A Basic Guide To Prepare For Valentine's Day

Hey guys and gals, Valentine's Day is coming soon! I picture in my head husbands and boyfriends doing the last-minute frantic search to find that perfect gift for their sweetie. Sometimes it's a hit, and other times it is a complete miss. Don't fool around and get stuck buying whatever random item you happen to lay your hand on.

Make some time to take advantage of this wonderful thing we have called 'the Internet'. Browse for gifts that reflect the recipient's personality. Does he/she love reading or technology gadgets? Maybe beauty products or specialty foodie items? Surely you can find something online, especially at retailers like Target, which offer tons of discounts and deals.

Remember, we all know what day Valentine's falls on each year, so there is no reason to have to hustle around at the last minute to try to come up with a gift. I know for myself, I like to receive something that I can tell some thought was put into it. I wanted to share this fun infographic I stumbled upon browsing the web that happens to fall in line with Valentine's Day-- Chocolate!

Check out some of these interesting and fun facts about chocolate and this is your official reminder (wink) to start looking around for that perfect Valentine's gift. If all else fails, practical is the way to go. Whether it's kitchen gadgets, food items, technology accessories, clothing or personal care items, it's truly the thought that counts. Happy shopping!


Chocolate Industry Stats by Couponbox

Get Food Delivery With Bootler

Today's post is sponsored and as always, all opinions are mine

Aren't you happy that we live in the information age? If you want to know something, you simply grab your phone or computer and look it up. What happens when you're at home and dinner time is coming up and you don't feel like cooking? You would normally consider eating out, but there are those times you don't want to leave the house. You can order out, but depending on the time day, you aren't guaranteed to get your food delivered when you want it.

There's a new site to help make the process of ordering take-out a little easier. Introducing, Bootler. Bootler is an online search engine for delivery food.  With Bootler, they work with over 6 different delivery services that allow users to choose a restaurant and compare prices, availability, and delivery time. This saves user's time and money. They are not the actual delivery company, but they bring together other delivery companies and then redirect you to their website. You can compare it to a hotel or car rental search site that you can compare different hotel/car chains at one time.

You can choose different types of cuisine like Chinese, Pizza, Mexican and more. You can even order alcohol and it gets delivered through a service called Saucey. Booltler is currently only Chicago based but expanding to NY by the end of the year, and eventually to more major cities soon after. Check out Coal Fire Pizza Delivery.

Get the Bootler Mobile App in the App Store. Be sure to connect with Bootler on Facebook and Twitter for updates and hopefully to see when they will be available in your city!

Four Steps to Managing Childhood Asthma

Among children, asthma is considered to be the most common respiratory disorder. Characterized by the chronic inflammation or swelling of the bronchial mucosa and narrowed airways, this disease usually presents itself with chest tightening, wheezing, difficulty in breathing, and dry coughing. It’s a disease that follows the child through adulthood.

If your child has been diagnosed with asthma, here are 4 steps you can take to manage it:

1. Have an Asthma Action Plan

An Asthma Action Plan is a written plan that details what symptoms you’ll need to look out for, medication to give for any emergencies, and plan of action to take in the case of an asthma attack. This plan should ideally be discussed with not just the family members and the child’s caregivers, but also with institutions that care for the child, such as a school or day care center.

2. Monitor your child's asthma symptoms
Asthma symptoms can tell you whether or not your child is doing well or if he might need special medical attention. This should be based on your Asthma Action Plan. Symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, coughing and wheezing, or even having trouble walking are all warning signs that not everything is alright with your child’s respiratory system. Emergency medication is sometimes necessary, depending on the severity of the symptoms.

3. Keep your child away from asthma triggers

Asthma triggers are substances, situations, or activities that can trigger symptoms of asthma to pop up, or worse, cause an asthma flare-up or attack. Examples of these triggers are allergens like dust, insects, and pollen. Stress and strenuous activities can also trigger attacks.
Avoid triggering your child’s asthma by keeping your house clean, installing air filters to screen out pollen or dust as well as avoiding stressful/exhausting activities.

4. Make sure your child gets exercise and maintains a healthy weight

Although strenuous activities are asthma triggers, ample exercise is a must for children with asthma as this can help strengthen their stamina and keep their weight down to a healthy level. Along with a healthy diet, you can ensure your child’s immunity and prevent asthma attacks.

There’s no known complete cure for asthma, but its symptoms can certainly be managed through proper planning and lifestyle changes. For a more detailed guide on childhood asthma, you can check out this useful infographic from Filter Buy.

FilterBuy

Happiness Is A Choice

I'm very certain that regardless of where you live, you are aware of the craziness all around. I am not making this post about anything in particular, but I will say that I CHOOSE happiness every single day. My peace is important to me. If I am a wreck, I can't be a good wife, mother or friend. My son depends on me being 110% since I have a big role in his education. I have certain feelings that have been brewing like a raging storm inside of me. I am choosing to channel that energy into action. I will remain the friendly and loving person I am. I will continue to teach my children that there is so much goodness in the world. I will have fun dates with my husband more often because frankly, he keeps me from going over the edge. I will also laugh and smile even more. 

I know it seems easier said than done to be happy, but truly it is a choice. I'm not as spiritual as most people I know, but I do have faith that everything is going to be alright. Heal yourself and choose to spread love and happiness all around. Thanks for reading. Have a grand week! xoxo

Raleigh Catering Company

Since catering has become a real trend nowadays, it was impossible for the Raleigh community not to benefit from such a service. Many people have tried for years the services provided by the Raleigh Catering Company and they ended up with beautiful events, enjoying them while being more relaxed.

This company has been offering their services to this area for many years now, having a friendly attitude and having a large array of courses and dishes, suitable for any kind of occasion and event that you might have. They take pride in having a personal connection with their customers, which is easy to understand, since most of the events a catering company needs to take care of have a personal character.

As it is ideal, the chefs and the personnel are highly trained professionals that know everything that is necessary in several types of techniques and various cuisines around the world. Besides offering a standard menu, they can also provide signature dishes created especially for a particular event, which is extremely useful if you need to host a fine dining event with high class guests. Their large experience is not just a thing they brag with, but it is very useful when you count on people to help with your event.

The quality of the ingredients is also extremely important. There have been cases with some companies that used bad quality ingredients and the result, of course, is not that delicious. For this reason it is important to provide fresh and pure vegetables and meat. Moreover, besides the quality, the Raleigh catering service offers a large and varied array of dishes. For people who want to host a different event, communities of expats or people of different origins, this matters a lot, since they can enjoy their traditional dishes by simply calling a catering company, instead of cooking for hours and hours in a row.

Prompt service and competitive prices are all the more reasons for which people choose to use the services provided by this catering company. Of course, a slow service is just as important as the ingredients, the type of dishes and the price, which should convince you to double-check before trusting someone with the success of your own event.

The staff here can even help you with part of the planning, and the advice of a professional is literally priceless, especially when you have tons of other things to take care of. Furthermore, it is really easy to find the company online and give them a call and it is advisable to do this as soon as possible, to make sure everything is ready in time.