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A Busy Persons Guide to Blu-ray

jess — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:08:43 +0000

I had an epiphany the other day. I’ve gotten extremely good mileage out of my laptops and they’ve all lasted me many, many years. So a few weeks ago, when my primary workstation died on me, I needed a new one. STAT. Here’s the thing: many moons ago, I was a hardware chick. I knew what I wanted; I knew what the best was out there. Hell, I could build it myself. Moving forward five years, I quickly became overwhelmed with the new processor choices and felt something I had never felt before when making my new laptop purchase: Utterly and Completely Lost.

Fortunately I was still good at doing research, and I was able to quickly make a purchase that I felt was great. But here’s my ephiphany: All I wanted was a quick, easy to read guide on some new technology. It really didn’t have to be that technical. I just wanted a good starting point as a buying guide.

So, it’s been awhile since I’ve updated Momelettes.com, so what better than to help out some poor soul whose DVD player has just went to Silicon Heaven? Do you replace your DVD player? Or should you make the leap to Blu-ray?

So let’s start. Here it is, A Busy Person’s Guide to Blu-ray.

First things first. What is blu-ray, and how is it different from DVD? When DVD came out as a new technology, it originally stood for Digital Video Disc, as the movies that were stored on it were all digital versus the analog capabilities of a VHS tape. In layman’s terms, this was when we put a DVD in for the first time and all collectively gasped as the FBI warning appeared on the screen with no, I said NO little white fuzzy dots running along the bottom of the screen. It was completely digital. Flash forward some years, and now we have blu-ray discs. The disc looks the same, however the storage capabilities are much greater than that of a DVD, and so instead of being boring old digital, now we get actual high-definition (HD) playback and audio. The name “Blu-ray” actually derives from the fact that the laser used to read back the disc is in fact, blue, rather than the traditional red laser from a DVD.

That’s it in a nutshell, folks. There’s more that I have to say on the subject, though. Keep reading.

The quick and dirty facts. And by facts, of course I mean loosely-collected thoughts based on my own experiences. In fact, this whole article has been put together based on my own knowledge about it. I’m a busy working mom. I love you all, but that’s about all the time I have to research for you. If you want more technical information on it, the best place to start is here.

The change is subtle, at first. Many of you, like me, may have watched a Blu-ray disc for the first time and thought, “so that’s what all the hype was about?” with a feeling of a tad disappointment. Well, there’s something that you absolutely MUST know. In order to truly appreciate what Blu-ray technology is doing for you, watch a few Blu-ray discs, and then put a DVD back in and watch it (and yes, you absolutely can watch a DVD in a Blu-ray player). Now all together: “Bllleeeeech!” It’s like going back to VHS.
Blu-ray isn’t just about exceptional video playback; it’s also about exceptional audio. We’re talking up to 7.1 surround, DTS, TrueHD, etc. Better storage capabilities on the disc itself means more audio options for us!
Blu-ray offers some more goodies that you can’t get on a DVD such as Internet connectivity, interactive menus and interactive movie-watching.
Like DVDs, there are some movies that look better in Blu-ray than others. I’ve noticed all animated movies from places like Pixar and Dreamworks are phenomenal. Star Trek is another eye-popper.

One last thing; you may wonder why, when purchasing a movie that uses Blu-ray technology, why is the disc labeled “BD”? It’s because the entire shebang is called a “Blu-ray Disc.”

Do you currently have a Blu-ray player? What are some movies that you’ve noticed are stand-out fantastic?

Tame your grocery list with the Smart Shopper

Jess Stratton — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:12:28 +0000

I’m at the point in my life where I’m pretty much willing to spend anything if it will solve a major problem for me that affects the quality of my life.

One area that needed vast improvement was always seeing a shopping list on an ugly scrap of paper on the right side of my kitchen counter near the phone. That paper was ALWAYS there – cluttering up the view, reminding me of things I that needed to be done, things I needed to get, and a constant reminder on my counter that there was always more to be done. If I didn’t have a pen on hand, the item couldn’t be added to the grocery list, and it would be forgotten by the time I finally hunted one down from my office.

