If you live in Florida, you know a little something about skin health. Go to any beach, at any time, and you’ll see people slathering their skin with sunscreen - even on cloudy days! We all know that UV rays can damage skin even when the sun isn’t shining, and we do our best to protect ourselves at all times. I even wear a foundation that contains an SPF of 15 in it, so I’m protected even when I’m not thinking about applying traditional sunscreen.

One of the newest skin health trends is about taking care of your skin where the “sun don’t shine” - the inside! In addition to applying sunscreen, moisturizer, and taking care of the skin everyone can see, you can add a new supplement into your diet to provide your skin with nourishment. R.G. Skin Revitalizer is derived from a tropical fruit called Gâc, which is full of antioxidants.

The cantaloupe sized fruit has been used for years in Vietnam and other Asian countries for it’s medicinal properties. It contains plenty of beta carotene, which can help to boost your immune system. Beta carotene also assists with building new skin cells. Americans have typically turned to carrots or sweet potatoes to get a weekly dose of beta carotene, but Gâc contains up to ten times MORE beta carotene!

I’ve always wanted to go to St. Augustine. Friends tell me that I HAVE to plan a long weekend there at a bed and breakfast, and that I’d just love the shops and the historical sites, the old homes, and the great restaurants. Looks like November is a great time to go too - not only will it not be as hot out, but I just found out about some special St. Augustine events taking place next month! Uptown Saturday Night takes place from 5pm until 9pm on the last Saturday of the month in October and November. I just missed the October 27th event, but there’s another one on November 24th. And hey, that’s Jim’s birthday - wonder what he’d think of a surprise weekend away for his birthday?

At any rate, the event is right up my alley - street music, and dealers lining the sidewalks with the wares…it’s a regular street party with style! Book stores have readings, authors do signings, and there are workshops to attend on how to shop for antiques. You’ll find free parking at the Mission of Nombre de Dios and shops participating in Uptown Saturday Night offer free wine and refreshments as well.

Doesn’t it sound like a great night out?

Before you make plans to go over to Ikea in November to shop, make sure your finances can handle it! 0% credit cards that offer a 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers are a great way to buy things you need now, but pay later. For disciplined consumers, it’s free money, in a way. You can shop to your heart’s content, and pay off your balance in a few months, without paying a nickel of interest. When the card is paid off, you can close it, and begin the process all over again! This strategy has worked well for us over the years.

Florida fans of Ikea will be able to get their fix on November 14th, when the Swedish retailer opens their first Florida location. The store will be near the Mall of Millenia off I-4, which means it’s easily accessible from Tampa. (Tampa residents won’t have their own store until 2009!)

Apparently, Ikea store openings are a big deal. It’s expected that Ikea fans will start camping out days in advance to get in on all of the grand opening freebies offered. I’ve only been to Ikea once, and I liked it, but not enough to camp out to go inside first. I’ll happily wait a few days until the grand opening traffic dies down, and then make a visit.

Here’s a question for you…would car prices be cheaper if car dealers stopped wasting money on dumb advertising? By “dumb” I mean the come ones I get in the mail, with a “key” inside, or fantastic offers to take any trade I have. Do all car dealers use advertising methods like this, or are we just especially lucky here in Florida? How about the fast talking radio ads advertising special loan rates and 0% APR? Is anyone falling for it? I’m not. If I want to get a car loan, the dealer is the last place I’m going to get it from. I’d rather do my own investigation online - seeing what rates I qualify for, what offers are out there, what my bank can do versus another lender. Do your homework, and don’t trust the car dealer when they offer you a “special” rate. All too often, you pay too much for their special deals, and you can get much better rates for your next car loan by doing a little homework online. An online car loan is quick and easy, and you’ll know what you can afford BEFORE you walk into the dealer.

It’s not even September yet, but my husband is already thinking about our Christmas lights! I have to admire his dedication to the cause. We had some issues with our lights last year, in part due to the way that the electricity runs through our breaker box. We tripped a breaker every single night, because ALL of the exterior outlets are run through the same breaker, and we were using a LOT of lights. On top of that, our electric bill was about double for the month of December because of all the lights.

I recently learned about LED Christmas lights, and I’m intrigued! LED holiday lights are safer than traditional Christmas lights for several reasons:

• LED lights use 90% less energy
• LED lights are safer because they operate at room temperature
• LED lights have an operating life of more than 50,000 hours
• LED lights have no filament
• LED lights have a bulb encased in hard plastic

So what does that mean for you? How about a lower electric bill when you string up Christmas lights, and saving yourself a trip to the store to buy new lights every year? And for those of us who are outlet challenged, this site sells a special LED light that is approved for end to end connections of up to a 1/2 mile of lights! If these LED holiday lights are good enough for the capital in Washington D.C. and the Rockefeller Center in New York, they’re good enough for my house!

