Cleaning Up the Bar, Part 4: Odds & Ends 9:00 AM

1. Sometimes, when all else fails with getting something clean, good old fashioned scrubbing does the trick. Elbow grease, plus a damp scouring sponge can work wonders. There were some areas on my (white, dammit!) stove that have been bugging me since we moved in over 3 years ago, and this weekend, I finally just said, screw the products, and put some muscle into it. The thing is still far from spotless, but I kind of couldn’t believe the results.

2. Strawberry stains on (white, dammit!) cotton is tough. I tried dish soap, vinegar, baking soda, borax, and finally Charlie’s Soap spray, in that order. It turned bright red, then purple, then bright red, then purple, and then finally went away. In that order. Weird!

3. I’m going through a Green Phase, of sorts, and bought a few Method cleaners, and I have to say, I am loving the wood and granite cleaners, specifically. The wood cleaner just makes me happy. It smells like almond oil (which is exactly the ingredient), which makes me think of cookies, and what’s better than cookies? The granite cleaner beats all for shine.

PSA: Sweet Tea Vodka 11:10 PM

Ladies, are you aware of Firefly’s existence? Distilled in South Carolina, it’s vodka that tastes like SWEET TEA. I’m drinking it presently, and it’s q.u.i.t.e tasty. The bottle says to serve it 1:1, water to Firefly, but I’ll go ahead and say more like 4:1… unless you’re interested in sprouting chest hair. If you go 4:1, it looks and tastes pretty well like sweet tea. Except with a mighty fine buzz to go along with the innocuous flavor.

Here’s to a headache-free Sunday morning, I hope!

 

 

Barefoot is SO Last Season 5:50 PM

You're all well aware that we barmaids have a penchant for fashion and shoes.  As your comments and blogs indicate, you readers are sassy, trendy ladies (and gentlemen??) yourselves.  Please help prevent this bartender from becoming her own worst WTFriday Fug.

WANTED: PERSONAL SHOPPER(S)

It's like this. I need some new shoes. Badly. The problem: I live in the middle of nowhere, a good 45-60 mins away from a decent mall, and I do not possess the attention span or time to properly attack this task over the internets.

The Goal: Find me some cute but solid work shoes.

The Prize: $25 gift certificate to Zappos.com or Amazon.com if I select your shoes

The BONUS Prize: $50 gift certificate to Zappos or Amazon if the shoes I select are vegetarian and eco-friendly shoes, i.e. no animal producs and good to the environment (as defined by me). (that's $50 total, not in addition to, just to be clear. Because I'm not rich.)

The Time: At least one week, until Oct 2, or as long as it takes to find me some shoes or give up on the entire project

The Catch: I'm kind of picky. Just because I'm having this contest doesn't mean there's going to be a winner (read: I'm not forcing myself to pick one of your selections.). I know, how bitchy of me, but really, it's shoes people and you know how important they are. I don't have the funds to go buying them willy-nilly.

Guidelines/Suggestions
1. Black or really kickass red or brown that can go with multiple outfits

2. Heel, but not too too stiletto-y high or too lame-ass low.  The larger the circumference of the heel the better; no matter how tall/short, the teeny ones always land me on my bottom.

3. Comfortable - this is crucial as I am on my feet a lot running around court dealing with difficult people and my feet need to be happy.

4. No pointy toes. Repeat after me. No pointy toes. They may be great for others, but they are simply not my style.

5. Should not cost more than $150. I mean, you can submit them if you like, but it's highly unlikely I'll buy anything that costs more than that right now.

6. I tend to like Mary-jane styles - I'm comfortable with it, but I am interested in branching or finding a new take on it.

7. Funky and interesting is good, just remember the event: it's court, so I can't go bounding in with fish in my platforms.

8. Closed-toe is probably better, just in case hell freezes over and I have to wear the dreaded panty hose. However, my current work fave is a peep-toe, so don't abide too strictly by the whole closed-toe idea.

9. Enter as many times as you want.

10. Vegetarian/eco-friendly is NOT a requirement because, trust me, I know how impossible it is to find cute shoes fitting that bill - that's why you get extra prize if you can perform that miracle.

11. What else? I have no idea. Check the comments and back here for updates. Please feel free to ask questions and I'll try to answer.

12. DUH.  I wear 7.5 or 8, maybe a 7 if they run big.

13. DUH SQUARED. Please link to your submissions in the comments.  In order to win a prize, you should submit specific shoes and not just websites (and uh, please don't try to circumvent that rule by linking every. single. shoe. from a website. Not cool.).

