Gimme A Break

This is a sponsored guest post written by Memphis Travel on behalf of Memphis CVB. Post powered by Sponzai.

More than just the home of the blues and barbeque, Memphis gives you plenty of ways to play around, with fun things to do no matter who you are or what you like. Of course, if you’re into Elvis, rock-and-roll and mouth-watering ribs, you’ve got to check out Graceland, Sun Studios, and the Rendezvous. But Memphis has much more to offer than this holy trinity of southern culture, with enough to see, do and eat to make it the perfect location for your next long weekend getaway.

The families out there (or the wild at heart) should be sure to check out the Memphis Zoo, one of only four U.S. zoos with giant pandas. Recently ranked the #1 zoo in the U.S. by TripAdvisor.com, the Memphis Zoo lets you get up close and personal with the animal kingdom. And with the recent addition the Northwest Passage, home to Polar bears in a see-through underwater exhibit, and the zoo’s newest section, Teton Trek, kids and adults alike are certain to have a blast.

Don’t let your midtown experience stop at the zoo; the Cooper-Young and Overton Square neighborhoods are just down the street. Ask a local Memphian where to find a tasty bite to eat, great local music and ice cold beer, and they will probably direct you here. Speaking of beer … the environmentally conscious visitor can enjoy a locally brewed beer by Ghost River Brewing or walk through the natural landscape and educational facilities at the Lichterman Nature Center.

Memphis has museums for just about everything. From the Civil Rights Museum, Cotton Museum and Fire Museum in downtown to the Brooks Museum, Children’s Museum of Memphis and the Pink Palace Museum further east, the number of places to have fun while you learn are as bountiful as the barbeque restaurants. Families, friends, sports fans, history buffs, self-proclaimed food critics – Memphis has everything you need to keep everyone happy.

So when you visit Memphis, stay a few extra days. Even the locals don’t run out of things to do. And to make it easy, memphistravel.com is launching a new travel guide to help you plan your next vacation. Simply choose from a list of interests and you’ll be given a sample itinerary with lots of great ideas. You can also register for a chance to win one of twelve trip packages that include tours, gift certificates to Memphis’ favorite restaurants, hotel stays and more. Go to itinerary.memphistravel.com to get started.

• when the travel bug bites
• tongues on fire
• just in case
• my handy travel tips
• so who wants to go where again?

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I’ve recently had to spend money on a new washing machine and obviously I’m none too happy about the expense. If I’d had more time to shop around, I might’ve saved some money and time.

If my kitchen sink should break down, I know just the place where I won’t have to pay through my nose for undermount kitchen sinks! Mr Direct does same day deliveries and they’re a trusted source for their brand of kitchen sinks.

I’m just happy I found out about them so I can keep them on file just in case. Working from home means I have a tight budget to keep so whenever I find a great source for stuff I might need, in it goes into my favorites folder .

• a small price for peace of mind
• dealing with the business jitters
• full of initiative
• tale of my kitchen faucet
• is your home office office-like?

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Those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that I’m a stickler for child safety. From day one, I’ve insisted on strapping my kids into their car seats and when they got older, I would ensure they put on their seat belts before I even start the car.

It’s true, when you have kids, there are so many things to buy. Of course, with the current state of the economy, it’s always wise to compare prices before you buy anything for your child, be it car seats or baby carriers.

It’s easy to do your price comparisons at ShopWiki because they present results for every store on the internet. Traditional shopping sites will only show you stores that have paid for their service, but ShopWiki finds everything and anything that’s on sale on the internet. Quite a handy tool, I must say!

Frankly if you’re the mother of young kids, you probably won’t have time or energy to be dragging your kids with you from store to store to compare prices for stuff you need to buy. Searching online makes it a cinch. You just need to find a time when your babies are asleep and then shop till you drop !

• careless parents
• please, no more tools!
• how did your child get his/her name?
• the print fanatics
• later, New York

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I confess, I’ve been trawling the malls. There’s just too many mid-year sales tempting me… and you know what, about every fifth woman I bump into at the mall seems to be wearing a tube…

… so I’m guessing (just a wild guess ) that tubes must be in this season. This is a really classic tube dress that I found at iThreads where they offer free shipping on designer brands so you can save some money there.

Go check them out if you have some event coming up or even if you just want to deck your spring closet with a few trendy in-season pieces. I love the shimmery grape color of this dress, don’t you?

• great timing for a watch
• save additional 10% off already discounted printer supplies
• brown
• last in, first out
• fancy dress contest

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We found a great way to cool off last weekend. Seeing there’s been no let-up in the hot sunny temperatures, we’re trying to head to the malls whenever we can. Like I mentioned before, we didn’t air-condition our entire house so unless we want to hide in our bedrooms all day, we’re off to the mall.

Guess what, last weekend the annual fashion shows were on. What a treat! We got to sit in air-conditioned comfort with nary a drop of perspiration dripping down our brows and first-class seating on wooden benches to watch anorexic model after anorexi model strut down the runway . Now this IS the life!

• back to basics?
• much ado about movies
• crazy ’bout lions
• dummied out
• sauna au naturale

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I can’t believe the sales are starting again. So soon? Man, times must really be bad. I’ve just realized we’re running out of certain toiletries so it’s time to stock up.

To be honest, I used to be a big-time bulk shopper but I’m not stocking up as much as before. I’d rather wait and see now because retailers are constantly cutting prices to be more competitive. So I won’t buy till I’m almost at the last drop so I’ll probably end up saving more money.

• stocking up
• chief executive hairdresser
• hopefully soon
• out of ink
• how to deal with rising costs by using smart shopping techniques

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Well, my kitchen faucet chose a great time to spring a fountain over my sink. It happened yesterday, a Saturday when I wasn’t sure if my regular plumber was open for business.

They were and they promptly sent a plumber over. He advised me to go buy my own faucet and he’d come back tomorrow and install it for me. That would save me money, he said.

No arguments there. He drew me a picture of the features I needed to look for and sent me on my merry way to the store. Gosh, there were so many different brands and models.

So which one do I get? A Moen, an imported brand, the one with a retractable head? So many choices, my head started spinning .

Finally I decided to get some help from the store assistant to help me decide. This is what I bought. Great timing too because there was a sale on and I saved 20%. Yay.

• a new faucet for nothing
• smelling like roses
• out of hair shampoo
• if I should need a new kitchen sink
• add another white elephant to the heap

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It’s really depressing to go to the gas station these days. I had to go this morning. When I pumped gas last week, I thought I’d gotten myself a full tank.

For a price of less than two digits, I seriously doubted that could possibly be right. But I was in a hurry that afternoon and drove away only to find out later that my tank was only three-quarters full.

A full tank now costs me more than a hundred bucks! Duh! It’s not funny. I really need to stay home more or get a motorcycle like many of the city folks are doing apparently.

Quite honestly, I can’t imagine myself riding a motorcycle even if I did know how! City driving is hazardous enough as it is. I’d like to save money but safety comes first.

• sauna au naturale
• how to save time and gasoline
• me, trading apprentice?
• how to deal with rising costs by using smart shopping techniques
• drivin’ me up the wall!

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