Author Archives: kirsty

Smart Self-Defense Tips For Women

Women, often considered defenseless and an easy target, might find learning self-defense can help them if ever put in a dangerous situation.

Most crimes against women are sexual, and statistics confirm that 1 out of 5 American women have been raped, the victim of attempted rape, or sexually assaulted. Statistics also confirm that about 4.8 million women are the victim of domestic violence each year.

When it comes to these situations, having a background in self-defense can help prevent the attack, help save someone else from an attack, or help escape an attacker.

Here is a list of the most effective self-defense tools:

Firearms:

For women living alone, in a city, or in a crime-related area, owning a gun is a smart idea. Most people who own guns have never had to use one on an intruder, but they feel more comfortable knowing they have a means to protect themselves. Purchasing and owning a gun legally can be done through websites such as Calibersnm.co

SING

Although a humorous take on it, Sandra Bullock, in Miss Congeniality, teaches women how to defend themselves with the acronym SING:

Solar plexus

Instep

Nose

Groin

If attacked from behind, a woman should elbow her attacker in the solar plexus (stomach), stomp on their instep (foot), hit them in the nose, and finally, aim for the groin.

Fight Back

Other vulnerable areas to aim for are the eyes, ears, neck, and knees.

If the attacker is in front, aim to gouge the eyes and yank on the ears. For the neck, because of the carotid artery and jugular vein, the attacker can be temporarily stunned if hit hard in the side of the neck.

The elbow, knee, and head are the biggest built-in defense mechanisms because they inflict the most pain.

Be vocal and aggressive if possible. Because many attackers prey on women they hope to be defenseless, yelling and immediately fighting back can scare them off.

Tools

Having a rape whistle, pepper spray, or mace can be effective tools to stopping an attack. Rape whistles draw attention, thus many attackers will flee for fear of being caught. Mace and pepper spray, when sprayed in the face, cause temporary blindness, giving a woman a chance to run away.

Classes

There are many gyms, colleges, and martial arts centers that offer self-defense classes. Classes demonstrate how to get out of typical positions such as a chokehold, bear hug, or wrist hold. These classes provide informative tips, practice, and confidence should anyone ever be put into a dangerous situation.

Be Savvy

Keys, pens, briefcases, tweezers, etc. can all be used as weapons if applied with enough force. These items can temporarily stun and injure an attacker, or, in the best case scenario, scare them off.

Report

Report any attack to the authorities. Do not be afraid to report to the authorities because any evidence or information can be used to catch the assailant and provide awareness.

Hopefully a dangerous situation will never arise, but knowing self-defense could save a life.

Image Source: www.mma-a.com

Should You Buy Your Little Girl Miss Grant Dresses?

When you have a little girl that you want to buy the prettiest and sweetest looking outfits for, the things that matter most are the little extras. In our opinion, it all comes down to those little frills on short sleeves or bejewelled motifs on shoulders or even pretty embellishments that will delight a little girl’s eyes. We have yet to come across a designer brand of children’s clothing that understands this factor more than Miss Grant.

When you are looking for plenty of embellishments, then you really need to take a close look at Miss Grant dresses. These dresses come with a wide array of different all-in-ones, leggings, puffy sleeved tops, ruffled skirts and very simple, but eye catching shapes. The Miss Grant range offers a diverse blank canvas for parents who can choose from the likes of long strings of dangling and attractive beads, ribbons, bows, motifs and various decorative patterns to suit even the most discerning tastes of your little girl.

Another way that Miss Grant products could be the best choice of designer wear for your little girl is the fact that they all rely on similar cuts and styles but with different decorations and colours, so your child only needs to try on one dress to see how well any others in that range will or will not fit. This means that as well as having to spend less time making your child changing into different outfits in a changing room, you can buy more Miss Grant products online, knowing that they will fit properly.

The fact that the cuts and fabric have been expertly designed and manufactured means that with most products, they are likely to fit your child, regardless of their size and shape. If your child and you are very fashion conscious and want to look your best, then Miss Grant is a great choice for clothes shopping as the lines offered are practical as well as being eye-catching and fashionable.

One of the concerns that we always have with children’s clothes, whether it’s those worn by little girls or boys, is how well they will survive a play session outdoors. You can rest assured that Miss Grant dresses have been designed and made with this in mind. Little girls can get rather messy when they are out playing in the grass or mud, and even if they don’t like that kind of play – accidents are always possible when it comes to kids at play. Practicality of the clothes in this range is something you don’t have to worry about, as they will retain their great looks and fit even after play.

