I love candles. However, I have found that like most things, similar candle goods and products are not always created equal.  If you love candles but find that they do not last long, no lasting scent or worse, the candle dies after a short time and you are left with a large jar of wax and no candle-burning time.

Pennie Mills the owner and founder of Ladies Blend seems to have found the answer to all of the above problems. I just ordered another candle from her and once more pleased that the scent is strong but not overpowering and the candle-burning equals the wax it uses. 

Apparently the secret is in the soy wax she uses. These Ladies Blend soy candles are wonderful. My favorite scent is Peaceful Karma, a combination of ylang ylang and vanilla. The smell is very country air fresh. The candle is amazingly fragrant even when it is not burning.  What I like best about the ingredients is the list, pure soy, essentials, soy wick.  And, when the wick is gone so is the soy wax, you are left with an empty jar. I am a forever customer.

Once more I find that networking really does work, I have ‘known’ Pennie for a number of years and she continues to have elegant products, including handmade jewelry. 

By the way, my only problem with Ladies Blend is that bottles these luscious products in colbalt blue glass containers and I can’t bring myself to throw them away.  This color is so pretty when the sun shines through the glass.  Please visit Ladies Blend and tell her Vannie Ryanes sent you

Can’t get anything done?  Usually the term, “lip service” means a lot of talk with no action, but not in this case.  LIP can also mean lack of priority, interruptions and procrastination. Yes, I know, I can almost hear those heavy deep sighs; but what’s a girl to do? Whether you work outside of your home or own a home business, you can change your work habits if these three things are holding you back:
L ack of priorities. Your to-do list is useless if you don’t know what to tackle first. Talk with your supervisor to identify what’s really important. If you’re the person in charge, devote some time to deciding which tasks add the most value to your organization so you don’t waste time on nonessentials.

I nterruptions. You can’t shut yourself off completely from co-workers and your boss, but you can minimize time-wasting interruptions. Close your door if you have one; if not, hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your cubicle, or wear some headphones that block noise. Let people know you sometimes need to concentrate, but that you’re available in case of legitimate emergencies.

P rocrastination. Time disappears quickly when you put off necessary tasks. Try breaking them down into small segments so they’re easier to get started on–especially for large-scale projects, which can intimidate many people into delaying action. Schedule unpleasant tasks early in the morning so you can get them out of the way and focus on other jobs.

Some things are just too important to give up, even during bad economic times. American consumers, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch for STORES magazine, those things include:

Internet, which 80.9% of survey participants aren’t willing to sacrifice,
Cell phones 64.1%

Among other necessities:
Cable TV 60.5%
Discount clothes shopping 43%
Haircuts and coloring 40%

However, shoppers are willing to scale back on such items as:
Luxury handbags 92.2%
Satellite radio 90.9%
Maid service 90%

Check out BIGresearch. You can also find these folks on twitter at Twitter/bigresearch they share great consumer info.

Also see STORES magazine Why should you be interested in looking at this site? Because it is about stores, merchandising and consumer shopping.

Save $1.00 on certain dip mixes! Our featured dip Garlic & Dill.

Our featured recipe is Garlic & Dill Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

6 cups/1500mL red potatoes diced or baby red potatoes
1/2 cup/125mL Watkins Garlic & Parsley Grapeseed Oil
2 tbsp/30mL Watkins Garlic & Dill Snack and Dip Seasoning
1 tsp/5mL Watkins Black Pepper
1 tsp/5mL Watkins Seasoning Salt

Cooking Directions

Put potatoes, grapeseed oil, dip seasoning, black pepper and seasoning salt in a large bowl and coat potatoes. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in oven at 375 F/190 C for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Visit Watkins for products and recipes.

FreePrintable.net provides beautiful printable files that you can customize and print on your injet or laser printer. There are 41 sites in the Free Printables network.

I found this site while searching for stationery for a dear friend. She is the only person I know who still writes letters. She does it so beautifully, I was trying to find some very special stationery for her. I was unable to find suitable paper but it was my good fortune to come across Free Printable.net 

I checked out the site, printed a sheet of letterhead and was very pleased with the results. Before using the site, I did have to click on a release that was pretty standard. This site also claims that you can print an unlimited number of #10 envelopes for $4.00. I did not try this but it seems like an excellent deal, as the envelopes match letterhead that you can print at no cost. If you are on a limited budget or only have a handful of clients/customers this is an excellent deal. There is more to the site than just business printables, there are others as well. If you sign on for the newsletter, be prepared to receive a number of them back-to-back. However, they are useful so you don’t mind. 

As always. Read the fine print before you hit send.

An awesome site for those who need help planning any event. You will find prepared event planning “to do” lists and are invited to print and use them. You can also pull or add information to make the list your own.

The site is also loaded with information to help make your events a success beyond the planning stage. Take a look at The Great Event.com and let’s get the party, business meeting, reunion, etc. started.