.

	Samurai Sword Umbrella For your next showdown with the precipitation, remove your Samurai Sword Handle Umbrella from its nylon sheath and get out there. Battle away…
	Speak-er Only 4″ tall, these fun little speech boxes won’t take up a lot of space on your desk, but they’ll sure make a lot of noise.
	Stainless Steel Ofuro Updated from the traditional Japanese wood Ofuro, the Stainless Steel Ofuro is extremely easy to maintain and massages your muscles with 18 air jets built into the seat, all controlled with the touch of a button.
	Ork City Posters Made of 100% recycled paper and soy based inks, form meets function when several U.S cities are broken down into their distinct neighborhoods to make for some pretty sweet wall art.
	Ninja Tack Every office is more interesting with Ninja Throwing Stars. But if you’re worried your boss would disapprove, you can still get the effect with Ninja Tacks.
	Jaydiohead If you think that mash-ups are just recycled music, let Jaydiohead by Minty Fresh Beats change your mind. The tracks aren’t taken from any one Jay-Z or Radiohead album and the musical choices are very deliberate.
	The Hopside Down Glass Aside from looking cool, the Hopside down is double walled so your brew remains at the perfect temperature right down to the last sip.
	Fender Stratocaster Table The Deluxe Stratocaster Table is made in the image of the most common and enduring models of electric guitar in the world.

From time to time people send us cool websites to check out and most of the time they are the same tired web 2.0 type stuff. I don’t write about all of them, but sometimes I get sent a link to something pretty refreshing and this site fits into that category. It makes no fuss about being nice and is named Get the F*&k Outta Here with that Bullsh*t.

The name G.T.F.O.H.W.T.B.S is perfect since the material thus far is so straight up and makes no apologies for ripping a new one to all who read it. I found myself nodding to many of the rips on people and wondering to myself, did he just say what I think he said? Well he did.

The two authors have something interesting going on here and in a funny way they are just delivering the truth. Who can ask for more?

Here is an excerpt from one of their posts:

“To all the girls I’ve loved before, who’ve traveled in and out my door…

Dedicated to all the girls I’ve loved, f*&ked, kissed, fingerbanged, casually dated, seriously dated, sorta hung out with, groped, ate out, went out on one date with and never called back, freaked at a club, got head from, etc… Please, do us both a favor and delete my cell number.

I’m not gonna pick up and shoot the sh*t with you. Your text messages ain’t cute. You’re probably just being yourself and the real you must annoy the crap outta me. Please move on and leave me the f*&k alone.

I’m sure there are a lot of you out there who have men or women from your past, and that’s where they need to stay, in your past! Don’t get me wrong, there might be some females that you used to…”

Check out more of the site here: Get the F*&k Outta Here with that Bullsh*t

Dear Elle,

I’ve been going out on some dates with this one guy. He has great taste in restaurants. On the second date, he made one too many jokes about me having his children, and told me about Googling third grade crushes. I had a really interesting Valentine’s Day with him. We had a fancy dinner, and I was going to invite him home with me, but he seemed really freaked out when I went to kiss him, and told me  he was “very slow” and “old fashioned.” But on the flip side of that, nearly every conversation we’ve had in the two weeks that I’ve known him has somehow led to his feelings on BABIES. What am I supposed to do ?

-V

Read the rest of this article »

Last month, we gave you tips for throwing the perfect Las Vegas Bachelor Party for High Rollers.  If you are cutting back on some expenses and want a more economical alternative, you still have a lot of options. Here are some more great tips for throwing an awesome Las Vegas Bachelor Party on a Budget.

Article by Ploomy contributor Allison Dieppa.

We’ve previously discussed the heights – or rather, the lack of them – a bachelor party in Las Vegas can reach when you have the “moolah” to back it. That’s not to say, however, that Sin City isn’t kind to bachelors and their buddies who have significantly less green to spend. Although a bachelor party funded by thousands of dollars will knock your socks off and possibly make the groom have second thoughts, you definitely don’t need to be a high roller to have an amazing bachelor party in Vegas.

With the economy on life support, now is the perfect time to get a great deal on a few Las Vegas hotel rooms for you and your gang during the bachelor party excursion. Nearly all the hotel-casinos are focusing on luxury with value, and one of the best examples of this is Treasure Island. There, for the low to mid $100’s a night, you can stay in one of their newly refurbished and renovated rooms. Sure, it doesn’t come with a stripper pole, but it does come with a big plush bed to pass out in, custom designed furnishings, and neat clock radios where you can dock your iPod. Throw in a mini-bar, and you have all you really need.

