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I’d like to start by wishing our blog contributors’ moms a very Happy Mother’s Day:

• Rose Sept
• Ana Lau
• Molly Gonzales
• Penny Lovell
• Audrey Okubo
• Kathi Conroy

For everyone who just realized Mother’s Day is this weekend, I’d like to help you out. At Shopping.com we just did a consumer survey finding that on Mother’s Day, most moms would prefer to receive a spa day or go on family outing over a vacation away from the kids. So, time together and pampering will be key. Also, in case you don’t want to be one-upped by a sibling, people are planning to spend up to $50 on their Mother’s Day gifts.

In a similar survey conducted by the National Retail Federation with BIGResearch, nearly 20 percent of shoppers plan to pamper their moms by giving them a certificate to a spa or beauty salon this year, up more than five percent from last year.

Here are some sure fire ways to pamper moms this Mother’s Day:

• Spa Gift Certificate: Purchase Spa Finder gift certificates that can be used at more than 3,600 spas worldwide. Great for pedicures to princess-level pampering, they work for many price ranges, from $50-$1,000, in increments of $25. Consider making it a mother/child outing by signing up for matching treatments.
• Versatile Gift Card: Most retailers (large or small) offer gift cards which are no longer thought of as a “non-thoughtful” gift. They come in any denomination and moms can pick out what she wants when she wants.
• Dear Mom Message In A Bottle: A creative alternative to flowers, this 7 1/2″ glass bottle is full of fun and surprises direct from the tropics with sand and real seashells, beach umbrella, even the quintessential palm tree…and of course, your very own “message in a bottle.” Express shipping is available,
• Digital Picture Frame: Showcase family photos throughout the years. You can load the pictures for mom to make it even more special. Some merchants are offering free shipping.
• Spend Time Together: Make her breakfast in bed, help her run errands, take her to shopping or to a chick-flick movie…basically do whatever she wants.

Remember, it’s all about showing your appreciation. So tell her what she means to you. Happy Mother’s Day!

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This week, the blogosphere shares gift ideas for Mom:

Stylehive showcases this adorable Jigsaw Cookie Cutter by Cox & Cox that is fun for moms and kids. The basic heart-shaped cookie cutter is old news…this “puzzling” shape gives everyone an excuse to play with their food!

FabSugar touts polka-dotted Neiman Marcus umbrellas in its Mommy Dearest Gift Guide. Why? Because Mom would never pay $70 for a fancy umbrella, but she’d be happy to accept one as a gift.

Goodyblog sports a gift that all new moms deserve: a fabulous diaper bag! With this Marc Jacobs diaper bag, she can still look great while doing the “dirty work.”

TheMakeupGirl highlights Sephora’s Fragrance Gift Certificate as a perfect Mother’s Day “Giftie.” Sample sizes of Sephora’s top-ten selling fragrances are accompanied by a Sephora gift card so Mom can buy the one she likes best!

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Lucite is showing up everywhere this season, but there is a bit of confusion about what it actually is. So here’s the skinny: it’s plastic. DuPont invented Lucite in 1931 and started manufacturing everything from airplane windshields to jewelry with it. The plastic is still used for a million things, including accessories. The pieces out right now seem both modern and vintage, and are easy to work into your wardrobe.

Necklace

Load up Lucite necklaces and wear them with everything from jeans and t-shirts to day dresses at summer weddings. Mix shapes and sizes to capture the eclectic vibe of spring fashion.

Heels

It may not always feels like you’re walking on air, but in Lucite heels it will at least look like you are. Combine the Lucite trend with the wedge heel trend to appear twice as stylish with half the purchases.

Purse

My problem with most plastic purses is that everyone can see what’s in your bag. If you choose a printed one, your contents are concealed, but you still get the look of the season.

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Ne-Yo, the 25-year old pop star from Las Vegas, Nevada has created quite a legacy for himself in such a short time in the music industry. As a singer, he’s been nominated for a Grammy award for his rookie album In My Own Words which is now double platinum. As a song writer, he’s written songs for the likes of Chris Brown, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and has supposedly written a song for the Britney Spears comeback album. With his second album, Because Of You, he’s established himself as no one hit wonder. According to Billboard.com, the album opened up at number 1 on the Billboard 200 selling just over 250,000 copies, besting jazz singer Michael Buble’s Call Me Irresponsible.

Epinions reviewer Speeddemon531 gives the album 4 out of a possible 5 stars, but says it’s not too different from his first album and he doesn’t stray from the template that made him successful.

Speeddemon531 says:

The fact that Ne-Yo doesn’t stray far from the template that made his first album a success turns out to be both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, it’s nice to hear that Ne-Yo hasn’t lost his gift for melody and that his voice is still supple and boyish in a way that STRONGLY recalls Michael Jackson circa 1980. On the other hand, “Because Of You” occasionally feels like a retread, or at the very least it sounds like Ne-Yo’s playing it safe and not challenging himself very much.

He also says that Ne-Yo’s influences are very transparent and that the album is a near “Michael Jackson tribute album”. The album was released to the stores on May 1, 2007. You can buy it on Shopping.com.

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Snoop around my kitchen and you’ll find drawers packed with cooking tchotchkes and cabinets of eclectic appliances. I might suffer from an unhealthy addiction to kitchen gadgets, but that won’t stop me from sharing some of my very favorites with y’all.

The Perfect Slice

I adore a great cobb or chef salad, and one key ingredient in both is a hard-boiled egg. But don’t just chop it up haphazardly or throw it in whole. Use a precise egg slicer to instantly turn that egg into uniform sheets of tasty protein. Often after slicing an egg horizontally, I’ll turn it and slice it again vertically in order to get mini-pieces to garnish a salad. You can even use these tools to slice mushrooms and strawberries. Chefs Catalog offers a sturdy stainless steel version for $16.99, but you can also find a plastic version with steel blades for prices under $5.

