#1 on my list of Michael Jackson theme party ideas is: Buy the brand new DVD, Michael Jackson’s This Is It. You can make your party complete with this $40 purchase. Basically, Michael Jackson’s This Is It is a two hour music video with tons of extras. This DVD is perfect for playing during your theme party. It is sure to have everyone up and dancing within the first 10 minutes. Read a review of Michael Jackson’s This Is It at the link on the sidebar.

#2 on my list of Michael Jackson theme party ideas is: Buy some White Sequin Gloves. Make sure they are the cheap kind, so that you can afford to buy one for everyone who attends your Michael Jackson theme party. I did a search on Google for “sequin gloves” and found several on Amazon.com for as little as $2.99 a pair. If your party budget doesn’t allow for that, go to a dollar store and buy a bundle of plain white gloves and a box of silver sequins or silver glitter and make your own!

Tip: a lot of times, cheap cotton gloves will fit on either hand, so if you have 12 people attending, you only need to buy 6 pairs of gloves. Try both gloves on first, putting them on your left hand only. If they both fit the left hand without looking or feeling too strange, then you can easily glove two guests with one pair of gloves. NB: Michael Jackson wore his signature sequined white glove on his left hand.

#3 on my list of Michael Jackson theme party ideas is: Buy some Black Fedora Hats for everyone! You can pick these up at party supply stores or on the internet. Also, Kmart has them for about $4.99 each. If nothing else, ask everyone to come to your party dressed like Michael Jackson. You should plan to give those guests who don’t show up in a Michael Jackson costume, a black hat and a sequin glove to help get them in the spirit. Make sure you get everyone together for a group photo before the party is over. Give a prize to the person who looks and acts like Michael Jackson the most. Of course, a Michael Jackson theme party wouldn’t be complete without a Moonwalk contest – have the video camera ready for this!

#4 on my list of Michael Jackson theme party ideas is: Buy a life sized stand up of Michael Jackson. This would be great placed at the entrance to your Michael Jackson theme party. His image could greet everyone as they come through the door. I found a life size stand up of Michael Jackson by searching the internet for “Life Size Stand Up.” The photo used for the stand up I found, shows Michael Jackson dressed for his Beat It music video. You’ll pay about $40 for one of these 6′ tall cardboard stand-ups. It too could be given away to someone at the party. If you have a best dressed or look-a-like contest, or better yet, a Michael Jackson dance-off contest, give it to the winner. You get the picture.

The only thing missing from the perfect Michael Jackson theme party list is some food. A cake is a must at a party, and I can think of so many ideas that would go hand-in-hand with a Michael Jackson theme party. Like a large sheet cake, with red frosting and a black silhouette of the King of Pop. It’s simple, but dramatic. You could always ice a sheet cake then draw a white glove on it with white icing. Then get some silver decorative candies to act as the “sequins” on the glove. I would also suggest serving some of Michael Jackson’s favorite foods. He was reportedly a vegetarian, so have fun with that. You could always play up on his huge hit with Sir Paul McCartney, Ebony and Ivory, or his nearly similar solo song, Black or White, by making all the food fall into a black and white color scheme.

Plan ahead so you have time to make or purchase the party favors mentioned above. Or keep it real simple and ask your guests to bring their favorite Michael Jackson CD’s to play during the party. No matter what ideas you come up with, having a Michael Jackson theme party is a great way to honor the King of Pop, and at the same time, have a fantastic time with your friends!

You’ve heard the expression “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Well, there are no dieters in the holiday season. It’s certainly understandable, who can resist grandma’s fresh baked butter cookies, mom’s candied yams with marshmallows or Aunt Helen’s homemade fruit cake drizzled with dark rum? Nobody – that’s who. Not even the strongest willed dieters are able to turn their noses up at the sublime culinary delicacies that grace our tables during the holiday season.

I admit it – I have to watch my weight. This is especially true during the winter months when frigid outdoor temperatures tend to keep me confined to the house. I’m not very good at long term diets, so when the old waistline starts to expand, I go on a diet until my diameter is back to where it should be. I’ve read that this is not the preferred method for a diet, but it works for me.

