Where In The World is Obama's Birth Certificate? REALLY?!?

Have (uber-wealthy) Americans lost their minds? I have been catching up on news now that Comcast reduced my cable bill.  I watch tv daily on netflix for around $15 bucks a month but I will admit,  I am thrilled to have my MSNBC back.

But let me get this straight?!?   Trump is running all over the country wondering "Where in The World is Obama's Birth Certificate?"

News flash BIG EGO, we already elected the man the PRESIDENT of the United States. You are good at making money and if you could just keep your mouth shut and have some respect, you would have had my vote because I want a real businessperson to LEAD this country.  Kudos to Seinfeld for being a good human being.

However, regardless of whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or you belong to The Rent Is Too Damn High Party, WE ALL need to stop spending so much. Like every single one of us. Let's just stop the spending and the taxes and who pays what and blah blah blah. I think government health care is a pretty lofty goal and a great one but WE CANNOT AFFORD IT right now.

And I wish Sarah Palin would just move to Russia because she can already she it from her house.  Why doesn't she just have her own talk show and get out of the Politics Show Business?  Seinfeld or Tina Fey or someone with a real brain upstairs, can't one of you just give her a show and get her out of our way?  I bet even now in 2011 that woman still doesn't even read Newsweek or The Wall Street Journal.  She just keeps on tweeting away because 140 characters or less is about her attention span for reading.

Then I hear that Obama paid over 400K in taxes because he finally is making the big bucks now. He may not have ever run a small business but I give him credit because he is a good man trying to do good for all of us. Just think how many jobs he could have created instead with that 400K. Why should we protect the "wealthy?" The people who make over 250K, not all but MANY of them, employ the other Americans who make less.  Why is this like such a mystery to most of us?

Obama just gets it and he is a pleasure to watch. This whole country called America was built by FOREIGNERS who came here to be free and to be citizens.  Americans were all created equal so for God's sake could we all start acting like it here?

So many, many people suffered and died for our right to vote. Let's just all work together.

I would run for any office right now if I thought I could actually make a difference for my fellow Americans who live on MAIN STREET. I have never even been to WALL STREET. But those are the peeps the whole country bailed out because that is how the unbelievably mega-rich Americans guarantee that whatever they want gets into law.

Taxes should not be raised on the middle class wealthy (if you make $250K but you have four kids to put through college and a mortgage and need to feed six people three times a day and gas up two cars you are NOT really wealthy).  And if this whole country doesn't realize that pretty damn fast, then my fave Stephen Colbert will be right when he quipped during the last election, "Who knew there even still was a Middle Class?" 

And don't even get me started about Deval. If you are a Bostonian like me, you might also be fed up with our hometown rock star.   I know another guy with six mouths to feed and he just sent his first of four to college this year.  He is an American who doesn't even make 100K so he has to scrimp and save and his wife works whenever he isn't at his job but they are doing it so that all of his kids will have the opportunity at a great education because he didn't get one. Deval Patrick thinks that we should pay for illegal immigrant's children to go to school so that they get a chance here too?  Well Ladee freakin dahh, but who the hell is going to pay for all of that?  

I have been fortunate enough to have travelled all over this country in the past few years and I can tell you that the only recession proof zip codes are in the Washington DC area because they are all on the government payroll.  If you don't have to actually measure up and earn your paycheck, you probably have a state job.

I know a woman my age with an MBA who has a state job and actually said to me in 2010, "I just vote Democrat because that is the way I am supposed to vote because I need to protect my job."  What the heck?!?

Who does she think pays for her cushy job and pension?  Mickey Mouse?  Someone from Mars?  Sarah Palin's Russian Neighbors?  No sweetheart, it is ALL OF US you silly, silly woman.

This recession has been a complete nightmare for MOST of us.  I have seen parents lose their life savings and their homes.  I have had a hard time making ends meet and buying groceries.  I have seen friends laid off or having to move back in with their parents.  I have seen way too many Main Street businesses just close up shop and go out of business.

However, as Saul Bellow, a famous writer who lived through the Great Depression put it in answer to why he chose to become a writer:  It was The Great Depression and there were no jobs anyway so you just got to pick what you wanted and I chose Writer.

If there was ever a time for Entrepreneurship in America, THIS IS IT PEOPLE.  Go be whatever you want to be while you work part time here or reduced hours there or whatever you can to pay your bills right now and feed your kids.  But once the whole thing ends, and all bad things eventually come to an end too, you will have the career/job/business/lifestyle/dreamscometrue that you always wanted.  Ask the Universe for what you want but be very prepared to work HARD to achieve it.  No more handouts.  I love this country because we can afford to take care of those who truly need our help.  But if you don't need the aid, just stop taking it and get a J.O.B.

