Now you can order M&Ms with pictures of your favorite person on them (or even pictures of yourself on them!)  I think this fun chocolate candy would bring happiness to most people. 

You can easily place your order online here: customers upload one or two photos, pick the desired colors, and include one or two texts to be printed on separate M&Ms.  M&M’s Faces are available in several sizes:

• 7 ounce bags for $14.95 per bag (minimum order: 3 bags)
• 5 or 10 pound bulk box for $162.50 or $312.50, respectively
• a variety of 1.6 to 1.75 ounce party favors (minimum order: 20 bags), priced at $4.99–$6.19 per bag

The uses for M&M’s Faces are endless: centerpieces, wedding favors, wedding or baby shower favors, child’s birthday party favors, birthday gift, retirement gift, holiday fun, anniversary or Valentine gift, new baby…. 

Enjoy!

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I am very excited about the new website LIVESTRONG.COM, which is a site focused on changing your life.  I think you will find this website to be a trusted resource for daily health, fitness and lifestyle information (The Lance Armstrong Foundation partnered with Demand Media to launch this venture.) 

The site includes some very useful tools such as The Daily Plate, a free food, calorie, and fitness tracker. 

I also like the "Dare to" section that empowers you to make smart choices in your life or even dare a loved one to do so (examples: quit smoking, exercise regularly, get more sleep….) 

Many well-known experts will offer their two cents on matters related to health and overall well being.  I loved reading Bobbi Brown’s article here. 

You will find all sorts of advice on health, food, exercise, balance, and more, so check out LIVESTRONG.COM for a more LuSHHus life.

Cheers!

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We’ve talked about the must-have picnic gear and we’ve discovered some delicious picnic recipes.  Now, here’s a brief list of fun things to do at your picnic.  Enjoy!

Keep the youngest picnic-goers entertained with this fun plush picnic basket.  You can get this here. 

Flying a kite is the perfect picnic activity.  Into the Wind has a great selection of kites; click on each image above for more information.

If you happen to be having your picnic at the beach or near other water, swimming will surely be a favorite activity.

The Egg and Spoon Race is a fun game for children age three and up; get the cute set pictured above here.  Another exciting activity that’s sure to be a hit is the three-legged race. 

Many people enjoy throwing the Frisbee.  You could even have a bunch of Frisbees personalized here and pass them out as favors. 

You can’t go wrong with simply bringing your iPod and Bose portable SoundDock along on the picnic.  Head on over to iTunes where there are plenty of ready-made iMixes you might like.  Here are a couple of fun summer playlists I found.

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As promised, here is the LuSHHus List of Picnic Recipes.  Choose delicious dishes from this list, and everyone at your picnic will be quite pleased.  If you missed the LuSHHus List of Picnic Gear, check it out here. 

This Greek-Style Cucumber and Yogurt Dip would be great with chips and fresh veggies.

There are plenty of good salad recipes for your picnic, and I think these are among some of the best.  From left: Tomato-Watermelon Salad, Potato and Blue Cheese Salad, Texas Two Bean Salad, Five Cup Salad, and Red Bliss Potato Salad.  It’s probably best to stay away from lettuce salads at your picnic since the lettuce will not stay crisp for long. 

If you want to grill, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger that Oprah raved about not too long ago.  Of course, bring some hot dogs for the kiddos.

Sandwiches are really great picnic fare because you don’t need utensils and they can be assembled ahead of time.  I think this Roast Beef Baguette with Cheddar and Onion from Real Simple sounds like a fantastic option for a picnic.

You can’t go wrong with brownies, and these - Dark Chocolate Brownies with White Chocolate Chunks - are especially tempting. 

These Patriotic Cupcakes from Martha Stewart sure are fun and festive. 

I will be bringing you a list of fun Picnic Activities soon.  Happy Picnic-ing!

