Stay up-to-date with these tech savvy tips for your daily life!

Barbara Kiebel is a mom with two grown girls, a reluctant cat owner and an avid gardener. Herbs are a passion and she loves having a fresh supply for her forays in the kitchen.

“I love having friends over, enjoying their company and sharing food and drink together. While I’ve kept my best recipes online for almost 20 years, it was only in the past several years that I decided to turn that effort into a food and cocktail blog, where I can now share what I love with a wider audience. I love making old standards and creating something new. And, my love for making cocktails cannot be denied!”

The winter weather is cold and dry: it’s making me really itchy. What can I do?

Itchy skin in the cold and dry weather can be an annoying problem. The good news is there are several things you can do to help nourish and protect your skin from the cold weather and low humidity. Low humidity means more water evaporates from your skin leaving behind dehydrated, flaky and sometimes cracked skin. The main defense against this problem is doing everything you can to “lock in” moisture and re-establish the natural oils on your skin that go away with showering and bathing. What I recommend is to avoid very hot showers. My general rule is that if your shower leaves a fog on the mirror, then it is too hot. Keep it short and as mild as you can stand it. In the shower use a mild moisturizing soap such as Cerave, Dove or Cetaphil. Avoid fragrant soaps and only wash the “dirty” spots. Unless you have been exercising or working and getting very sweaty, generally the underarms, genital area, feet and face will do. After the shower, pat dry. Leave a little bit of moisture on your skin and then apply a good moisturizing cream (non-fragranced)  on all of your dry areas. Oils are also good, and a popular choice is coconut oil in place of a moisturizer.

It can be frustrating and embarrassing when your typically sweet little child refuses to share. Fortunately, this is totally normal and there are things you can do to help. Sharing is a complicated social skill that your child will learn with the help of your guidance and plenty of practice.

The brilliant work of great minds has shaped and molded the world into today’s advanced 2.0 version. People such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Winston Churchill, Madame Curie, Albert Einstein, Warren Buffet and Steve Jobs come to mind all as movers and shakers who made a difference in the world with their brilliance. Peoples’ genius brought us philosophies and inventions that were never thought possible like the airplane, helicopter, solar power, nuclear power, fax machines and the Internet. (I’m still amazed by the fax machine even though newer technology has made it almost obsolete.) Brilliance is also responsible for putting man on the moon, discovering medicines that cure deathly illnesses and building robotics that perform pinpoint accurate surgeries.

Most people view the tires on their cars as a necessary evil—
black rubber mystery tubes there to basically keep
their pretty rims from touching the pavement.

This month we wanted to “takeover” a woman who spends her life giving to others and let her be on the receiving end. Melissa Viets was the perfect candidate. Melissa, a certified nursing assistant and executive assistant at the Friends of Caroline Hospice of Beaufort, was suggested by her boss, Executive Director Lindsay Roberg. Everyone who knows Melissa agrees she deserved it. 

... is this mechanic trying to *#!$ me?

I am often asked questions about general car maintenance, and they typically start with something like “I took my Weiner mobile in for its 5K mile oil change and they say I need $2000 worth of work but I just spent $500 last oil change, is this mechanic trying to *#!$ me?”  This is always the awkward point where I wonder if I should have become a hair stylist or perhaps a yoga instructor because I am sure they rarely get these types of questions; but based on my lack of Zen calmness and inability to trim even my dogs hair in an attractive manner, I guess my path in life should continue down the all things mechanical brick road.

... is this mechanic trying to *#!$ me?

I am often asked questions about general car maintenance, and they typically start with something like “I took my Weiner mobile in for its 5K mile oil change and they say I need $2000 worth of work but I just spent $500 last oil change, is this mechanic trying to *#!$ me?”  This is always the awkward point where I wonder if I should have become a hair stylist or perhaps a yoga instructor because I am sure they rarely get these types of questions; but based on my lack of Zen calmness and inability to trim even my dogs hair in an attractive manner, I guess my path in life should continue down the all things mechanical brick road.

Technology can help improve your performance. Used correctly, it can up your fitness stamina with healthy challenges, which can result in enhanced training and an overall higher outcome.

While running errands this week, I was reminded how we tend to make assumptions about a person based solely on the car they drive. Case in point, I saw a new Honda minivan pull up and park at the pet store (total soccer mom kid hauler I assumed), but then a very attractive woman in her mid-20s got out of the van. Coincidentally, the driver of the van was in front of me in the checkout line inside, which gave me the opportunity to ask about the minivan. “I have two big dogs and like to go camping and to the beach so it seemed like the perfect car for me,” was the answer I received.

Stay up-to-date with these tech savvy tips for your daily life!

I am often approached by acquaintances asking a similar question that usually starts something like this: “Hi Jay, I have a model year such and such, mini van, sports coupe, wiener mobile, pickup truck, hearse etc. with 89,000 miles on it. Wondering if I should keep it or trade it in on something newer.”

Few things in life seem to conjure memories of our youth more than the infamous family road trip. Road trips have almost no socioeconomic boundaries, and for that brief period of time riding in the family truckster, crisscrossing America’s highways to visit Grandma or the Grand Canyon, all are equal: same rest stop bathroom breaks; same fast food and same universal “are we there yet” from the back seat.

We all know that living a healthy lifestyle is not just about food. Not by a long shot.
It is a very involved process that brings many feelings and emotions into play.

As I was checking out at the grocery store, the young cashier held up one of my items and asked me what it was. “It’s a yellow squash,” I said. She proceeded to search for the item number so she could ring it up.

Stacey Kennedy Macioszek is one of those women who just makes life a little more fun than it was before you met her. Naturally sweet with just a touch of sass, Stacey is the true definition of “life of the party.” She somehow manages to juggle being a single mother of two teenage daughters and one pre-teen son, while also working a full-time job as a chef at Bess’ Delicatessen and Catering Specialists. “I’ve been a chef since I was 20. I just kind of fell into it. But you know, it’s still fun; it really is,” Stacey said.

Pushy, aggressive people have been known to say: 
“Lead, follow or get out of the way.” I say that is a big crock. 
How much better is it to “march to your own drummer” in the parade of life?

When you first glance at Elaine Senn and see the happiness that radiates from her eyes, you would never know that less than a year ago, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Like most people, Elaine was in complete shock.

All right, so if New Year’s resolutions do not really work, what else can we do? Read on for some really NEW thoughts. Remember, you saw it here first!

It's no secret that children crave independence—from picking an outfit to choosing a snack—so convincing yourself- appointed ™big kid∫ to cooperate can be a big challenge. Young children are driven by emotion and they live in the moment. Simply explaining what you want doesn't work! However by using a variety of child-friendly methods, you can bring about some happy cooperation.

For the most part, I gave up judging people about the same time I gave up perfectionism.