My IDEA Online

How did we cure ourselves of many aches pains and illnesses in the past? Most of the remedies worked very well, were cheap and could usually be found in most homes.Did you know that? Drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately, without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional “pain relievers.”Did you know that? Colgate toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They”ll clear up your stuffed nose.Aching muscles from a dose of the flu? Mix 1 Tablespoon of horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil, for instant relief for aching muscles.Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly, even though the product was never been advertised for this use.Honey remedy for skin blemishes. Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.Listerine therapy for toenail fungus. Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.Easy eyeglass protection. To prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.Coca-Cola cure for rust. Forget those expensive rust removers. Just saturate an abrasive sponge with Coca Cola and scrub the rust stain. The phosphoric acid in the coke is what gets the job done.Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer. If menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can”t find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.Smart splinter remover, just pour a drop of Elmer”s Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.Hunt”s tomato paste boil cure, cover the boil with Hunt”s tomato paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.Balm for broken blisters. To disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine a powerful antiseptic.Heinz vinegar to heal bruises. Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.Kills fleas instantly. Dawn dish washing liquid does the trick. Add a few drops to your dog”s bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin irritations. Goodbye to fleas.Rainy day cure for dog odour, Next time…

If you have decided to take the leap into home ownership or you are interested in refinancing your current mortgage, one of the first things you will need to do is track down a mortgage.I honestly can’t tell you just how many mortgage companies there are in the United States, but I can tell you this, there are a lot of them.Mortgage companies also come in a few different forms. You might recognize one as your local bank, but there are also wholesale lenders who use not only there own loan officers to originate mortgages, they will also use mortgage brokers. Than you have your retail lenders, who use only their own employed loan officers.Because there are so many mortgage companies out there, the industry has become highly competitive.So before you commit to the first lender you approach and start filling out applications, look again, and consider shopping around. Like I said, the mortgage industry is highly competitive, so let them fight over you.You don’t have to go crazy when shopping for a lender. No more than five inquiries should be your limit. Talk with them, find out what programs they have to offer, and at what rate. Ask about closing costs. Remember, closing costs should not exceed 5% of the total amount of the loan at the very most. (This does not include the down payment).By shopping around, you will be able to get a feel for what is out there, and whatever lender offers you the best deal to fit your needs and your budget, should be your lender of choice.The down fall to speaking with one lender is, you are limiting yourself too just their products and services, as well as their rates. How do you know you can’t get a better deal somewhere else? Most likely you can.Shop around for a mortgage the way you would shop around for a car. Look at a few of them at different dealerships, test drive them, discuss pricing with the sales person, than once you and the selling party have come to an agreement, make the purchase.Buying or refinancing a home is not something you want to rush into. So take your time and educate yourself. Talk to people within the industry, shop around, than make an educated decision based on what best fits your needs.

The core of business management is using your time in areas that are more productive. Imagine precious hours of your time are wasted on doing loads manual work that eats your energy. Do you think that your time should be utilized in implementing more unique ideas, product research and product marketing or wasting hours on doing more and more paper work. Hiring a dedicated professional cannot only save your time but also cut your day today business expenses, which means better profitability.Today there is cutthroat competition in every business. I am not pointing here the scenario about very large organizations who have every thing setup within there network, but problems faced by upcoming business owners, who have less staff strength but have vision and ability to create a large business empire. The success of business is vastly depends upon following factors: 1. How strong is your technology? 2. What is your product strength? 3. How you promote your product and services? 4. What is your after sales support? Above are the basic and most important thing a business owner is more concerned. If he/ she involved in more manual operations, he looses its core business. By outsourcing or hiring a dedicated professional, he can spend more time on other areas where he can get more output. Time is the money and only quality time can give you quality output. So plan your things in different ways and stay ahead with all of your competitors.India has a time zone advantage over others doing business with west. By hiring a professional in India your working hours will be 24 hours a day and still you have enough time to sleep, enjoy and plan your things. There are many agencies who believe in providing best of talented people who will work dedicatedly and they control the quality, communication and other channels with client. They also provide a nice environment for them to perform well. Most of the companies or individuals in west have experienced difficulties by hiring a freelancer alone to do the job. Some times, they perform well but some time they become untraceable. Here even if you are hiring a freelancer through an agency you have a security and commitment as there are many freelancer and programmer are working with them. They coordinate with each other and solve the client’s problems in no time. There are many other reasons why offshore outsourcing will work for you, above are the basic things, which can be taken into consideration while planning your project.