We don’t know about anyone else, but having girl’s clothes for our kids that look good but that are also easy to look after is very important to us. This is very much the case when it comes to Miss Grant dresses and clothes. They really do look great and last a long time, more than justifying the price tag compared to cheaper, less well designed alternatives.

Building A Decorative Fountain For Your Garden

One of the best ways to add a touch of class to your garden is by building a decorative fountain. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting in your garden and having that soothing running water soundtrack in the background. By installing a fountain in your garden, you not only have an eye-catching and attractive centrepiece but you create a space that is much more than a garden, that is a getaway from the world. The best thing about building a fountain I how east it actually is to do.

If you are interested in building a fountain then by following the instructions in this article, you could have one installed and working in the space of an afternoon.

What You Need

A submersible pump

½ inch of tubing

A plastic basin or bowl

A fairly large decorative ceramic pot

Small pebbles and rocks

A planter bowl that is small enough to fit inside the ceramic pot

A small bit drill

A shovel

Coupling

Clip

Sealant suitable for an aquarium

Build The Foundation

To begin with, check that the ceramic pot is glazed on the inside. If it isn’t glazed, then you will need to apply a couple of coats of sealant. After that, seal it with a water seal. You need to choose a level and even plot of land that you are going to install the fountain onto. Use the shovel to dig a hole that is slightly deeper than and as wide as the water basin. This is going to be the base or foundation of your fountain. Yu also need to dig a shallow, thing line that runs from the hole to the nearest outdoor power outlet, as this will house the cord.

Now place the plastic water basin inside the hole. Now you need to use a submersible pump in your fountain by attaching it to the tubing and placing the pump close to one of the basin’s edges. Add some bricks to the basin to weigh it down, secure it and stabilise it. Feed the tube down through the bottom of the ceramic pot and now place the pot inside the basin. If the planter does not have a hole in the bottom, drill one into the centre of the bottom using a small bit that is just a little bit bigger than the tubing. Now push the tubing through the planter and sit it on top of the ceramic pot. Use sealer on the hole to ensure that the tubing is properly plugged in and then connect the water pump’s nozzle, using the clip and connector to fasten it in place. Then seal it by running the aquarium sealant round the nozzle’s edge.

While you wait for the sealant to set, decorate the planter using the rocks and pebbles. It may be a good idea to add three or four plants to give the fountain a touch of colour and life. Place the cord well hidden inside the trench you dug and cover it up well so that no-one trips over it.

Fill the plastic basin with water using a garden hose until the water reaches the rim. Now fill the planter until it reaches the rim and plug the pump into a power outlet and watch as your fountain comes to life.

The World’s Greatest Race

It’s getting to that time of year when the media talk increasing about the Grand National. And for many of us – even those who have no other interest in horse racing whatsoever – this really is the best race on the planet.

Now the National has come in for some understandable criticism over recent years for cruelty to the horses – so the fences have been made safer and various other measures introduced to protect the horses. It remains a dangerous race to man and beast, but then so do all other jump races and sports which are far less natural for horses such as dressage and show-jumping, yet attract no criticism oddly.

Anyway, the UK still loves the race with an estimated £150m gambled away in racing betting in this country alone each year.

At the Liverpool course itself, a crowd of over 70,000 turns up each year to see the horses in the flesh and witness the whole event – whilst around 600 million more viewers get a far better view of proceedings on televisions around the world.

Each year, 40 runners and riders compete in what is the world’s most famous steeplechase by far – and the interest in the race just seems to get bigger every year.

In Britain, an amazing two-thirds of the adult population place a bet on the race – which for many families is part of a tradition where everyone in the household makes a selection.

This year’s Grand National will take place on Saturday April 5th. It will be the 167^th running of the great race. The weights have recently been announced and if you fancy a long-shot “ante-post” gamble in advance of the race, you’ll almost definitely get far better racing live betting odds than you would on the day. But if your selection doesn’t run, you’ll forfeit your stake, so be careful.

A maximum of 40 horses can run but currently, there are still over 100 entries. So to be safe, leave any bets until much nearer the day – but whatever you do; don’t miss the greatest race on earth!

5 tips on juggling family life and your business

For some people the motivation for becoming self-employed is due to either starting a family or to have flexible time so you can spend time with loved ones. For me, the motivation was the excitement of creating a business whilst bringing up 5 children. However, it can sometimes be a test of will power to keep your business momentum up and ensure that your work doesn’t suffer when you are a mum. Here are 5 tips to help you get the most out of your working day whilst still being able to spend quality time with your family and friends.

