I remember the very first luxury item I wanted. It was one of the Movado Watches, and it had a black face with a single diamond on it. I remember it being featured in magazines like Vogue repeatedly, and I wanted it so badly I can remember it to this day!

I’ve been thinking about watches because I definitely have jewelry on my mind. My brother just got married, and both he and his wife have beautiful new rings. What my brother doesn’t have, however, is a decent watch. So I got to thinking about how cool of a wedding gift it would be if someone, myself or my parents, bought my brother a watch. It would definitely last a lot longer than the serving dishes we bought for a wedding present! The bonus would be that every time he checked the time, he would be reminded of the person who gave it to him, so it would be very special.

Here’s a picture of the watch I think would look fabulous on him, since he’s always been a casual sort of guy.

It’s from Movado’s 800 series, and it looks sleek and sporty all at the same time to me. I guess their design team is still going strong!

I’m surprised more people don’t do this for wedding gifts. I think the absolutely perfect thing would be to give both the bride and the groom a watch. It just wouldn’t get any more memorable than that!

When I lived in Mexico, I got to attend an international cultural festival that resulted in me getting to see a Japanese water ballet. So when I heard that the show La Reve, in Las Vegas, incorporates water into the performance, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Since I’m an Internet bargain hound, I managed to find a $20 discount on Le Reve Show Tickets!

One really cool thing about this show (besides the water) is the way the actual theater is designed. It is circular, and you never end up sitting more than twelve rows from the stage. That’s incredible! That’s like every seat being the best seat in the house, basically.

This is supposed to be one of the most sensual and artistic shows out there. I can’t wait to see it!

I’m definitely a bargain watcher. I’m one of those people who never buys a thing online until I’ve checked for a coupon code, and I check deal sites daily to see what is available. In the past week alone, I’ve bought my son a pair of shoes for 80 percent off and a box of 24 energy bars for a grand total of $2.65. So I can really appreciate what a site like ShowMeTheBacon.com has to offer. Hop on over there and check it out. You’ll see a list of coupon codes and deals that include goodies like free shipping. You can easily click on any category, too, so that you can find exactly what you’re looking for. This is a good one to bookmark!

I just got a disconcerting letter from my bank last week. It seems that the savings account I keep for overdraft protection has been used for that purpose too many times. The letter stated that my account would have to be closed, because only a limited amount of withdrawals can be made from a savings account every month, and I had went over my allotment since the overdraft protection fee had been used too many times.

Now of course, this isn’t as bad of a scenario as actually being charged the real overdraft fees, which are in the neighborhood of $35. Can you imagine how much that would have added up? So I’m going to have to be a lot more careful about going over the limit in my account.

I stumbled across a new way to do that today, and I really like this idea. I could get a Vision Premier Prepaid Visa Card and avoid this hassle and the $6 overdraft fees that I have been incurring from my savings account being tapped. Apparently, this card is different from a lot of the prepaid cards that are out there. You can use direct deposit with this card, and if you do, you don’t incur any fees. I noticed that there is also a rebate on the activation fee, so switching over to this card is totally free.

I pay all of my bills online already, so this looks like an interesting option. The card offers free online bill pay, unlike my bank, so it could save me even more money. And not dealing with the bank over accidental overdrafts sounds good to me.

Of course you can get cash from ATM’s and use it just like a credit or debit card.

This is an interesting product. I wonder if it signals the demise of traditional banking?

I think one of the best business strategies ever is to use pens for advertising. Business cards seem like a mere nicety when compared to the pens, because the business cards end up languishing in someone’s wallet until puzzled as to their origin, the recipient throws them away the next time they clean it out.

Pens, on the other hand, are a totally different story. If you get a pen from a business, then it is going to stay in your car, or in your purse or at home, where you may find your kid using it to do his homework. Of course, you may write a check with it at a local store and forget it. Will it get thrown away? No, of course not! It will get picked up by another person who may end up using it daily for the next year. And the entire time, that business name and contact information is being seen by the people using it.

So I’m much more interested in handing out pens than business cards. I know that they’ll be used, and people are always happy to receive them as well. If this sounds like a good strategy to you, check out the wide variety offered at BestBuyImprints.com. My favorite pens are their metal ones, which look very expensive, but aren’t. Everyone loves a classy looking metal pen. You absolutely can’t go wrong on this!

Some home improvements you don’t expect. Take getting a water heater. Who plans on that? If the need arises, look at California water heater installation, because if you read my last post, chances are you’ll decide that you don’t want to do it yourself!

