What’s your most, most favorite boutique, shop, restaurant? I bet that it’s locally owned by an individual, not a corporation (if you are here, reading us, I’m confident that this is a correct assumption and that you are not about to answer Ann Taylor or Olive Garden!).

Think about what makes shopping or dining in that favorite place so special. The service? The atmosphere? The unique selections? That they know your name or will order something especially for you?

When I lived in Orange County and Las Vegas, shopping independent small stores was really difficult. The large shopping mall and strip mall spaces (practically the only type of retail space available) dominated the landscape and offered prohibitive rents that prevented any small shopkeeper from ever considering them. So, shopping choices in such regions were limited to chains, chains and more cookie-cutter chains. I had tried to encourage the few and far between independent shops but they’d often closed down before I could even become “a regular”.

I admit, there is definitely a place, in all our consumption, for Big Box (read Target, mainly). But, as a protagonist for independent business, the scene described above – where this is an almost total absence of independent business – was slowly and surely lobotomizing me by eliminating any semblance of individuality in my shopping, dining and cultural (this part for a whole other discussion) options. Thankfully, things are quite a bit different here in the Greater Chicago area where I live now, and boy does it rejuvenate my spirit. Plenty of small, charming, organic neighborhoods with creative and inspiring choices for shopping, dining, browsing…

Independent businesses and small stores are a precious commodity, a cherished piece

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You know the scene. Where’s my phone. I know I left it here. Where’s my phone. Shoot, it’s on silent/out of battery. Where’s my phone…

I’d love to say this happens only to my husband and to my kids, but to be honest, it happens a lot to me too, mostly because I have way too many options to carry my phone. Handbag? Clutch? Computer bag? Gym bag? Phone wallet? Coat pocket? Oy!

So, as you can guess, I’m going to tell you that this little device solves the locating problem. It does, and then some. It’s called the Zomm and, when activated, it will alert you (vibrate, flash and sound an alarm) when you are more than 30 feet away from your phone. Ever left your phone in a cab? Fall out of your pocket? Ha, you know why you need this.

Besides this, because the Zomm has a Bluetooth speakerphone, it will also notify you on incoming calls. Attach it to your keychain or loop it to the outside of your bag and, with one push of the very conspicuous button, you have a speakerphone through which to answer your calls. Great for the car and us gals with the super-large-and-then-fit-in-the-kitchen-sink-phone-swallowing sized handbags. Uh-hu.

Besides that, the Zomm can become a personal safety device that sounds a loud panic alarm and dial emergency services, if ever needed.

This is one smart little number.  You can buy it directly from the Zomm website or from Amazon (where it’s cheaper).

The Zomm was invented by Laurie Penix. The idea came to her in an exercise/Oprah-induced epiphany. You can read more about that here. In the meanwhile, here’s Henry, Laurie’s husband explaining the clever little device:

Congratulations to our 10 winners and thank you to all who participated!

The winners were selected at random using the Random Integer Generator.

This giveaway CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED but do subscribe via RSS or email to get updates on new giveaways as they get posted. Thank you all for playing!

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We were excited to introduce you to Yes! Pure Intimacy Lubricant back in May and the company was so excited that we were excited (excited puns semi-intended to keep up with the theme) that they offered 10 of our readers the opportunity to also try this amazing certified organic lubricant.

To enter, simply go to yesyesyes.org and tell us below which product you would like: the water-based, oil-based or introductory pack ($14.99 for any choice). This giveaway is open until July 23 @ 11.59 am CST.

Usual giveaway rules are: One entry per person. The winner will be chosen at random using a random integer generator. Your information is confidential and used for this giveaway only. Multiple entries will be deleted. Winner who does not respond within 7 days will be dismissed in favor of another winner. Valid in US & Canada.

Say it! YES! 

Now, I know that I’ll personally never get a tattoo (I’m too afraid of what it’ll look like when I’m old and wrinkly) but it might be fun to toy with some temporary embellishments. Summer is for baring skin, might as well beautify it with skin art… before I’m really old and wrinkly.

