Lipstick & Magazines #25: Catchy

Free galleys? Sign me up, right? Check out HarperCollins' First Look program. You can fill out a basic form, select the categories you are generally interested in, and enter into drawings for free galleys. Sure it's a process, but I think it's a very smart way for the publisher to reach out and let readers have the early peek and get word-of-mouth excitement and buzz going.

Love her or hate her, Rachael Ray's $40 a Day concept is a catchy one. Becks & Posh, a Bay Area food blogger asked other food bloggers to come up with $40 a Day plans for their cities, and the posts are great reading. Don't you want to know what you'd be eating in Knoxville, TN for $40?

Finally, after two wonderful friends both RAVED about Crossing to Safety, I picked it up and have been sneaking it in at every spare moment. While I tend towards staying relentlessly "current" (as in, very recently published) in my reading, this 1987 Wallace Stegner novel is lovely, poignant, and obsessively readable. Except now I'm at the point where it's almost over, and I just know the end will make me cry. I hate finishing good books.

Lipstick & Magazines #24: Paper

If you are a paper addict like I am, you may enjoy the following:

• SEI - Holy cuteness! That Fruit Stand paper is outstanding. Note also these incredible fruit tags. Must. Place. Order. Soon.
• Paper Source - I can testify to their wedding invite packages, paper flower kits, and all-around amazing stock of goods. Order online or visit one of their locations.
• All Wrapped Up! Groovy Gift Wrap of the 1960s - People are always stealing my Chronicle Books ideas! But pop culture never dies...

Lipstick & Magazines #23: Three

Three favorite stores in San Francisco where I can always find something adorable and fun for less than $10:

Heartfelt: A reason to make your way up to Bernal Heights, if the great views from the hill-top aren't enough.

Cliff's Variety: A classic, though I always forget they are closed on Sundays and get bummed. Get your lightbulbs, your wrapping paper, and your birthday gifts.

Wishbone: The best selection of cards. Great scarves and jewelry, retro candy. Fun, fun, fun.

Three favorite movies I've seen recently:

March of the Penguins: Even my dentist and I bonded over this movie.

Broken Flowers: Bill Murray and Jim Jarmusch. But really, it's all about Sharon Stone and the teen who plays her daughter. Brilliant!

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring: A Korean film about a young man and an old monk who live on a floating temple. Lovely, subtle, passionate.

Three websites I've been enjoying:

101 Cookbooks: Tons to explore, and recently added discussion forums.

Wikipedia: Trying to figure out how to explain what a podcast is? Still not quite clear on what wikis are? Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia created by the people, for the people. Even you can edit it - share what you know!

Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch: Fabulous for a quick hit of pop culture. Updated constantly.

Enjoy!