any old candy... we need special candy.

We need pizza. Not just any old pizza... we need the best pizza in New York. We need lots of chips, popcorn for watching DVDs, and no slumber party would be completely without making 'Smores. (But the standard chocolate and marshmallows won't do. It's got to be Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread. Hell, I don't blame her, that stuff is good.)

Any good sleepover also means manicures and pedicures... makeovers and facials... and a good old fashioned game of "True or Dare". But did I mention this is an end-of-summer sleepover? That means beach towels and sunglasses. That means Hawaiian leis, grass skirts, and coconut bras. Time for a visit to a few costume shops.

I need some kind of girly craft project (any ideas?) and no slumber party would be complete without a few scary stories to tell after dark. (Not too scary, I don't want to be up all night with scared tweens!)

Wish me luck!! I'm gonna need it.
*Thank you to Local.com for saving my slumber party throwing ass. (Local.com is a local search engine. More than just an online yellowpages, Local.com is a hybrid of the following sites - Citysearch.com, Yelp.com, Yellowpages.com, Superages.com).

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset on the Gulf

Safe Gardening

I really like gardening. And by that, I mean that I really like the idea of gardening. In practice I find it a little intimidating. It's not like I totally suck at it - I can keep houseplants alive (most of the time), and I've done the whole herb garden on the windowsill thing. I've just never done a full-scale "real" garden, and I'd like to be able to someday. But I know that if I launch right into that now, it'll be a mess.

So I'm investing in some outdoor planters as a sort of stepping stone. It's a step up from house plants, and it lets me experiment with soil and fertilizer and sun and outdoor conditions and all of that fun stuff, but it's still sort of contained and not overwhelming. I'm also going to upgrade the windowsill herb garden to a window box planter herb garden. Maybe I'll even go totally wild and try a tomato plant or something.

And even if some of the plants don't exactly survive my expert gardening skills, at least the decorative planters will still look nice.



Of course, knowing me I'm going to procrastinate and end up with an empty planter sitting inside my house mocking me for months before I ever get around to planting anything. It's all about the baby steps.