Kids often start using the Internet at about the same age they go to primary school, or perhaps a bit later. If your son or daughter is new to the Web it means he or she is relatively young — and you, a parent, are an indisputable authority. Your kid tries to imitate you, bombards you with questions, listens to your advice (and sometimes even follows them), asks you for help, appreciates your tutoring him. It’s the best time to tutor your child how to avoid various online dangers.Kids and young teens can freely access the Internet from computers at school, at their friends’ homes and in public places such as libraries and even from cell phones and video game consoles. Internet is everywhere, that is why kids and teenagers (and their parents, too) should be well aware of its perils and know how to avoid them.Searching and Surfing Kids and young teens are usually content with resources aimed at kids and teens and rarely look for more — in case you don’t make one mistake. Introducing these search engines to kids for the first time,don’t contrast special search engines for kids and those which you use. Don’t say that they are “clean” — unlike those used by grown-ups. Don’t just declare that dibdabdoo or Yahooligans are “cleaner” than Yahoo or Google.You’d better say that their search results on dibdabdoo will be more interesting. People who know what kids like and what they are looking for built these engines SPECIALLY for them -isn’t it nice? You certainly will have to mention explicit sexual content, porn sites, gambling sites and other junk one can meet while surfing the Web. But please show no fear of it — just disgust. And don’t overwhelm your kids with plenty of negative info all at once.There are plenty of search engines and resources for kids. Here is just several links to look for them:href=”http://www.ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.htmlhref=”http://www.kidinfo.com/Search_Engines.html” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.kidinfo.com/Search_Engines.htmlhref=”http://www.searchability.com/children.htm” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.searchability.com/children.htmLook for more links. A simple search will bring you plenty of information.Chats and StrangersEven before your kid reaches his teens, he or she will be actively mixing with other kids in chat rooms and probably will start a blog as well. It is YOU who must warn your son or daughter about the risk of posting private information for everybody (both good and bad people) to read.What kids and teens say in chat rooms, whom they communicate with and what they post on web logs and other public Internet places can get them into much more serious trouble than just viewing some inappropriate websites.These figures are taken from the telephone survey made by the Pew Internet and American Life Project: 81% of parents of online teens say that teens aren’t careful enough when giving out information about themselves online and 79% of online teens agree with this.Unfortunately, kids and teenagers carelessly post online their first and last names, postal addresses, phone numbers, pictures and give lots of personal information about themselves. It enables an online predator easily identify…

Q. My spouse and I cannot agree on how to raise our kids. I think my spouse is too strict and my spouse thinks I am too lenient. Meanwhile, the kids are getting away with everything. What can we do?A. This is an excellent and all-too-common question. So, in typical therapist fashion, I’m going to begin my answer with a question.Where in the world did we get the idea that two parents have to agree on every aspect of parenting? Somehow, we are supposed to believe that two separate individuals, who grew up with different models of how to parent (if they had models at all), different life experiences and probably different temperaments, are now going to come together and agree on every facet of the complicated task of parenting.Sorry, I just don’t buy it.Not only is this an unworkable notion in the real world, it can be a damaging one as well. The optimal goal, of course, would be for these two different people to combine their respective parenting styles into a well-functioning and supportive parenting team. This is difficult, although it can and does happen. But when people believe the lie about always having to agree, a power struggle can be set up between the two adults.We all like to be right and we tend to fight for our positions. In too many situations, instead of coming together as a team, parents grow farther and farther apart, rigidly adhering to their own styles.A person with a more strict style has something to learn from the person with a more lenient style, and vice versa. But instead of learning from each other, the strict one becomes more strict and the lenient one becomes more lenient. This creates, at best, criticism and resentment and a gap big enough for a child to drive a truck through. The children suffer, and the parents cancel each other out.It also sets up what I call the “parent trap.” Picture the face of a clock. At 12 o’clock is the word “angry,” at four the word “sympathy” and at eight the phrase “taken advantage of.”The trap begins when a child misbehaves, does something wrong or gets in trouble. The parent starts at the top of the clock, becomes “angry” and says something like “OK, that does it, you are grounded for life!” or some equally realistic statement.After a while, the parent moves on down the clock to “sympathy,” and lets the child off the hook.Sure enough, the child takes advantage, and repeats the same action or something equally frustrating. This moves the parent over to feeling “taken advantage of.” The parent doesn’t feel this way for too long before thinking or saying, “How could you do this after all I’ve done for you!?!” The parent quickly returns to the top of the clock and “anger.”Do you see the vicious circle this sets up? In the middle is the child, running the show.Now let’s complicate this process even more, with our two different parenting styles.…

