toxic chemicals found in EVERYTHING

An article just came out today stating that they have detected bit of MERCURY in products that contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. This is just great, because nearly everything we Americans eat contains High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Some of my favorites- Ketchup, salad dressings and gummi bears. Online, this is the list they give of products that contain mercury:

• Quaker Oatmeal to Go bars
• Jack Daniel's Barbecue Sauce
• Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
• Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
• Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars
• Manwich Gold Sloppy Joe
• Market Pantry Grape Jelly
• Smucker's Strawberry Jelly
• Pop-Tarts Frosted Blueberry
• Hunt's Tomato Ketchup
• Wish-Bone Western Sweet & Smooth Dressing
• Coca-Cola Classic: no mercury found on a second test
• Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt
• Minute Maid Berry Punch
• Yoo-hoo Chocolate Drink
• Nesquik Chocolate Milk
• Kemps Fat Free Chocolate Milk

Article - http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20090127/mercury-in-high-fructose-corn-syrup

The other great part about this is- they're not telling people to AVOID these foods. Although, the say this in the article:

"Mercury exposure at high levels can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system. A form of mercury called methyl mercury is particularly risky to a baby's developing brain and nervous system, according to background information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

sad year

Not sure if you can see the chart to my left (if not, click here....http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/news/economy/job_cuts/index.htm), but it lists all the companies that have cut jobs just in 2009! that's one month folks.

I really feel saddened by this. This chart is more than just numbers- each number is a person- many who have families that are counting on them for financial support. Many of those people will not be able to easily find work. Many of those people who will be stuck in a major financial crisis because of this economy. I am just astounded by the numbers. Just today, "Bloody Monday," as CNN.com is calling it, SIX companies have announced HUGE job cuts- Pfizer is cutting 10% of their staff, CAT (construction company) is cutting 20,000 jobs, Sprint is cutting 8,000 jobs, Home Depot is closing their EXPO Design Center stores which will cut 7,000 people and Deere & Co. (John Deere, that is) is cutting around 700 employees.

The numbers are astounding. What is going on? What can we do?

mega nachos

When thinking about a post for today, I was thinking about what I had for dinner last night. Josh and I are "taco night" experts. We usually make them once a week. It's been our little tradition from the beginning. We can do the whole mean in about 10 minutes- the time it takes to cook the meat. Now, our little taco night has branched off into something we call "Mega Nachos." As the nacho fan that I am, we would always use our leftover taco meat later on in the night to make nachos. Yes, later on, meaning at midnight, we would usually make this. Now, it's a meal in and of itself. SO, here is what it consists of....

MEGA NACHOS

1. Spray baking sheet with a small bit of PAM Spray. Line a bunch of chips (meaning maybe 20-30) on a baking sheet.

2. Preheat oven to, oh, let's say...400 degrees.

Now, you can really come up with your own version, but really, it is everything we use to make tacos plus a little more.

3. Top the chips with-
- ground beef (already cooked)
- black beans (already cooked)
- cheese

PUT IN OVEN UNTIL THE CHEESE MELTS.

THEN- This is where the "mega" part comes in...

4. TOP THE NACHOS WITH...
-lettuce
-tomato
-taco sauce (the kind in the glass jar)
-lots of dollops of sour cream
-guacamole
-refried beans (if you want)

AND there you have it folks. Mega Nachos. A tasty, easy treat!!!

not an intellectual blog

Because this is no intellectual blog, I have decided not to get into my political views here or talk about Obama and the inauguration. I will just simply say that Obama became the 44th President today and it's a wonderful new start for this country. A very exciting day for a lot of people; A lot of excitement in the air. Above are two of my favorite images from the millions that were captured today.

The Polaroid apparently is no longer in production, which is sad, because it's such a classic form of photograpghy and I love it. Well, now they have a downloadable software for your computer that you can turn all your digital pictures into a Polaroid image. So cool. It's not a real Polaroid, but it makes your photos look like one. I am obsessed.

www.polaroid.net

movies i must see....

So, I always have an ongoing list of movies I want to see. I don't go to movies very often, which is sad, because I love seeing movies at the theater. Here is what I need to see (DVD and in theaters)

• Slumdog Millionaire (considered one of the top movies of 2008)
  
• Milk (Sean Penn)
  
• Flow (a documentary on our use of water...)
• Righteous Kill (DVD) (DeNiro and Pacino)
  
• What Just Happened (DeNiro)
  
• He's Just Not That Into You (Aniston, Barrymore, Affleck, Johansson, Jennifer Connely, etc.)
  
• Burn This After Reading (DVD) (Pitt, Clooney)
  
• The Changeling (Jolie)
  
• State of Play (not out yet) (CIA movie with Russell Crowe, Affleck, Rachel McAdams)
  
• Earth- (not out until next Earth Day)
  

this years color

I have always heard about there being color trends in the fashion world. 2008 was apparently the year of deep purple. 2007, I think, was yellow and so on. I don't know what it is, but my tastes for certain colors change drastically form year to year, like fashion. My all time favorite color is yellow. That will always stand. BUT, in terms of a year to year thing, this year has been all about GREEN for me. I love it- lime green, chartreuse, pastel green. Not hunter green- only bright green. Something about it can be so funky and yet so preppy too. It is such a Spring color- grass, earth, etc., but lately, I am drawn to it. I found myself designing tons of cards this year that were all green. It was kind of becoming a problem.