When we shopped for furniture last year, we went from St. Petersburg to Tampa to Brandon - all in search of great furniture. We visited 7 or 8 major chains, including one marathon afternoon in Brandon when we hit 4 in one afternoon. It was making me all a bit dizzy - who had the best prices? Who could deliver soonest? Who charged for deliver, and who didn’t? Which stores carried what brands?

If the local furniture stores are making YOU a bit dizzy, check out the latest trend in furniture shopping from GoWFB.com - wholesale furniture brokers. There’s no longer any need to order furniture from a catalog, or deal with a high pressure salesman. You can shop online and then pick up your pieces in person at this
Orlando furniture warehouse, or this Tampa furniture store location. The site makes it easy to buy online, offering measurements of every single angle on every single piece, and close up pictures of fabrics and detail work. You’ll save money because they’re not paying for overpriced retail space, and they’re not paying fat commissions to a salesman either!

One thing that always gives me pause when I travel outside of Florida is the variety of materials used to build homes. Here in Florida you’d be hard pressed to find a home made entirely of wood. Most are cement block, at least on the 1st floor, and then covered in stucco. I love traveling northward and seeing beautiful wood frame homes and cabins that you simply don’t see in Florida. I’ve seen several beautiful homes on HGTV made of timber frames, like those from Vermont Timber Works. It’s an amazing process - frames and trusses are hand crafted and joints are pinned together with hardwood pegs. The same guys who made the frame travel to your site to put the whole thing together, which makes sense, since they know best how it should be done. (Too many cooks spoil the soup, right?) The end result is a spectacular look rarely seen in my home state. This is a picture of a welcome center off the Vermont interstate:

I’ll take that over block and stucco any day!

Florida has quite a few residents and visitors who call the UK home most of the year. Those visitors are probably surprised when they visit Disney and find that they’ve got to pay a daily fee for high speed internet access, especially considering the plethora of cheap broadband internet providers in the UK. As a resident of Florida, I’m limited to choosing from a few select broadband providers who work in my area, whereas residents of the UK have all sorts of broadband internet options to choose from!

In fact, I really wish there was a site like this for Florida. I’m not really sure who else provides high speed internet, other than my cable company and the local phone company. It sure would be nice to be able to compare broadband providers online, to see the prices and options offered, without making phone calls to each company I’ve got an interest in.

Hurry, hurry! Today is the LAST day to enjoy tax free shopping on hurricane supplies. Even if you’re up to your ears in plywood and tarps and generators, you can still stock up on something you use everyday - batteries! They’re tax free right now, and you can always use them, especially with Christmas just 6 months away.

Here’s a partial list of some other tax free items:

• Reusable ice
• Flashlights and lanterns (battery powered) - great for Father’s Day too!
• Gas powered lanterns and tiki torches
• Candles
• Batteries
• Coolers and ice chests
• Cell phone chargers and batteries
• Tarps and plastic sheeting
• Bungee cords and ratchet straps (good for vacation packing or moving!)
• Weather and two way radios
• Carbon monoxide detectors (everyone should have one)

Stock up, and save…uhh…6% in taxes! (Not a huge deal, but still, a deal!)

We’ve be shopping for more kids furniture later this year, and possibly next year too. I’m kind of sick of seeing the same designs in all of the chain stores around here - either the stores have no kids furniture at all, or the selection is the same as every other store in the area. The
kids furniture on GreatPricedFurniture.com is different though - much different. Not only is the selection extremely varied, but it features neat options like corner units, or bookcase units - a must for the small secondary bedrooms homebuilders create! I actually found a little chalkboard with attached memo area that I like so much, I may buy one for my laundry room. If you’ve always wondered where people find neat furniture for kids - this it the place!

We’ve got a bevy of new stores opening in my town soon…good shopping will be close at hand, very, very soon! Til then, I can have great shopping at my fingertips with the online version of the stores opening up locally. One of my favorite places to shop is Linens N Things, and I’ve found quite a few deals in their clearance section online and locally. Before you shop online, grab one of thse Linens N Things coupon codes to save yourself some green. You can find tons of coupon codes for big merchants online, ranging from free shipping to buy one get one free items to saving a % off your bill!