Blogger Is Acting Funny

Well, I don't know if this only happend to me, but Blogger has been being very strange, actually it's starting to annoy me.

When I made a new post, after pushing the "publish post" button, I went to check my blog, half my content disappeared! I had to re-type everything, that's very strange and very annoying. This didn't just happen once, several times within one week already.

Although Blogger is run by Google, somehow I just don't feel Blogger is that great. I'm going to check out some other blogging platforms soon!

Father's Day Gift Idea

Father's Day is coming soon! Well, still has 20 days, but we can start to think about what to get for your Dad and/or your hubby.

Idea No.1 - Mr. Clean AutoDry

Mr. Clean AutoDry can make the perfect Father's Day gift. It's easy-to-use and can make cleaning go fast for the family who promised dad a clean car for Father's Day. But it also makes cleaning the car a joy for the dad who loves to take care of his car.

Mr. Clean AutoDry is a sleek, all-in-one device that attaches to the end of a regular hose. It actually lets you get rid of the bucket and towel, and still get an amazing clean. It holds the soap you need to get your car completely clean. And it features a filter that removes spot-causing minerals and impurities from your water, which gives you a spot free shine with no need to hand dry.

Mr. Clean AutoDry can get dad's car sparkling for summer with less time and effort. To learn more about this great Father's Day gift, please visit www.autodry.ca

Affiliate Smarts

My new blog Affiliate Smarts is up and running now! It is an online journal for me to record my affiliate marketing progress.

The next couple months I will focus on building my affiliate business. I'm afriad I won't be able to post very often here on Smart Olive.

If you are in affiliate marketing, or you are interested in it, please come to visit my Affiliate Smarts, thank you!

Trick Out Your Pedicure

No woman would dream of stepping foot on the beach without a perfect pedicure. So this summer, why not take your piggies to a new level?

Toe-rrific is fabulous pedicure guide book. Each page of this guide is packed with fun for your feet, from step-by-step pedicure to easy painting tips that anyone can master. The book includes over 150 totally cool toe designs you can create without any special tools or appliques. The best part is that you can work Toe-rrfic magic with just a few different shades of nail polish and a steady hand.

For more infomation about this book, please visit www.toerrific.com!

Beauty Gadgets

Can you tell what the following items are just from their pictures? Those are beauty gadgets that you don't want to miss!

1. Palm Grip Tweezer

The most comfortable tweezer ever! It's curved, full palm design fits in hand naturally. This ‘ouchless’ tweezer is great for the bikini line or body tweezing. www.sekiedge.com

2. Mini Heated Lash Curler

This can't-live-without lash innovation is perfect for curling stubborn straight lashes anytime, anywhere. Simply turn on, wait 15 seconds, place comb directly onto lash line above lashes, gently lift and comb lashes into the desired shape (as you would with a mascara brush), hold for one or two seconds, then release. Repeat across lashline until the desired effect is achieved. www.sephora.com

3. Roll-Up Blotting Papers

Instantly tame shine and toss away the evidence, with these customizable blotting sheets. Gently pull to dispense to the desired length, tear, and blot. The handy dispenser fits perfectly into even the smallest makeup bag or pocket. www.sephora.com

4. Corner Lash Curler

This accurate Curler is specially designed to add curl and definition to outer corner of lash. Also great for deep set and hard to reach lashes. Stainless steel Curler lets you control precisely where you want your lashes to curl resulting in a beautiful long lasting curl. www.tweezerman.com

5. DuWop I Gels

For Fine Lines, Tired Eyes, and Dark Circles.I Gels are discs of chilled gel that conform to the shape or your eye, distributing coolness where you need it to reduce puffiness.Simply press on an i gel and relax. Your entire eye area will be bathed in soothing extracts as you indulge in the aromatherapy of custom blended essential oils. www.duwop.com

Technorati Tags : beauty, fashion, beauty+tools, beauty+accessary, beauty+gadgets

eBay Bidding Tips

Both Robert (my loving husband) and I like to shop at eBay for great bargains. Robert have got a lot of brand new Victory Motorcycle accessories from eBay at dirt cheap prices.

However, it's not always that easy to get the items we want. A lot of time there were whole bunch buyers wanted the same products we were interested in, they started placing their bid too early, and created bidding war. That's a huge mistake!

Every auction on eBay is set to end at a certain date and time. If you look at any given auction you will notice a "Time Left" and it will say how many days or hours or even minutes are left before that auction ends.

And, we all know that the highest bid at the time that an auction ends wins the auction, so there is absolutely no benefit and no point to place your bid early! Placing your bid early actually just hurts yourself!

When you place a bid at the beginning or middle of an auction you only raise the current bid price. Raising the current bid price only encourages other interested bidders to place their bids against you. This creates a bidding war that only jacks up the price for the auction. So never place a bid on an auction you are interested in until the very end of the auction!