Then there was the fact that there was only ever one copy of “The List” (as I called it). If I brought The List(tm) with me on errands but didn’t manage to get to grocery shopping, The List(tm) got forgotten until I found it three days later in shreds as I pulled my jeans from the dryer. If I sent my husband to work with The List(tm) but found I had time to shop myself, then he had to text me the contents of The List(tm). Don’t even get me started on what happens when an item on The List(tm) isn’t in stock. Upon return home, The Old List(tm) could be thrown out, but we’d immediately have to create A New List(tm) to add back again the item that we couldn’t get.

Enter, a breath of fresh air – The Smart Shopper grocery list organizer, which attaches to your fridge and acts as a digital list keeper.

The funny thing is, I can’t even say the phrase “Smart Shopper” without feeling like I have to add a number to the end of it, like the Robocop spoof ad ”6000 Sux”, or SNL’s home shopping disaster, the “Bass-o-matic ‘76″. So I think from here on in, even though it’s really just the Smart Shopper, I’m going to call it what it should be called – the Smart Shopper 2000.

The Smart Shopper 2000 is actually a voice activated list – you hit the “Record” button, say your item, such as “Skim milk”, “mac and cheese”, “dishwashing liquid”, etc. and it will add it to the list. BUT WAIT – there’s more! Here’s the best part about this list: it categorizes the items for you, so when you hit the “Print” button, it has your list all neatly categorized into departments such as: Errands, Dairy, Produce, Laundry, Frozen Foods, etc. No more running around from one end of the store to another while crossing items off your list.

Here’s another huge selling point for me – the ability to add custom items, and then give it a category. My bank is in my grocery store, so I always include “Deposit checks” on my shopping list. I custom typed the word in, then spoke it, and then gave it a category of “Errands.” Now, I can simply press Record, say “deposit checks” and it gets added to the list (which I can just print again if I accidentally run it through the dryer).

Finally, I can delete individual items, purge the entire list, or change quantities of items. The Smart Shopper 2000 comes with a thick book of recognized words, including such gems as “rectal cream” and “Depends”. Of course, when testing out voice recognition in your new Smart Shopper 2000, it may be necessary to walk by the fridge at odd hours, press a button, and slowly speak, “rrrrreeeeccctaaaaaaaaal creeeeeeem”.

( For those that currently own a Smart Shopper 2000, here’s one thing I did learn about the voice recognition to make it easier to get your item recognized the first time – while the recognition is still excellent, we used to have trouble on occasion getting it recognize certain items, such as “Half and Half”. Here’s the trick: it’s very reliant on consonants, so focus on making those clear. Press the record button and say “haFF anD haFF” and it’s perfect and quick. )

The Smart Shopper 2000 has made my life immensly easier – getting to look over and see a clean counter with no reminders of what daily tasks await me tomorrow – priceless. Occasionally having odd items appear on the list such as rectal cream and Depends, usually when I’m showing off the device to friends? Totally worth it still. Even with prankster husbands.

If these walls could talk… Now they can with decals!

Jess Stratton — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:38:12 +0000

When I was starting my own brick-and-mortar training center, I wanted to find an inexpensive way to display my logo as a large sticker. The problem was, buying stickers to put together was time consuming, and the fonts were as trendy as I needed. Ordering them from a local printer’s shop was not entirely out of the question either, but I still hunted online. And then I found out about WiseDecor.com, a website that lets you print out entire paragraphs of text as a decal. You can choose the size and font, also.

The cost is per letter, though they have pre-built quotes already made in many fonts to choose from that are a little cheaper. Obviously if you can find a short quote you like, the better. To inspire you, they have an enormous photo gallery, in which the hardest decision I was facing was whether to risk overspending, or shut the computer off while I was still in the positives in my bank account.

I did end up getting the word “Solace” to stick on my announcement board for my shop. I have since taken it down where it now has permanent residence at Momelettes.com headquarters:

Anyway, one of the reasons I really like WiseDecor.com is that the website is obviously run and maintained by real people. I say this because let’s face it, sometimes online sites tend to lose the personal touch, where I felt it really stands out here. There are pictures of customer’s creations, along with a design of the week.

All you do is press the design firmly against the wall, and peel back the tape. To remove it, you simply put a hair dryer to it. The best thing about these wall decals is that they are not permanent. It’s amazing what that does to my imagination when I know that if I screw up, I can fix it.

