What Makes the Best Gift – Flowers or Gift Baskets?

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Picking out a gift for someone is a very personal decision. You have to make sure your chosen gift is both appropriate for the type of relationship you have with the other person, as well as being appropriate for the occasion.

There is a time when giving flowers is the way to go, and there are other times when a gift basket is more appropriate. Flowers are great for many occasions, be it a birthday, graduation, funeral or just letting someone special know that you care. When choosing the flowers, it is important to keep in mind the other persons preferences because this can have a marked effect on how they perceive the gift. If the flowers are going to a friend rather than a significant other, it is best to keep them understated. This prevents them from getting the wrong message, and keeps things from becoming awkward later on. It is also important to keep in mind what the occasion is, for example giving someone a dozen roses at a funeral is not the best form.

If giving flowers seems a bit too risky, a gift box is always a wonderful option. The great thing about gift boxes is that you can make them as personal or impersonal as you desire, giving you total control over the message you are trying to send. It is still important to choose items for your basket that are appropriate for the occasion.

Gift baskets are also appropriate for a much wider variety of occasions, and there is less chance of it being misconstrued into something it isn’t by the recipient. The best gifts are the simplest, so keep that in mind. Most of the time it is a great idea to come up with a theme, such as a certain brand of food, and then fill the basket with items that fit with that theme. Just remember not to go too far, you want the basket to be big enough to be appreciated, but stay within reason. A good medium sized basket should do the trick.

To wrap things up, both flowers and a basket are wonderful ideas for a present. Which one you choose depends on the occasion, the taste of the recipient and your own budget. Whichever you choose, it is important to keep the recipient and the circumstances in mind and choose the appropriate gift accordingly for it to be the best it can be.

Why Dog Food Comparisons Are Difficult to Make – The Reason You Need to Understand Dog Food Labels

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When you wander down the pet food aisle in your grocery store, do you find that dog food comparisons are hard to make? Perhaps you really try to understand dog food labels but they still sound like a foreign language.

Let’s see if we can shed some light on the subject.

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) is a commercial enterprise that regulates the quality and safety of the ingredients found in pet food in the United States.

AAFCO does testing to decide which specific ingredients are acceptable as pet foods. The problem is, they rate high and low quality ingredients as both being nutritionally adequate. Why? Because consumers demand pet food in a wide price range.

This is one of the reasons why comparisons are difficult to make. Unless you learn to understand how to read the labels, you will never be able to make a correct comparison.

Dog food labels, of course, include the product name. This name might suggest the primary ingredient, such as Lamb Dinner or it might indicate the type of dog the food is intended for, such as Yummy Dog Puppy Food or Yummy Dog Senior Diet.

By the way, the ingredients are measured by weight. So if we speak of a product having 25% meat – that 25% means 25% of the total weight.

Now, if the product is named for a specific ingredient, such as Yummy Dog Beef, the product is supposed to be made up primarily of beef. In fact canned food should contain 70% beef and dry food should contain 95% beef. The difference between the two is the water weight found in canned foods.

Now here is where it gets tricky.

If and when product labels use terms like dinner, formula or nuggets — such as chicken dinner, beef nuggets, lamb formula — then the percentages change. Using those terms, the product only has to contain 25% of the named ingredient. So the ingredients in chicken formula may only contain 25% chicken.

When you make dog food comparisons you need to understand this fact. If a product like Yummy Dog Beef Dinner only contains 25% beef, what makes up the other 75% of the ingredients?

Let’s read some dog food labels and see.

You will be glad to know that ingredients still must be listed in the descending order of weight. So, a beef dinner label might read like this:

Beef Dinner – Ingredients: Corn, meat and bone meal, wheat, beef.

You may believe you are providing your pet with a beef meal, when, in reality, he is eating mostly corn and meat meal (more about meat meal in another article – it is disgusting!)

Now, just to confuse you a little more, when the labels use the terms flavor or flavored (such as Chicken Flavored Nuggets) — then all the rules go out the door. No exact percentage of the named ingredient (in this case chicken) has to be in the food. The formula need merely include the ingredient somewhere.

No doubt about it, without reading dog food labels, the ingredients can be deceiving. That’s why it is important to make dog food comparisons, checking one label against another, until you find a healthy dinner for your pet!

Tarot As Your Own Personal, Fun, Fashion Stylist

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Tarot is perhaps better known for its use as an uplifting guide, showing us events on the horizon or highlighting areas for growth and development. It can assist us in the different areas of our lives, such as career, inspiration, relationship or practicality. These are worthy subjects but there are times when we can turn to our Tarot decks, in the spirit of light heartedness and fun. Tarot can become your own unique wardrobe assistant to help you dress to impress, find your own natural style with panache and to avoid those fashion ‘faux pas’ which lurk unworn in your wardrobe.

Have you ever opened your closet, perhaps on a busy work morning or prior to a big night out and despite a fulsome array of clothing, despaired because “you had nothing to wear”? You rummage in amongst the coat hangers, delving into the darkest recesses of your wardrobe, trying on various skirts, dresses, blouses and finally, in a fit of desperation, you select an outfit which should do the trick. Yet, somehow, it just doesn’t feel right. No time to change though and you dash out the door, not feeling as confident or as comfortable as you would wish. The funny thing is, the garments you have purchased may be of fine quality, or were expensive and fit well, but you have the nagging suspicion that your chosen outfit doesn’t do you justice.

