However, here’s something you need to think about early, well before it feels comfortable, and that is photo Christmas cards. I’ve always felt kind of envious of the people who their shit together enough to plan, stage, and produce a photo; then have it imprinted on custom cards; all in time to send out before holidays. Are these people Superfamilies? Whatever. This year I have PROMISED myself to do the same, with the help of Shutterfly!

I’ve used Shutterfly before, thanks to a coupon code I got once when Veronica had her picture taken with Santa. I got a calendar printed and it was awesome! I loved looking at different, goofy pictures of her all year, and the quality of the calendar itself was really nice. This year, Shutterfly is doing a nice promotion through BlogHer, and I’m definitely going to get holiday cards. I’m on top of it, for realz! Read on to find out how you can win a coupon code for some free cards!

Of course if cards aren’t your thing, they also offer a nice series of photo books. I made one of these for the hubz for Father’s Day one year. It was beautiful, and we still enjoy paging through it. Veronica especially likes looking at the pictures of her as a baby!  Or maybe you need birthday cards, invitations, birth announcements, or any kind of photo-imprinted greeting card you can think of. Shutterfly has you covered there too. They’ll even mail the cards for you, in case you just can’t stand licking stamps.

So this weekend is my big photo shoot weekend – the trouble with little kids is, they grow so fast! So even though I have adorable winter-themed photos of Veronica like the one below, it’s at least two years old and she doesn’t really look like that anymore:

Anyway, I’ll be trying to take that PERFECT picture this weekend. And, as it turns out, we might have actual snow (crazy!) which would make the job a little easier, I guess. Other suggestions welcome. I’m leaning towards a black and white photo on this card (ooh! artistic!).

If you would like a code good for 25 FREE cards from Shutterfly, leave a comment here. On November 6, I’ll choose three random winners (note that you must leave your email address with your comment to qualify). Thanks for reading!

Now my daughter has a similar toy that looks like this:

Today on the Woot-Off (www.woot.com), they were just selling this (click for bigger image):

Uh…what? Is this a novelty item? Are you supposed to actually punch him, or just pretend to play basketball around him? I’m honestly confused by this item. I like his ‘fro though.

Click for full size

1. That guy on the left is naked, yo. Not wearing a Speedo or very low-slung trunks, NAKED. (He also looks a LOT like Heath Ledger.)

2. What is it about the girl in the center that says “surf?” Is it the COMPLETE LACK OF EYEBROWS? Because that look has never just screamed “easy beach living” to me.

3. Furthermore, the dark vampy lips? Also not a terribly beachy look.

4. And could they have found her a more unflattering, ill-fitting, fugly swimsuit?

5. Mr. Hipster on the right is not only wearing a Speedo, but he’s wearing some kind of leather thong-type headband. Around his head. Like a boho doofus.

So maybe there’s some kind of irony at play here, like “Let’s promote a surf-inspired collection with a makeup look that looks nothing like surf-inspired, and let’s throw in a naked hipster.” I guess I’m old, because I’m not getting it, I just feel creeped out.

Look at it! It’s so beautiful.

So, anyway. This guy sideswiped me (front passenger side door) and it was totally his fault, which thankfully he admitted, and therefore his insurance is paying for the repairs and a rental. So I took the car in on Tuesday to the body shop, and they’re going to have it until next Friday at least. So in the mean time, the rental company gave me what I can only describe as the most miserable, non-user-friendly, uncomfortable, fugly car I have ever had the misfortune to drive: a Chevy HHR. Here’s what THAT piece of crap looks like:

Yeah, it’s awful. I think this car perfectly illustrates what American car makers DON’T GET about cars and people, that Japanese car makers DO get: the experience matters.

I mean, both cars are about the same size, and get similar mileage, but that’s where the similarities end. Here’s a list of all the things I have quickly grown to hate about the HHR:

1. Sitting in it is like sitting in a WWII bunker, like those cement things the Germans were sitting in when we stormed Normandy Beach on D-Day, and driving it is like being in a tunnel that never ends. You can’t see anything. The windshield is abnormally small, and the front pillars and roof obscure much of the view. I get claustrophobic if I have to sit in it for too long, no kidding.

2. Mechanically it feels cheap and unfriendly. The steering is so stiff it feels like it’s not even power steering. It would be hell on a long drive. And the accelerator is weird – you put the pedal down, and nothing happens for a few seconds. Acceleration, once it finally starts, is mushy. I’m not sure what kind of engine is in this thing but it’s definitely not very good.

3. The seats are very uncomfortable. Despite the electronic controls, there’s just no way to make them feel better. It doesn’t help that someone already broke the armrest on the driver’s side.

4. The interior layout is asinine. Everything is in a place that doesn’t make any sense. Like, there’s a lidded pop-open storage compartment in the middle of the dashboard, on top. WHY? Who puts a storage compartment where it’s going to further obscure the limited view when it’s open? And the cup holders are right next to the emergency break – I mean RIGHT next to it, so that if you had anything in them, and tried to engage the emergency brake, it would knock your beverages over.

5. It feels totally claustrophobic in the car. Some combination of the limited visibility, the uncomfortable seats, and the ridiculous equipment layout makes it feel like I’m in the worst car ever made.

I hate the Chevy HHR, and honestly, I think it hates me. I’ve already hit my head on the door, and getting in and out is like some kind of sideshow of the clumsy and graceless. The moral of this story is: don’t ever buy an HHR, and if they try to give you one when you need a rental, run away screaming.

Things that I love:

- The Internet, but especially all the stuff in my house that uses it. Roku, Chumby, Internet radio, etc. Some day I hope I can log into a website for “our house” and run the dishwasher remotely.

- My new boots:

- My other new boots:

- Buying boots (obviously).