I think most Americans have to go on at least a short diet immediately after the holiday season. Having been alive for more than six decades, I can longer even contemplate the vast number of times I’ve heard people say “After the holidays, I simply MUST diet!” They usually say this while wolfing down a huge piece of frosted cake, some warm baked cookies or some other calorie-laden delight. I know I did the same thing for years.

A few years ago I made a discovery about the annual post holiday season diet. I discovered that, in fact, at the conclusion of the holiday season and its obligatory gorging, I will indeed go on a diet until my weight is back to normal. Ergo, I no longer needed to feel guilt or announce my diet intention every time I consumed some pallet pleasing goodie. This discovery has made my enjoyment of the holiday season much greater than in previous years.

If you’re going to diet after the holiday season food fests, then simply acknowledge that firm commitment to yourself. Quit chastising yourself every time you decide to eat one more cookie or a second slice of pie. What’s the point of making your pallet happy if you’re going to punish yourself with guilt even as you chew? You know that you’ll be starting your diet on the 2^nd or 3^rd of January – so just relish the flavors of all the mouth watering treats available to you now.

Guilt is a cruel and heartless bedfellow. It dramatically diminishes all forms of joy, happiness and pleasure. Avoid guilt this year. Commit to a post holiday diet. Start your diet on time. Oblige the diet you committed to. When the diet is over, acknowledge yourself for your commitment and success. This method won’t stop you from needing to diet after next year’s holiday season, but it will make your next holiday season much more enjoyable.

Chances are that you will have to diet after the holidays. If you’re like me, that’s hard enough. No point in adding guilt to the mix. Try my method of dealing with holiday weight gains and see how your holiday season plays out this year. I’m confident you’ll have more fun, feel better and enjoy those once a year treats that we all love so much.

If your hair is medium to light brown or blonde, here is what you can do to add highlights to your hair naturally. Begin by finding a clean spray bottle. Make sure you write on the front of it with a permanent marker, something like, Lemon spray or Sun Highlight Spray.

Now you will want to create a mixture of 1 part lemon juice and 3 parts water. You can easily do this by using a 2 cup measuring cup. Just look at the measurements on the side and do the following. Fill it to the ½ cup mark with pure Lemon juice. Without dumping that out yet, go to your water source and fill the measuring cup with 1-1/2 cups of water. At this point your measuring cup should be showing the liquid at the 2 cup measurement line. Grab your spray bottle and pour the contents into it. Put the lid on securely and shake it up for a few seconds. That’s it! Now it’s time to put it on your hair.

There are many options to how you apply this to your hair. The most important thing is to do so before going out into the sun. The sun is going to boost the process of achieving natural highlights much faster than if you spray it on and sit in front of the TV for an hour or so. Simply comb or brush your hair smooth before spraying the solution on.

You can apply this to your hair before you leave the house, or take it with you. By taking it with you, you can spritz your hair throughout your day at the beach or beside the swimming pool. Plus, you’ll be smelling very sweet to everyone who walks by!

For a super natural looking head of highlights you can one of the following. Braid your long hair into two French braids, one on each side of your head. Or, just one long, thick braid down the back is fine to. By doing this, you are hiding some of your hair from this process, while exposing some of it to the sun and lemon juice. You can get a really nice “foiled highlight” look by doing this very simple hair style. If you can’t French braid, or braid your hair – try one big pony tail on top of your head. Time to head out to the sun! Don’t forget to take your spray bottle with you.

While sitting in the sun, you’ll want to spray your hair a few times throughout the afternoon. Make sure you don’t spray it in your eyes – this stuff will sting! If you decide to jump into the water and get your hair wet – you’ll want to reapply the lemon mixture again after drying off a bit. Simply spray it all over, then settle in for some more sun time.