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Picnics are fun, especially if you have the right gear.  From insulated bags to coolers to dishes to blankets and more, you’ll find everything you need in this LuSHHus List of Picnic Gear.  Check it out.

These are the most stylish picnic bags I have seen.  And they’re versatile.  They don’t have to just be for picnics…they could go to the ball game, on a boat, to school, to work…anywhere!  The straw version, seen above on the left, comes in a large insulated tote size and costs $37.50.  I think it would be best to get two: one for your food and one for your supplies.  It also comes as a double wine bottle bag for $27.50.  The monogram is included in the prices.  The adorable little bags pictured on the right are insulated and make a great lunch bag or picnic sack for a child or even a lunch bag for a working adult who likes to tote a lunch.  You can get it in the green and pink seen here or in black, orange, or light blue, and it costs $25.  Order any of these items by emailing Embroidery by Valerie at vriener@austin.rr.com.

If you use the stylish picnic bags I showed you above, you will want to make sure you remember plates and eating utensils.  This is one great option for utensils.  Not only are they bright and fun, they are biodegradable.  They come in seven colors and you can get them here. 

These bamboo utensils are also eco-friendly.  They’re sleek and disposable, and you can get them here.

You will also need plates and I think any of these are a great choice.  Click on each image above for more information.

These burger baskets with liners might be fun instead of plates.

There are other cute cooler options such as this cooler from the Whim line by Cynthia Rowley at Target.  If you haven’t checked out the Whim line at Target, you should definitely do so.  You will find cute, affordable products for all your summer needs.

I can’t think of any child who wouldn’t love this!

Just want to chill some beverages?  This On The Rocks cooler is just what you need.

Perhaps you want a pre-packaged picnic set that contains almost everything you need but the food.  In that case, here are some fun options:

I love this fun picnic backpack set for four that includes: insulated food storage compartment, detachable insulated wine holder, four 11" plates and cups, 12-piece assorted stainless steel flatware, corkscrew/bottle opener, salt and pepper shakers, and cutting board.  You can buy this online here. 

The Weekender Deluxe Travel Picnic Set for 2 features a unique round shape and a great canvas fabric. The set includes plates, flatware, corkscrew, cutting board, cheese knife, salt and pepper shakers.

If your style leans toward vintage, you might like this set which consists of a super red tin with a removable willow tray containing a selection of hand crafted accessories including an enamel painted flask, ceramic plates, mugs, cutlery and embroidered napkins for two people.

This is an eco-friendly picnic basket  with service for 2 that is made from 100% all natural and renewable resources and is hand woven from natural willow. It features bamboo plates, cutting board and utensils. The cotton insulated lining is dye and chemical free. Wine glasses are made from recycled glass and napkins are from natural cotton.  Now this is a green picnic basket!

Here’s a sleek modern picnic set that folds up for easy transport and it even fits in the glove compartment of your car.  Equipped with two plastic plates, two sets of silverware, a corkscrew and a container for salt and pepper, the picnic set unfolds to provide an instant "blanket" and everything you need except a bottle of wine, some bread, and some cheese!

Choose one of the picnic blankets above to ensure you have a clean, soft place to picnic.  Click on each image for more information. 

If you’ll be mixing drinks at your picnic, you will want this portable cocktail set that contains all the tools you need to mix your favorite cocktail.

This bar set is the deluxe version as it even has space for martini glasses and two liquor bottles. 

Spruce up your picnic setting with these silly napkin rings.

The tiny tot at the picnic will be appropriately outfitted in this precious bib.

If you’re serving cupcakes at your picnic, these cup-a-cake holders are the safest way to get your dessert to the picnic site in tact.

Should your picnic plans carry into the dark of night, check out these battery-powered lights.  You can stake them in the ground or place them in a vase, and you can use one alone or group several together.  These cordless lights will certainly light up your evening picnic.

Now you’ve seen the LuSHHus List of Picnic Gear.  If you plan to picnic, choose which gear is right for you and stay tuned for the LuSHHus List of Picnic Recipes.