Why are you still reading this post? Get shopping!!

As If You Didn't Know I Was Trashy 7:11 AM

I'm going to admit that I just might be the very last person on the face of the earth who has been so trashy as of late. Yes, I'm a little beer drinking, trailer living trashy, but more than that I've been trashy trashy.

I have not been recycling, y'all. AT ALL.

I am so ashamed.

I've been lazy, yes, but mostly we blamed our lack of recycling on the fact that we have no room (see: trailer living) and the fact that you have to take all of your materials to the recycling center instead of getting them picked up curbside.

Turns out, I didn't really have a trashy leg to stand on. Once we started feeding Ashley jarred food, and I kept throwing those jars in the trash, I realized that there is no good excuse for this blatant disregard of landfill woes. So I started collecting glass jars and they got parked on the shelf right next to the big stack of paper grocery bags and newspapers that we have been collecting for, oh, ever.

The jar collection goes on for a while, right up until the shelf that had been bearing the weight of all those bags and papers and jars fell down ON ME one night as I was doing laundry. Time to haul my tail to the recycle center as now I had nowhere else to put the gigantic stack o' stuff. And you know what? I stop by the center one Saturday morning and see dozens of people there too, all carrying in their goodies and sorting, and I am in awe. And feeling pretty damn proud of myself.

I WANT TO FEEL THIS GOOD EVERY DAY! I say.

So here I am, after a trip to Target, with my lamper. Yes, it's called a lamper, half hamper, half laundry basket, I kid you not. (My lamper makes me think of Napoleon Dynamite and the liger, which I happen to know that Pen gets a kick out of. Maybe she needs a lamper to laugh at too?) It doesn't take up much room at all, and fits two paper bags perfectly. And now I'm saving and sorting and planning for all kinds of stuff! Yeah, I'll probably have to take it each week, but that's okay. I've got this warm fuzzy feeling from it all, and it's not just from the beer.

Perfect little lamper.

This is just a few days worth of plastic, aluminum, glass, cardboard and paper. Damn we were throwing away a bunch of recyclables! (The glass, newspaper and bags are back up on the shelf that my loving husband put back up, but no worries, the paper bags won't weigh it down again because we are taking cloth bags to the grocery store for our groceries. Look at me! I'm so responsible taking my beer and baby food home in a cloth bag!)

If you currently are as trashy as I was, take my advice: YOU CAN RECYCLE TOO! Get yourself a lamper, laugh at the likeness to a liger and feel that lovely fuzzy feeling like me! And then have a drink from a recyclable glass container that you can place in your lamper. Like me!

Cleaning Up the Bar, Part 3: Charlie’s Soap! 9:30 PM

Regular programming on Pen’s homemade cleaners must be interrupted so we can discuss Charlie’s Soap. If you’re ever looking for a new laundry soap, one that’s relatively inexpensive, non-toxic, free of all the stuff that sometimes makes a sensitive girl such as myself break out all over, consider buying Charlie’s Soap. It’s made in NC, another bonus (buying local, or whatever), and they give you all kinds of deals on ordering and shipping costs. For instance, for my first order, which was recommended highly to me by a friend and neighbor, I selected one bag of the laundry powder (80 loads), and 1 small bottle of the all-purpose cleaner, which I’ll get to in a minute. They discounted approximately $2.50 from the order and shipping was free—via FedEx. Overall, I’d say the laundry powder itself is a pretty great deal. It works in high-efficiency washers as well, if you’re fancy enough to own one of those. The all-purpose cleaner, which claims to clean everything from dentures to diesel engines, doesn’t seem as a good a deal at first glance, but it turns out that you dilute it before using it, so it does stretch. And, it’s worked on everything I used it on so far: the shower, the carpet (my daughter pees on it), the stove, my false teeth (kidding, kidding), etc.

The Charlie’s Soap company also has A+ customer service. Because I’ll be honest, they kind of screwed up my order at first, sending me two bags of laundry powder instead of one bag and one bottle of cleaner. The company president emailed me back right away with the following message:

“Ooops.  I have yelled at the appropriate people with the required amount of vitriol! :)

Keep the extra bag or give it to a friend.  I'll send out your All Purpose sprayer right away.”