They give you a sample word to test it out before you possibly ruin your real decal (another gold star for WiseDecor). I liked my test word so much I kept it. I figured every light switch needs the word “Love” above it.

I couldn’t resist the chance to put my favorite quote up on my bedroom wall. After all, it’s my favorite quote, it’s engraved on my wedding ring, and most importantly for WiseDecor, It’s Really Short.

You saw it at the beginning of the post, here’s how it looks in it’s entirety, so you can get a size idea.

What was your favorite quote from this site? Would you go with a pre-built one they came up with (which are all really nice) or do you have a favorite quote that could go somewhere in your house?

Use PrintFree.com to create portable printable calendars

Jess Stratton — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:38:18 +0000

On the third Thursday night of every month, the twelve-or-so of us women on my quiet little street gather at one of our houses for a night of gabbing, appetizers, and drinks. It’s especially great during the winter season, when no one is out on the street playing and we all go into hibernation mode.

Each month we meet at a different house (the street is about a 1/2 mile long with matching cul-de-sacs on each end, which makes walking home after each night of debauchery that much easier) and take the time to catch up, ask each other questions about parenting, and just laugh at the things we go through every day (”Sorry, Sarah, I know doing the whole ‘breakfast for dinner’ thing is an exciting novelty for the kids, but when you do it four times a week they’ll learn pretty fast that it’s just you not wanting to cook…”).

We’ve been doing this for about four years now.

How is this possible? Every year, the next year’s schedule gets mapped out at November’s girls night. We learned pretty early on that to say “This is fun, we should do this every month” means nothing unless you commit to actually DOING it every month. Here came the hard part. How do you coordinate something like that when not everyone has a PDA, or has their calendar with them?

You use a website called PrintFree.com, which contains massive amounts of free calendar templates that are especially made for printing.

Here’s how I made them work for our monthly girl’s nights.

From the PrintFree.com home page, go into Yearly Calendars. From there, choose Small Calendars, and then the year you want.

The Small Calendars is great because it prints out a block of four tiny year calendars, with enough room on the top and bottom when printed that you can still write on them.

In this case, estimate how many people will be there, divide by four, and print out that many pages. You’ll end up with this:

in which you can cut up each individual yearly calendar to hand out to your participants.

Now, once all your participants have calendars, pens, and you are all fed, loaded with alcohol and ready to plan next year’s girls night schedule, I feel I should warn you that it won’t be pretty.

“I can’t do July, because we always go to Block Island then. I can do June or August.”

“But the only months that Sharon can do is June, and the only one Kelly can do is August.”

“December is the worst month as it’s right before Christmas. Let’s give that one to Beth – she’s not here.”

“I can’t do it on March because our couches are getting cleaned and there will be nowhere to sit.”

“Don’t worry about that, we only stand around the island eating the whole time anyway…”

However, once all is said and done (usually three bottles of wine later), we end up with something like this, ready to go for January. The piece of paper is tiny and all nice and portable, so you can take your calendar home and update your own personal calendar accordingly.

Did you know your car tells you which side the gas tank is on?

Jess Stratton — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:31:37 +0000

So here we were, my husband and I, driving somewhere when he turns to me and says, “Oh, by the way, I heard somewhere that the gas gauge has an arrow on it telling you which side the tank is on.”

I looked. There it was. The WHOLE TIME I’ve owned the car, and that’s been there!

“STOP THE CAR!”, I practically shouted. “This has GOT to be the scoop of the century!”

(OK, so I didn’t make him stop the car. But I really do believe it IS the scoop of the century.)

Let’s examine Figure A:

While it may be a bit blurry (most likely due to my shaking with excitement at this phenomenal piece of information), you can indeed see that the arrow very clearly points to the left. And, if I exit my car, I can very clearly see that the gas tank is indeed, on the left.

My husband’s car has a tank with the arrow pointing to the right. Guess which side the tank is on?

So there you have it, folks. May I never again be red-cheeked by having to make that embarrassing gas-station U-turn while driving rental cars or when I’ve switched with my husband for the day.