Read the rest of this article »

While everyone is talking about “Love,” I’d like to talk about another “L” word and that’s leadership.

Whether you are a retail manager with 6 sales associates, a coach of a basketball team, or a father with children, leadership plays a big part in our lives. And understanding how to get the best out of your team is crucial for success in many of our endeavors.

One of readers (Rob K. in Oregon) recently sent me a link to a great site that I think you should check out.

The site is a blog that former NBA coach Eric Musselman has penned since 2007 and deals with “Notes, observations, and commentary on basketball and coaching.”

For any of you readers out there who love basketball, you’ll be in for a treat. The site is chock full of leadership insight as well as player/coach stories from around the NBA and college ranks.

Check out Eric Musselman’s Blog.

Dear Elle,
Me and my friend were discussing the other day, what dictates girl’s trends in underwear? I remember from like 2003-2006, thongs were everywhere, and girls would be at the club or the library and they’d bend down just a little and plop, thong smile. But now, not so much. Is it that girls are wearing pants higher or thongs lower? But even when we’ve had the chance to “unwrap presents”, we noticed its more boy shortish things these days. Why is that? And can the thong come back?

-Blurnandez

Dear Blurnandez,

I would first like to thank you for leaving the word “panty” out of this conversation. Nothing disgusts me more than hearing the word “panty”, and repeating it back to someone makes me gag.

In my opinion, the thong hasn’t gone anywhere. But its prevalence has declined after we all discovered the phenomena of the Read the rest of this article »

Thank you to all who participated in our Valentine’s Day ProFlowers Giveaway. The 5 winners (in no particular order) are listed below. I will be in touch with each of you to give you your gift codes for the ProFlowers $70 gift cards. Congratulations to all the winners.

For those that did not win, our friends over at ProFlowers have provided our readers with a special discount offer of 20% Off and a Free Vase. So even if you did not win, we’d still like you to get a great deal on all your flower delivery this Valentine’s Day. ProFlowers 20% Off and a Free Vase Discount Code.

Ed

My wife has put up with my lame or botched attempts at romance for 13 years now and really deserves some flowers to go with the the homemade card she knows she will be getting this year (we are cutting costs). When we met, we had little in common and she told me flat out she wasn’t interested in a relationship, but I am a bit stubborn and she managed to overlook my motorcycle, dislike for dancing, and quite a few other things along the way to get us where we are today. So as our three kids (3, 5, 6) and I are showing her our construction paper cards, it would be really great if she could have something a little extra special. My plan would be to get an arrangement of lilies to remind her of our wedding and get my two girls each a rose.

Thanks.

Liza

I went through a rough breakup a couple of months ago. My Valentine(s) this year are my girlfriends who got me through it. I’d like to send them a little something as a thank you. Thanks

cmkrenshaw

I would like to send flowers to my Mom. She’s always been there in my life and extremely supportive. I sometimes resented this though growing up because she was always in my business and trying to get me to participate and do all these things to find out what I was good at. It wasn’t until much later in life that I realized what she was really trying to do was help me become a better person. I’m still trying to become a better me, but it’s my mom I will thank for giving me a good foundation. I think she deserves flowers everyday, but since I can’t give them to her, once every year would be awesome.

Andy

I’m going to wax poetic about my wife particularly because we just spent a week at home together on vacation. We both work full-time on opposite shifts, so during a normal week we only have limited time together. We often talk by phone during the day but it’s not the same as being together. It’s almost more difficult after a week together on vacation to go back to our “normal” life and work; I seem to miss being with her more then.

She’s even more beautiful now than she was when I met her 15 years ago. I couldn’t have custom-ordered a more perfect partner than my wife. She’s smart, kind, engaging, sexy, she never takes herself too seriously and she can make me laugh until my sides hurt. I still get butterflies when she kisses me. Together we’ve raised four fantastic children that I couldn’t be prouder of; three that are grown men now. Sometimes when they talk, it’s my wife’s voice I hear-it’s her influence that made them what they are today. I give her most of the credit.

I’ll tell you one story about my wife that still makes the two of us laugh. Years ago we had a cocker spaniel, Sparky. Sparky was a few cubes short of a full tray of ice cubes; dog was cute but sure lacked smarts. When we’d put Sparky outside, he was on a runner and he hated it. After doing his business, all he did was yap his furry little head off. One day my wife called me to the back door to come look. Sparky was outside, standing there quiet as could be, just staring at the back door. My wife was overflowing with excitement thinking Sparky had finally gotten used to the runner. When she called me she said “Honey, come look..Sparky is outside and he’s not barking…he’s even smiling!” Sure enough, Sparky was stock still and it did look like he was smiling until you looked a bit closer…stupid dog had managed to flip his choker collar up into his mouth and it was pulled taunt by the runner–it looked like a doggy face-lift. So now whenever either of us do something that’s not-so-bright we always say “Honey, the dog is smiling”.