Friends and family

For some reason family and friends (and in some cases clients) think that it is ok to call you up or visit you at any point during the day just because you work from home thinking you must be free to chat?! This can be a nice surprise on the rare occasion but when it becomes a daily occurrence it can be a big distraction, which ultimately takes your time away from your family and friends because you will need to catch up on work in your “free” time.

To help reduce these little distractions and prevent the embarrassment of asking people to leave so you can work, you can designate a time each day that is available for people to pop in or call you or tell them when your working hours are and ask to be visited around these times.

Time management

It has been proven that people work best in the morning and then the work rate and productivity is greatly decreased in the afternoon after lunch. Therefore, it is best to plan your working hours to be around 6 hours long where the main bulk is first thing in the morning so you essentially have a free afternoon. For example, if you aim to start work at 7am and work non-stop without distractions until 1pm you would have done a full day’s work in the morning giving you time to spend with loved ones and do those pesky chores etc. Equally, if you start first thing you can then do the school run both in the morning and afternoon in the knowledge that you have done your work for the day to spend the evening work-free. This way if the sun is shining outside you can still get a decent chunk of sun on your skin without skipping your work because you would have worked during the morning.

Reduce procrastination

Try to work away from the normal family or home hubbub by trying to avoid working at the kitchen table, unless you are disciplined or you will end up cleaning the whole house before sitting down to your business.

Emails and social media

Dedicate allotted times throughout the day that you can read your emails and go on social media. Don’t check emails when it is meant to be family time or when you are meant to be working. You will always get an email when you are supposed to focus on something unrelated but you will feel inclined to answer the email straight away because you have just read it – don’t open and read it until you have finished you task. It will only distract you and turn your attention from what you were currently working on!

Pencil in family activities in the same way as a business meeting.

By making family time a non-negotiable meeting in your business schedule means that you won’t miss out on spending time with your family or that important social activity – that is one of the points that you have become self-employed so you can have more free time to spend with loved ones.

Article written by Sally Hurst from The Old Bag Company – mum of five who designs award-winning, stylish and practical bags, such as oilcloth handbags and canvas beach bags, for busy women and mums.Sally loves all things business and has a passion for encouraging women to be more confident in their businesses!

3 Easy Nail Art Styles You Can Do At Home

Nail Art is a growing trend and a fabulous way to add flair to your nails. Nail art is great for special occasions and you can match your nail art to your outfit! While nail art shops are sprouting up everywhere, many clever ladies are doing their own nail art at home. Learning to do your own nail art will save money and it’s a fun thing to do with friends.While complex nail art is probably best left to professional nail artists, there are lots of simple designs you can do at home. Here are a few ideas.

Prepare Your Nails

Before you begin you will need to prepare your nails. Remove the remnants of any old nail polish thoroughly. Like any work of art you need to start with a clean canvas. Try and use nail polish remover without acetone as it is less harmful to your nails. If you have a fungal infections ain any of your nails, this should be treated before first. Excilor is a highly effective remedy.Next step is to make sure your nails are in good shape. Trim and file to get rid of any snags or uneven surfaces. Keep as much length on your nails as possible so you have maximum space to work with.

Apply a Base Coat

Apply a clear base coat to your nails. Make sure this is completely dry before proceeding. A base coat will protect your nails from being stained by bright polishes and it will also help the next layer of polish last longer.

Glitter Nails

Glitter nails are the trend right now and are easy to create. You will need black nail polish, clear polish and loose powder glitter – glitter eye shadow will work. After your base coat apply a coat of black nail polish. This will act as a stunning background colour to show the glitter off to great effect. When the black layer is fully dry, dip your clear nail brush into the glitter and apply to your nails. Start at the centre and move to the tips. Allow the glitter coat to dry well and then apply a top coat for protection.

Half Moon Glitter

To create half-moon glitter nails you will need red nail polish, silver glitter (or glitter eye shadow) and clear polish. Apply a coat of red polish over your base coat and allow it to dry fully. Dip the clear polish brush into the silver glitter and apply from your cuticle to the centre of your nail creating an uneven glitter half-moon. It’s that simple! Finish off with a top coat.

The Glitter Sandwich

For this design you will need clear polish as well as glitter polish and a fast drying top and base coat. Apply a coat of sheer polish over your base. Allow to dry. Then add a layer of glitter polish, repeat clear and glitter coats. Finish with a layer of clear polish followed by your top coat.

What Does Your House Say About You?

The house has a lot of information in it. You can tell a lot about a person from a range of things, their car, their friends, their living space. The home in particular has heavy implications on the character of the person. The mess, the disorder and things laying all around the house has implications of laziness, silliness, lack of care as to your surroundings. Even little things can have implications you didn’t notice. So before you bring back a new friend or a prospective partner you may want to check the image you’re putting forward.