After you get home you’ll want to spend a little extra time on your hair. Even though you didn’t use harsh chemicals, like those used at your salon, you’ll still want to condition your hair. Conditioning your hair makes it shine big time. Plus, you’ve just been in the sun and it will need that extra tender loving care conditioned provides the hair shaft.

Also, don’t grab the hair dryer too quickly. Maybe opt for sitting outside and running your hands through your hair while it dries instead. This should give you extra body while protecting your new highlights.

If you repeat this process a few more times, your natural hightlights should not only be bright and blonde, but shiny and healthy looking.

Just a note to you gals with darker hair. If you choose to do this process, you will probably see more of an auburn highlight result. Don’t expect blonde, as this can only be truly achieved from visiting your salon and using the stronger highlighting chemicals. Be careful, you don’t want to get those bright orange highlights, which can happen to women with darker hair when trying to add highlights to your hair naturally.

So, get to mixing, and braiding, then hit the beach. You’ll be saving money and time and at the same time, changing your hair color. It’s pretty easy to add highlights to your hair naturally. Women have been doing it for hundreds of years, long before there were salons. Have fun and good luck!

When someone decides to have their hair bleached out white, they are removing ALL of the pigment. As we age, hair looses its pigment. People often tell stories of how their hair suddenly turned gray after tragedy or cancer treatment. Although this can happen, it’s not an “over night” process. But rather something that happens over a few weeks, or even months.

Hair can turn gray for a very young adult, which is often called premature graying. This is not an indication of bad health, or even tragedy in their life. It could be simply genetics. Once your hair turns gray, it will not ever go back to being brown, or black or blonde again. Scientifically, this means that new melanin will not grow in a strand of gray hair.

Hormones play a big part in how and when hair turns gray. If you are lacking the hormone HGH, your hair color will change to gray as well as becoming much thinner. Women, who were brunettes before becoming pregnant, sometimes end up having a full head of salt and pepper gray when the baby is only a few months old. Clearly this shows how powerful hormones are. It’s not surprising that they can control the color of your hair.

Poor circulation has been blamed for hair turning gray. This claim is very popular in the Chinese medicine world. Stimulating your scalp, applying lotions and potions are among the many fixes.

How hair turns gray is not so much a mystery, but much more a part of the cycle of life. Gray hair gets a bad wrap in today’s society. It seems to indicate old age in a time when everyone wants to look younger, except for men of course. For men who are showing signs of gray in their hair – the world says he is distinguished and good looking.

There are clear scientific reasons your hair turns gray. The most popular being the loss of pigment in the hair follicle. Other scientific studies show that hormones and illness can cause hair to turn gray as well. Although not proven, it is still a popular belief that stress and sudden tragedy are reasons for hair turning gray.

Some other popular reasons why hair turns gray are smoking, Vitamin B deficiency, thyroid imbalance and of course genetics. So the next time you are stressing over why your hair is turning gray, calm down. You could only be making it worse!

Removing hair dye from skin
There are several ways you can keep this from occurring in the first place. And if it does occur, there are several tips for removing it. Of course, I’ll start with not letting it happen in the first place.

Protect the perimeter – This is number one! Before you even think about applying your own hair dye, choose a day that you have not washed your hair, or your face. The extra oil in your skin is going to act as a protective barrier to the hair color. If you have washed your hair and face, you can still protect it by applying a very thin layer of petroleum jelly around the perimeter of your face and neck. Don’t forget those ears!

If you don’t have petroleum jelly, you can also use hair conditioner or shampoo. Just make sure you put it on thin. Shampoo can stop the processing of the hair color, so make sure you don’t get it on your hair. Apply carefully, only on the skin. I’ve also found that a nice thin layer of thick moisturizer works too.

Even if you’re at the salon, don’t hesitate to remind your colorist. You’ll be sorry if she gets in a hurry and forgets. She probably has access to some brand name products found only at beauty supply stores. Some work well, others don’t. If she’s good, she’ll use the good stuff – plus not let it happen in the first place.

Just so you know – Black hair color dye is the worst. Even the best perimeter protection won’t totally keep this color of hair dye from soaking into your skin a little. Good news is, in the coming week after shampooing at home several times, it will come off.