You know what? I totally appreciate that. Besides that the screw-up worked in my favor (BOGO laundry powder, woohoo!), she was totally funny and nice about the mix-up. And followed up… wrong, again. Two days later, I received yet another bag of laundry powder, delivered via FedEx. Yeesh! This time, I decided not to say anything because I had gotten more than my money’s worth, and well, they’re just so darn nice. But then, hours later, USPS delivered the cleaner. Huh! Talk about getting your money’s worth. I almost feel guilty. Almost. But see, I’m making up for it with this PSA: Buy Charlie’s Soap. Despite a little bit of flakiness (and hey, who out there isn’t a tad flaky every now and then), great product, great customer service. I highly recommend it.

And the laundry powder, by the way, is excellent. Making one’s own laundry detergent is actually rather *involved,” and seemingly not that cost-efficient. I say, just buy it. And you don’t even have to leave the house!

Slapped for Improper Use of the Postal Service 3:10 PM

So, I go home for lunch today and find this note in my mailbox. tee. guess my plan is affecting the wrong people?

Part of me thinks, "ok. fine. I'll stop."

But, then, the snarky hell-bent part of me thinks, "First of all, my name is ANdria, not Adria. And yes, I know they are junk mail and I don't want them; send them back. I did not ask for them; send them back! I don't want to waste trees and throw them away, I want them to understand they are not to send them to me anymore. If I had moved, would you send them back then? I can't call all of the different companies that send me crap."

I wonder if they have just been throwing them away rather than waste time sending them back as requested. That would lessen my impact a bit.

And the really snarky mean part of me could totally take a red pen and correct those grammatical mistakes, write a note on the other side and stick it back in the mailbox. But, I really am not mad at the USPS and don't want to start a war with my delivery person. I want to get my fun mail. So, I'll just wait for my opt-out to take affect.

I need a Stiff Drink 3:31 PM

Stress: The confusion created when one's mind over-rides the body's natural desire to choke the living shit out of some asshole who desperately needs it!

-from a bumper sticker I have in my office that my boss brought in for me one time saying it made him think of me. hmm.

I am in a tense mood and feel like I'm reacting poorly to lots of situations and am snapping at people. So, I felt it was a good time to bitch. About some other unrelated things that have been festering as well.

*Our home phone was messed up last week. We had no dial tone and if you tried to call, it gave a busy signal. We never use our home phone, so who knows how long it was out before we noticed. We simply have it because 1) Tivo needs it and 2) The alarm system needs it and 3) I'm old-fashioned and kind of feel like I need it for some strange reason. When our phones actually worked (not just the lines, but the phones - the ones we have get lots of interference and have issues so really don't work properly anyway) I liked having a home phone and talking to someone on something other than a little cell phone. Conversations with grandparents on speaker phone, for example. I'm still a teenage girl at heart (ok, teenage from the 90s, because I guess teenage these days would want cell phones and don't even know what a "real" phone looks like) and like to have a real phone to talk on. Anyway, as soon as we got it reconnected, the calls started back up. It had been nice and quiet for a week or more and suddenly it was ringing again and since we never use our home phone (see above) we know it's not really for us. It was so nice not to have phone calls all day long and messages for Mark A. Dix about a "very important business matter" or for Tyler that were "not debt collectors." I want to pick up and scream into the damn automated voice system "STOP CALLING!! WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR SHIT" but I know that just registers as a hit and they pick up the calls. *sigh. I am on the Do Not Call list and everything. It helped in the beginning, but they've slowly built back up as they find ways around it? Or have the wrong stupid people they are trying to contact anyway.

* I am SO tired of all of the junk mail. It makes me irrationally angry these days. So, I've devised a little scheme and am enacting the following tactics: I've started marking "return to sender" on all of the stupid credit card and insurance offers and sticking them back in the mailbox. Let them pay for the postage twice and not get my business and see if they get the hint. My co-worker did it and it seemed to help lessen the influx for a while. [I started composing this post before lunch. I go home everyday for lunch and I checked the mail and had 5 crap letters to stick back in when I left!! aaarrgghh.] I clearly had 1 too many when Penelope offered her sage advice on avoiding and neglected to go to the site and opt-out back in April and have endured the annoyance for 4 more months. I've completed the form now, believe you me! In the meantime, I'll keep the postal service busy sending that shit back.

