Check out the Prepara website for cool new products like the Herb Savor.
Check out The Hostess With The Mostess website for tons of ideas on throwing a truly inspirational, fun and fabulous party.
Check out the Chex Mix website for new recipes that put a twist on the traditional party snack mix. I especially like their recipe for Buffalo Chex Mix (below), but they have other recipes like Pumpkin Pie Crunch or Lemon Rosemary Chex Mix here. 
Visit the Swell Life website for fun ideas and crafty inspirations. I especially love her post detailing her 24 crafts created in 24 hours. One of the projects she created was this really cute and relatively inexpensive Halloween wreath using black boas and glass and plastic ornaments. 
Check out designer Eddie Ross' website for great step-by-step instructions on making your own cute and festive Halloween decorations like centerpieces, wreaths and napkin rings. He provides detailed instructions and pictures for these spooky and cute creations: http://www.eddieross.com/eddie_ross/2009/10/fiendish-feather-wreath.html
The Incredible Edible Crafts website gives you step-by-step instructions to create cute candy bouquets including this Halloween bouquet.
My husband and I are huge fans of P.F. Changs (and Pei Wei's) Mongolian Beef. This dish, with its tender beef, mushrooms and green onions is so delicious. I finally found a recipe that is pretty darn close to the original. I've made it several times and have been really pleased with the results. 
A great Halloween-inspired idea for dressing up a traditional layered dip is to use sour cream and a plastic spider and voila you've got a spiderweb dip. This recipe comes from the Octoberlicious website - a site dedicated to providing Halloween tips and recipes.
Dress up your Halloween party buffet table with this creative - and yummy sounding - pumpkin-shaped Caramalized Garlic Cheese Spread from the Land O' Lakes website.
Spice up your next Halloween party with one of these creative cocktails from Fine Living's website. There are 10 cocktails featured, each with a list of ingredients along with the haunted history behind where each cocktail was conceived. The hardest part about these drinks is deciding which one to serve at your next party.
I love products that do double duty. I have such limited space in my purse that when I find compact and multi-functional beauty products like this, I just can't resist. This is Michael Kors new lip scent duo, available at Sephora. On one end is a rollerball with tuberose perfume; the other end is a neutral lip gloss.
It seems like the months are just passing me by; I can't believe Halloween is little more than a month away. Since it is my favorite holiday, I thought I'd start posting Halloween-inspired fun finds. This one comes courtesy of the All You website. They've compiled a list of fun tunes to play at your next Halloween bash. To see the full list of songs including Thriller, The Monster Mash and more, click here
Fall is around the corner and with that the cooler weather will start rolling in soon. You can still enjoy a beautiful flower and herb garden - indoors, with these cute soda can and rain boot gardens. The rain boot comes with soil and seeds and is available in four colors and varieties: mint, strawberry, basil or camomile.
At Bangerang Bake Shop you'll find the cutest cupcakes perfectly packaged for giving or receiving. Each little heavenly cake is baked inside a glass jar in fun flavors like "the nut job", "cookoo for coconut" and "banana butterscotch bad boys."
This recipe is called Man Crack Dip because guys can't get enough of it. The next time you're having the gang over to watch Sunday night football, whip up a batch of this irresistable dip. It's guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. 
This recipe comes courtesy of Southern Living magazine which adapted the recipe from Baker's Chocolate. I made the recipe this weekend and my husband loved them.
I can't tell you the number of times I've had a nail file lodged somewhere deep in the bottom of my purse; tattered and torn from brushing against the millions of other objects in my bag. Well, Tweezerman has introduced this cool new item called the Zip File. The emory board is cleverly concealed in a slide out case. 
These bookshelves are super cool. Install the metal bracket on the wall and the books look like they're floating.
Woman's Day Magazine had a great article on how to make your own enameled bottles. I've seen cute and colorful bottles like these at craft and home decor stores, but unless you find them on sale or clearance, they're usually more expensive than they're worth.