- Videos by Lisa Eldridge. I love the way she refers to what we Americans usually call the “crease” (in the eye area) as the “socket line.” Actually I just love the way she says “socket.” All of her videos are pretty cool, but I especially liked this one. I even ordered the MUFE Aqua Cream to try (and it’s gorgeous).

- Jonathan Product Silky Dirt, which I put on my hair every day. Smells gorgeous, gives shine and light hold and separation. This is a miracle product (and it should be, at those prices).

Things that I hate:

- Allergies. Holy cow. It’s barely even Spring here, and already my eyes are watering, my face is itching, and I’m sneezing with alarming regularity. I may have to up my intake of Zyrtec (that stuff is a miracle, usually).

- Douchebag drivers. I think the epicenter of all douchebaggy driving in the universe just might be Reston, Virginia.

- The erosion of the middle class, which is too complicated a topic to get into here, but trust me…it’s happening and it’s really depressing.

Things that I vehemently don’t care about:

- Charlie Sheen.

- Bristol Palin.

- Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, Celebrity Rehab, Ice Road Truckers, or any of the other “reality” crap that masquerades as TV programming nowadays.

- Android tablets, or Android phones, or why you think Android is so much better than my iPhone (hint: it’s not).

Philosophy Shampoo/Shower Gel/Bubble Bath in Vanilla Birthday Cake: This is the only product I’m going to review that I got for FREE. YAY FOR FREE! How did I get it for free? By being a Sephora Beauty Insider. Basically, if you sign up for Sephora’s emails, they send you offers for special deals and free samples, and you earn points on every purchase that you can use towards special freebies (which I’ve done several times). ALSO, you get a birthday present every year, and this year it was a choice of this shower gel stuff or some men’s Jack Black product. I picked the shower gel because a.) I love shower gel and b.) I love vanilla fragrance! This stuff had it in spades. It smells really nice, exactly as advertised (like birthday cake). I did not use it as a shampoo or bubble bath, so I cannot evaluate it’s worthiness for those purposes, but as a shower gel it kicked ass. Also, it made me happy for a month, seeing “Happy Birthday, Beautiful!” in my shower every morning (and the not-quite-full size bottle did last me a whole month of daily use).

Nivea Lip Balm in “Milk & Honey”: A little before Christmas I picked up a sort of gift set of Nivea products in the drugstore. It was kind of a steal: a gigantic shower gel, body lotion, and this lip balm, all for $9.99 or so. I like the shower gel and haven’t tried the body lotion yet, but I have mixed feelings on this lip balm. Plus: it smells nice, seems to moisturize pretty well, and feels nice on the lips. Minus: it is yellow, and actually leaves the barest trace of a yellow tint on my lips. Seriously! I guess I’m pretty pale; a person with darker coloring might not have this problem at all, but I definitely noticed it. Yellow is NOT a flattering color in a lip product, people! Anyway, I do like the balm OK and so I’ve been using it at night, at home, when I’m not going to be seen by anyone who’d be shocked by seeing me with yellow lips.

Nars Super Orgasm Lipgloss: I’m a little late to the party on the Nars Orgasm stuff, which started as a blush and then blossomed from there. I recently got a set of Nars stuff from Sephora that includes a multiple (sort of a cream blush in stick form), a blush duo (regular Orgasm and Super Orgasm), a nail polish (Orgasm) and this lipgloss. Man, this gloss is PRETTY. A beautiful shade of pink with lots of golden sparkle, and the texture is just right: pigmented without being thick, sparkly without being gritty. Big thumbs-up to this one.

L’Oreal HIP Kohl Eyeliner: I wish I had better things to say about this. I love a smokey eye, and I almost never, I mean never use pencil to line my eyes. The deal with this stuff is it’s a loose pigment, with a tiny pointed brush-like applicator that you pull out and use to apply it as a liner. Unfortunately, it makes a MESS. Pulling the applicator out: mess. Actually lining the eyes: mess. Attempting to clean up the mess made by lining: bigger mess. Because it’s a loose powder, it flakes all over the place. So disappointing. The only way I could see making this product work is to use a different brush, slightly damp, which sort of negates all the convenience of the built-in applicator. For me, this one was a loser.

Fresh Sugar Plum Lip Treatment: An expensive treat. I was a big fan of the original Fresh Sugar balm – it smelled divine and felt great on the lips. Now there are two new versions, a Rose which gives a bright pinkish tint, and this Plum version which offers a slightly deeper tint. It’s still very sheer though. While the color looks like it’s going to be Clinique Black Honey levels of plum, it’s actually a lot sheerer than that, so reapply without fear. It still smells nice (though not as nice as the original, honestly) and it’s a very good lip balm. It should be, for the ridiculously expensive price!

Dior Addict Lip Glow: I carry this in my purse EVERY day. I love it. This is another one in the “ridiculously good but also expensive lip balms” category. It applies sheer and glossy, and then turns pinker depending your lip chemistry, not unlike those gimmicky “mood lipsticks” of yore. The color, on me, is a bright but sheer pink, and gets pinker with repeat applications. A really nice option when I don’t want lipstick, but still want some color.

Clinique Chubby Stick in “Fuller Fig”: Bought this on a whim, and was surprised by how much I liked it. I love lip colors that come in crayons like this, because they’re sort of a liner and color in one. These Clinique Chubby Sticks are very glossy, and supposedly make your lips look fuller, though I can’t say that I noticed any difference in that regard. However, I did like the color very much, as well as the texture, which is a light glossy balm. I also love that the “pencil” twists up from the case, and doesn’t actually need sharpening or anything like that. I suppose it’s really just a gimmicky lip gloss, but I liked the gimmick in this case, so it gets a thumbs up from me.

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