Cleaning Up the Bar: Part 2 8:30 AM

Vinegar! It’s one of those strangely versatile substances like baking soda. As part of my ongoing on Homemade Cleaners Series, I thought I’d go over my own uses for vinegar when cleaning up the bar:

• A spray-bottle cleaner where the ratio is 1:1, water to vinegar. Not a big fan of the smell, but it’s a good, effective all-purpose.
• In the dishwasher, use in conjunction with, or instead of, Jet Dry.
• For lingering odors, like when we fry up fish or whatever, I put out a small glass bowl of straight-up vinegar and leave it out until it’s evaporated. No more waking up to the smell of fish grease in the morning.
• Cleaning out the coffee machine. Brew a full pot. Your machine may have a “clean” cycle that you have to turn on specially for this process—I don’t know if that makes a difference. Either way, once your pot of vinegar has been brewed, your machine is good as new. No rinsing required.

*Bonus, not at all related to cleaning, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to make you even more Smartini: put a splash of vinegar in the water when you hard-boil eggs. They will be a lot easier to peel. It’s true.

For an additional laundry list on the wide world of vinegar, see The Vinegar Institute, which also informs us that May is National Vinegar Month. HOW did we miss this at the bar. Were we too busy celebrating Cinco de Mayo?

You must try this! 1:30 PM

Have you ever made your own wine cooler? It’s yum-O for summer, and very simple.

If you like white wine, get a bottle of Cherry 7Up or Cheerwine. Fill a wine glass with ice, helps if it’s a bigger glass than normal. I always advocate a bigger glass than normal. Then, it’s pretty much half and half with the wine and C7U/Cheerwine, and stir.

With red wine, you can use orange soda. Haven’t tried that one myself, but I can vouch enough for the white wine mix to say that it’s probably pretty tasty, too. Cheers!

Cleaning Up the Bar: Part 1 3:00 PM

So, I have a reputation around this establishment as being something of a “queen of home remedies.” It’s true, you’ll often find me at the bar after hours, scrubbing down the countertops with my homemade cleaning solutions. I find it a good form of stress relief, a way to restore order to a disordered world. And I make most of my own cleaners, not necessarily because I’m an all-natural gal, but because I’m a cheap bastard. Some of my cleaners do happen to be all-natural and non-toxic, which I appreciate, but some of them could melt your face off. Which means they are damn good cleaners.

I’ve spent the better part of a year really getting into this homemade cleaners thing, and I’ve learned a thing or two—one of those things being that sometimes, it’s not worth it to make your own. But a lot of times, it is. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a series of Smartini ways to clean up the bar, when and how to make cleaners, and web sites I’ve found helpful in this venture.

Two rules: Remember that this cleaning series is based on just one barmaid’s experience. Secondly, please don’t assume that just because I make the cleaners and use them on occasion that my house is, um… pristine. Because it’s really not. I’m just a frugal girl who has to clean up the house every now and then.

Recipe 1: The Friendly All-Purpose Cleaner

I like to use this cleaner on food surfaces, and any other surfaces my kids spend a lot of time around. The ExerSaucer, for instance. It’s very simple, and I found it on Dot Com Women.

Mix 4 tbsp baking soda and 1 quart warm water in a spray bottle. Shake. And you’re done.

Spray bottles can be picked up at Target. You can go with either the kind in the 99-cent bin by all the travel supplies—they come in pretty colors and nice small sizes (you may have to half this recipe), or fork out a little more for the bigger, “industrial” spray bottle located in the cleaning supplies sections by the brooms and mops. I bought a few of the 99-cent ones before realizing that between my klutziness and my two-year-old’s *exuberance,* they are maybe not the most economical choice. Best to fork out for the nicer bottle, if you’re in this homemade cleaners thing for the long haul.

My biggest complaint about this cleaner is that sometimes, it tends to leave behind tiny white spots from the baking soda. But if you read the recipe, it does say to “rinse with clear water.” I had not previously noticed this instruction, and just mopped up with a paper towel or rag. Which leads me to my last point of the day: even though you’re at the bar, it’s best if you don’t drink and clean.

Wii Love You, Dad! 10:07 AM

After receiving an Old School Nintendo in the mail from my mother-in-law (at my request) I was instantly transported back to sixth grade. I used to play that thing for HOURS. Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt and Zelda were some of my favorites. Turns out, there were a few Nintendo games that were favorites of my husband too. He used to play Techmo Bowl and Bases Loaded, way back in the day.

