Grab Bag Clean Cosmetics Tome:
Yes!! Just ordered this, so will share more after reading, but it looks like another salvo in the arsenal against chemical-laden cosmetics…. Thank you to reader Susan K. for sending along some information on this new book. Author Deborah Burnes lays out a four-part source here, covering how cosmetics companies have mislead consumers on both effectiveness and toxicity, all in pursuit of a larger slice of the $60 BILLION pie that is up for grabs in the industry.
She also rates organic beauty products for their content in a variety of price ranges and outlines numerous ways to improve your health and live green, all while enhancing your beauty. Beautiful!
Grab Bag Sweet Thief:
Sugar…refined….. added…. hidden…. The Home Invasion Burglar of nutrition. It may have set up camp in your life and you aren’t even aware of the thieves in your fridge or cupboards.
That spoon of jam on toast in the morning, the majority of breakfast cereals, flavored yogurt, most packaged foods… they all add to the refined sugar count we consume every day.
So is there some leeway here? According to the docs at RealAge, yes… a LITTLE bit.
They suggest that to ward off excess pounds and heart disease, cap your added sugar consumption at 100 calories a day for women, 150 for men. Unfortunately, most Americans take in about 430 calories every day from added sugars. You have an occasional soda? That one drink equals or surpasses your sugar allocation for the day.
Bottom line: Nearly every calorie you consume should contain nutritional benefits for your body. Refined sugars take up space in that plan, either adding empty calories or denying your body of meaningful ones.
Have sweet cravings? Diagnose what those might mean and how to stop them HERE
Grab Bag “Shoot Your Own Reality Show”:
Just a few short years ago it would have been a very costly and professional-required prospect to outfit your home with security cameras. In recent years, “DIY” options have cropped up at Best Buy and Costco, but installation was for an energetic and computer-savvy homeowner.
Hallelujah then, to the folks at VUEZONE.COM, who made Popular Science’s 100 Best Innovations list with The Vue personal video network. At $300 + tax, free shipping at Amazon, it’s a reasonable addition to the home security lineup. An additional camera is available to expand your coverage.
The little battery-powered (good for up to a year) cameras can be mounted anywhere, and “the brain” is hooked up to your router (that piece of plastic with lights that spreads the internet around your house) and gathers the images from the cameras and puts it on the internet for you to view, either on your computer, or on your iPhone with the free app available in the iTunes App Store.
Over 50 reviews give it 4 out of 5 stars… but they do mention that if you are hoping for seamless, streaming, high-def video, you’ll be disappointed. This is for checking the status of the rooms or views covered. And for that, it can be an easy solution.
Grab Bag Brain Game:
If you like jigsaw puzzles but don’t want to monopolize your table with all those little cardboard mysteries, try one online here. You can choose your puzzle, choose how many pieces, and then test your skills of reassembly against the clock:
Grab Bag Funny Stuff:
A couple were sitting watching a TV program about psychology and explaining the phenomenon of “mixed emotions.”
The man turned to the woman and said, “Honey, that’s a bunch of crap. I bet you can’t tell me anything that will make me happy and sad at the same time.”
She said: “Out of all your friends, you have the biggest penis.”
LK's Grab Bag 
Couple joke- hilar.
Sugar info- not so much.