TYLT Energi Power Case: A Clean, Stylish Solution To Protecting And Charging Your Phone

TYLT is revolutionizing the way that people can keep their electronic devices charged.  Its products include everything from charging cases for cell phones to a universal portable wireless battery charger.  TYLT even makes a charging backpack so you can charge your phone while commuting or hiking.

Of course, the most convenient way to charge a phone is with the phone’s own charging case.  The right charging case can keep your phone charged for a whole day, no matter how many apps you open.  The Energi Sliding Power case from TYLT is a handsome, efficient phone charging case.  Here are some Energi Power case benefits:

Versatility

The Energi Power case can keep your phone charged for many hours, or it can just be a phone case.  It consists of an inner case that slides onto your phone, and also a charging power sleeve.  If you only want to protect your phone but not charge it, you can just use the inner case.  You can always connect it back to the charging component later.  Just using the inner case is a convenient option if you have to keep your phone in a tiny purse during a wedding.

Excellent Charging Capacity

The Energi Power case increases the amount of time your phone stays charged twofold. You can press a button on the case to see how much charge your phone has at any moment.  The same button will show you how much charge the Energi Power case has. You can charge your phone and the case at the same time.  When you plug the phone with its case into a power source, they will both charge.  You can even charge the phone and case with a wireless phone charger.

July 17-23 Is National Hotdog Week

Todays' conversation is sponsored by Circle K and all thoughts are my own

I don't know about you, but one of the things that remind me of summer is the all-American hot dog! Hot dogs are the convenient hot food for people on the go. No need for utensils or even a table and chair. The hot dog is the most portable summertime food and it can be enjoyed in a variety of ways.

Starting July 17-23 (In Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina only), Circle K Southeast stores are celebrating National Hot dog Week by offering $1 hot dogs to their customers. As a matter of fact, all foods from their rollers will be $1 all week long as well. So while you are getting fueled up, you can step in and grab an icy cold beverage and a couple hot dogs to get that perfect bite of summer! National Hotdog Day is on July 19th. It would be fun to grab your family or friends and celebrate this delicious day for a low price.

Nothing pairs better than and ice cold fountain coke and a juicy hot dog! 

You can top a hot dog in so many ways. What will you put in yours? Cheese, chips, onions, salsa or chili? Grab your $1 dog while you can! If you do, be sure to use the tag #NationalHotDogDay across your social channels. Follow Circle K Southeast on Facebook and Instagram
 

Garden Chat- Let's Talk About Summer Plants

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about plants and share some of the things I have learned over the years. First of all, you can have a full and colorful garden for a very low cost. We have been getting what I like to call "second hand plants" for years now. We have family members who share clippings, small plants, bulbs, and seeds with us and we trade with some of what we have existing in our garden. 

If you are looking for vibrant pops of color that are low maintenance, a lantana is the way to go. They come in quite a few colors and can grow in even the hottest and driest of conditions. We have more than a half dozen of these in various parts of our yard and they get so big that we have to cut them back a few times each season. The best part is they come back year after year. Lantanas also attract butterflies. We have some right off of our back patio near one of our bird feeding stations, and it is so pretty to watch the butterflies flutter around. 

Lantana

If you would like to attract hummingbirds, pentas are a great choice. Every evening we watch the hummers go to war so they can dominate this plant I got for Mother's Day. I keep it in a pot under a tree so it doesn't get too much sun although it claims it can take full sun. Nope. Not in the South Carolina sun! 

Penta

Something I learned about my delicate herbs and peppers is that the South Carolina heat will hinder growth. I actually brought some of my plants inside of my patio door in order to save them. When I noticed the leaves were yellowing, I figured the elements outside were just too harsh. Since doing that, all of my edibles have flourished. I take them outside periodically when we are having a rain shower. The plants tend to get an extra boost from the rain water. 

Hot pepper, broad leaf thyme, lavender, Rosemary, and spearmint

Another great trick I learned from my husband's uncle is to not throw away your potted flower plants at the end of their growing season. Instead, you can clip the old growth off and take it inside until the Winter frost is gone. Once you bring it back outside in the Spring, it will re-grow and you can enjoy your blooms again and again. Geraniums are one flower that fare very well indoors during the winter, and this geranium care guide by Gilmour will show you everything you need to know about planting, growing and caring for geraniums. The flower plant below cost us about $15 and it came back beautifully this year! I have it growing on the side of my home in a semi-shaded spot along a trellis, and it blooms all summer long. I get so many compliments about it and many ask of they can take it home.  

This year we decided to get some mosquito repelling plants since they are usually really bad every summer. We planted some marigolds in hanging baskets at the bottom of our back deck and have a few pots of citronella (mosquito plant) on the patio area. Let me tell you, those mosquito plants really work! We take a leaf or two and press it to release the oils and rub it on our exposed skin when we are hanging outside. The scent is very lemony and we really love it. I have yet to get a single mosquito bite when I do this. 