When we sat down to indulge our inner middle school selves, we had a blast. There were lots of 'Oh! I forgot about that!' or 'I think there is something... hiding... here!' But seeing these old school games, for all their reminiscence, it made us wonder about new fangled games, even the Wii, with its bad ass controls and super real graphics.

So, being the fantastic wifey that I am, I called up a local joint that rents movies and games and lo and behold they rent consoles too. Consoles, like Wii, for example, for FIFTEEN DOLLARS A WEEK. Are you shitting me? I ask. Turns out they aren't, so I sign up real quick to check one out, along with three games, which weren't very expensive either.

Again we had a good time playing games and learning the new system. The Wii is phenomenal, BTW. And all for $27 for a whole week! So guess what my husband, the father of my two most beautiful and wonderful girls is getting for Father's Day? Another one week rental of the Wii. And a new and updated version of Bases Loaded.

If you know a man who a) does not own a Wii and b) possibly played video games as a kid, I urge you to look into this option for Father's Day. Just hand him the controller and a six pack and walk away (with the children).

He will love you.

Lots.

I'm Blushing Over Here 2:40 PM

Bartender's Choice:

Due to this bartender's unfortunate affliction of having the longest, skinniest toes out of every human and chimp on the planet, you should consider that I know a thing or two about making toes look their best.

The first step is to keep your toenails painted, ladies! Unless your feet were kissed by the gods, you probably can't pull of the no polish look. Please make the extra effort and decorate your toes. That new pair of fab sandals will look all the better with a little perk of color on your feet.

My new favorite color for this summer is Revlon 120: Hushed Blush. It's a nice neutral-ish shade that looks great with any shoe color. The not-so-alarming color does not attract all sorts of attention to long, skinny toes like a loud red or hot pink does (although I have bravely worn both colors in a 'screw it' moment) which can be good, at times. Don't let the pearly look of it turn you off; it gives the shade a little bit of jazz rather than a dull, boring matte. I don't remember the cost, $4 maybe?, which is a pretty good deal. Especially if you are like me and might purchase a few different colors before you find one that actually looks good on.

Take this bartender's advice: get your Hushed Blush on!

Have I been drinking too much or does that tree look like an 'E'? 11:42 PM

I realize we're in the midst of a hot topic this week, but I stumbled across this great web site and I really wanted to share. I just think it's the coolest idea and love the artistic, yet personal flair. I had fun browsing and creating names and words for lots of family and friends, maybe you know someone that would enjoy a custom art piece as well? You can order just the pictures or have it framed and matted. It's not the cheapest, so you'd probably really need to like the person if you're giving it as a gift, or really like the concept if you're doing it for yourself.

Drinking Games 2:14 PM

I've been fortunate enough to have lots of celebrations in my lifetime. Further, I've been honored to host several parties and showers for these celebrations of loved ones. From baby showers to wedding showers, including couple showers, to bachelorette parties, I've been privy to participate in several. Here are some of the tried and true games I've found to be most successful - easy set up, execution and still amusing and entertaining. Just in case any of our patrons are in a position to have such a function and are in need of some ideas:

Gift Bingo -- Use a normal Bingo sheet layout, but replace with BABY or BRIDE. Depending on the number of guests expected, you may need more or less spaces, you can use clip art to fill in more spaces if needed. Have guests either (1) Fill in the spaces with specific items they expect the guest of honor to open (diapers, onesies, toaster, wine glasses) without repeating any item and those will be marked off as gifts are opened or (2) Fill in the spaces with numbers. As guests bring in gifts, put a sticky note on each one with a number 1-x, then have guests fill in the spaces with those numbers. If you have more spaces than gifts, you can label gifts with more than one number and both numbers will be called when that gift is open. This game is just good to keep people interested during the gift opening and deflect some of the attention, especially if the guest of honor is more shy and nervous being the focus.

Questions - I've used this game at just about every shower I've had. If the shower is for women only, ask the groom/father the questions ahead of time and have the bride/mother answer the questions as she expects the groom did. If both bride and groom-to-be are in attendance, you can set it up more like The Newlywed Game and have them back to back, writing down answers and then sharing out loud once both have written down their answer. For each wrong answer that doesn't match, they have to put a piece of bubble gum (the real kind, not chewing gum) in their mouth. It can get quite amusing as they get more and more questions wrong and have a huge wad of gum in their mouths, trying to talk. If it's a bachelorette party, you can have the bride take shots rather than using the gum. You can change the questions for the theme and tone of the party, but here are some sample questions:
"What color is Bride's toothbrush?"
"Where did you go on your first date?"
"What kind of cologne does Groom wear?"
"What was Bride's first pet's name?"
"Who was Groom's first girlfriend?"