Incorporating your business today is much easier than it was 10 or even 20 years ago. Here’s three steps; securing your corporate name, filing the necessary documentation and paying the necessary filing fees. You can complete these steps yourself, use an incorporation service provider or have an attorney complete them for you.When incorporating, you must first ensure that your corporate name is available in the state in which you want to incorporate. Your corporate name must not be deceptively similar to a name that is already in use in that state. A name check must be performed in the state of incorporation.You must also prepare and file all the necessary documentation. the Articles of Incorporation, with the appropriate state agency in the state of incorporation.Additionally, you must pay all state filing fees, initial franchise taxes and any other initial fees. Each state charges a filing fee to form your corporation in that state. These state filing fees vary greatly by state. They range from under $100 to over $400.Do It Yourself. Use An Incorporation Service Provider Or Use An Attorney. If you decide to incorporate on your own, you need to be well versed in the laws of the state of incorporation. You will need to prepare and file your own documentation and undertake all communications with the necessary state agencies.If you use an incorporation service company, you submit the necessary information, and the company checks your name, prepares and files your documents and pays the initial state filing fees on your behalf.Incorporation service companies charge a nominal service fee on top of the state filing fees, and you can submit all the necessary information to them over the Internet. Attorneys will also undertake all of the necessary steps for you. If you use an attorney to incorporate, you can expect to pay their hourly fee on top of the state filing fees.How long this will take depends on the time the state requires to approve and return your completed Articles of Incorporation varies by state. On average, it takes 4-6 weeks to become incorporated.Most states will allow you to expedite the filing process for an additional charge. Expediting filings typically take about 1 week. Those charges also vary by state.After your corporation is formed, an organizational meeting of directors must be held. At this meeting bylaws are adopted, stock is issued and the incorporation process is completed. Minutes of the organizational meeting should be kept in a corporate record book.Incorporation is an important step in the life of a business, but unfortunately the true value of incorporating a business is often not seen until the business faces a negative situation such as a law suit or bankruptcy. A primary advantage of incorporation is the limited liability the corporate entity affords its shareholders “The Owners”.Typically, shareholders are not liable for the debts and obligations of the corporation. Creditors will not come knocking at the door of a shareholder to pay debts of the corporation. In a partnership or sole proprietorship…

If you’re looking for the strength, stability, sturdiness, and longevity of a metal gazebo, you have plenty of options to fit your needs. They come as 4-sided structures, all the way to 12-sided structures, as well as irregular structures like rectangles, ovals, and multi-sectioned shapes. They often boast many flourishes, such as swirling, plant-like shapes. Despite their not being made of wood, they have a very graceful feel to them capable of complimenting any outdoor setting.Most metal gazebos come in aluminum, or steel and wrought iron. Aluminum is the less expensive and more lightweight material. It will do just fine under most circumstances. But if you’re looking for a much more permanent structure, steel or wrought iron is your best bet. These metals are much heavier than aluminum and therefore stand up better to hard winds. Another consideration for some consumers is that steel and iron are not likely to be damaged by vandalism. So while steel and iron are more expensive than aluminum, you might save money in the long run, because they will last.Most metal gazebos don’t have a contiguous roof to keep off rain or snow. You can either leave your metal gazebo that way and appreciate it for its aesthetic value, or you can add a fitted canopy. These are often made out of a heavy canvass or polymers. This open design means metal gazebos are great for displaying plants that hang in pots from the roof or climb like vines up the sides. Adding plants to a metal gazebo will bring more shade and beauty to the area.The best part about any metal gazebo is its ability to withstand everything that a wood gazebo is prone to. Rot, termites, fading, warping, twisting, chipping, checking, discoloring – these elements are nothing to a metal gazebo.

