Happy Holiday Friday!

Hopefully you’re already lounging somewhere, bikini-clad (or donning surf trunks) with a refreshing beverage in hand and shades blocking glorious afternoon rays.

Me? I’m in Starbucks trying to catch up with e-mail and deadlines after a week without childcare. But after that, I’m headed to the deliciously charming wine country town of Healdsburg where the hubby, baby, and me will shack up with my college love, his wife and baby, and our mutual friends who have two kids a barbecue, and a big, glistening swimming pool. In other words, it’ll be a full-blown family weekend.

Before I get to this week’s fun posts, a wish for safety: While driving home from San Francisco last night I was held up at a sobriety checkpoint, which had one of the city’s major thoroughfares blocked with police cars and big busses for loading up the drunks. Be careful out there this weekend. Sometimes, too much of a good thing can be a very bad thing.

Celebrate safely and check back next week!

Without further adieu, here are some of my favorite posts spied in the blogosphere this week:

I love the desk buddies at Chip Chick–they react and move to sound.

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Cooking Gadgets features the quirkiest kitchen utensil that I actually need:

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This product would let me know when my milk is about to boil over

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Daily Olive rocks Riedel’s new decanter.

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Gizmo Diva antes up novel ideas: An electric carpet and GPS platform shoes with a secret compartment.

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These lamps featured on The Design Blog are crazy cool:

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Want to know what time it is while washing your face in the morning? Check the clock drain featured on Luxury Launches.

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Want to save $$ while on vacation? Check the tips at Southern Byways.

Finally, here’s a list of the best of the best from the Glam blogs this week:

I’m partial to my guest blog by Tablehopper’s Marcia Gagliardi; she shares her top 20 dishes San Francisco restaurants.

Over at GlamScene you can get the inside scoop on who attended the Teen Choice Awards.

GlamChic spies fashion’s most stylish mother-daughter combos. Think the Trumps, Versaces, and Wintours.

Here’s my personal fave: Glamblush shows how unrealistic the glam photos of our favorite stars are with a before and after peek at the art of airbrushing as applied to Brittany Murphy.

GlamLive ponders whether you’d wear some frighteningly short and high-waisted sequin hot pants. Well…would you?

GlamSpree showcases von Ruhtenberg’s hot new bags.

Last but not least, our very own GlamSpirit touches on a very personal subject in my family: alternative healing for breast cancer.
Ciao for now, have fun browsing my finds, and have a GREAT one!

Erika Lenkert

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Greetings, Friends:

If you haven’t heard about the Bar Method and want to get in shape, read on. Our glorious intern Amy Copperman reports on the latest exercise craze out of California.

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The Bar Method
By Amy Copperman
One of the things I love most is a really good exercise routine–the kind that makes you sweat and leaves you feeling with that euphoric “I just worked out and deserve a treat” feeling.

At the same time, I have neither the patience, nor the will power to stay on the treadmill for any reasonable amount of time. Free weights intimidate me, and when at the gym my focus is usually on the latest US magazine rather than physical activity. So instead, I’m in a constant search for a class or routine that will keep my attention. I’ve done swimming, yoga, pilates, and dance to get my endorphin fix, and recently, I’ve fallen in love with the latest exercise trend: the Bar Method.

The class combines the best aspects of yoga, pilates, strength training, and stretching, using your own body weight and deceptively easy moves to build long, lean muscles. Jane magazine says it “Burns fat and carves muscle.” Its website promises it will result in a leaner, slimmer, more youthful body. I say it leaves my muscles shaking, heart racing, and thighs more cooperative when putting on a pair of jeans. In other words, it rocks.

During the hour-long class I am never bored. Nor do I even have to look at a treadmill. Plus its use of the ballet bar and emphasis on stretching has me feeling like a ballerina…and what’s not to love about that?

While classes are currently limited to a handful of locations California, New Jersey, and Connecticut, do-it-yourself videos are available through the website.

[ tags]exercise, the bar method, new trend[/tags]

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In my mind August is baby month. Why? Because more babies are born during the summertime month than any other month of the year.

In honor of all the newbies headed our way, here are some helpful links to help new parents navigate the bumpy road to family life–as well as the top Glam.com blog posts of the week.

Baby-Related Blogs
10 Things that Happened to Me
No matter how you try, you cannot anticipate what childbirth and beyond will really be like. Here’s one woman’s very interesting take on what unexpected events transpired.

Baby Names
Want to browse baby names or know more about the meaning behind the moniker? Check here.

The Top 10 Posts on Breastfeeding
If you’re breastfeeding, you already know it’s not nearly as easy as point and shoot. Breastfeeding 123 posts its top 10 of its top 10 posts just for you.

Back to School Budgeting
Mom’s Buzz offers great ideas on saving cash as you usher the little one’s back into the classroom.
Back to School Roundup
A one-stop shop for all things child-related, this rollicking roundup covers everything from saving money for school supplies to creative lunches to ways to stay organized throughout the school year.

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Glam.com Blog Roundup

GlamSpirit throws down with important information about your yoga mat.

GlamBlush showcases something I truly adore–the trends in fall nail colors.
See what shopping blog GlamSpree is obsessed with now.