Does anyone’s car NOT have this? What year, make, and model is it? Is there an import vs. domestic thing, or is it merely a convenience decided in each particular auto-maker’s boardroom?

The Tale of Prima Princessa and the two moms who created her

Jess Stratton — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:29:19 +0000

All tech talk/organization aside, if there’s one OTHER thing I relish, it’s hearing stories of success. Such is the case when I got a copy of a DVD in my hands called “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake”.

The DVD is charming, and without even watching a single frame, the mere thought of nostalgia from my childhood days of tutu’s and my parents meeting their six-year old daughter backstage at dance recitals with flowers made me misty-eyed just thinking about it.

The 40-minute DVD starts with an introduction from the animated cartoon fairy, Prima Princessa. She then takes a gaggle of tutu-clad preschoolers through several acts of Swan Lake (performed by the Paris Opera Ballet), narrating the storyline while the dancers perform. Who knew Swan Lake had a more dizzying storyline than Desperate Housewives?

In between acts is the fun part, where obviously talented young students from the School of American Ballet teach basic ballet moves for the kids to try at home while they are watching.

Zoe, my 14-month old loved it, and still continues to love it. As enthralled as a 14-month old can be with a movie, she watched the DVD, pointed at the fairy, and danced. Let me tell you, there is nothing cuter than watching your 14-month old dancing along with Swan Lake on the TV screen!

(Well, I do have something cuter. Sending my husband a text message asking “What’s up?” and getting back as a reply “we are now watching Swan Lake at Zoe’s request”. There’s just something really lovable about a visual of my husband sitting on the couch watching ballet with his daughter. )

Wanting to give the DVD a thorough test, I gave it to my neighbor to see if her 3 and 4 year old daughters liked it. I got it back a few days later with reports of plenty of repeat viewings!

What really struck me about this video, though, was not how much Zoe liked it. What got to me was that here was two women, like me, who had their hands full with kids and a busy life – yet they still had time to work together to visualize, create, produce, and SELL a children’s DVD. And here I am complaining that it’s hard to find time to sit down and reply to a few emails. Yes, ladies, THAT is what struck me.

I had to write to the creators, Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller (http://www.primaprincessa.com) to find out the motive and the technicalities of their success.

Taking over one year to complete, Stephanie took her very convenient background as a ballet dancer and a cartoonist (talk about the right skills for the job!), and Mary Kate used her wits as a previously successful small business entrepreneur selling her own jewelry to Neiman Marcus, among others.

Among my curiousness of the creation process, the big question I had asked Mary Kate was how they had gotten the ballet footage. I mean, where you do even start?? Mary Kate was very quick to respond that in addition to about four-months’ work on a comprehensive business plan, they spent many hours researching via Internet and telephone. Apparently, the answer is painfully simple – you need to spend the time it takes to do some clever Google searching, and then you pick up the phone.

My next question was, when did they find the time? It took many dedicated babysitters, and many late nights after the kids were asleep.

If you are of an entrepreneurial spirit, remember that Mary Kate and Stephanie started with a need – there were no decent ballet movies for children. The other strength they had was a partnership. One of the problems I had was that I tried to be an entrepreneur by myself, while Mary Kate and Stephanie have proven that teamwork and positive energy pays off – and they have the Princess to prove it!

My hats are off to Mary Kate and Stephanie. They have proven that no matter who you are, or what you do, if you are willing to work hard, you can dream, envision, and create a product for others to enjoy.

If you want to find out more, you can visit their press page at http://www.primaprincessa.com/press.html.

Tackling the Kids Clothes Made Simple

Kathy Randolph — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:03:06 +0000

Kids come with a lot of responsibility – and also a lot of stuff! While we expect them to have bottles, diapers, toys, and books, somehow we forget about all the clothes. When they start out the clothes are tiny, but then the first growth spurt hits and now we have tiny clothes in 4 different sizes. The older they get the more clothes they seem to acquire, and the less space we seem to have.

Developing a system to deal with all of the clothes is a necessity. I’ve been very fortunate to have an older sister with two children who passes on clothes they’ve grown out of, as well as a network of friends who do the same. This is the system that I have found works the best for my family.