Aside from fielding and asking questions, there are other ways of analyzing audience attention and feedback. Unfortunately most trainers are unaware of these methods or feel audience analysis is not really all that effective or important. Nothing could be further from the truth. Analysis is the main tool for what is known as the “functional approach” this dictates that you always seek to measure your progress toward an objective as well as the accomplishment itself. Without the ability to analyze feedback, trainers may have unrealistic or false impressions about the progress being made in the presentation, and thus will be uncertain or wrong in determining their success.Ask “friendly” questions by putting the “you” element into the question. This lets the audience know that you are on their side and genuinely are interested in their response. In order to emphasize this fact, some trainers develop the fine art of leaning forward slightly or cocking their head. As you allow the trainee to answer, limit the answer to the information wanted but give the trainee time to think and phrase the answer. Be objective in evaluation and give the trainee credit for intelligence. From your knowledge of the experience level of the audience, be sure that the trainee can answer the question, but always supply an “out” in case you’ve chosen the wrong person to avoid the possibility of embarrassment or ridicule.Copyright target=”_new” href=”http://www.aeschwartz.com/” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>AE Schwartz & Associates All rights reserved. For additional presentation materials and resources: target=”_new” href=”http://www.readysetpresent.com/” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>ReadySetPresent and for a Free listing as a Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, Vendor/Organization: target=”_new” href=”http://www.trainingconsortium.com/” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>TrainingConsortiumCEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.

If you have met the person or the couple several times you must be familiar with how they express themselves. Therefore, one of the best anniversary gift ideas would be to portray that pose through a life-size pencil sketch and frame it in bamboo or white plywoodAnniversary gift ideas should have sentimental values. An enlarged photograph or a life-size poster could be made of the pet, their first car, or any favourite item the couple may share.There are also “traditional” anniversary gifts. Each anniversary year has a specific theme. For example, the traditional gift for the first anniversary is paper, the second year is cotton, and the third is leather and so on. Any good address book will list the traditional anniversary gift ideas in the back of the book.You may have several anniversary gift ideas but try this one of these: Fill a glass sphere with fluid such as water and seal it. Now get it to work on electronic principle. Record some tunes that the couple hum (their voices). Then make a toy putting the two together and place the sphere on sand. Whenever the position of the fluid in the sphere will change a humming tune will be heard. The couple will surely enjoy your creative idea and such a personalized gift. You could also make ring tones from their humming tunes and download them in the mobile phones of the couple. Indeed both ideas are innovative and personal.In closing, anniversary gifts should be a gift that comes from the heart. Whether it is homemade or store bought. The gift should reflect the personality of the couple as much as possible.For more information, visit: target=”_new” href=”http://www.anniversarygiftsinfocenter.com/” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>http://www.AnniversaryGiftsInfoCenter.com

You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth.In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we”ll focus on the role that training to failure has to play in intensifying the training effect.Anything less than maximum effort will reduce the effectiveness of your muscle building workout. The only way to force an optimal reaction in any muscle is to train it to failure – in other words, no matter how much effort you put in you are simply incapable of completing one more rep of a given exercise.Too many people seem to finish a set when they reach a certain number of reps, but the body will only show significant change if you ask it to do something extra. Only by passing through the break-over point of momentary muscle failure will you stimulate the muscle to grow.Anyone starting out on their bodybuilding career should not attempt this method of training as it could lead to serious injury. Spend several months perfecting exercise form and conditioning the body to lift heavier weights before gradually introducing training to failure.

Rumors have it that last Thursday, July the 19th, the production of Machiavelli Hangman went under investigation by the government because of some unclaimed possession of classified information on the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. After the Warren commission put to rest anymore investigations for that year, there were a lot of conspiracy theories that arose in regards to the case. Some believed that Lee Harvey Oswald was not actually the person to fire the fatal gunshots. Others stand firmly behind their opinion that Oswald did not kill officer Tippit. And still others thought that JFK was never killed despite a crowd of thousands of witnesses. After numerous pieces of information on the mysterious production were reportedly sold off to some internet companies, the veil started to come off and shed some light on the high secrecy surrounding the independently financed motion picture. “The production team tried hard to keep the plot under wraps because it was going to give away, supposedly a big secret to the American public. And this was big, it would completely start a revolt within the public” explains an unnamed member of the cast who was fired after his copy of the script was found lying around in the hallway. “There was such a big deal that was made about keeping this secret that the production team had hired bodyguards to make sure that the script wouldn”t leave the meeting room. It was absolutely insane but when I read the material, I immediately understood that this would become a potentially huge scandal in the world of American politics.” It is believed that a government official was tipped off and they confiscated all copies of the script and placed a sudden halt on the production until further notice. Since last Tuesday, the production team has been under tight scrutiny. One of the ex-producers on the project who is from Russian descent is believed to be the source of the manuscript. It is believed that last month, he suddenly was flown to Russia and flown back after only two days. What is more interesting is that he carried with him four film reels that were not checked by the customs who are generally very strict about everything that goes through the check-lines. Machiavelli Hangman was believed to have such fiery material that it would blow Michael Moore”s Farenheit/911 out of the water. “The script wasn”t in standard Hollywood format, it was obvious that this wasn”t from an professional writer. It had official documents and records dating back to 1963 stapled to the pages of the script.” My guess is that this film would never get released unless the public rallies to see it an the Machiavelli Hangman (http://www.hangmanmovie.com) producers find a way to outsmart the government.

