how to what?

Hey, we're all super moms and we know EVERYTHING, but sometimes we still have questions about how to do things. HowToDoThings.com is perfect in finding information about anything from family, finance, career, fashion, gardening, grooming your pets, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

With feature articles like tips on how to drive long distances. Which is great because with warmer weather usually comes more vacation time. Even if your not driving they have tips on traveling by airplane, cruise, train, or... maybe a hot air balloon? (Okay that might be pushing it), but they think of pretty much everything.

Find fun facts! For example, last month they featured articles about coffee in tribute to Caffeine Awareness Month (I had no idea there was a whole month devoted to caffeine!) Did you know that used coffee grounds are great for compost? They can be used as mulch, and the dark color heats up the ground and adds nutrients to the soil as they break down. Also, it works as a great deterrent to pests like slugs and snails that don't like the gritty texture and smell. If your not a coffee drinker there are ways to find some, such as local coffee shops, or work.

So learn something new everyday, whether you are looking for an answer to a question or you're just curious, this site is sure to offer you something helpful and fun.--LeShan

Reese Witherspoon and Avon's Empowerment Bracelet

Usually on mompreneur monday we share a site, article, product or service related to being a female entrepreneur. We've covered everything from Academic Software (great prices on products like Illustrator and Windows XP) to articles by Heather Ledeboer (the woman behind Mom 4 Life) to VistaPrint (great pricing on business cards and marketing materials). But today I'd like to feature a product that has less to do with our businesses and more to do with empowering women around the world.

Avon and Reese Witherspoon, Avon's Global Ambassador, recently introduced the Women's Empowerment Bracelet:

As honorary chair of the Avon Foundation, I'm very excited to introduce Avon's first global charity product designed to save and improve women's lives worldwide. ... It's a symbol of unity that represents a future without limitations for all women.

... Bracelet proceeds will be used to create a new Avon Empowerment Fund. The first $500,000 from bracelet sales will be matched by the Avon Foundation for a total donation of $1 million to UNIFEM, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, for projects that will empower women around the world.

Show your support, show your solidarity, show off your bracelet."

At only $3 the Women's Empowerment Bracelet, a silvertone infinity symbol on a blue stretch cord, is a simple yet stylish is an easy way to support a worthy cause. 100% of net proceeds ($2.25 per bracelet) are donated to the Avon Empowerment Fund to end violence against women. And while you're at it, check out Avon's Speak Out Against Domestic Violence Key Chain. 100% of its net proceeds ($3.72) are donated to Speak Out Against Domestic Violence.

Being a woman and a business owner you and I know the power behind the word "empowerment" and I think it's our responsibility to help other women whenever and wherever we can. So buy a bracelet for yourself and pick up a few extra as gifts for friends and family. Supporting a worthy cause is always in fashion. --Emily

focaccia bread that multitasks

For today's food for thought friday I wanted to share my favorite focaccia bread recipe (and it's not my favorite just because it's bread-machine friendly!). This recipe makes a great focaccia bread but it also makes a yummy dough perfect for homemade pizza.

When warmer weather hits we love to take the dough, halve it, then roll it into to good size, thin pizza crusts, top with our favorite toppings, and grill it brick-oven style on our Williams-Sonoma Grill-Top Pizza Stone (now the Pizza-Que Pizza Stone). It also works great simply rolled out on a cookie sheet, topped half with cheese and half with cheese and pepperoni (can you tell I've got kids?), and baked until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.

Easy Focaccia Bread
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar
1 T active dry yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 T vegetable oil
1 c water
2 T olive oil
1 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 c mozzarella

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

To prepare this recipe in a bread machine simply add the ingredients in the order you normally would for a bread machine recipe (liquids first, then dry ingredients, and then yeast). Then follow the rest of the directions for baking.

Speaking of "dough" I love this quote by J. Paul Getty:

If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars.

Hmmm...guess I don't have a billion dollars...yet. --Emily

i like bugs!

As a mother I know practically all the songs to the latest kid shows. But one of my personal favorites is the one on 'Yo Gabba Gabba' which goes something like "I like bugs, I like bugs, I like bugs, I like bugs!" (I'm sure the person who wrote that one probably had plenty of late nights.) But I actually do have a point, and that is I like bugs! The "good" bugs that is...the kind you find in yogurt and other probiotic dairy products like Kefir.

Lifeway is an ingenious company that came up with several Kefir products and a new one called Probugs that's great for kids. Kefir has 10 active "good" bugs whereas yogurt has maybe 2 or 3. That's good for us because it helps our bodies fight disease, strengthen our immune system, and keep our digestive systems healthy.

Lifeway was nice enough to let us review their Probugs kefir, and I have to say I'm impressed. I'll tell you straight up I don't like yogurt; it makes me gag so I was nervous to try it. My first impression? Not bad, definitely something I could get used to especially when I know I am doing something good for myself. Now, my kids' take on it--YUM! That's saying a lot, coming from the world's 4 pickiest eaters!