2012 is going to be one hell of a wild ride.  I can't even wait to see what Seth Meyers has to say about all of this tomorrow night!   


5/3/11 UPDATE:  Here's what Seth had to say:  http://youtu.be/7YGITlxfT6s

"And my socks are never clean."

I just love Miss Pink.  I find her lyrics randomly following me in my day-to-day life.  "I can't take direction and my socks are never clean."  In fact, whenever I run low on black socks (and I wear them every single day), I often just go buy more.  The trick is to buy all the same kind so that you never have two socks that don't match each other (I can't stand when that happens).  Pick a style either ribbed or not ribbed, silky or matte and just stick with it.

Target and Sears are the best places for good quality low-cost socks.  I prefer Gold Toe brand products and if there is a better sale on them in the Men's department rather than in the Women's department, then I just buy the "Men's" ones (Ssshhh, there is no difference).  http://www.goldtoe.com/

When I finally get around to doing laundry, I am amazed at how many (matching) black socks I have!

Just another tip from Boston's LAZIEST Diva!  --Shannon

how early can you buy alcohol in massachusetts

9am unless it is Sunday.  If you are in dire need of libations, drive to Salem, NH or Plaistow, NH.  You can "Live Free or Die" there much easier than those of us in Boston.  In New Hampshire, alcohol is sold pretty much everywhere (gas stations, pharmacies etc.). 
And Kappy's (a Boston staple) apparently will deliver to your party:  http://kappys.com/oncall.htmlHere's my local stop:  http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3715351478/mc-donoughs-liquors-wakefield
And a "wicked" cute wine shop near me:  http://nastynonnis.com/

Why I am done with Yelp.

I loved to Yelp to give local small businesses that gave me
great service a leg up online.  I just learned yesterday however that Yelp filters what we write.  They filter the good reviews.  Why?

The almighty dollar kids. Yelp wants business owners to purchase a business listing.  If a business does this, they release the good filtered reviews.  Instant good Yelp profile if you pay for it.  They are currently being sued by businesses over this as I blog.

Want further proof? One of my clients, Moynihan Lumber of Beverly, has a horrible Yelp
rating page.  My professor showed me how to check for the unfiltered results on Yelp. The result?  A stellar Yelp rating page for Moynihan Lumber of Beverly with four great reviews to counter the one bad review.  I was shocked. 

Yelpers beware.  Your
hard work and witty banter may be hidden while Yelp corporate keeps good
reviews hostage for pay.

Fashion Tips From A Lazy Diva

People always give me compliments on my smile, my hair and my little sparkly dresses, so here goes: 

You do not need to spend thousands on blowouts and shampoos.  The less you
do to your hair the better it will be (sorry hair salons).  If you keep
coloring it  and stressing it out how can you expect it to be shiny and
silky.  I buy shampoo  at CVS (my favorite is currently Suave Professionals Rosemary & Mint Shampoo  Invigorating Clean (about $2 a bottle at www.cvs.com) It's a  knockoff of Aveda shampoos.  The smell and tingle feels amazing and it cleans my  hair.  I don't use conditioner but rather Moroccan Oil just after my shower  before blowdrying.  To me it is a splurge (the
large bottle runs about $40 www.moroccanoil.com  ) and I love the way it works.  It is available at hair salons, but it  is worth every penny.  My hair has never felt silkier.  And a little drop goes a  long way. 

 

You don't need to spend $300 on a fancy hair straightening iron  either.  I
got mine at JCPenney.com ( www.jcpenney.com ) for around $30 if I
remember correctly

As for my skin,  I use Oil of Olay products (Olay Complete Moisturizing  Lotion with SPF 15, 4 oz., $7.69 www.target.com )  The reason?  My Mom used Oil of Olay her whole life and she always looked about 15 years younger than her friends.  I remember having to
tell a nun in  high school my Mom's age for something and the nun accused me of lying to her!   I was way to young to lie about age back then and I was a scared Catholic who  never lied anyway. 

 

My whole body is moisturized every day with whatever deal I  can find on body lotion
since I go through it like it was water.  My favorites  are Victoria's Secret body lotions (5 bottles for $30 www.victoriassecret.com ) in Amber Romance and Love Spell as  well as Target brand lavender baby lotion which it appears you have to buy in  store ( $2 a bottle, www.target.com for  locations). 