One of out larger plants broke from a storm we had a couple months ago and my husband took the broken part and put it into an old pot with dirt. I figured it would simply die, but it turns out that his experiment worked and the plant survived and grew in nicely. As a matter of fact, he has done this with a few other plants and trees and they are all growing. 

Citronella, also known as the mosquito plant

We will be bringing in all of our potted plants before the winter and keep them alive for next year. With all that we have done over the course of a few years, I anticipate we will not have to spend any money on plants or trees next year. 

What are you growing this year? 

Sacramento And San Francisco: Nearer Than Expected

Get The Best Of California, And A Good Education Too!

California has many things to offer. To the north are vast redwoods. To the northwest are vast mountains. To the south is substantial desert, and to the southwest are the mega metropolises of Los Angeles and San Diego. Smack dab in the middle of California’s west coast is San Francisco, jewel of the bay area. Just north and east of that is Sacramento.

Sacramento is an interesting community in that it gets some of the year’s finest weather, but it also manages to avoid much of the overcrowding you see in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles. But it is not too far away from the city by the bay, and it’s also not too far from the ocean, or the redwoods to the north.

If you’re a young person with access to a vehicle, Sacramento is a great place to go to school in California; and not just because of its centralized location. There are also some exceptional higher education programs in the region, like the college located southwest of Sacramento at the outskirts, UC Davis.

 

UC Davis is just 72 miles away from San Francisco. With traffic, you’re looking at about a two-hour drive; but at least twenty minutes of that would be covered by your transit over the bay bridge. Another twenty minutes is consumed in going through east Oakland, though you could loop around through Santa Rosa to the north, if you like.

 

These things are all academic (pun-intended). The point of attending college isn’t your route to adjacent cities! But one of the fine things of college is having an independent base of operations from which you can explore. To that end, it’s better to live in an apartment than a dormitory.

 

Some Real Considerations

Granted, there’s a lot of camaraderie to be experienced in a dormitory, but really this method of living just serves to uncomfortably extend your adolescence. You’ll get a similar portion of experience living in apartments, but you’ll have increased responsibility and more quickly learn the atmosphere of independent living.

 

Until you reach a certain point in life, you’re very likely going to live in homes that you don’t own, but lease. Getting the feel for this atmosphere while in college will save you a lot of difficulty later. Oftentimes new things aren’t hard, but because they are unknown, we fear them and put them off. Sometimes it’s better just to jump in that cold water.

 

Additionally, owning an apartment will increase your credit, and make it easier for you to lease living situations in the future. And there are some excellent options available right near UC Davis.

 

Living Arrangements

According to CarmelApartments.com, some of the finest living situations are apartments near UC Davis campus; these apartments are, as the site puts it, “a newly renovated student housing community in Davis, CA conveniently located just minutes from downtown and UC Davis.”

Also according to CarmelApartments.com, west village solutions are “Now leasing for Fall, 2017!” The more swiftly you source a living situation, the better—obviously you’re not the only one who will be leasing from such a complex of apartments!

Generally when it comes to collegiate arrangements, you want to get everything squared away as soon as possible. But like alluded to earlier, the more foreign something is, the more likely you are to balk and procrastinate. It’s not that you can’t do it, or don’t have a work ethic; it’s that you just don’t want to. You’ll have to get over that!

How To Find The Perfect New Or Used Vehicle

Today's conversation is sponsored and all opinions are mine.

Looking for a new or used car can often times be one of those dreaded tasks, but is a must for most of us. It’s even harder when you are doing it for the first time. Narrowing down what style, make, model, and specific features you are looking for is the first step. There is a ton of research involved to ensure you get the perfect vehicle to fit your needs. 

The nice thing about living in this time is that nifty thing we call the internet. You can hop on to Cars.com and browse any type of car/truck/SUV whether new or used, and find what is available right in your area. If you already have car you would like to use as a trade, you can use their online estimator to see what your car is valued at. It took me about 3 minutes to fill out the short form and the results were instant. 

I was looking at used SUVs in a 40 mile range from my location and was really impressed with how many dealers came up in my area. I was able to set the price that worked for my budget as well as the distance I was willing to travel if I was interested in that particular one. It's nice to be able to see the specifics of each vehicle to help make narrowing down my choices easier. 

Some vehicles have many photos to show interior, trunk, backseat, front/rear end, and more. If you get your choices down, you can plan your visits to visit the dealer lot or showroom for a closer look and test drive. It's like a search engine just for automobiles. You can even save your searches and read reviews from other customers. We will be purchasing a family vehicle in the Fall and will utilize Cars.com as a resource to point us in the right direction.

Whether you are looking for a standard car, minivan, truck, SUV, or even a swanky sports car, Cars.com is a great starting place. You can browse the huge selection on their website and make sure you stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.