Mess

Mess is something that you want to stay in the middle of the road with. Too much and you may have the image of someone who doesn’t care about how they live, someone who is lazy, or too busy, or troubled. On the other hand a house that is too neat can be almost as big a problem. Too neat and impeccable can result in an image of someone who is too neat, obsessive, unyielding, the sweet spot is for your home to look lived in, but cared for.

Clutter

This is a major trouble a lot of people run into, particularly because it’s difficult to recognise. After living in a cluttered place for a while you become accustomed to having too much furniture or too many items around the room. Given enough time you might get used to your crowded surroundings and not notice that you’re protecting the image of someone who keeps too much on them. Someone who has too many possessions and no way to prioritise or organise. If you’re the kind of person who can’t bear to throw things out feel free to enlist a storage company like Fort Knox to keep it for you until you can get a bigger place. Visit www.fortknoxstorage.com.au for information.

Aesthetic

What’s on your walls? What colour are they? What does that say about you? It’s something of a difficult and troublesome maze to circumnavigate. Think about what ornaments, paintings and other things are hanging from your walls and what they say about you. Do they have interesting stories? Do they make you seem friendly? Leaving the walls bare will make you seem dispassionate and disconnected, while too much gives the same feeling as clutter. Rather than thinking about how much, think about why you have what you have.

Theme

If you don’t mind being thought a little overly fastidious a theme is a really good way to look impressive. Having everything suit the same image, pattern and idea will give an amazing image. With a little effort and some clever planning it can be used to massive effect.

The house has a lot of implications with them lies a lot of pitfalls and opportunities. Taking advantage of the opportunities to put the best foot forward when someone walks into your home can give a sense of ease, satisfaction and a good idea of who you are.

Avoid Eight Common Mistakes When Buying Furniture Online

Purchasing furniture in any setting can be tricky, but it is even more so online if buyers do not take proper precautions and plan their purchase thoroughly.

Set a budget and stick with it. Going over budget is a frequent mistake, especially since there may be hidden costs associated with the furniture purchase online. Hidden costs can include tax, shipping, fitting or customization charges, and extended warranties. Carefully investigate any purchase before clicking “Finalize Purchase.”

Before making any furniture purchase, measure the space the furniture must fit.
1. Length, width, depth and height are all important when choosing furniture.
2. Include adequate walkways around furniture and consider line of sight to important features of the room. These may include the TV, other seats and guests, doors and windows.
3. Write down the measurements to assist with your shopping.

Always comparison shop for furniture, both at online stores and brick-and-mortar stores. Make sure you are getting the best overall deal with your online purchase before you buy.
1. Check reviews for both the furniture items and the online store itself.
2. Purchasing an inferior quality furniture piece or furniture from a shady seller is no bargain.

Take your time when shopping for furniture online and in stores. Furniture is a major home investment, and rushing to make a purchase often results in overpaying and getting items that do not work in the space. Choose quality merchandise that will last for years.

Visit stores in person to test furniture items before making a purchase online.
1. Determine how fabrics and finishes look and feel, and what colors look like in person.
2. Measure the furniture to make sure it will fit in your space.
3. Sit in the chairs and use the furniture to make sure it works with your body.
4. When you find the furniture you want in a store, make a note of the brand and model number, as well as the price.
5. Choose several acceptable furniture makes and models, in case your first choice is not available.
6. Find the items online and compare prices there, too.
7. Choose your best deal based on what works best for your family, your budget and your home.

Make sure you are getting the best online deal by using coupon codes and discount codes if they are available.
1. Once you have determined what furniture you want, go online and search for “coupon code” or “discount code” plus the brand and type of the furniture.
2. Most online coupon codes for furniture are for free shipping, which can save buyers significant amounts of money.
3. Having a list of acceptable options for your furniture piece allows you to be flexible when locating online codes and coupons for your purchase.
4. Be sure to read the fine print of any coupon or discount deal before using the promotion code.

Determine the warranty and return policies for the furniture you want.
1. Compare policies among the online stores and retail stores.
2. Find out if you are responsible for return shipping costs if the furniture does not fit your needs. Shipping costs for heavy furniture can be prohibitively expensive.
3. When your purchase is delivered, open the package and thoroughly inspect the furniture before the delivery service departs.
4. Do not sign for receiving the furniture until assembling and inspecting it. Signing for the furniture usually includes a statement that the product is adequate and free of defects upon delivery. This may make returns or exchanges much more difficult.