The packaging is fun and makes any kid want to dive right in. It also comes in 3 fun flavors: Orange Creamy Crawler, Gooberry Pie, and Sublime Slime Lime (say that 5 times fast). My kids thought I was feeding them a milkshake and wanted to eat it for every meal and snack...no problem with that! So I will now be re-stocking the fridge with more Probugs. Lucky for me they are located at most grocery stores and health food stores. Hope the kids won't mind sharing with me, maybe I'll grow up and buy the the adult version, Kefir. --LeShan

Unclutterer helps you get and stay organized

I am one of those people who has a hard time functioning if the bed isn't made and my desk is in disarray. Though I used to be much more organized before a husband and four children entered the picture, I still do my best to keep cupboards and closets uncluttered. Many days I fail (I'm the only one interested in a clutter-free home around here) but I do achieve small successes here and there, and that gives me hope. Of course much of the clutter is due to those aforementioned children and they do grow up all to quickly, so I'm doing my best to ignore the buckets of Barbie clothes, orphaned shoes, and tower of powerful mini magnets on top of the fridge (um, that's actually my husband's tower) and enjoy the chaos while I still can.

Where did all that come from and where am I going with such a lengthy intro? For those who thrive on organization or aspire to thriving on organization, Unclutterer is for you. Unclutterer is "not just for the helplessly disorganized who would lose their head if it wasn’t attached to them, and pack rats looking to put their stashes on a diet, but also for obsessive compulsive neat freaks looking to squeeze even more order into their lives." The site offers tips, strategies, product reviews, and reader questions. It also offers a heated debate once in a while. (Check out the comments on Semi-homemade cooking for busy people, a post highlighting Sandra Lee's cookbook.) I love the Unitasker Wednesday posts, which "humorously poke fun at the single-use items that manage to find their way into our homes." My favorites? Food molds and the Spinmallow.

You'll find lots of tips on organization from magazines like Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living, but I'm pretty sure they're not nearly as much fun to read and down-to-earth as Unclutterer. --Emily

the color of spring

Don't you just love color? Color can invoke a mood or a memory. Sometimes you can even tell whether a person is happy, sad, shy, or outgoing, just by the colors they choose. Yep, color is a powerful thing.

Blue Iris happens to be THE color for 2008 according to Pantone, which is a complete contrast to 2007's Chili Pepper Red. If you're wondering what other colors are going to be big for 2008, check out Fashion Trendsetter or, COLOURlovers blog will show you the latest trends. Although these are the hottest colors for Spring, I like what the author of COULORlovers says about following your intuition;

The Color Of You
Blue and green are excellent colors, and they pair well with one another. I’m sure the professionals that study color trends know more than I do about the direction color is heading. As an artist, however, there is a deep-seeded belief that wants to rebel against mainstream ideas and icons. Colors that easily become accepted metaphors without the aid of outside visual stimulus are useful in society. Breaking down familiar metaphors to establish new forms, and to continue to challenge the boundaries of culture is also necessary to avoid becoming stagnant.
No matter the color of the year, follow honest, intuitive ideas. Trends come and go. Passionate art is potentially infinite.

My intuition says I'm thrilled to see that blue is big this season! It's calming and alive. That could be a motto to live by for 2008.--LeShan

do you aspire to a 4-hour work week?

I have never thought of a 4-hour work week as a goal of mine but after reading the first chapter of Timothy Ferriss The 4-Hour Work Week I'm thinking of setting a belated New Year's Resolution. As a business owner is a 4-hour work week even possible? From what I've read, it is. The first chapter of his book has me so intrigued the book is awaiting purchase in my Amazon.com shopping cart. Apparently my husband's heard about this book as well and is just as anxious to read what insight Ferriss shares beyond the first few pages.

You could read an endless, and I mean endless, list of money management and business management books but as a mom and business owner do you really have the time? The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch gives you the first chapter of The 4-Hour Work Week so you can have a taste of what Ferriss has to offer before investing any more time reading it. (Most of us don't yet have a 4-hour work week so time is precious!)

Many of us own our business because we love what we're doing but that doesn't mean we don't want to spend more time with our family, and having a little extra money doesn't hurt either. If you've read a great money or business management book please share it with us. Amazon.com reviews are helpful but hearing what other moms and women business owners like is even better! --Emily

eat like the french do.

We've heard that we should eat more like the French, and I totally agree! I love french fries, and french onion soup loaded with cheese and bread--yum! Here's another recipe that will get you saying "oui, oui!"

