Beware the Etsy addiction
Fans of Etsy.com—the online buy/sell community for crafters, artists and the like, pronounced “et-see”—know how terribly addicting the website can be: Once you sign up and start to shop, it’s nearly impossible to stop. (Especially for PayPal users; careful, or your credit card will transform into something like Monopoly money.) What’s worse, [...]

Fashionable finds for cheap at BJ Clothes

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Being fashion-forward isn’t as difficult as it looks, even on a tight budget. In fact, it’s rather simple: To appear like you’ve got much more going on for yourself than you really do, just prioritize your wardrobe by spending less money on items that don’t necessarily [...]

This was an especially terrific Christmas and not just because I finally got the Lee Van Cleef box set I’d been asking for all year.  No, what made this Christmas so great was I never had one of those nightmare parking experiences at the mall you normally expect during the holidays.
I was happy. Of course, [...]

The good, the bad, and the state budget
Having survived yesterday’s celebration of being thankful for being able to survive dinner with the extended family, patriotic and heavily-turkeyed Americans shuffle forth on Black Friday to bolster the economy. And judging by the news  about the state’s budget in today’s Sacramento Bee, the economy can use all [...]

Shop till you drop

ILLUSTRATION by JOE MCGARRY
Recent news reports have suggested that Al Qaeda operatives are planning to attack Southern California shopping malls during the Christmas rush. This news is—to coin a phrase—terrifying, since bomb-/gun-/pointy-stick-toting terrorists would mean additional competition for mall parking spaces . . . HEY! I WAS WAITING FOR THAT SPOT, DINGUS! [...]