Many of us do not consider the underlying belief system about money to be of any importance. You think it does not matter, because what matters is what you do now. Right, at one level, but not complete. All ideas that we have learned about money in the past are colouring our actions today. These are ideas that you are unconsciously following, because you are not aware of them. It might be: “money is bad”, “there is never enough money”, “money does not grow on trees”, etc. The list is long and painful to read, when you realize that this is actually a part of you. I was thinking: how come these beliefs are so strong? Why am I blocking myself from financial freedom? I have been working on myself for 6 years now, and the beliefs are still there! So I went looking for answers in self help books, personal development books, New Age books and financial freedom articles etc. I have also done Psychokineseology, past life sessions and been talking to a lot of people. The answer that I come up with so far is: the underlying beliefs are coming in as all other conditioning, from our early years. Some people suggest that also past life experiences can have an influence. Our childhood conditioning comes mainly from our parents and then the rest of our family, and also from the environment around us. If the idea in the place you grew up is that money is scarce, you can be sure that this idea sneaked into your mind somewhere along the line and it is probably stuck there without you knowing it. You are just wondering why there never seems to be enough money around. So if you now can grasp the idea of negative thinking patterns about money, I will tell you to move on. If it is difficult for you to accept this idea and you are now thinking that this does not count for you, because you have learned positive thinking, then stop. Look at the reality and do a little check up: is my positive thinking really working? I am asking you to do this because my experience is that positive thinking and a YES! Mentality not always is enough. The negative thought patterns I am talking about are deep, you can call them “root thought” or “sponsoring thought”, it is thoughts that are lying underneath and behind your conscious thoughts that you are thinking on an everyday basis. They are very strong and strong enough to sabotage your new way of thinking that might be very positive and good. I point this out very strongly, because it is important that you are willing to look at your own thoughts and to work on them to change them into healthy sponsoring thoughts that are healthy for you and will bring you abundance and wealth instead of struggle and suffering. To change these thoughts you have to be persistent, you will need a burning desire…

A clock is simply a device that measures time. Typical clocks have faces and hands. The long hand measures time in minutes while the short hand in hours. Clocks vary in forms, sizes and shapes but all perform the same task-to tell time. Almost all activities depend on this device, making life easier and more organized.History of Clocks.Way back during the old times, people rely on sun and water to measure time. Time readings were not accurate then, not until the discovery of mechanical and electrical clocks. A mechanical clock is composed of a set of gears, a spring and a weight that is responsible for the clock’s movement, while an electrical clock uses electricity or battery as a power source. Later on, modern technology introduced atomic and digital clocks and still continues to study for ways to improve it.Varieties of Clocks.There are many different kinds of clocks. A clock that displays the current time in different parts of the world is called a world clock. A world clock is divided into zones. Each zone represents a group of countries sharing the same time.The most common clocks are those we see hanging on walls. They can be seen on houses, hotels, banks, churches, hospitals and offices. They are almost everywhere. These clocks are called wall clocks.Special clock parts are added to give extra feature to an alarm clock. A built-in alarm system causes the clock to automatically buzz or ring if a chosen time is up. Most alarm clocks can be seen in our bedrooms.Grandfather clocks are big clocks-usually 6 feet tall. It has a pendulum that swings back and forth, each swing representing a second.