Before all this, I was obsessed with gray- mostly in terms of fashion- a gray t-shirt, gray scarves...just gray. It seemed right and before that, the yellow craze took me, and before that I remember my hot pink phase. I was obsessed with pink for a long time and I still am. I bought pink everything- pink iPOD, pink phone, pink clothes, pink gloves, etc. My card company's main colors are light pink and espresso brown. But one day I just wasn't in to pink as much anymore.

I don't know why, but I just love color. Does it mean anything that I used to be a pink fan and now I am a green fan? Does it say anything about society when certain colors occupy a majority of the clothes that are sold that year. I don't know what 2009 has in store as far as color. I do know that color does not go out of style. Yes, black will always be fashionable, but what distinguishes one person from the next is color. So, for now I will wear my green rain boots with my green jacket and my new green purse...

little fashionista

Aunt Emily teaches her niece the essentials- how to walk in heels. She's got it!

shopping on-line

Before you ever buy anything on-line, always check
www.freeshipping.org
to see if you can get free shipping on your purchase.

Great website!

emily

last post of the year

This is my last blog post of the year.

Next year I vow to:

eat more bread, cheese and pasta
take more naps
watch more reality TV
read more tabloid magazines
exercise my fingers on the computer more
order in food more

Kidding.

No really-

This year, I got be healthier. I think that's been my resolution since I was 14, but seriously, this is the year....it is...it really is...yeah...

My personal resolution is to enjoy every minute as much as I can and stop wasting my time doing things hat don't matter.

My professional resolution is to work as hard as I can so that my company can be successful in the National Stationery Show.

Overall, I would love to eat, drink and be more merry in 2009!!!

Happy New Years!

Send and ANONYMOUS POSTCARD

There is a great website I had to share called ANONYMOUS POSTCARD.ORG. You go online, and can send an anonymous compliment/complaint/or whatever to whoever you want. It's funny. You enter as much as you want and then as much of the recipient's info as you have, whether its an email or mailing address or just a city. The team at this website then goes through them and picks out the ones that are the best and sends them directly to them.

Here is how their website describes it-
"Anonymous Postcard is a suggestion box for the world, designed to allow anyone to openly communicate to a third party without the complications of personal contact. Claims submitted by the public are turned into vague and largely indecipherable postcards and mailed toward the intended recipients."

It's fun to check out the gallery of all the postcards people have sent- some have sent postcards as thank yous to the troops, someone else sent one to a restaurants complaining about the music during lunch. Some are fun and some are sweet.

Check it out.

www.anonymouspostcard.org

home is where you park it

There is nothing like spending the holidays at home. My "home," or parents home, has moved around quite a bit since I left Charlotte, NC when I was 18. After living somewhere for 18 years straight, my parents have now moved homes about 18 times. When my mom retired, they moved to Nashville, TN for several years. Then, off to Atlanta, GA for a few more. Then, came the decked-out RV that hey have lived in for several years now. They have moved it from city to city because my Dad's job involves a lot of traveling and it's easier to move their home with them. They parked it for periods of time in Richmond, VA, Virginia Beach, VA, Atlanta, GA, Myrtle Beach, SC, Louisville, KY, Lexington, KY, and finally they have settled on a farm in Chattanooga, TN (actually a town called Ooltewah). So, home really is where you PARK it. To come from NYC to the country of Tennessee is such a treat. Last night, I could see Venus so clearly. I can barely see one star in NYC.

But for some reason, I always feel like it's home. Wherever my parents are, is my home. Even though it's all enclosed in a moving bus, it is somehow still comforting to come home to. My mom still makes all the food I grew up on. That makes it truly feel like home. Actually, she is now making her famous Turkey and Rice soup that she makes with leftovers after the holidays. I love our home on the farm. My sister has now moved into the house on the property with her family. It's a family compound now. Hopefully this will be the place we call home for many years. We'll see. They like to keep it exciting and they're always picking up and going somewhere, so we'll see.

Happy holidays from my home to yours.

merry holidays

the post

What shall I post...hm....

OK, fine, ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY- NOVEMBER 21

-NOV 21, 1789- North Carolina, my favorite state, became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Thank God for that!

-NOV 21, 1973- President Richard Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate. (I was always so fascinated with the Watergate Scandal. I even did my high school Senior project on it. Something about political scandals really caught my interests. And I have always loved CIA-type movies. All the "Bourne" movies or anything having to do with CIA endeavors. I really don't know why, it just totally fascinated me that we have this whole secret world in the U.S. that we're not really informed about. )

-NOV 21, 1995- The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 5,000 for the first time. (Remember the good ole' days...oh, times they do change.)

-Nov. 21, 2007- Officials announced the recall of more than a half-million pieces of Chinese-made children's jewelry contaminated with lead. (This just really upsets me. How can so many toys be recalled. Why aren't children's products tested and tested until everything is CERTAIN that it can do no harm. I think this is ridiculous.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY TO -- Ken Griffey, Jr., Bjork, Troy Aikman, Goldie Hawn, Lorna Luft, Marlo Thomas

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/index.html

Emma J Cards- self promotion...

Emma J Cards is now selling cute, little GIFT TAGS. Classic round gift tags come 5 to a set. 5 for $2.50! Assorted designs. Blank on the back!

www.emmajcards.com