1. Invest in large storage bins.

You will need at least two. The first bin is for clothes to grow in to and the second is for clothes you can not part with. You will also need a basket or a third bin for clothing you are going to get rid of.

2. As clothes come into your home, go through them immediately and pull out the ones that you would never put on your child.

This was a hard step for me at first. I felt guilty that I was getting rid of things that others so graciously gave to me. So instead I would hang it in the closet and never use it. That’s when it hit me that another family might be able to use it, and just because it wasn’t a color or a design I liked, someone else would enjoy it. As your children get older, you may even want to ask them if they would wear a piece of clothing if you can’t decide on whether or not you like it. My children are now 8 and 6 and there are certain dresses that my youngest, who loves dresses, find too ‘cutesy’. Why store them if they aren’t going to wear them? Consider how many shirts, sweatshirts, pants, skirts and, dresses you really need and keep only the ones you really like.

3. Once you have gone through the clothes, they should be placed into the “grow into” bin, “get rid of basket” or your child’s closet/drawer space.

Make sure to label the bin with the size of the current clothing inside of it. An index card works great for this and you can simply label it. (For example, “boy 8-10″, or “girl 4+”).

4. Go through the closets/drawers seasonally.

This is a fairly big task but it will save you time during the remainder of the year. First, find a pair of pants, and a shirt that you know fit your child well now. This will save you the aggravation of trying everything on them. Go through the closet and drawers making piles of ‘keep’, ‘throw out’ and ‘pass on to others’.

If you are unsure about the size even after you have matched it up with a fitting piece of clothing, put it aside in the “fashion show” pile for your child to try on and model for you. (This works really well with girls, and decently with boys who are 8 and under at least!) Once you’ve sorted through the current clothing you can then go to the storage bin and bring in the new size of clothes.

5. Only save what you will use again or really can’t part with.

Having a boy and a girl, the majority of the clothes won’t be shared, although at times there is a sweatshirt or pair of jeans that survived my oldest and can be passed down. The bigger problem is learning not to save every “favorite” outfit that your child has worn. If you take as many pictures as I do, you will soon realize that you have pictures of that “favorite” outfit and no longer really need the clothes to go with it. Types of clothing I have saved are dance costumes or baby dedication clothes. Even with two children I’ve found that these all still fit in one container.

6. Get rid of your ‘get rid of’ items.

When I go through the clothes twice a year I bag up and drop off the clothes that I’m getting rid of within a few days to my girlfriend with younger children. I usually put it in a garbage bag as I am going through the closets and drawers and then put that bag in my van so the first time I drive past her house I can drop it off. I always make sure to tell her to pass on anything she doesn’t want, like or need. I also stress that if’ I’ve given it to her, I don’t want it back. That way she doesn’t have to remember who gave her what. During the rest of the year I keep a basket under my utility sink. As I notice, or my kids notice, that something no longer fits that item goes into the basket. When the basket gets full I again bag it up and drop it off.

It’s been an incredible blessing to be the recipient of clothes others aren’t using. Without a system in place I’d end up with way too many clothes in my kid’s closets. Now if I could just find a way to get them to fold them exactly how I did when I went through the drawers before school started, I’d really be happy.

Written by Kathy Randolph, mother of 2, Zachary 8 and Katelyn 6. Kathy works out of her home as a Creative Memories Unit Leader. She works with others to organize digital photos as well as create photo albums of both digital and traditional styles, and offers custom framing for those who wish to display their precious memories on their walls. To learn more about Creative Memories you may visit her web site at www.mycmsite.com/kropwithkathy.

10 Ways to Shake Up Your Wardrobe

Jess Stratton — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:00:28 +0000

As a new mom, I recently ballooned from my regular wardrobe to maternity clothes, back down to larger-than-my-old-size until I finally arrived again at my pre-pregnancy weight. My wardrobe situation was in dire straits. There wasn’t enough room for ALL of it at once, I had no idea what actually fit me at the current time, and I was just plain getting sick of all my clothes.

Over the course of the year (my daughter just had her first birthday), I have picked up many tips from friends, store catalogs, and those addictive TV decorating/organizing shows. My wardrobe is now lean, mean, and tidy. Getting dressed every morning is actually fun and energizing again.