French Dip Sandwiches

3 lbs Boneless Roast Beef

2 cans of French onion soup

1 can of beer (any kind will do)

6-8 French buns or bread of choice

Empty all ingredients into large crockpot, cook on High for 4-5 hours. Remove the roast and shred, replace the roast back into the crock pot and continue to cook for 1-2 hours longer. Toast your bread of choice with butter in the oven before adding shredded beef on top. Pour the leftover juice into bowls for dipping.

Optional: I like to add sliced swiss cheese on top.

"Rien de sert de courrir, il faut partir a point"

It is not worth running, one should leave at the right moment.

Now if only I could live by those words, I wouldn't always be in such a rush--LeShan

NEW! "that's hot! thursday"

Thursday is usually our thankful thursday when we talk about the things in life for which we're most thankful. As much as we have enjoyed counting our blessing we felt a little change was in order to help spice up our daily posts. So say hello to our new that's hot! thursday!

From now on we're dedicating Thursdays to reviewing the latest and greatest products for moms, dads, and little ones. We'll feature products you can't live without (and probably a few you actually could) and hopefully offer some fun giveaways and special discounts just for our freshly baked readers! You're going to love our honest, unbiased, tell-it-like-it-is, "fresh" reviews so don't miss a single that's hot! thursday if you want to know which products are hot and not so hot (yep, we'll have a few of those as well). --Emily

* If you've got a product you'd like us to review or suggestions for products you'd like to see on that's hot! thursday, just shoot us an email at fbreviews@georgietees.com.

a little of Zen Habits goes a long way

Though I may not always implement all the great things I read about simplifying, dejunking, eating healthy, and organizing I still like reading about them. If anything reading about these things gives me goals to which I can continually aspire. Zen Habits is a perfect fit for wonderful web wednesday, for it is a site that is all about excellence through implementing good habits.

Leo Babauta, the site's author, is married with six kids, lives on Guam, and is "a writer and a runner and a vegetarian." Just the married with six kids part is enough to grab my attention, but even more impressive are his writings on everything from achieving goals to being organized to eliminating debt to eating healthy to simplifying. (I probably could've used some help simplifying that last sentence!) I love the quote from Aristotle on his About page: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."

How about getting into the habit of being a great friend? I love "A User's Guide to Fabulous Friendships," a guest post from Kelly Rigby of She-Power. Here's just a taste of what's inside this great post: "Friendship is like a marriage. It cannot be created once. It must be created over and over again. ... We must nurture our friendships so they may flourish with us through our changing lives. ..." With how busy our lives are these days it might be a good time to reconsider what are truly our highest priorities.

"Make Today Your Personal Miracle" from Zen Habits' author is a must read for everyone, and probably a must read on a daily basis. "Today is a gift, for each of us. What are you going to do with it? How will you make the most of this life?" Good question. Now what's your answer? --Emily

think spring

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush."
--Doug Larson

With Spring just around the corner well, maybe not so much for those of you on the wrong side of the equator...either way it's got us thinking florals and easy breezy dresses. Here's some tips to get you bloomin' with fashion, just click on the highlighted word for a sample:

• Go on a safari- The button down shirt dress paired with peep toe sandals, a bigger heel preferably, and thick bangles. You can also go with a tribal print top and khakis, grrrreat!
• Are you vested?- Hope you've hung on to those rockin' vests from the 90's, because they're back baby. The best vest is one that is masculine but form fitting.
• Thin is in- Okay it was never really out, but I'm talking about long and lean necklaces, and earrings. Warning: Although these long necklaces look fabulous, they don't mix well with young children, I've tried.
• Strap yourself in- T-strap sandals or strappy sandals are big this Spring. It's a great look because it goes well with anything from flirty dresses to sporty shorts. If you are more the bargain shopper and don't feel like shelling out a few hundred on some high-end designer, check out Urban Outfitter's, Old Navy, or Target. --LeShan

WomenEntrepreneur.com, a must-bookmark site

Because I'm still on the upward climb of a very steep learning curve I am always on the lookout for resources that make the seemingly never-ending climb a little easier. WomenEntrepreneur.com, a sister site of Entrepreneur.com, is one of those "where have you been all my small business' life" sort of sites.

The article-rich site offers great advice on everything from PR to legal issues to HR to growing your business. You've got news, message boards, success stories (this week it's about the mompreneurs behind Taggies) and even a weekly inspirational comic. (I'm all about the humor...it IS in the georgie tees' tagline!) Many of the articles come from other Entrepreneur.com-related blogs such as WeekendEntrepreneur and Tuned Into Business. I love having a clearinghouse of information so I can pick and choose what I'd like to read and won't miss anything. You can even get Daily Inspiration via RSS!

I think as business owners we need to learn as much as we can but sometimes the amount of information out there can be overwhelming. WomenEntrepreneur.com does a fantastic job of compiling some of the most pertinent info out there into one easily navigated site, which means you can save time searching the web. Anything that gives me more time to accomplish the other 99 things on my to-do list is worth bookmarking! --Emily