Codeword. Select a word and let guests know as they arrive that they aren't to use it - "cute" "baby" "wedding." I got several packs of baby socks and handed each guest a sock when they arrived and if they used the designated word, other guests could call them out on it and take their sock(s). The person with the most socks at the end of the shower wins a prize and the mom-to-be gets to keep all the socks. I've also heard of this concept being used for a wedding shower when guests crossed their legs (which happens quite a bit when many are wearing skirts!) It can be amusing and keep people paying attention and playing throughout the shower.

Spices. Buy several containers of herbs and spices - if you can get them in bulk containers, then remove labels and number them so you can keep up with which ones are which. Pass the containers around and have guests sniff and write down what spice they think each one is. The person with the most correct gets a prize and the bride gets to keep all the spices to complement their newly stocked kitchen!

Celebrity Baby names. Have a list of baby names to match with their famous parents.

Name Scramble. Take the names of the bride/mother and groom/father and see how many words guests can create using those letters only.

Nursery Rhymes. Make a list of questions relating to nursery rhymes and see how many people can recall.
"What time did the mouse run down the clock?"
"How many birds were baked into a pie?"

Wedding Night sayings. As the bride is opening gifts, have someone writing down what she says, then read it back as things she'll say on her Wedding Night. Or for a baby shower, can be things said on the night of conception.

More Active Games:
Pantyhose and oranges. Put an orange in one foot of the pantyhose and tie the pantyhose around your waist, so that the leg with the orange hangs down between your legs. Have another orange on the floor in front of each person (can be divided into teams, with each person on each team needing to make a lap) The object of the game is to swing your hips to get the orange in the pantyhose to knock the other orange across the floor to the designated finish line (can go down and back again if in a small area). It can get quite amusing.

TP race. One person stands with a pole between their knees (golf club, stick, broom) and the other person puts a roll of toilet paper between their knees and has to "walk" with the toilet paper between their knees to the other end and try to get it onto the pole without using hands. Once they do, they switch places until everyone has successfully put a roll of toilet paper on the pole.

Belly Balloon Shoe Race. Have everyone put a balloon under their shirt and then have a race to see who can tie their shoes the fastest. The mom-to-be should get a kick out of watching everyone else struggle like she does with a simple every day task.

PSA: Springing Fashion Forward 7:44 PM

Ladies of the nearby university:
Please be advised that there is a frost warning in effect for this evening, as there was last evening. While I understand your desperate need to be cute during chemistry you might want to reconsider your strapless confection or the halter you picked up at one of the downtown boutiques this weekend. I recognize that the calendar indicates that the weather should be much warmer and therefore suitable for acres of deep-fried skin and Rainbows, but you really can't argue with the thermometer. And while I understand that some people consider your ever-present "headlights" an alluring fashion statement, it really is a little much for a Monday. So please, do us all a favor and put on a coat, a sweater, a shirt - clothing of any kind, really. Your nakedness is leaving me cold.

xo,
Ash

PSA: Junk Mail-o Reducto 9:13 AM

I love, love getting mail, and am sorely disappointed when there's nothing in the mailbox. But even worse is when it's filled only with junk mail. Credit card and other loan offers, catalogs that I already have a million copies of around the house. It's just a bunch of crapola I've got to sift through, rip up, shred, and/or recycle. I'm a busy girl, and I've got better things to do with my time!

Actually, I do enjoy looking through catalogs, but I'm really not a fan of a catalog I just received a few weeks ago with the exact same content. The company has simply slapped a new cover on it, thinking I will be lured into buying something this time. It seems like a colossal waste of paper to me. So yesterday I hit upon a couple of websites that are handy for reducing your junk mail. *And bonus: For all you GREEN Appletinis out there, it's yet another way to save the earth.

1. OptOutPrescreen.com: You can opt out for just five years by completing an online form, or you can print out the paperwork, mail it in, and opt out permanently.

2. Catalog Choice: Here you can look up catalogs that you already receive by name and put in an order to stop those catalogs from coming to your house. You can also select the reason why, such as receiving too much information from that company, so maybe they'll get the hint? Catalogs are fun, but sheesh, enough is enough already! Especially since the same material is all online.