Freshly Squeezed

Do you ever make recipes that call for 1 TBSP of fresh lemon or lime juice? It’s not enough juice to justify pulling out your electric juicer, yet squeezing by hand is such a pain. Enter the hand juicer. Appropriately sized for oranges, lemons or limes, these handy juicers require, well, just your hands! Place half of a citrus fruit (cut-side down) in the juicer and close it tight to extract all the fresh stuff, without letting the seeds wiggle their way into your recipe. This is especially handy when squeezing a bag of limes for a pitcher of mojitos in the absence of an electric juicer. Sur La Table offers three different sizes of hand juicers at varying prices.

The Crown Jewel

One of my kitchen prep pet peeves is slicing veggies when making scalloped potatoes or zucchini au gratin. I once had to thinly slice eight large potatoes by hand for a Tortilla Espanola and the task seemed interminable. Never again. My mandoline tops my kitchen gadget list, hands down. This baby will cut your work in half and make it look professional too! Once you attach a fruit or vegetable to the safe “pusher”, simply slide it back and forth over the cutting blade and voila, you’ve got perfectly sliced anything. You can easily adjust the thickness of your slices, and even get fancy and create julienne strips, ridge cuts and french fries. Mandolines usually fold down for easy storage and are sold by various Shopping.com merchants for a range of price points.

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In my mind, it used to be that really great shoes had to have at least a 3-inch heel, so pointy that Sharon Stone might reconsider the ice pick as her weapon of choice. Flats were for beach vacations, rumpled Sunday morning trips to the supermarket. Certainly not for fashion.

Then my mind changed when my job moved me to New York City, a mecca for the style-obsessed. Here, I found what I’d anticipated - sexy city women teetering atop their stiletto towers as they hurried along Fifth Avenue or strolled the West Village. But, I also spotted something shocking - a proliferation of chic flats. Women of all ages and fashion sensibilities are donning flats for their morning commutes, afternoon shop-a-thons and weekend evenings out.

No matter where you live, whether you walk 10 blocks to your destination or 10 feet to get in your car, flats make a fashion statement. No longer frumpy and functional, with creative embellishments, wild fabrics and new shapes, it is the season of the flat! So join your flat-footed sisters and check out some of these must-have styles.

Work Flats - When wearing flats to the office, going for professional, slightly conservative looks DOES NOT have to mean plain. Express yourself with ornamentation or a unique toe. Pair a pointy toe style with slim pants, or an open toe with a tailored pencil skirt.

Play Flats - Anything goes on the weekends! Experiment with bright patterns and colors when wearing flats with jeans and A-line skirts.

Evening Flats - Who says you have to wear foot-killing stilettos to stand on line for that hot new club or crowd around the bar at your favorite hip watering hole? An outrageous flat will leave a lasting impression on your fellow revelers, without leaving blisters on your feet.

Splurge Flats - A carefully selected pair of flats can be a great investment piece for your wardrobe. Choose a style that can survive any season, no matter what the current trends, and spend a little more for quality, to ensure they’ll last as long as you love them.

Expert Shopping Tip: When selecting a pair of flats, look for at least a 3/4-inch or 1-inch heel. Wearing shoes that are too flat can cause back pain.

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Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant lead this week’s list of DVD releases. Here are the top three DVD movie releases for this week and reviews of them from the Epinions.com community.

Because I Said So

Starring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore, this 2007 romantic comedy features Keaton playing a mother raising three daughters. She is a well-intended mom who drives her daughters crazy by being so involved in their lives. Directed by Michael Lehmann (Heathers) and released during Super Bowl weekend to the theaters, the movie went on to earn just over $40 million in the box office.

Epinions Reviews for Because I Said So

Music And Lyrics

Hugh Grant plays an old pop star in need of being relevant in the music scene. He is given a chance at making a comeback, but has to write a song for a pop diva and is struggling with it. Drew Barrymore’s Sophie Fisher helps him find his writing spirit. Written and directed by Marc Lawrence, the film opened well at nearly $20 million, but soon fizzled out, ending at just over $50 million in US box office dollars.

Epinions Reviews For Music And Lyrics

Catch And Release

This was the directorial debut for Susannah Grant, who is best known for writing Erin Brockovich. It stars Jennifer Garner as a woman grieving the loss of her fiance who turns to his friends for support. The film also stars Juliette Lewis and Garner’s husband’s buddy, Kevin Smith. Smith was cast supposedly after Grant saw him on his DVD Q/A session, An Evening With Kevin Smith.

Write The First Review For Catch And Release On Epinions

If you are a movie buff and would like to add your two cents about a good or bad movie, join Epinions.com and start writing reviews!

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Last week, we found costume jewelry and real gems that will quickly become your new best friend:

Splendora touts Richard Hutten’s Allumonde Ring designed exclusively for DESIGN21, a design community that connects members, socially conscious individuals, local governments, businesses and NPOs to address social concerns and create smart solutions through design.

Delight.com spotlights Danielle Maveal’s Kissing Fish necklace with etched design on silver to bring you back to your BFF friendship bracelet days.

Stylehive.com highlights Marc Jacob’s bright red cherry shaped Pendant Watch. Quite fruitylicious, it has a stainless steel chain and is designed to be worn as a necklace.

The Jewelry District, by eBay’s Jewelry Style Director Sandra Graham, showcases spring must-haves such as colorful fun watches, jeweled flowers, pearls from ladylike to funky, and a black spiky necklace by Anna Sui.

The Budget Fashionista styles yellow gold circle vermeil genuine diamond accent earrings that can be worn with casual or fancy attire.

The Runway Scoop sports Etsy’s olive green, pink and purple crystal beaded watch.

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