Fashion surrounds us, celebrity designers showcase their collections throughout the media, we can buy outfits in stores, shops, over the internet and well meaning family and friends give their own opinion as to what suits us, if you’ll pardon the pun. So much choice is available in terms of colours, shapes, styles.

Tarot can help us define our own style and fashion flair so that when we next go out on a shopping spree, we can be sure our items chosen serve us well and become long standing favourites in our wardrobe collection.

How can a pack of cards, become our own style guru? Allow me to explain. There is a suit within the Tarot deck, entitled Court cards, made up of four groups which are: Wands, Swords, Cups, Coins. As their name suggests, we have Kings, Queen, Knights and Pages representing the attributes and characteristics of their own particular suit. Wands relate to the fire element, Swords, to the air, Cups to water and Coins to earth.

The four Queens shall assist on this occasion and we now have our personal stylists ready and waiting to begin our consultation, starting with the style that suits least or doesn’t work so well.

After shuffling our cards, we select randomly, without looking, a card. Let’s say we choose the Queen of Wands. Now our consultation begins with what isn’t doing you proud, in terms of image. You may have a tendency to select garments which are really theatrical and showy, making you a centre of attention. Fabrics tend to the shiny and in hotter, brighter colours of reds and oranges, for our Queen of Wands is governed by the fire element. Clothing lines tend towards the flouncy, sensuous or revealing. Whilst this is an exciting, racy look, it calls for courage and audacity to carry it off.

Our vivacious, bold, fun loving Queen always ensures she dresses to take centre stage. She adores her ‘bling’ and doesn’t hold back on her make-up. Think of Hollywood’s flamboyant leading ladies to get an idea of the Queen of Wand’s ‘look’. You may find, if you follow this gorgeous girl’s dress code, that you need a great deal of confidence to carry a theatrical ‘centre stage’ look and in its more extreme state one may be viewed as flighty, overly flirty or temperamental.

Now that we have looked at what may not suit you so well, let’s see what will work for you, bringing self esteem and admiration. Once again, let’s pick at random and for our purpose, the Queen of Swords steps forward.. This airy, gracious Queen breezes in, bring coolness and clarity. She likes her outfits tailored, crisp, un-fussy. This elegant lady loves her stiletto or kitten heels, not necessarily high, but she loves the sound they make as she crosses the floor. The Queen of Swords likes a bargain and for her, she’ll seek out designer labels at a fraction for the cost, or await the high street version, for less cash.

This Queen is a sharp dressed woman, but provocative undergarments contrast her cool exterior. As for preferred colour, this airy Queen adores any colour you see in the sky. Her jewellery can be either silver or gold, but will be minimal, preferring to wear a statement piece, to invite comment and conversation. Our classy, intriguing, stimulating Queen always ensures she dresses to engage the mind which is where her power base lies. Think of Hollywood’s ‘ice queen’ leading ladies to achieve this ‘look’.

Now that we have seen what works well and indeed, not so well, we can find our own unique styles to dress our characters. It doesn’t matter our body size, skin tone, or age. The Tarot Queens are delighted to become your unique and caring fashion guide and they will always be honest with you.

We have worked with two Queens, two sisters, fire and air, equally powerful, but yet so different in their outlook. However, there are still another two Queens remaining, representing Cups and Coins and they too have their own wonderful, beautiful styles.

Now, which Queen are you….

Can You Buy Inexpensive Yoga Clothes for Women?

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Chrissie always wanted to look good, and that certainly applied to when she was working out. Because she was about to take her first yoga class, she wanted to find some yoga clothes for women that made her look attractive, didn’t look out of place and didn’t break her pocketbook, either. She had heard that yoga clothes were expensive, and that was one of the reasons why she had put off going to a yoga class. Can you really buy affordable yoga clothes for women?

– Some large department stores will have a small selection of yoga clothes in their women’s athletic department, but you probably won’t find anything more than the basic black leggings and tight top. If you are looking for something a little more exciting, then you will have to look elsewhere.

– Chrissie liked to go shopping in discount clothes stores. This is a good place to start your search for yoga clothes for women if you have a lot of time However, you may end up spending more time than it is worth, just searching through the racks.

– Going on the Internet is by far the answer for almost anything that has to do with yoga. Whether you are looking for the latest class or a new outfit, you will find it on the Internet. Especially if you are new to yoga like Chrissie was, you might be amazed at the amount of information that you can find online.

– There are some sporting goods stores that are beginning to carry yoga clothes for women, but the selection isn’t that great and you may find that the sizes are limited. If you are larger than the average woman, you might be out of luck.

After searching her local mall and the yoga studio in her town, Chrissie decided that shopping online for yoga clothes might be a lot of fun. She found some nice tops and a few pairs of leggings, and she even bought herself a new yoga mat for her class. Since she was intent on entering her first yoga class in the utmost style, she bought perhaps more than she should have, but she didn’t mind since the prices were so good. In fact, the prices she found online were a fraction of what she saw in the yoga studio, and that made her even more excited about going to yoga class.