Friday, January 4, 2008

Sangria



Hostess with the Mostess has a great Sangria recipe up on their site. I am a huge fan of Sangria and this one definitely sounds like a good one.

I had some sangria at Sangria in Chicago a few months back. They have a few kinds to choose from but I could hardly tell the difference between them. But they do have a lot of flavors of mojitos and a fabulous manchego cheese plate.

I guess I'm still longing for the first sangria I ever had at Emilio's in Wheaton, IL probably about 5 years ago. Maybe it was so good because I was underage (I was with my family at a family party and for the record, I'm not a fan of underage drinking). I remember the food being great and the atmosphere was lovely but it was the sangria I remember most. And now, I'm craving it.

epromos blog


Certain things really bring out my geeky marketing side (i.e. excel, data, promo items, etc...). Some of the promos on epromos blog are just amazing. I really enjoy the one above which is for a new wine bar. I always look at stuff like this and go "oh, how I wish I could have been the one to think of this one!).

Hello Kitty Hell


Image from Hello Kitty Hell


I remember being a fan of Hello Kitty when I was little. Actually, I think I just really enjoyed going to the Sanrio store and buying candy and grab bags. They had some damn good candy!

I found this website today and it is unbelievably entertaining. Some of the Hello Kitty products out there are just ridiculous and I kind of feel sorry for people who spend their money on some of these products. Go check out Hello Kitty Hell for some mid-Friday entertainment.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Rainbow Publishing

A few months ago, someone I knew told me that they signed up for this great deal where you get 10 magazines a month and it doesn't cost too much. I did my research on how much it would cost to go through each individual magazine publisher and get the mags and then the "deal" that I was being offered by Rainbow Publishing. I signed up at a convention I was attending and started making my payments. The magazines took a while to kick in. Here's the thing: You pay $27/month for 2 years but then your magazines continue for 4 years. Then, right before you sign, they point out to you that some of the magazines are only delivered for 4 years. So I think out of the 10 I signed up for, only 2 of them are for the full 4 years.

I have been making payments on this stupid scam for almost a year now and I'm pretty much fed up with it. I get magazines that I actually don't find very entertaining and 10 magazines/month is way too much for one person to handle (plus I'm still trying to catch up on the mags that were delivered when I was in AZ for a month and then working 60+ hours/week for 3 months).

Before Thanksgiving I found my paperwork and had all my mags organized so I decided to make sure I was getting all the ones I signed up for. Sure enough, 2 were missing. I called and spoke with an older lady who was not very helpful. She called a few days later and answered one of my questions but not the other. She said she would get back to me but I never heard back. I called 2 weeks ago and asked for a supervisor. The same woman answered and said the supervisor was out of the country. I explained that I really felt like I was being taken advantage of. She said she couldn't access my file because it was in the customer service room and they weren't in yet. I told her that she needs to have someone from there call me back as soon as they arrive. She said "I'll try but they're not too good at returning calls, you should call back and speak with Kim". With the time difference, I'm never really around to call when it's convenient for them- and I really think that in this case, they should be calling ME when it's convenient for ME.

I really want to cancel because it's not a deal. I've lost so much money already so I'm going to argue that they either need to refund quite a bit of my money or continue my subscriptions on certain magazines until the money is gone. I pay the monthly fee with my AMEX so I'm thinking that I could go through them and have them dispute the charges. I've done that a few times before and it has worked out really well.

On that note, if I get my way and can get some good magazine subscriptions, here's the ones I would choose:





Why Can't I be a Pirate?

Or at least have a place of my own so I could decorate using this cute stuff from Z Gallerie. I was hoping some of these items would be on clearance after Halloween but I understand why they aren't. The pirate craze is still going strong and I am a proud part of it.






From Top to Bottom: Skull Shaker and DOF's, $29.95; Skull Doormat, $39.95; Jeweled Skull Tray, $12.95; Beaded Skull Placemat (set of 4) $87.80