Since Payless Water Heaters & Plumbing Inc. has a wide variety of water heaters (not to mention plumbing experience!), you’ll be sure to get the one you want instead of settling for the first inexpensive one you see at your local home improvement store, which you will have to install yourself, which could cause marital problems. Seriously.

When it comes to water heaters, one of the kinds that I like is the tankless kind. They save on energy since the water is not heated until you actually need it. The best part, though, is that they save on space. My 1920’s house has one bathroom at the moment. It is a small bathroom. About a sixth of the space in the bathroom is currently devoted to a closet for the water heater. Oh the things I could use that space for! I would actually have someplace to store towels and toiletries! I definitely think these tankless heaters are the way to go for small houses, and when we put in our second bathroom, that’s what were going with.

I know the trend is to do everything ourselves these days when it comes to home improvement, but recent events have really made me question the wisdom of this. I’d rather find Greensboro contractors to do the job for me, since trying to be your own contractor can be more expensive than simply hiring a contractor. Just take a look at the beautiful work that has been done on Tim Moss Home Improvements, Inc., and you’ll see just how nice it can be NOT to do the work yourself!

My own experience was with an old house that my husband and I bought. We tore down two walls, had several fights, put up a new wall, had some more fights, and that’s basically how it went until we got so mad at each other we quit the project entirely. Now there is a house on the other side of town that sadly, has Tyvek sticking out of its crevices since the finishing work was never done. Part of the problem was that my husband would not pay for someone to help with the home improvements. I solved that problem in my own way. I bought my own house, and now I can pay whoever I need to help me fix things up without getting into a budget disagreement with my husband. Some people might say that buying a second house is a little extreme, but it worked for me, and now my home improvements are getting done!

I’m always seeing advertisements for ebooks that cost quite a bit of money. A couple of times I’ve paid to download one, and both times, it was a disappointing experience. Not that ebooks don’t have something to offer. The trick is simply finding the good ones. Well, the folks at eBook Search Queen have put an end to the guesswork forever. They’ve developed a pdf search tool that allows you to search for ebooks on any topic. I typed in “Adsense” because that is a popular ebook topic that usually sells for quite a bit of money, and several results came up. All of them were free, and I could take a peek and see if the book was worth reading. This is a really great idea, and if you want to dig deep for information that can be found online, this is an excellent place to start!

My entire home is furnished with the rustic furniture I bought when I lived in Mexico. It seems that most of the exotic places I have been, I have temporarily lived there. Not that Mexico is necessarily exotic.

I’m just not a big one for vacations. I’d rather live somewhere and relax, soaking up the local culture. I can see getting a little cottage by a bay that was isolated and peaceful. I do mean little, because I wouldn’t want to worry about upkeep. Maybe two rooms all total. I’d keep the furnishings pretty sparse, but the ones I did have would be luxurious. No Danish Modern in my cottage, even though I love it. I would go for more of a lush Moroccan feel, focusing on textiles and a few pieces of furniture that have a antique look and are are extremely well made and detailed. A big huge canopy bed would be a good start. Then I have a large couch with large matching chairs, all of them covered with pillows and throws in a monochromatic color scheme, but with different hues, patterns and textures.

I’d definitely have wood floors. They warm up a house so much. I’d throw a few rugs here and there, and put a large wooden dresser with about ten drawers in a convenient corner. Everything I had would be made out of natural materials. I’d have real wood furniture, cotton, silk and linen fabrics and wool rugs. I don’t think there would be one thing that was artificial in the entire house!

Of course, the final touch would be the large window on one side of the house that looked out onto the bay. How relaxing is that?

I know I’m not actually going to do it, but there are times I want to move to a big city. Honestly, I get so tired of being in a small town sometimes. So whenever I get in these moods, I start researching actually moving to another city. This time, while I was researching moving to Chicago, I found moving services that make moving seem a lot easier than it normally is.

In the past, we’ve rented a moving truck and driven it to our destination. I hate driving those moving trucks. You really have to be careful, because when you put on the brakes, those trucks take a long time to stop! Driving them is stressful beyond belief.

The option I found is at ABF U-Pack Moving. It is so cool. They deliver a container to your house. You fill it with the stuff you are moving. They come and get it and drive it to your new home. You get there and unpack it. You don’t have to drive a dangerous truck, and the price is about the same. How cool is that?

If I ever do move away from this town, at least now I know how I’m going to do it.