Presidential Address to Congress

Obama gave his first presidential address to congress tonight. Unlike the addresses of the Bush years, Obama was welcomed with a standing ovation. His entrance took significantly longer then any entrance by Bush because of all of his fans.

Normally arriving to one of these events at 8 a.m. is ridiculously early, but today people were lined up to get in much earlier then that, it was being speculated that people may have to camp out to get into the next presidential address.

In this address Obama outlined the stimulus plan, and explained what his motives are for the $800 billion bailout plan. He also explained that he created a website so that Americans can track the governments spending of this bailout money. This is a great idea because over the past eight years most Americans trust in our nation has gone in the toilet.

Spring Break

Everyone needs a break from the real world every once in a while. Even if you do live in sunny south Florida its still nice to get away and relax in another vacation spot.

Norwegian Cruise Line is known for its freestyle cruising, and it one of the newer companies to get into the cruise business. After cruising with several different cruise lines I decided to give NCL a try. The first week of March I will be taking an 8 day western Carribbean cruise. The ship will be at sea for 2 days and the ports of call scheduled for the week are Roaton, Belize City, Cozumel, and Great Stirup Cay. The ship is leaving from the Port of Miami, which makes this a convenient get away for south Florida residents.

The fun of cruising is that you get to go to a new place every day all the while enjoying all the amenities of the ship which is similar to staying at a resort. NCL's freestyle cruising is nice because you aren't on any sort of set schedule, most cruise lines set up certain times for certain things, and tell you when you can eat, which nights are formal, etc. On NCL you choose what you want to do and when you want to do it.

The Norweigan Pearl is a newer ship and the rooms look much nicer then those of most cruise ships. They are bright and the small quarters look a little more spacious then usual. The ship also is equipt with a bowling alley, rock climbing wall, 12 restaurants, and 11 bars, it won't be easy to get bored on this ship.

Buy a Quarter, Get a Quarter, For a Quarter

Noone should be eating fast food on a regular basis but in these tought economic times we are facing, it can be tempting to get a full meal for under $5. McDonalds ran a special February 17th if you bought a quarter pounder you got a second for only a quarter.

The quarter pounder has been a staple of McDonalds menu since the early 70s. Its made up of a 1/4 lb burger, two slices of cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun.

I ended up eating two burgers today and while it was delicious to eat "bad" food, i could not believe that I had consumer 1,100 calories and 50 grams of fat. But it was nice to have lunch for $3 and save some money, I'll just have to work out a little longer tonight to burn off those extra calories.

David Yurman Heart Pave Necklace

Who doesn't love beautiful jewelery? For years I have been obsessed with David Yurman and adding to my collection.

David Yurman's collection of jewlery is composed of timeless pieces that never go out of style. Every women deserves to have at least one item. Their most recognizable peices are their signature cable bracelets and rings with gemstones.

The Heart Pave is a beautiful sterling silver neckalce with .29 carat pave diamonds, all on a 18in signature Yurman chain. At $830, it is a little pricey but its timeless and can be worn forever, this necklace would make a fabulous Valentines Day present. Yurman is available at Saks, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, directly from Davd Yurman, and at other fine jewlers.

Mizner Bark

I have a three year old Yorkshire Terrier named Tucker, his favorite place to go is the Boca Raton Dog Park. I try to get there at least twice a week, and its fun for dogs and their owners alike.

Just uttering the words dog park gets a pretty intense response from the 5lb little guy. He goes nuts, runs laps around the house and barks the entire way there. The great thing about the dog park in Boca is that it is divided into three sections, under 20lbs, 20 - 50lbs, and 50lbs + , this allows you to let your dog off the leash and know that it is safe in the fenced in area.

The Boca Park is by far the nicest dog park I have ever encounter, and as anyone who has encountered the typical retiree living in Boca they take the rules at the park VERY seriously, I have seen the police called over someone not picking up after their pet. To me its very amusing to watch, and its great exercise for your pet.

Fried Food with Less Fat?

Today, I tried out a new place for lunch called Mom's Sandwiches. It just opening yesterday in Delray Beach, FL. I received a menu in the mail and it looked pretty good and inexpensive. The items that really caught my eye were their appetizers. They were your usual french fries, onion rings, fried calamari, and mozzarella sticks, but something about these were different. They said 60-80% less calories, not fried in cooking oil. I was very intrigued.

So I went in today at lunch, and everyone working was family, three generations behind the counter. All very friendly and excited to have business. I ordered a salad, my boyfriend ordered a meatloaf sandwich, and we decided to try out these fries. The salad was average, next time I am definitely getting a sandwich, it seems to be their specialty. And the meatloaf sandwich was very interesting and very tasty. It was a slice of meatloaf with mozzerella cheese and mashed potatoes all on an italian roll. I would definitely recomeng trying that out!

The fries were interesting to say the least. When we inquired about how they make fried food with out oil, there wasn't really any response. I did manage to get one of them to say it was "new technology". I did a google search when I got home and couldn't find anything about this new technology. The fries werent as good as traditional fries but if they really are 60-80% less calories I will be ordering again.

All in all for their second day in business they seemed to have things pretty together. Everyone was very nice, and the food was decent. This place is a sandwich shop so order sandwiches, the salad was not up to par.

The Office

The Office is one show that every time I watch, I find myself laughing hysterically. The show has had a great deal of success in its 5 seasons.

One of the funniest characters is Michael who is played by Steve Carrell. He is a boss who is completely outrageous, and is always trying to make jokes.

He is so stupid that it is funny, and I could only imagine working for someone like that. The whole office has a very funny culture and is definitely worth watching. Its on every Thursday at 9pm on NBC and past seasons play every Tuesday at 10 and 10:30 pm.

Tanning Indoors

Indoor tanning has a really bad reputation, its comparable to the person you went to high school with that your parents did not want you to hang out with. But the taboo about it makes it that much more desirable.

Despite all the bad press that tanning has recieved, it is still a booming business. Everyone looks and feels better with a tan, and indoor tanning is a quick and convenient way to achieve these results. Indoor tanning is no worse for someone than a day on the beach, its the people that over do it that give it a bad name. Just like anything in life moderation is key.

I work in a tanning salon, and have had lots of training about skin care, and tanning. It is actually beneficial for someone to get color and this is starting to be reported on. A little bit of UV exposure gives us the much needed vitamin D that our bodies need. And it has actually been proven to reduce internal organ cancers.

The myth of frying your insides is entirely false, and while you do see people that over do it. A tanning bed does not work like a microwave as many believe and thus it is impossible to "cook" ones insides. People who you know tan wayyy to much have been coined Tanorexics. All in all people shouldn't be so scared of a tanning booth, in moderation it is actually good for you!