Hands Down, this is the best cole slaw recipe I've tried. Paula Deen is one of my favorite chefs on the food network and she's done it again with this dish. I'm not a fan of cole slaw recipes drowning in mayo....and this one is a definitely not your ordinary cole slaw. The recipe calls for asian-inspired ingredients like green onions and toasted almonds. The vinagrette, which is easy to whip up and includes tasty ingredients (i.e. a packet of ramen noodle soup mix) provides so much flavor to this salad....
Find this adorable travel set at http://www.hautehound.com/
Check out wishingfish.com for fun products like these miniature lamp shades. They'll add uniqueness to any table setting. Each set of Gorgeous Helen lamp shades comes in 3 different designs. All you need to do is take them out of the package, roll them up, drop a tealight into a wine glass and add the lampshade. That's it! Instantly the white pattern is transformed to a darker shade (as if it were a shadow) and wine glasses are turned into sweet miniature lamps. Have an enchanted evening!
I saw these today while looking for a birthday card at my local Hallmark store. They're called Switch Flops...the first flip flop that has interchangeable straps. I love the selection of straps...they have a wide variety of colors, materials and styles so you can match your shoes to any outfit. Very cute and perfect for the summery weather ahead.
How cute are these? See Jane Work is a fun website that carries products to help manage your time more efficiently and stay organized. Brighten your desk and your day with the bold colors and whimsical designs of the Cyber Bug Mouse and Mouse Pad Set.
They’ll bring a welcome punch of color. Each set includes a colorful pad and mouse with a USB plug and PS2 adapter.
Find them here: http://www.seejanework.com/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=803
Sur La Table sells these super-cute rolling pins. I've seen them used by the professional chefs and cooks on the Food Network, but only in the wood-grain color. Sur La Table offers them in cute colors like purple, green and red.
The Shemergency Kit
One bag....endless possibilities...that's the premise of these miche bags (pronounced mee-chee). You can purchase the basic bag in black or brown and then change the look of the purse by swapping out the exterior covering. The shells come in different colors, fabrics and designs and adhere to the purse with magnets.
While these cupcakes look good enough to eat, they're actually washcloths. This fun find is definitely a cute take on cleaning. The set includes one Strawberry and one Cherry "cupcake." The Strawberry features a fluffy vanilla washcloth curled up to look like a delicious cupcake, with a fresh looking strawberry magnet on top. The Cherry features a chocolate washcloth with a pair of plastic cherry magnets on top. Each "cupcake" is wrapped around with designer-print bakery paper.
I love this article I came across in the latest issue of First magazine. I often have several boxes of coffee filters stashed away in my pantry...and now, thanks to this article, I can use them for much more than just coffee. Some of the many uses include:1. Use filters to portion out and serve munchies.
2. Layer between china dishes to prevent chips or cracks.
3. A flattened coffee filter can be placed over a dish to prevent food splatters in the microwave.
4. Prevent streaks on windows or glass by using coffee filters - they work just as well - or better than paper towel.
5. Use instead of cheese cloth to drain ricotta or yogurt.
6. Place filters at the bottom of potted plants to keep dirt inside the pot.
7. If pieces of cork make their way into your wine bottle, simply strain the wine through a filter to remove the stray bits.
8. Use coffee filters to prevent paint drips. Simply poke the paint brush through several filters and the paper will catch any accidental drips.
I absolutely love this Party Chiller. What a great way to display veggies and dip, cheese and crackers or sweet treats. A local boutique in town was selling it for around $110, but after scouring the internet, I found an online store selling it for $80.
I found these delicious looking cupcakes on Delish.com. They're called Pretty in Pink Strawberry Cupcakes. The recipe calls for fresh strawberries in the batter and as a garnish on top. I love the way the cut strawberries look like little hearts on top of the cupcakes. These would make for a sweet Valentines gift for my hubby, friends and coworkers. The link to the recipe is here: ttp://www.delish.com/recipefinder/strawberry-cupcakes
With Valentines right around the corner, I started surfing around Martha Stewart's website for gift ideas. Both of the pics above are cute, easy ways to dress up a box of chocolates or other Valentine-inspired candy. The decorative paper on the left is created using organic items like fruits or flowers, laying them on a copier and reproducing the images in black and white. The outcome looks really simple and elegant. For the little bags on the right, you can use the templates on Martha's website to construct them.
