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My mom is still recuperating in the hospital after Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) kept her there for almost 2 months. I have stayed with her as often as possible during this difficult time. However, what I regret not being able to do is give her flowers to brighten her day and tell her how much I care. I have never been good with words and it would have made up for my inability to tell her how I feel. The doctors explicitly forbid any type of flower or fruit to be brought in her room for fear that it will cause infection to her immuno-compromised state. Not even a single rose was allowed.  They did promise to allow it once her condition improves. Now, I eagerly await that day when I can give her roses and carnations to tell her that we will always be there for her.

Flowers for your loved ones are now very convenient to purchase. You don’t need to go to the flower shop and make your choice or wait until they have finished arranging it to make sure it is ok. Now, you can make your purchase online and have it delivered just as fresh as the day they were picked. The perfect online store to get flowers is 1800flowers.com. The site offers roses, carnations, daisies, and so many gorgeous flowers to make anyone smile. If you prefer some variety, they also offer flowering plants and fruit baskets for your special someone. You can make your choice from different categories. You can either choose by occasion, by flowers or plants, or by arrangement. I absolutely love their Martha Stewart collection. My mom would adore that Martha Stewart arrangement with peppermints and a different shade of pink rose scattered over the bouquet. They have so many flowers and arrangement to choose from that it would be hard just to pick one.

Make someone special happy and send them flowers from 1800flowers.com. I would definitely buy the rose in my life the best flowers they have to brighten her day in the hospital.  In this case, flowers are worth more than a thousand words.

Merchants such as department stores, groceries, and shopping malls spend millions on advertising with the intent to draw more customers in. With retail shopping on a downturn due to the recession, it becomes more critical for these stores to get bulk of the market share and get ahead of competition. Most of them realize that aside from offering good prices on products and service, a customer unconsciously notices other factors that can affect her choice. Most of the time, stores disregard cleanliness, courtesy of salespeople, and other minor details that can affect customer choice. A cheerful and courteous parking attendant can sometimes make a difference whether a customer returns to your store or not. Note that the customer is usually unaware that the choice was prompted by that smiling valet that greeted her with a sincere good morning the last time she visited. These likewise lead to word of mouth marketing that can sometimes be more valuable than that commercial a merchant pays for with an arm and a leg for televiewers. Read the rest of this entry »

With the continuous increase in computer literacy worldwide and the internet draws in more people, Izea capitalized on the technology, bringing advertising to new levels. While advertising on print and the airwaves remains the most popular choice for advertising, there is no doubt that advertisers are now seeing the potential of blog marketing. Besides being relatively inexpensive, it manages to be effective with the blogosphere expanding significantly on a daily basis. These means that blogging is becoming a worldwide phenomenon that encourages people to read and write via the internet.

Why is the blogosphere expanding? Other than the continued increase of internet surfers worldwide, blogs sometimes prove more informative than your local newspaper. As a matter of fact, news and reports are more updated in blogs than it is in print. You get the news in real time, while it will likely be a day late in print. And the truth is, the internet is now more accessible to more people rather than television or radio. Every progressive company now provides its employees with computers and access to the internet. By the time you reach home to watch the news, you’ve already read it in cyberspace. Read the rest of this entry »

After “Sex and the City”, there are talks that “Friends” will follow suit with a movie to reunite the group. Though these are still rumors, filming is said to start anytime within the next 18 months. Though there has been no confirmation, it may have just been sparked by the success of Sex and the City.

There are mixed reactions about the report. But it is certain that any fan of the 6 quirky New Yorkers will rejoice. At last, no more reruns or dvds.

Smoking is bad for your health.  There is no question to that.  But so are many other things in life.  Alcohol is even worse — it can bring you to rehab.  Medicine can be bad too — it damages your liver and one type almost killed my mom and cost us more than an arm and a leg.  Eating can be bad if overdone.  Sports can cause injury or ruin your knees or elbows.  The sun can even cause cancer.  Yet, smoking has been discriminated and picked on like the ebola virus.

You know what else is considered the leading cause of disease and death?  Stress and depression.  I mentioned this because it is stress and loneliness that smokers mostly try to remedy.  I’m not trying to make excuses because I used to smoke.  When I analyzed what led me to it, I realized it was my inability to accept that I had problems and that I was a sad person.  Smoking takes care of boredom and it helps people to relax.  Whatever other people say, it helped me to cope.

Then again, some people say that processed cigarettes are more dangerous because they are not natural.  So, is it better to smoke cigars?  Some say yes, others say no because of the stronger nicotine levels.  If cigar is better, why not?   It will do what cigarettes do best — take away stress and avoid depression.  A cigar is substantially more expensive than cigarettes.  Cigar lovers claim that the flavor is worth the price. They also come in different varieties depending mostly on where they were harvested from.  Cuban cigars are considered the best in the world.  They are a symbol of opulence and extravagance.

Famous-smoke.com offers cigars online  at very competitive prices.  Their inventory consists of all major cigar brand, including the best Cuban Cohiba and Macanudo cigars.  Aside from big discounts, they also offer the special Create-a-Sampler promo where you get to choose the cigars that you want with big savings.  Moreover, their website offers special deals and other features such as an auction, monster deals on specific brands, and other freebies that come with buying a box of some brands of cigars.  If you are a newbie, you can also click on the cigar advisor for some Q&A.

If you are an aficionado, you understand why famous-smoke.com  is a blessing to so many cigar smokers out there.  I haven’t tried one for fear that I might like them too much.  Anyway, I will end this post with a trivia for everyone.  Did you know that the most expensive cigar in the world cost $18,860 per box for 40 cigars?  That is $440 per tobacco if you do the math.  These are the “Behike” which are Cuban Cohiba cigars.  There are only 4,000 pieces in existence and was made by El Laguito in Havana.  However, no one knows if it is the best because no one has dared lit one yet because of the limited supply.  Well, every type of collector is weird.  Keeping it away may increase the value anyway and make it an investment.

Summer is the season of great movies and blockbusters. This year we’ve got quite a variety of films that have tried to get the top spot. The Fourth of July weekend saw the much-awaited movie from Will Smith, Hancock. As expected it steals the top rank with $24 million in box office gross.

Hancock is a story of a washed out superhero who tries to make a comeback by getting a PR exec to clean up his image. Jason Bateman plays the PR exec Ray Embrey whose life was saved by Hancock. Probably the best reason to watch the movie is the collaboration of Smith and Bateman who both have their own brand of comedy that works. Besides, aren’t you tired of watching superheroes that don’t seem human at all — they are so perfect. It’s about time the world sees a superhero that becomes an alcoholic yet manages to try and pick himself up. It was an endeavor that proved difficult but may still be possible.

Next to Hancock is Wall-E, a movie that surprisingly outmaneuvered Jolie’s Wanted in the box office. Upcoming movies such as Hellboy II and The Dark Knight are in the popularity list and worth watching out for.