A good friend of mine (we’ve known each other since high school) is getting married in a couple of months. Since November, I’ve been helping her with planning some of the details. All of the major details are taken care of: videographer, caterer, location, etc. but we’re still working on a lot of things, including the wedding favors.

We want to fiind wedding favors that are both unique and inexpensive, but we haven’t had any luck coming up with the perfect items yet. I just learned of a site called The Knot Wedding Shop that could be very useful for us. It has some great products such as personalized candy, coasters, silk fans, cookie cutters, and a whole lot more. Plus, the prices are very reasonable and are within the budget that the bride-to-be wants to work with.

I’m going to send my friend the URL right now so she can take a look!

I’m sure you’ve seen that little app that shows how much a particular blog is worth. I don’t know what kinds of things are taken into consideration to come up with the final number, but I’m pretty certain that it’s not accurate. Because according to this site, my blog is worth $15,800!

Ha ha, I wish! This blog has a PR0 and doesn’t get an astounding amount of traffic or anything like that. If someone offered me $15,800 for it, I’d sell it in a heartbeat.

Any takers?

Here’s a question posed by the email marketing experts at MindComet: if you could email anyone, who would it be and what would you say?

How can I pretend that there’s anything on my mind right now other than Super Bowl XLI? I would email Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner and BEG him not to put too much pressure on Rex Grossman this Sunday. Establish the running game. Use short drops and screens. Not every pass has to go 30 yards downfield to Berrian. Let’s win this thing!!

This post brought to you on behalf of MindComet.

When I was in my early 20s, I was very irresponsible with my credit cards. At first, I promised myself that I would only use them when I ran into a financial emergency, but I soon started charging things like beer, pizza, and other unnecessary items that college students tend to deem important. It didn’t take long before I was thousands of dollars in debt with no way to pay off my bills quickly, and of course the incredibly high interest rates the credit card companies charged made things even worse.

After a few months of making the minimum payment — and getting nowhere — I decided to try consolidating my debts. Some of my friends had utilized loan consolidation to reduce their student loan burdens, so I thought I could benefit in the same way.

Although it certainly wasn’t an overnight solution, debt consolidation did work out for me in the long run. I was able to pay off my credit cards a lot sooner than if I hadn’t consolidated, and I’ve been very careful about my spending habits ever since.

I was fooling around on YouTube this morning when I came across some video clips that West Wing fans put together of Josh and Donna. You can see a bunch of them by following this link or simply searching for the terms “josh donna” on YouTube.com.

Josh & Donna Clips

It was so nice seeing these clips again. It made me realize how much I miss The West Wing, and even more, how much I miss great relationships and/or chemistry in my TV shows. When I think back over the years, I’ve almost always had a great couple to follow. In the mid-1980’s it was Maddie and David on Moonlighting; in the early to mid ’90s it was Mulder and Scully on The X-Files; then in the late ’90s through last year, it was Josh and Donna on The West Wing.

After taking stock of the shows I watch now, I realize that there’s not a single couple that turns me into a ’shipper. I watch 24, CSI, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, The Sopranos, Prison Break, and Grey’s Anatomy pretty regularly. The only couple I’m even slightly interested in out of all those shows is Michael Scofield and Sara Tancredi from Prison Break, but they’re hardly ever on screen together, so it’s not very fun to be a ’shipper for that show. GA has a lot of couples, but I don’t like any of them because they’re all so dysfunctional.

So what am I missing? Are there any shows out there with a truly great couple that practically burns up the screen with their chemistry? Let me know!

I just got done talking to my friend Mark about the Super Bowl party he’s having at his house this Sunday. He has decided to order Italian beef sandwiches from Portillo’s, which (in my opinion) is one of the best fast food joints in Chicagoland. Portillo’s is definitely one of my favorites, and is usually the first place I go to after I’ve been out of town for awhile — like after a six-month stay in Japan or whatever. Can’t wait for Sunday!!!!

Oh, wow: I just noticed that the Wikipedia entry for Italian beef features a Portillo’s sandwich!

I used to be a big hockey fan and even had season tickets to the Blackhawks when I was in junior high. Like many fans, I kind of lost interest in the game after the lockout, but I’ve slowly been getting back into it. I like the new rules that promote more offense and I love the fact that the future of the game rests on the shoulders of quality young players like Ovechkin and Crosby.

So now I’m starting to follow the sport more closely and at least keep up with the current standings. I’m also looking to get more involved with other fans, which is why I’m thinking about joining an NHL forum. The one over at HFBoards.com looks like the best. It’s been around for more than 5 years and has a very active community. I like the way members can talk about things like the Business of Hockey and Trade Rumors in addition to the standard team/game threads.

HFBoards.com looks like a keeper, so check it out if you’re a hockey fan!