I am a fanatic about smelling like a woman so I do love body spritzes and perfumes.  My favorite of all time is Obsession for Women by Calvin Klein (or if  I having a bad day, it's more like Compulsion by Calvin Kleen!).  However, don't buy it at  Macy's or Nordstrom's or even The Perfume Factory.  The cheapest place is good  'ol Amazon.com.  You can get a $75 bottle for around $40 or less if you don't mind a tester bottle that doesn't come with the pretty brown egg top.  I always recommend shopping around online for the best designer fragrance deal.  Some new  scents are not discounted at all but others will be depending on where you buy  them.  For example, Macy's may charge a higher cost for J. Lo
fragrances which  are also sold for less at Kohl's and CVS.  

Other that that fragrance indulgence, I like Ciara by Revlon and Sunflowers by Elizabeth Arden (which come in inexpensive gift sets every fall at CVS and  Walgreen's).  If you like a light scent, I would suggest Victoria's Secret  Heavenly (no matter how many perfumes they release per year, this will ALWAYS be  their best one!) or Baby Soft (CVS or
Walgreens).  And shop for perfume on December 26th and February 15th.  I purchased a huge bottle of  Sunflowers and a bottle of Britney Spears Fantasy for $1.50 each on the  clearance aisle at CVS the day after Valentine's Day.  I smell great and it cost  me less than my iced coffee this morning! For the man in your life, I have a fabulous recommendation.  I bought my brother a cologne kit last Christmas from Sephora.  (Sephora's Collector Edition Fragrance Sampler for Him $75 although for some reason I think I only paid $50)  The guy gets to sample 7 top-selling fragrances and then pick his favorite.  Basically, it came with all these little vials of the latest colognes along with a gift card.  He simply tried the ones in the kit, picked his favorite and got to go to Sephora and trade in the gift card for a full-size bottle of his favorite cologne.  Genius!

My favorite foundation is an Oil of Olay/Cover girl product called Simply
Ageless Foundation with SPF 22.  Again, it's a drugstore product.  I try to buy two at a time when they do a buy one, get one half off sale.  For lipstick and  eyeshadows, I like Estee Lauder but I only buy it once a year when they do the  holiday blockbuster.  You get hundreds of dollars worth of makeup for around $75 to $100 depending on which
fragrance item you buy in order to qualify to buy the  blockbuster kit.  I spent $75 last year since I only had to buy a Youth Dew  deodorant to qualify and I loved that deodorant to boot!  Victoria's Secret also has great-pigmented eyeshadows and sexy lipstick shades and their makeup kit is  available online for only $44.  I have it and I love it. 

One blush I think is too expensive but I haven't found anything I like better yet is Nars Super Orgasm which you can purchase at Sephora for $27 ( http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P221753&categoryId=B70 ). Be careful though.  I have seen many a woman go in for one item and spend  hundreds on non-essentials because that place is like a candy store for grown-ups!  

All of my clothing, pocketbooks, bathing suits, makeup and even some shoes,
I  get online at VictoriasSecret.com because their clothes simply fit my body type.  They now have a Pink line that is popular with tweens and teens but I have been  told by my cousins with daughters that age that it is overpriced and not of as  good quality as the women's clothing.  I realize most people like to try things on but I suggest finding what brand of clothing fits you consistently and then buy one outfit online and if it fits you well, keep shopping at that site. 

 

The reason I say that is because I shop online and leave things in my cart.  I keep 
going back until the item goes on sale or clearance and snap it up for
so much  less than what I would have paid in store.  I am too lazy to
physically go  shopping weekly and this makes it so easy for me.  Also,
the more loyal I am to  a brand (like Macys.com Inc Shop and Victoria's
Secret Angels Club), the more  coupons, free gifts, and discount codes
they send me.  I got three beautiful  cashmere sweaters from Macys.com
for $40 each on December 26th.  Even that  bargain surprised me and I do
this all the time. 

Ahhh the spa!  I have in recent years been treating myself to much needed 
massages.  The benefits for me often last a whole week.  I never pay
full price  though and that also gives me a relaxing benefit!  Sign up for www.groupon.com  and www.where.com for daily deals in your area and scoop up half off massages and spa
treatments.  Spa  owers are thrilled to have new customers and will
often set up special pricing  for you even after the first deal if you
agree to so many treatments per year.  

 

I know a woman who spent $300 for professional teeth whitening but I found a spa that did mine for $69.  They were running a special facebook promotion to see if it would bring them any business.  It did.  I thought it was quite the indulgence but the results  were so fantastic that I am glad I did it.  And that was truly a Lazy Diva move.  The whole process took twenty minutes!  Much easier than using the two week $50 kits from CVS.  

That's all for now kids!  I may amend as I think of more fantastic bargains.  I 
could never pay full price even if I could afford to.  Having been raised by my Mom and my Nana and taught to shop Filene's Basement in Boston and Macy's sales at the North Shore Mall in Peabody, if I did, I am sure I could hear them rolling over in  their graves so eerily that I would probably go back and return the item!