Here’s what I learned (and I have done all these personally):

1. Remove and donate all clothes that you don’t LOVE.

The first step to enjoying getting dressed every morning is actually putting on clothes that make you feel great. We all have five-year old outdated shirts hanging around in our closet. If you wear what you love, your confidence will make you look fantastic. (On a side note, the same rule goes for shopping; if you don’t love it, don’t buy it!) Clothes can be donated to Big Sisters/Big Brothers or your local Johnnycake Center.

2. Shuffle your existing clothes around in your closet.

I’m amazing at how many of us (myself included) always seem to put the same shirts in the same area of the shirt rack. Just for kicks one day I shuffled all the shirts around and put them in new places. I made sure not to put shirts next to each other that had previously always lived side by side. The results were staggering – I was making completely new outfits with shirts I had always glossed over for years. It’s the standard Post-It Note effect; when things stick around in the same place, we learn to ignore them.

3. Paint the inside of your closet.

A nice bright color will make your wardrobe or closet seem like an actual room. You’ll be amazed at how energized it will make you.

4. Buy a whole new wardrobe system.

This may sound extreme, but it’s probably not as expensive as you think. IKEA makes wonderful customized wardrobe systems that hold closets full of items. I bought one for my bedroom and assembled it with a built-in jewelry box, tiered shelves and baskets as a chest of drawers replacement, and storage compartments for my shoes.

5.Update the hardware on your existing closet.

A quick trip to your local hardware store will yield hundreds of door pulls, handles and knobs to choose from. Instead of sliding doors that only allow one side of your closet to be visible at once, consider changing to pull-out hinged doors. Do you want to get rid of your doors completely? Add an exotic look to your closet by using a curtain rod and drapes instead.

6. Hang pictures in your closet.

What better way to brighten your day than to look at a picture of things you love every time you open your closet? Unexpected smiles are priceless, these are the reasons picture frames were invented.

7. Re-organize your closet completely.

There’s always a way to do something better. Hardware stores carry complete shelving units, and most of them are customizable and easy swappable. Organizing all your clothes in a new way will allow you to see them in a new light.

8. Use new containers for organizing wallets, jewelry, glasses, etc.

Your wardrobe doesn’t have to contain only clothes. Allowing space for accessories will allow you to see them with your clothes. This will make creating an entire daily outfit easy and fun.

9. Go clothes shopping with someone else and have them pick the clothes for you to try on.

When we shop, we tend to go for the same type of items over and over again. My favorite clothes I have now were not picked by me – my husband is my best shopping partner presently. When we go into stores, he goes around and chooses clothes he thinks would look good on me, which are always completely different than what I would have picked. He also picks realistic sizes so the clothes fit well – we tend not to see ourselves as we really are!

10. Speaking of realistic sizes, get rid of everything that doesn’t fit NOW.

Ideally, your closet should contain only clothes that you can reach into, wear today and look great in – think of it as boutique shopping in your own closet. Keeping clothes around that don’t fit won’t allow you to look your best or feel your best. Don’t hang on to the past. Dress for the day every day.

Have you ever “shaken up” your wardrobe? Share your tips!

Use a lyrics search engine to find songs you like

Jess Stratton — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:07:18 +0000

I LOVE music. I listen to MP3s in the car, eagerly gobble up movie soundtracks to hear a multitude of new artists and genres, and I enjoy a wide range of styles – depending on what I feel like listening to at the moment. Knowing that, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me, there’s NOTHING more frustrating than being out somewhere, hearing an amazing new song, and having no way to find out what it is.

Fortunately, there are literally hundreds of search engines containing thousands of song lyrics that you can search for by phrase or individual words.

This week’s momelette is a quickie. When you’re out and about and hear a great song, pause for a few minutes to listen to the song and pick up a very specific key phrase in the lyrics. Using your mobile phone, Jott yourself the lyrics so they are out of your mind.

Then, when you are home and in front of your computer, read the lyrics from the email that Jott sent you and do one of the following:

1. Use a Lyrics Search Engine to plug in the lyrics
Though there are many, I prefer Leo’s Lyrics (www.leoslyrics.com). I’ve yet to find a song it doesn’t know, and it’s one of the few rare gems that does not contain an endless supply of pop-up ad banners.