After the fact removal – At home colorist will want to save the dye not used on your hair. Take a junk soft cloth, wrap it around your index finger and dip the tip of your finger into the hair dye. Now rub this into the stain around your face or the stains on your neck or ears. Don’t use a lot. The saying is “color removes color.” Or, hair dye removes hair dye. You will actually see it coming off.

Shampoo can be used the same way. In fact, if you get into the shower to do the final color rinse, make sure you scrub a little extra around the perimeter of your face and neck – don’t forget those ears.

And for goodness sakes, don’t ever apply hair dye without wearing gloves! But if you do – try making a concoction of clothes washing detergent, dandruff shampoo and a little hair conditioner. Wash your hands, rinse really well, and then follow up with some good hand lotion.

YouTube is a site where anyone can post any video – so long as it does not violate the rules of YouTube, which are quite liberal. People post everything imaginable on YouTube. There are videos of birthday parties, dogs and cats doing tricks, car wrecks, stupid stunts, and anything else you can think of. Most of it is, in my opinion, not worth the bandwidth.

But YouTube also offers an extensive library of very helpful and/or educational videos. Some are done by amateurs, others by professionals. The list of topics covered is endless.

If you like to cook, YouTube is rich with videos on how to make different things. Everything from grandma’s biscuits to fast beef stew and grilled cheese sandwiches are on line to watch. You can also learn how to use your Cuisinart or Dutch oven.

Wanna learn about economics? Try visiting Americanpublicmedia and watching a video on hedge funds or mortgages. Paddy Hirsch does a great job of making complicated things easy to understand.

Do-it-yourselfers will find anything they could want to know on YouTube. How to change light switches, build walls and install air conditioning are all there – and too many more to list here – or anywhere.

There are also videos covering things like: how to play the guitar, and numerous other instruments; how to invest; how to do your hair and makeup; how to solve your Rubik’s Cube; how to use your video camera; everything conceivable about computers and video game playing – and the list goes on and on. 

The next time you’d like to learn by watching, you might check out YouTube. Just search for your topic and then find the videos that best suite your interest.

In an article on saving energy, I came across one really easy way to save a lot of power. The article suggest using a thermal carafe to keep your morning coffee hot instead of leaving your coffee pot turned on. This got me to wondering how much power my coffee maker uses. I looked around on the cooker maker until I found the notation that it consumes 850 watts.

If I turn off my coffee maker and pour my coffee into a carafe to keep it hot, I will run my coffee maker about 1-hour less every day of the month – as I never do without my morning coffee. That equates to about 25,500 watts per month of saved energy. That’s 25.5 kwh!

You can check your own monthly utility bill to see how much you pay for a kwh of electricity and determine exactly how much this one simple act will save you. Of course if your coffee maker uses more electricity than mine does, you’ll save more. I have a really cheap drip coffee maker, and I doubt any models use less electricity.

The same article that mentions using a carafe speaks of numerous other power saving ideas. Some were really simple, and some not so simple. You can give it a full read at: http://www.mymilescity.com/solar_wind_power/free-ways-to-save-energy-2.htm. All of the suggestions are cost free – something I really appreciate. This also means I don’t have to compute a payback time on something, such as an energy efficient refrigerator or freezer. Not that such things are bad, but who can afford to go out and spend $600 to save $50 a year?

One of the great things about saving on your power bill is ‘instant gratification.’ You don’t have to wait for years, or even months to see the difference – and pocket the difference. You start saving money in the first month, and it’s something you can see, measure and appreciate.

Right now, saving power is something we get to choose to do, but with increased power consumption and a weakening power grid, it may soon become something we are forced to do. Maybe if we all start saving now, that day will never come.

And don’t forget that saving power is also good for the environment!