GlamChic features tennis tart Maria Sharapova’s U.S. Open outfit.

GlamLive spots fall trends.

GlamNest (i.e. me) tells 10 nifty tricks to transform your living space.

GlamScene ponders the hot-factor of John Mayer.

Erika Lenkert

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Given it’s my favorite day of the week, it seemed appropriate to offer up something, um, perky. Enter Lift Me Up Cards, a hilarious line of congratulatory greetings for friends and loved ones who have just gone under the elective knife.

Check ‘em out:

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Inside says, “But since you just had liposuction, that’s probably not a good idea.”

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Open it up to read, “Congratulations…You’re now wrinkle free!”

Check out the company website for more options, each of which is $2.95 a pop. The corresponding chuckles are free of charge.

Erika Lenkert

Technorati Tags: plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, greeting cards, humor

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We here at Glam love Apartment Therapy so much we were jumping up and down when Lisa Brand, founding editor of the Apartment Therapy: San Francisco, agreed to ante up a guest post featuring 10 tricks for transforming your living space.

The San Francisco-based design writer, creative director, yoga teacher, and mommy recently left to do her own thing. Meanwhile, she reminisces her Apartment Therapy past with these superb tips.

Lisa Brand

Ten Easy Tricks for Transforming your Living Space
by Lisa Brand

Not all of us have the proverbial room with a view, so to keep things lively on the inside, here are ten easy tricks for transforming your living space:

1. Repaint, with color: Like music, color can work some major mojo. Generally speaking, warm shades (reds, oranges) are energizing and cool shades (greens, blues) are calming. Don’t stress about whether you’ve got the exact right shade; you won’t really know how a color makes a room feel until you lived with it for a while. If you decide it isn’t right you can always paint over it. Or, limit the color to a single wall, playing it off the neutral white of the rest of the room. Some paint collections that take a bit of the guesswork away: Yolo, Martha Stewart/Lowe’s, and Devine.

from Martha Stewart and Lowes

2. Throw away as much as possible. Clutter is the undoing of many a wonderful space. Cull through your stuff and have no mercy. If you have trouble deciding what to get rid of, make a dated list of the items you’re unsure of, stash them in a closet or basement, and keep the list on your fridge as a reminder. Anything you’re not pining for after a year should be freecycled or offered up on craigslist.

3. Add wheels: Mount your furniture on wheels so that you can reconfigure a room on the fly. Casters come with a wide variety of mounts and in a wide array of styles, materials and colors. Some great sources: the House of Antique Hardware, Cool Casters.com, Mockett.com. and Closet-Masters.com.

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from CoolCasters.com

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4. Play with light: Add plug-in dimmer attachments to fixtures so that you can dial the mood down at night. Add atmosphere with a light sculpture like Adam Frank’s Lumen Tree or Bitters Co.’s Basket Lamps. And if the room has a flat-panel TV, make it work double-time by tricking it out with a screen that will turn the picture into a dancing pattern. Try TV2Art.

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Bitter Co’s Basket Lamps

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5. Organize artfully: make sense of paper, magazines, and odds and ends by organizing them in open bins that are attractive enough to keep out and at hand. Give a prized collection its due by devoting some wall or shelf space to it, and then light it well with spots. Some attractive organizers: Mio SoftBowls, Ikea’s Knuff Bins, and Umbra’s Crunch Baskets.

6. Think outside the frame: there’s nothing like large-scale art on your walls to add drama. You don’t need a month’ salary for a huge canvas: try blowing up a photo or illustration using The Rasterbator (the cheap way), or photo2canvas (the more expensive way). Or, get inspired by the amazing creations of the UK’s Surface View, and add a mural. Make it easier by using stencils (try Stencil1 or The Stencil Library), removable vinyl stickers (try Domestic Wall Vynil), or a combination.

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Surface View Stencil

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7. Slipcovers: To add color or the energizing splash of a print to upholstered furniture, use a staple gun to re-cover chair cushions. Very high quality upholstery fabric in remainder sizes for small projects can be had for a song on eBay. For larger projects, use custom slipcovers made by a local tailor or off-the-shelf Bemz (if you have Ikea upholstery). Another cheap trick: a collection of throw pillows in interesting textures and colors. A good online source: Pillows and Throws.com.

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Bemz Slip Covers

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8. Add living things. Instantly refresh a room by bringing in potted trees, easy-to-care-for succulents, and bowls and vases of fresh flowers or leaves.

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9. Make a single bold move. A room filled with many small items like pillows, knick-knacks and photo frames can create a feeling of internal mayhem. Anchor the room by creating a single focal point out of something that you love: a huge mirror, a vintage find, a large- scale piece of art (see #6), or even an accent chair upholstered in a very strong print or color. A bold gesture will focus the eye and infuse the room with warmth and new personality.

10. Lighten up the floor plan. Can you move about the room easily? Is there room for quick little dance if the mood strikes? Scale down both the amount and size of your furniture. Empty space gives us room to breathe.

Technorati Tags: apartment therapy, apartmenttherapy.com, lisa brand, how to, decor tips, lighting, floor plan, good indoor paint colors, lighting ideas, wall stencils, giant photos

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