Have you noticed the abundance of yogurt commercials on, say, the DIY Network or Bravo? And how it's always some women yammering on about how they prefer eating a key lime-flavored yogurt to actual, delicious key lime-flavored pie? Then I believe this video will speak to you.
Would you like to know who the yogurt eater in the Schmichaels household is? Hint: it's not the chick.
Molly had a great idea for a Mother's Day post, so I have shamelessly copied it here. Thanks, Mom, for the following:
-- Make your bed every day before you leave the house.
-- Get a plant. You can't kill a sansevieria, so start with that. And keep an aloe in the kitchen.
-- If you burn your finger in the kitchen, pinch your earlobe with that finger. The heat will transfer and it won't smart as much.
-- Find out what your date is ordering first so you have an idea what price range you're working with.
-- Always bring money for an emergency phone call or a cab ride home.
-- It takes less time to do something right the first time.
-- Use the common sense God gave a chicken.
-- Bring your lunch.
-- Marry someone who makes you laugh every day.
-- The SPCA is a wonderful place to find the newest addition to your household.
-- Good manners are another way of treating others as you'd like to be treated.
-- Read. Find out what's going on in the world.
-- For God's sake, there are germs on everything. Keep your counters clean!
-- Count your blessings every day.
-- Think about how the other person feels. Put yourself in their shoes.
-- Keep good records.
-- Remember, you need to slow down and relax.
-- Write the thank-you note the same day you open the present or go to the party.
-- Keep a good pair of scissors in your kitchen drawer.
-- Never call anyone names. You can't ever take that back.
-- Learn to live independently.
-- You don't need a man to change your car tires or do your home improvement projects. Do it yourself!
-- Make a list so you don't have to try and remember everything.
-- Bring your own chocolate bars into the movies.
-- Don't worry about what everyone else is wearing. Your own personal style will suit you much better.
-- If you don't do your best, you're only shortchanging yourself.
-- Before you buy anything, figure out how many hours' work you had to do to pay for it. Is it worth it?
-- Everything happens for a reason.
-- Don't expect the reason to be immediately evident.
-- And you don't have to like the reason.
-- Turn off the lights when you leave the room.
-- Don't ever say or do anything you wouldn't want on the front page of a newspaper.
-- When you're wrapping presents, fold down the corners of the paper with hospital-bed creases and you'll have a tidy package when you tape the flaps down.
-- People will tell you "no"; it's how you respond that matters.
-- Think about how your actions affect other people.
-- Don't bring anything into the house that you don't want to take care of every day or clean every week.
-- You have to live with the person you see in the mirror every day.
-- You don't have to be perfect. Your friends and family will love you anyway.
Forbes is reporting that those assemble-your-meal places are facing a business crunch, what with the rising costs of basic ingredients and the possibility that many of the chains have grown too quickly without focusing on the fundamentals. ("Taking on Restaurants and Groceries," May 8, 08) It will be interesting to see whether these places can weather any belt-tightening shopping.
Meanwhile, an interesting little nugget in Marketing Daily suggests that high prices may not doom the recently-burgeoning organic market:
[A] study also found that when it came to buying organic--affluence was not a major factor. "People always ask the question of whether organic brands should market to rich consumers because they're more expensive," Welch said. "But our Mindsets are demographically neutral--so Openness 5's aren't just wealthy people. We found that organics is a state of mind, not a state of wallet."
-- "Organic Buyers More Open to New Experiences Than Average," May 9,09
It's an interesting finding in light of reports to the contrary.
I think over the next few months, the real proof will be in monitoring how sales are at places like Hansen's Natural, Kraft (which owns Boca foods and Back to Nature), General Mills (which owns Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen), Dean Foods (owns Silk soymilk, Horizon, Organic Cow of Vermont and Alta Dena), Kellogg (which owns Morningstar, Kashi and Gardenburger) and Heinz (which owns a lot of organic brands, including: Earth's Best, Celestial Seasonings, Arrowhead Mills and Rice Dream, among others). We'll see whether Whole Foods' sales stay steady. Because, honestly, I think prices are only going to keep rising for organic foods -- in part because the suppliers were already having difficulty meeting demand, even before the worldwide food shortages ("Organic Food Industry in a Supply Crunch," AP, Jan 29, 08).
Check out this link -- professional photographers recreating children's drawings.
So originally, this month's theme was going to center on why you open your wallet. However, I think we've got another focus:
So ... we're talking food this month.
It is no secret that I dig the WaPo's outstanding personal finance columnist. The Washingtonian does a brief profile of her, "Big Mama Taught Her Well."
Also, if you're not reading her live chat archive over at the WaPo, get over there are do so. She really gets chat as a medium in which a columnist can extend their brand and build their audience -- and she dispenses handy advice and reality checks.
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