Catherine Copeland

My mother worked to raise eight children as a stay-at-home mother while my father worked as a policeman. She often got down on the floor and colored coloring books with us and made Barbie clothes. My mother found time to help us with flash cards to help us do better in school. She was never too busy to read us yet another book yet another time if that’s what we wanted. My sticky fingered hugs were always welcome as were my lollypop lip kisses. When mom would take the latest baby for a walk all the brothers and sisters accompanied her like little ducklings as we went to the park for some fun. The pictures I drew at school were always “perfect” and when my grades were low she would clear the dining room table and we would study together. Somehow Mom always had the time. I only hope that I have been the kind of mother to my sons that my mom was to me. I would wish I could send my mother flowers but I know that wouldn’t begin to thank her for all that she has ever done for me.

Dear Elle,

So i’ve been with this wonderful woman for a few years now (been living together for almost a full year) and everything is peachy except for one detail… It’s beginning to irk me that she has little fashion sense. At first i felt very superficial for feeling this way. My exes, by comparison, have had great taste in clothing but have been difficult to deal with emotionally. Now that i have a great girlfriend who i see eye-to-eye with, i feel that appearances should not matter… but lately it has definitely been affecting my sex drive. She is usually shy to initiate sexual contact so it’s up to me… but if her outfits are turning me off, then we come to a dreadful standstill.

It’s kind of a common scenario. She is afraid of colors and change. black is safe and easy to match. She finds something she is comfortable with and buys 4 of them. She has several v-neck sweaters that would show off her great cleavage but she ruins them by wearing t shirt under them. I don’t consider myself to be an authority on fashion or anything, but it bugs me a bit that i am always dressed better than her.

Recently i discovered some pictures of her from over a decade ago and she is wearing the same exact stuff which supports my theory that she’s just taking the “safe” route. I don’t know how to approach her about this. I don’t want to hurt her feelings or give her a complex. I try to do a biweekly “date night” and told her “this doesn’t mean we’re gonna just sit around and rent a movie… we need to actually dress up and go out.” But her idea of dressing up appears to be the same old stuff unless we’re going to an extremely formal place where the rules disallow t-shirts and sneakers. She has a killer body! It’s not like she has anything to hide. What do you think is the best way to handle this situation?

signed,
~ lost

Dear Lost,

There’s definitely a reason your girlfriend dresses under the radar. I am clueless when it comes to these things, since I often dress like shit because a) I don’t care and b) have an irrational fear that dressing provocatively (which I equate to dressing my age) will make me a target for sexual assault. Read the rest of this article »

Musebin is a new site that just launched which plays off the 140 character limit rule which Twitter has made defacto standard.

With Musebin, you now have your chance to review music, but of course you only have 140 characters to say it. For some it is tough to limit themselves to so few characters. For others it’s a delightful art form.

Here are just some of the great reviews on Musebin right now:

on Chinese Democracy by Axl Rose

“It took Michelangelo 4 years to paint the Sistine Chapel. It takes Axel 15 to shit on a CD, and gravity was on his side.”

on 808s and Heartbreak by Kanye West

“Don’t expect any club bangers, this is more like a soundtrack for stalking ex-girlfriends on Facebook.”

on Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective

“Like the Beach Boys on an acid trip, being spun in a blender. In the absolute best way possible.”

Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away, but have no fear Ploomy’s got you covered.  We’ve teamed up with ProFlowers.com to give 5 of our lucky readers $70 Gift Certificates. How’s that for a stimulus check???

The $70 gift certificate can be used for all sorts of things on the ProFlowers.com website including but not limited to: sending flowers, sending chocolates, or sending other types of gift baskets. They have a huge assortment and some of the best choices on the Interwebs for flower delivery.

In order to win one of these $70 gift certificates, all you have to do is tell us why your wife, girlfriend, mother, or that girl in marketing is deserving of flowers this Valentine’s Day?

Your answers don’t have to be particularly long, just convincing. Allow your answers to be funny, inspirational, creative, entertaining, heart warming or just ridiculously cool—there is no wrong answer!

Add your comments on the site no later than Sunday Feb 8th at 11:59pm (pacific time) and we’ll announce the 5 winners on Monday, Feb 9th.

Just remember one entry per person. Apologies in advance to all our friends in other countries, but this contest is only open to those living in the United States.