Here are the keys to buying things cheap at eBay:

• Be patient. If there is an item you want to buy, don't get too caught up in the excitement of the auction.
• Don't get upset if you lose the auction.
• While millions of items being sold on eBay, there are tons of new items being listed everyday. The chances are very good that a similar item to what you were interested in will be listed for sale very soon, just keep checking.
• With so many items being listed on eBay, you need to be patient and wait for a good buying opportunity when a bunch of people haven't created a bidding war over an item you want. Then you will just bid at the last second for the amount you are willing to pay.

Technorati Tags : ebay, auction, online+auction, bidding, online+bidding

Online Mystery Shopping

In case you don't know what mystery shopping is, a mystery shopper also known as a secret shopper, you pose as a typical shopper and then you will give companies feedback about their service. Of course, mystery shoppers can earn money and have fun while getting free products.

I believe online mystery shopping is the latest growing trend in the mystery shopping field. It is like a regular mystery shopping, but instead of it being done in a physical store, it is actually done on the World Wide Web.

Online mystery shopping can cover a wide range of things the shopper must check for. Usually you are required to visit a website, as you go through the site, you need to report on each page that you go through and how easy it is to navigate. Some tasks even requrie you to purchase products from their website, then give them feedback about the procedure of ordering and the arrival of the products.

Here is a task I received this morning:

...... you must have Internet access to do this assignment, which consists of filling out a brief form on the website of a Honda dealership for a service appointment and report on the method and timing of the response.

The work will take very little time to complete and you will not have to mail anything. The circuit name is: Honda-Kelowna which consists of 2 websites and your total pay will be $8.00.

The assignment must be completed on Wednesday May 24, between the hours of 8:00 am and 12:00 noon local time only.

$8 is not much, but for less 10 minutes work, it's not bad at all!

Interested in online mystery shopping? Web Mystery Shoppers is one of the best online mystery shopping companies to start you off.

Technorati Tags : mystery+shopping, mystery+shopper, online+mystery+shopping, online+mystery+shopper, mystery+shopping+online, web+mystery+shopping, web+mystery+shopper

Kiss My Gas!

I know politics are a hotly debated issue, but one issue that most everyone agrees upon: gas prices are too high!

If you don't want to suffer in silence anymore, why not wear your tank angst loud and proud, on your chest or your bumper.

CafePress is a wonderful marketplace where you can find products that speak to you, or you can create your own products to sell for profit or fun.

Right now, there are over 1,330 designs about "gas prices" on over 20,600 products at CafePress. Gas prices are definitely everybody's pain!

Free Blog Template Resources

My blog is powered by Blogger, therefore, Blogger Templates is the first place I would suggest new Blogger users to check out.

There are some links at Blogger Template, which will lead you to more free template sites. Blogger Template By Caz is a must check in my opinion.

Besides, Protagonist Web Resources is a great template directory you don't want to miss. They list over 100 websites where you can find very unique template. The following are some of my favorites, you might like to take a look first!

Blog Frocks - an online design site offering high quality, fun frocks for your web journal. I love their design very much, so far it's my top pick!

Weblog Design - specializes in website design for blogs, photoblogs and moblogs, also offers linkware templates and free graphics. There aren't many free blog template choices, but great design though.

Layout Studios - a lot of designs there, they also coded the templates for WordPress, Blogger BlogSpot, dotClear, Splinder, IoBloggo... etc.

So, what do you think? Hope you enjoy these resources, if you ever wanna give your blog a makeover, I believe those websites are great places for you to get some free templates.

Oh, by the way, if you are willing to pay a small fee (from $7 to $15) for an unique design, Eye for Beauty is my number one choice, I love their designs a lot, they are so pretty!

I'm Bowled Over!

I guess we all know that we should measure portions to control our calorie in-take. Look! MESU portion control bowls can help us do that in sytle!

Dieting is hard work and measuring every bite makes it even harder.

Studio Panepinto created MESU, it's a line of 6 bowls that help you put an end to portion distortion, without signaling to the world that you are on a diet.

MESU means measure beautifully. Great design and subtle graphics let you measure perfect portions directly in a bowl that you bring to the table! The bowls are freezer, oven, microwave, dishwasher safe.

I think MESU looks simple, but pretty enought to substitute for serving dishes, they are perfect for snacks, ice cream, cereal, soup and salad.

With MESU, everyone can measure beautifully!

New Sandals Every Day!

With Summer is coming, I'm looking a new pair of sandals to buy. I have been searching online and checking out a lot of fashion magazines.

Well, after seeing so many sandals from sky high cork wedges to gladiator flats, it seems nothing really that unique anymore. The only one really stands out is Mohop.

Mohop shoes are the creation of Annie Mohaupt. Annie makes each pair of shoes by hand at her studio in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago.

Mohop shoes are composed of rubber soling made from recycled tires, a Finnish birch plywood core, and topped with various select veneers. These components are laminated together and pressed on molds that Annie designed and fabricated herself.

The graphics on the footbed of the sandals are Annie's original designs, which she screen-prints by hand at Chicago's legendary Screwball Press. Annie takes care to use the most environmentally-friendly woods, glues, sealers and inks that she can source.