Ingredients:

3-cloves garlic, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 4-ounce can green chilies, chopped

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 16-ounce can stew tomatoes, chopped

1 10-ounce can Rotel tomatoes, chopped

6 cups of chicken stock or broth

4 cups of chicken meat – You can use canned Cooked Chicken or if you have time – cook a whole chicken in a big stock pot. De-bone and save the liquid.

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

½ tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon lemon pepper

¼ teaspoon Tabasco

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Optional:

6 corn tortillas, cut into strips

Optional Garnishes:

Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Sour cream

Avocado, chopped

Tortilla chips

Instructions:

Simmer garlic, onion, and green chilies in oil in a large soup pot until onions are tender, about 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except seasonings and tortilla strips. Bring to boil. Add seasonings and simmer 1 hour. About 15 minutes before it is done, add the tortilla strips – if you want. Serve with a garnish of your choice.

This is going to make you a bunch of soup. A family of four can eat off this for about three days. If you don’t’ already have a runny nose from the cold weather, this stuff will take care of that – keep the tissues nearby! Yummy stuff for sure!

Ushering in the New Year with a list of self-improving resolutions is a fine idea. It’s a really natural concept, if you think about it. The year is new and fresh, and it’s good time to put old things behind and start anew. But it’s not really a magical time of the year when, if we say we’ll do something, we’ll absolutely do it. So the first thing to bear in mind when making your New Year resolutions is to be realistic. First, keep the list of resolutions realistic. Second, keep the list short.

If you’re twenty pounds overweight, and your number one New Year resolution is to lose weight, don’t commit to losing twenty pounds by January 31^st. Rather, pick a realistic goal like three pounds by January’s end. This way, your motivation will remain high, and you’ll most likely succeed. Your success will give you the foundation to keep losing weight for the rest of the year. Success is a great motivator!

If you really want to keep your New Year resolutions in 2009, then make it a serious (and fun) project. Make a list of your resolutions – and then edit it. Don’t just keep adding to the list. Pare off some of the things out of deference to more important goals. Try to end up with a list that has five items or less. If you’re list has twenty resolutions, you likely will not even be able to remember them all – much less succeed at them all. Once you start to fail at items on your list, the failure will spread to other items. Nothing breeds failure like failure.

Try to list and achieve less gargantuan New Year resolutions. It might sound good to list: quit smoking; lose weight; re-roof the house – and climb Mount Everest, but your chances of accomplishing all of these goals diminishes each time you add one. Consider New Year resolutions such as: spend more time with the kids; do something special for my spouse each month; spend one hour a week less playing video games or watching TV; go for a walk once a week, or maybe quit eating (your fast food, snack food or candy obsession goes here) so often.

Remember that list of 2009 New Year resolutions you worked so hard to compile and edit? Be sure to read it occasionally. Perhaps consider putting it on your refrigerator door, or your desk. If you accomplish one of the resolutions, then cross it off, but leave it on the list. Success breeds success, and you should be reminded of your achievement.

Share some or all of your 2009 New Year resolutions with family or friends. Chances are they’ll help you remember them. Think of it as a support system. Kids are great at reminding adults of their spoken commitments, though they can be a tad tactless, even acerbic, at times.

If you’d like to try something new on this year’s list of New Year resolutions, try making one with someone. That is to say, make a New Year resolution with your spouse to spend 30-minutes every weekend just talking, or playing a game, or walking together. Perhaps make a resolution with one of your children about doing something special together every week. Maybe make one with your in-laws about not arguing so much, or a productive one with a co-worker. The opportunities are endless, and the chances of success are amplified by the fact that two people will be directing attention to the same resolution.

Making New Year resolutions is not a necessity. It is not something you have to do to be accepted. Not making New Year resolutions does not make you a bad person, and does not leave you desperate and ostracized. It’s simply part of the holiday of the New Year. It’s supposed to be fun – while at the same time being rewarding.

A 2009 New Year resolution is like a promise you make to yourself. Keeping promises made to anyone is quite important. But keeping promises to yourself is absolutely critical. So make realistic, rewarding, fun promises to yourself, and then keep them. After all, if you can’t count on yourself, who can you count on?