Admit it: While your friends are speed-dating – moving much too fast to be appropriately depressed over one unfulfilling one-night stand after another – you’re a hopeless romantic who believes in “happily ever after.” You’ve already figured out that finding your soul mate takes time and hard work. What you haven’t learned is how to create the right opportunities. “Expecting that, someday soon, a hunk-a-chunk-a-burnin’-love will fall from the sky into your martini glass is human nature, so congrats on being human,” says Southern California humorist Laurie Frankel, author of “It”s Not Me…It”s You!” If You’re the Shy Type… Initiating first contact may feel daunting if you’re already antsy at a crowded party or dissecting a total stranger’s profile at an online dating site. Fear not, say the experts. There are foolproof ways to break the ice, without resorting to tawdry pickup lines or tripping over your tongue. Instead of the overt “walk up and ask him/her out” approach, start with a series of short, low-key conversations, advises Dr. Rachna D. Jain, a practicing psychologist and professional relationship coach in Columbia, Maryland. “Talk about activities you are planning, which you might invite the other person to participate in,” she tells AdamandDrew.com. “For example: ‘Bob, did you know there is a great movie coming to the local theater? Do you ever see movies there? What do you think about the place..?’ Then, maybe the next day, follow up with: ‘Bob, I decided to go and see that movie – was planning to go on Sunday. Any chance you”d be free to go with me?’”Dr. Jain calls this “warming them up” – checking to see if potential dates are interested before taking the full-frontal risk of asking them out. Group events may be a more comfortable prospect if you want to delay intimacy. “Keep the focus on doing some activity together, rather than planning a date where there is nothing else to do but sit and talk,” Dr. Jain says. (Example: “Sarah, my softball team is playing a game on Friday night and then going out for pizza. Would you want to come and watch the game and then go out with us for something to eat afterward?”) Just for Women If you prefer the notion of a man making the first move, you can help him along by nonverbally inviting him to approach you. It takes three simple steps, according to Dr. Jain: – Show interest. – Give him the opening. – Accept the opportunity. “Show interest by looking at him and smiling, and then slowly looking away,” she says. “You can hold yourself slightly away and apart from the conversation you’re in, and give him an opening to come up to talk to you. You can break free of your group of friends to give him a chance to approach you. Good eye contact, smiling widely and facing him directly will show your interest.” Once he approaches, accept the opportunity to speak. Stay calm, open and interested – even if…

Monograms are a huge trend in weddings, to the point where they feature strongly in some, and in others, provide the actual theme. And what’s not to like about monograms? They’re elegant, understated, versatile, and a dramatic visual reminder of your new life together. Ideas for including monograms You’ll find them popping up in more and more places throughout the reception, and sometimes even prior to it. Here are some ways that brides include monograms:- embossed, stamped or printed bridal stationary- custom postage stamps (see www.funstamps.com)- stationary seals or stickers- painted aisle runners- printed bridal bouquet ribbons- bridal underwear or garter- bridal handkerchief- accent to bridal train, veil or gown- ring bearer’s pillow- stamped or printed out-of-town bags- bridesmaids’ totes- guestbook- engraved guestbook pen- tablecloths- chair covers- place cards and menus- cocktail napkins- coasters- centerpieces- engraved cake server set- cake embellishment- wood, wire, metal, chocolate or acrylic monogram cake topper- monogram wreaths of silk or real flowers- fabric wall or door banners- champagne flutes- bottled water labels- “tears of joy” packs- monogrammed wedding favors: cookies, ornaments, shot glasses, votive candles, chocolates, petit fours, notepads, favor boxes- dance floor “gobo” projectionsHow do I get a monogram?You make it! Many brides find they can “roll their own” using a readily-available software program such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. If you’re a graphic designer or have access to high-end tools, you’d probably prefer Adobe Illustrator, but Word or PowerPoint are also fine. If you’ve played around but don’t like the results, call on an arty friend.To design your monogram in Microsoft Word:Choose Insert -> Textbox. Type and format the letter the way you like it. Do this three times. Now click on all textboxes and choose Format->Textbox. Choose Color: No Fill (so you can overlap letters) and Line: No Line. Select all letters, right click, and choose Group to lock in the arrangement. You can now copy your image into Microsoft Paint and save in several formats, such as JPEG.To design your monogram in PowerPoint: You’ll want to use “Word Art” to create your letters. Click on the blue tilted “A” on the bottom toolbar for each letter. Format them to your liking. When you’re done designing, select all the letters, right-click, and choose Grouping->Group. Now you can click on your image and right-click for Save as Image. PowerPoint lets you save directly in formats like JPEG, PNG and TIFF. Some more design tips:The bride’s initial goes first in a monogram. When the bride takes the groom’s last name, the order is: bride’s first initial, shared last initial (usually larger groom’s first initial.If the bride keeps her own last name, one option is four-initial monogram (bride’s first, bride’s last, groom’s last, groom’s first). Or just join the couple’s first names with an ampersand (Jenny & Mike).Some etiquette tips:It’s somewhat frowned upon to use your couples monogram before you’re actually married. So, your reception’s clearly a green light, but you might want to skip using it on your invites. The ceremony itself is sort…