The most unique aspect of Mohop shoes is Annie's patent-pending 'strapping system' (for which she has yet to come up with a proper name). Essentially, the wearer can customize her shoes by changing the ribbons that tie the shoes on. Different lengths and styles of ribbons can be used to achieve a virtually infinite number of looks with just one pair of wooden bottoms. So anybody can play Imelda Marcos without requiring the budget and storage space for 5,000 shoes!

Because these shoes are so stylish and versatile, I can't wait to get my feet into a pair this summer! And of course, I highly recommend you to visit their website, it's super cool, you will love it!

Wanna be a ZUMBA Instructor?

ZUMBA is a fusion of Latin and International music - dance themes creating a dynamic, exciting, effective fitness system! It is the world's largest Latin inspired workout. It's simple, it's fun, and it's just the type of exercise you'll want to do everyday and feel good about doing it!

Now you have a chance to become a ZUMBA Instructor as the Summer Instructor Trainings is coming!

The Zumba Instructor Training will teach you the basic tools to become a well trained ZUMBA Instructor. Zumba instructors teach at gyms, dance clubs, corporations, schools and more! People who attend the training are also the first ones invited to teach at Zumba Special Events.

There are 7 amazing workshops this summer at the following locations:

• 20 May - Miami, Florida
• 20 May - Charlotte, North Carolina
• 10 June - San Diego, California
• 10 June - Silver Spring, Maryland
• 1 July - St. Petersburg, Florida
• 8 July - Tulsa, Oklahoma
• 19 August - Atlanta, Georgia

Once you have completed the Zumba Instructor Training, you will have access to ZIN - the Zumba Instructors Network, which will harness all the power of the Zumba organization in order to support your career as a Zumba instructor by providing: marketing support, continuing education, business guidance, huge product and workshop discounts and much more!

Please visit their website for details info.

Instant Manicure - Peel. Press. Perfect.

Girls, gotta check out this new product from AVON!

It's called Dry Nail Enamel Strips.

In an instant, you can experience a revolution at your fingertips - nail colour that goes on dry. No streaks! No waiting!

The set includes 16 dry nail strips, good for one manicure.

They can be applied on acrylic nails - and, it is waterproof.

Remove the strips as usual with nail enamel remover.

The Instant Manicure gives you 14 days of shiny colour and a perfect finish every time!

Interested? Call your local AVON lady to find out more!

Words For Your Celebrations

We all have so many wonderful things in our life need to celebrate, sometime we just don't know what to do, what to say, and how to say it.

Verser It has all the answers for you! They have put together a selection of verse ideas, etiquette guidelines and tips to help you plan your celebration.

Take time to explore their website and enjoy the excitement of planning your special occasion!

And, don't forget to bookmark this fantastic FREE online tool!

Model Search Contest

Garnier Belle Color is looking for Mothers and Daughters of all ages that embody natural beauty.

Enter for your chance to be this year's Garnier Belle Color Mother & Daughter Models!

There is one Grand Prize available to be won in this contest, having an approximate retail value of $16,000 CAN and consisting of:

• Round trip for two to Toronto, Ontario.
• $200 taxi fare for transportation from the Toronto Pearson International Airport to hotel in Toronto (on the day or arrival) and for return transportation from the hotel to the Airport (on the day of departure) to be awarded in the form of a cheque payable to the winner.
• Three nights/four days accommodation at a hotel in Toronto based on double occupancy (the choice of the hotel will be at the discretion of the Contest Sponsors).
• A professional hair colour and manicure for two.
• A photo shoot with a leading fashion photographer.
• Two tickets to a theatrical production (the choice of the show will be at the discretion of the Contest Sponsors).
• Pedicure and massage for two at a spa (the choice of the spa will be at the discretion of the Contest Sponsors).
• $700 spending money and food allowance to be awarded in the form of a cheque payable to the winner.
• A Garnier Belle Color gift basket (the choice of the products will be at the discretion of the Contest Sponsors).

The Contest is Closing at 11:59 PM EST on 30 June 2006.

No purchase necessary!

Please visit Garnier Belle Color Contest for entry and full detials.

P.S. Sorry, my American friends, this contest is open to residents of Canada only.

Exchanging Links With Me?

Susan, a Lady at WAHM board invited me to exchange links with her since our topics are closely related, that's a fantastic idea!

As you can see I have added Susan's blog at my side bar, it's called Susan's Spa.

Susan's Spa is a great place where you can find beauty/fashion tips, products review, online resurces.... etc, she also shows you some blogging tips! Very cool, eh?!! Go check it out!

P.S. Interested in exchanging links with me?

Home For Your Bags & Shoes

If you've been looking for a cool way to store your most prized or less-frequently worn footwear, the clear shoe boxes from Shoe Stor might just be the ideal solution for you!

How about hangbags? Are they in the way? Is your purses collection a mess? Shoe Stor has the answer to your closet woes as well!

Start taking good care of your precious shoes and bags, giving them each their own space and keep them organized.