Cheers!

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I came across a new item to add to The LuSHHus List for Dogs and Their People: a book called Town & Country Dogs.  The Editors of the magazine with the same name have compiled this charming little book featuring all the dogs that have graced the pages of the monthly.  Below is the updated LuSHHus List for Dogs and Their People.

The LuSHHus List for Dogs and Their People

Cheers!

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Today I have a link that may make you travelers and party-ers very happy.  It’s called Fabsearch and it’s a guide to hot spots and events all around the world.  Fabsearch editors get all the latest news on all the happenings from hip locals and other sources such as your favorite magazines so that you don’t have to.  Then they compile it all on their site so you can easily plan your trip or night out.  For instance, say you live in Austin or you are going to visit Austin, click here to find out the latest gouge on hotels, restaurants, and more.

This is a fun, informative site.  I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers!

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Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is just two weeks away!  Warm weather and blue skies make me want to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible.  If you feel the same way, tune into living a LuSHHus life this week and next for the LuSHHus Picnic Guide which will come to you in three installments.  First, you will learn all about the coolest, must-have picnic gear.  Then, you’ll get tasty recipes perfect for picnic fare.  Finally, you will discover the best picnic activities and games that will have you wanting to picnic all summer long. 

Stay tuned!

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A while back I wrote about my favorite online invitation site and some of the other great options available (you can read that post here.)  After I posted my thoughts and reviews, I got a comment from the creator of a new site called Planypus telling me about the innovations he’d brought to event planning.  I’d never heard of Planypus before so I checked it out and I think it seems fun. 

Planypus is fast and easy way to notify friends of plans, AND it lets friends fill in the plan details so that one person isn’t responsible for all the orchestrating.  All you have to do is log your plans in Planypus and then Planypus will notify people you choose via email, rss, your blog/website, and/or calendar programs and let them contribute to the planning process (all your plans are private between you and those you invite.)  It’s a neat website that you might enjoy.  It sure could make planning gatherings a lot easier.  Check it out!

Happy Planning! 

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What if you could wirelessly download all the books you want to read onto a handheld device that can go anywhere and everywhere with you?  That would make you pretty happy, right?  Well, you can do all that and a lot more with the revolutionary device called the Kindle from Amazon.  Weighing only 10.3 ounces, a Kindle holds hundreds of titles at a time, and all the books and everything else you download are all saved to your Media Library so you can access them forever.  The Kindle uses cell phone technology meaning you can download books anywhere; you don’t have to find a wireless hotspot.  Amazon lets you read a few chapters of books before you buy them, and the price of all New York Times bestsellers and new releases is almost always $9.99.  If you decide to subscribe to a newspaper on your Kindle, your paper will be wirelessly and automatically delivered to you each morning, and any magazine subscriptions you order will be delivered before the magazine even hits the newsstand. 

But the Kindle does even more than all that.  It also lets you download personal documents and download books from Audible.com so you can listen to books with the built-in speaker or headphones!  To make your reading experience more enjoyable, you can adjust the text size.  And to make sure you understand everything you read, use the built-in dictionary.  As you can probably tell by now, the Kindle’s bells and whistles go on and on and on!

If you decide the Kindle is for you, I’d sure appreciate it if you order it by clicking on the image of the the Kindle at the top of this post or on the Kindle ad in the right sidebar here at living a LuSHHus life!

Happy Reading!

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It’s no surprise that we can count on Martha Stewart to make Spring Cleaning a little bit easier, and it will surely be easier and more manageable with this checklist from Martha Stewart.  I know that Spring Cleaning can seem daunting but if you work on one chore at a time, you’ll be finished before you know it. 

Happy Cleaning!

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I have written about my favorite dog-related products before, but I came across some new favorite items so a new list is in order.  Viola!  I will add to this list as I come across other LuSHHus things for our dogs, and if you have any recommendations, please pass them along!

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