I believe that the temporary tattoo trend might have been rendered acceptable and stylish and perhaps even sophisticated when la maison Chanel introduced its temp-tatt collection earlier this year. They’re cool, though perhaps a little obnoxious but they are also Chanel-priced at $75 for the pack. So, we thought you’d like to know about more affordable and playful options…

	We think that this collection by TopShop is the closest to the Chanel temporary tattoo vibe, minus the in-your-face branding. Affordable too at $10 for a three sheet pack.
	Need to unleash your inner rock star? Sephora sells this Temptu tattoo kit which goes for $25 and got great user reviews. We hear that they are water resistant, opaque coverage, fast-drying which is all important to keep the rock queen appearances going all night long…
	Henna tattoo, have been around for thousands of years. Less familiar to us is the Black Jagua ink for a realistic temporary tattoo. Looks like the real deal but will wash off in 10 to 15 days. The Black Jagua Body Paint Kit is $26. And you can get extra themed stencils here. We love this DIY option. Read the full story »

Pack your stuff in a box instead of a suitcase? Not a crazy idea. Actually, we like it a lot… I see several advantages to the UPS Luggage Box. I like the concept of shipping my luggage instead of lugging it around through airports.

There are indeed some good reasons to love the Luggage Box:

• Stick your tongue out at the airline companies for making air travel so unfriendly by diverting the luggage fee to another type of “shipping” company. UPS promises competitive rates with that of the airlines.
• No standing in long cattle lines to check luggage at airport. More time for pre-flight martinis.
• Ok, so the recycled boxes are not as chic as your designer luggage, but since they weigh a whole lot less, the boxes minimize the risk of overweight charges (for the luggage!) should you decide to check the luggage box on the flight.
• UPS enables tracking via mobile apps. That makes for peace of mind. And, UPS

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By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor

We all have the stack of books waiting to be read.  I have mine on its own shelf in the family room.  There sit all the books I plan to read this summer (yeah, right…). One such book  that I have been wanting to read for a while was finally selected by our book club this month. It’s Kelly Perkins’ book (a fellow yoga student), titled “The Climb of My Life, Scaling Mountains with a Borrowed Heart“. It is based on her true life experience needing a heart transplant at age 32 and how her love for mountains helped heal her and bring purpose back to her life.

Kelly grew up loving the outdoors in Lake Tahoe, California. Her husband, Craig, also shared this love and both were especially drawn to mountains. At the beginning of their marriage they planned a trip to hike up Mt. Whitney in the California’s Eastern Sierras. At 14,496 feet this is the tallest mountain in the continental United States. Ironically, Craig did not make it to the top. They continued to scale mountains until one trip, that was supposed to be a trip of a lifetime, turned out to be the last time Kelly’s heart would hike a mountain. During this  hike up The Matterhorn, Kelly became very ill and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. Upon returning home, she could not even climb her own stairs. She was so close to dying that at one point she was given only one week to live. If it was not for someone donating their heart, Kelly would not be here today.

After her heart transplant Kelly needed to start hiking mountains again to know that she and her new heart were a team and that she had her life back. Craig and her decided to hike Half Dome in Yosemite, since this was one that they had climbed often before Kelly’s heart transplant. Kelly learned some valuable lessons about her new heart. One being that her donor heart is denervated, meaning the brain cannot automatically send messages to hasten the supply of blood to the body during strenuous activity. Kelly’s heart does not “know” immediately when to start beating faster to match the exertion of her body and therefore has to rely on adrenaline. This was something to get used to, especially at high altitudes. Next was Mt Whitney. It was a first for both of them; Kelly with her new heart and Craig making it to the top with her. Craig approached the local paper to run an article on Kelly’s accomplishment. It was noticed by an Associated Press reporter who ran the story nationwide. Their path was being set to be an international advocate for organ donor awareness.

This is one of those books that I will think about long after I finish reading it. It is well written and easy to read, but more importantly, it also made me think: how am I  making a difference? One thing is that I am a donor and so is my husband. When my son became a driver he put “organ donor” on his driver’s license.

Check out Kelly Perkins’ website at TheClimbofMyLife.com or www.movinghearts.org. The book is available at Amazon.com.

This new campaign for Pilot pens just came out. “Type on a computer with your own handwriting” is a way of romanticizing the handwritten note and quite a clever attempt to invigorate what might appear to be a dwindling market: the writing instrument… You know, with most of us being permanently glued to our computers, the handwritten note has now become a rare sighting.

It’s a charming idea but this particular application didn’t really work for me and it does not create a downloadable font. Now that I was teased with this idea and really wanted my own downloadable personalized handwriting font, I remembered bookmarking this site some time ago: Fontifier.com for “your own handwriting on your computer”.

After some experimentation and examining various iterations of my handwriting rendered as “The quick brown fox jumps….”, I settled on a non-cursive style. It looks like this:

I think that I will try a stylized font next. The Fontifier is a great idea for people with beautiful, calligraphy-like handwriting, or for those looking to create that distinctive style. Or, like me, just for fun. I will set it as my default font for email. It was $9.