2. Google the word “lyrics” followed by the phrase (in quotes).
The benefit of doing it this way is you can see the Google summary of your results, which can be helpful when it comes to trying to find a cover song, as you’ll see in the screenshot below.

Now if you’re an iPhone user, things just got a whole lot easier. The web service Shazam allows you to hold your iPhone directly up to the music, and within minutes it will tell you the artist and song name. I haven’t tried it, but I’d love to hear from those that have.

Here’s to finding new music, wherever you may be. And yes, I’ve Jotted myself song lyrics to look up later from the car, a public restroom, a train station, a pub, etc. Probably the most interesting place I have ever been desperate to find a song was something that was playing as background music on an amusement park ride when I was thirteen years old. I never forgot how the song went (it had no lyrics, bah!), and one day about ten years later I heard the song while flipping radio channels in the car. I will forever thank that DJ, whoever he was, for announcing the name of the song. (It was “Fire on High” by Electric Light Orchestra)

Have you ever been desperate to find out what a song was? What measures did you take? Do you have lyrics you want others to help you find the song for?

Shazam would have been nice back then, I think. Sigh!

Storage Ottomans are Great for Small Houses

Jess Stratton — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:32:52 +0000

My house has a secret.

By night, when the kids are in bed, the toys get put away and everyone (including the dog) gathers in the living room for a nice glass of Merlot and a foot-up rest.

But by day, Behold! It’s SUPER-OTTOMAN, complete with hidey-compartments and piled high with toys! This little gem is none other than an IKEA Ektorp Bromma footstool and it currently sells for $129. (yes, footstool, as they call it. Don’t be like me and spend hours searching their website for the word ‘ottoman’. Sigh).

And no, I know you’re all wondering. This wonderful little piece of living room furniture does not come with the dog hair you see in the pictures. I took the pictures today in between the chaos. You’ll get no vacuuming from me and like it!

And no, I still know what you are all wondering. We do not know the secret cure-all for dog hair. We solved our problem by going further into debt and installing hardwood floors in our entire house. Now, the hairs are kind enough to first gather into large dust bunnies so it’s easier for me to pick them up. And Zoë is kind enough to find them for me. Sigh.

But I digress.

Where was I? Oh yes, my ottoman. Rather than explain to you how my house is slowly turning into an IKEA catalog, I will explain how this lovely piece of furniture continues to make my life easier on a daily basis.

It makes cleaning up a no-brainer. I have this thing where once Zoë is in bed, the toys get put away and I have my living room back again to be myself. I can grab toys, throw them in, have the lid on, and put my feet on top of it faster than my kid starts to cry when I take away the pacifier. Human nature, folks – when it’s that easy to clean up, we’ll do it.
Zoë loves rummaging. When I was a kid, I used to have a whole cupboard to myself for toys. There are pictures of me buried in my cupboard sticking out my little toddler tooshie with toys strewn about. Now, in my small house, I don’t care how cute my kid is, there’s NO WAY I’m giving up precious cupboard space for toys! Now, I can open the ottoman, stand Zoë up beside it, and watch her attack the ottoman contents like I do when I’m searching through the bargain DVD bin at Walmart.

Who says ottomans are just for toys? Eventually my husband and I plan on getting another one for the bedroom to sit at the foot of the bed to house linens. Don’t think for one second we are lucky enough to have a linen cupboard. Our builders couldn’t even figure out how to make the bedroom closet the standard 4 foot width (ours counts in at a mere 3 feet, 8 inches. And yes, the folding doors that don’t close all the way look positively lovely, thanks for asking!)
The ottomans are slipcovered, so if you change your decor, you can pick up a new color. IKEA sells the ottomans in 7 different colors, all available to see on their website product page for the Ektorp Bromma footstool (ours is in Idemo Beige).

In my humble opinion, IKEA has hit a home run with this ottoman. It’s rare. It’s a gem. Why no one else has these, I’ll never know. I’ve never been able to find these anywhere else, and trust me, I’ve looked. If you were at a furniture store in Rhode Island a few months ago, I was that crazy lady trying to lift up the top half of all the ottomans, mumbling, “nope, not this one either…”