As with any online purchase, be sure to use appropriate security measures when making your purchase.
1. Ensure you are purchasing from a secure site- the URL will start with “https” and there should be security symbols and statements prominently displayed on the site.
2. Do not let online sites store your credit card or bank information.
3. Clear your browsing history and online cache after making online purchases and then restart your browser.

These steps help make it harder for thieves to steal your information or your identity.

What You Need For Your Own Relaxation Station

As life becomes increasingly stressful, more and more homeowners are opting to include a relaxation area in their home. Traditionally, people went to professional spas to be pampered and wind down, but having a relaxation station at home allows you to come home after a hectic day and find pea
ce and well-being.

To create your home relaxation station you will need to choose soothing colours for your walls and accessories. This area is all about peace and gentleness. Choose soft comfortable furnishings, and add relaxation music and gentle aromatherapy oils. Your décor needs to be calming and everything should contribute to making the area harmonious. Browse online at Super Amart Australia for furnishings, accessories and wall art in soothing greens, beiges or blues. Lavender will work well too.

Gentle Colours

Colour plays a very important part in setting the ambience of a room. Your relaxation station should be painted and decorated in gentle tones. Avoid bright colours like red, yellow and orange. These colours stimulate rather than soothe and will have the reverse effect of softer tones. You are aiming for a Zen-like simplicity, so be minimalistic with colours. In other rooms of the house you will often add a bright chair or painting to a neutral room. Don’t do this in your relaxation station. Everything needs to be tranquil and anything brightly coloured will negatively impact the calming level of the room. Lighting too should be gentle. Natural light is best but soft lamps or lights with a dimming switch will also work well. Fluorescent lights are completely wrong for a relaxation space.

Comfortable Furniture

When deciding on furnishings for your relaxation room, think about the kind of furniture you would find in a professional spa. This is the atmosphere you are trying to create. Go for comfortable chairs or couches, seating that you would be happy to lounge on with a good book. Furnishings should be minimal and are best kept to the perimeters of the room to create a simple, spacious feel that evokes peace.

The Senses

Smells and sounds can do a lot to increase the relaxation effect of your space. A noisy room will not work well. You need to pick a place that isn’t disturbed by outside traffic noises or the sounds of the television. Add pleasant sounds to the space. A water feature will work well as the sound of running water is very soothing. You will also need a CD player and some carefully chosen music. Relaxation or quiet instrumental music work well. Buy an oil burner and aromatherapy oils. Again go for gentle rather than strong scents. Smell the tester bottles at your local health food or new age store and find something that resonates with you. Some scents are designed to invigorate, things like citrus for instance. These are not suitable for the relaxation station. If you are unsure you should ask the shop assistant which scents are for calming.

Once you have created your relaxation station you should try and take time each day to enjoy it.

Do you love F1?

The Formula One racing seems to be one of those “Marmite” things; you either love it or hate it. Personally, I love every minute of it and can’t wait for the new season to begin, perhaps more so than ever before.

That’s because the required designs for the cars have undergone their most sweeping changes for a generation. Firstly, they need to embrace green technology so the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines are out and 1.6-litre V6 turbos are in. There’s also a fuel limit of 100kg, roughly 130 litres – down from 150kg or so last year when there was no such limit. Also, engines must now consume fuel at nothing above 100kg per hour.

But the new engines will be hybrids, using ‘energy recovery system’ which harnesses kinetic energy from the back axle during braking through an electric motor that harnesses energy from the turbo which would otherwise be wasted as heat.

Such big changes will mean the results for the first few Grand Prixes could be all over the place as constructors and drivers get to grips with the new technology in real race situations. This is fun for those of us who enjoy a bet on Formula 1 now and again as the races could throw up some pretty anomalous results.

Currently with Betfair, for example, Sebastian Vettel remains a firm favourite to win the opening Grand Prix in Melbourne on 16^th March. He’s also less than 2-1 with Betfair at the time of writing to retain the driver’s championship.

These look like very short odds given the huge technological changes required – and there are even more that we haven’t mentioned like the lowering of the noses of the cars, making them look like enormous anteaters. Then there are the exhaust changes which require a single, central exhaust pipe exiting over the gearbox, so the previous usage of exhaust gases to boost down-force is no longer possible.

This will, arguably, hurt Vettel-Red Bull more than anyone else – so the cards really are up in the air and a longshot on Betfair – with a few to laying the bet back at shorter odds as the season progresses looks to be the shrewdest bet – and it all adds to the fun if you’re a “love it” kind of person when it comes to F1. .

Revolution Mother