I recently was offered an opportunity to review maternity clothes from a site called Kiki’s Fashions. Being that I am not with child, nor do I plan to be, I asked Allison to review this site for me. She and her hubby, Drew, aka BenSpark, have become online friends of mine. Allison is happily pregnant, and is due in mid-October or so…so she was the perfect model for a maternity top! So, I asked her to select a top to have sent to her, to review.

Allison got her top in the mail the other day, and here is what she had to say about it:

Kiki’s Fashions has some very cute maternity clothes in trendy styles for a reasonable price. The top that I got was their Cream Brown Maternity Short Sleeve Shirt . Shipping was speedy and the top is even cuter in person. The size ran a bit small through the arms and bust for me, though I came in on the small end of measurements for their size chart. I’d consider ordering a size up the next time I place an order.

Allison did love the site and the clothes, but also pointed out a couple of other things worth noting. She wondered why they had to put “maternity” in the name of each item, when that is what the site sells. Also, she had noticed that there once was an option to search by size, that seemed to have went away. She asked *what happened to that?* I hope they’ll fix that problem!

All in all…when you are expecting a new addition to the family, it’s gonna cost you some big bucks, let’s face it. But there is no reason why Mom can’t look nice and dress tastefully in a top like Allison is wearing here. These tops are surprisingly affordable, and come in so many cute styles.

Thanks to Allison, for modeling the top for this post, and to her hubby Drew, for taking the picture! Thanks to both of you for all you did here!

…that men prefer ROUND women!

There is such a thing as a padded panty, which helps ladies get a little more curvaceous down there!

I have enough roundness in the bum, thank you very much…but it is good to know that women are looking to be more round, on purpose! The truth is that most men HATE skinny toothpick women, they want CURVES! Too bad that I am taken. but there are plenty of round, sexy women out there! Much better than a skinny toothpick Ally McBeal type woman, right?

…by excessive bank charges!

We are fortunate, in that we chose NOT to use one of the overpriced, big-box banks around here. We were getting tired of all of the mergers…the bank we used to use kept merging into a a bigger bank, and every time, the fees for just having a basic checking account increased. This is why I recommend a smaller, local bank. The bank we use charges us NOTHING to have our checking account. They reward us for having Direct Deposit of Mike’s paychecks, which saves them time and money. And we mostly use the ATM at the bank, seldom do we go in and make people do stuff manually. So why should we pay upwards of $15/month to have our checking and current accounts, when we can get them elsewhere for free? Where do they get off charging all of this money, when it is all automated? Do yourself a favor and find a small, local bank that looks like no one wants to suck it up into a merger. That is what we did.

By charging high fees, the big-box banks make it unaffordable for lower-income people to have accounts. Sadly, in many neighborhoods, they have no choice. The banks often close branches there, and poorer people are stuck with even more expensive check-cashing places. It’s not fair and it’s not right!

Anyway…about excess fees…in some cases, it is possible to reclaim bank charges. If you feel you have been unfairly charged, it can’t hurt to dispute it, and maybe get your money back.

I have a MasterCard that gives me cash back whenever I use it. The amounts may not seem like much, but over time, they sure do add up.

There are so many credit card offers out there…they offer things like cash back, reward points, low interest…all to get you to sign up. But before you do, you should Compare Cash Back Credit Cards. They are NOT all created equal!

There is a site called CreditCardSearchEngine.com that can help you compare the various offers side-by-side, to help you make an informed decision. As I always say…do your homework first, before putting your John Hancock on the dotted line!

Our friend Dan, at whose inn we’ll be staying this weekend, is originally from South Boston…affectionatly known as “Southie”. Southie was, and still is, to an extent, a very Irish neighborhood. This is where Boston holds its annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Sometimes Dan tells us stories about what Southie (and Boston, in general) were like when he was a kid. He talks longingly of the good old days, when he and his friends coupld go to Fenway Park and sit in the bleachers for only 50 cents. Now, those days are gone forever…you’re lucky if you can even find a ten-dollar bleacher seat there these days!

Anyhoo, the face of Southie has changed a lot, especially the Seaport area. Whether you’re looking to buy in onsome of the new developments, or a classic older home, look to Seaport Realty Group for your south boston real estate needs. They are located in the heart of Southie’s business district, and because they actually live there, they know the area better than anyone else. In adsdtion to serving Southie and surrounding neighborhoods, they also serve some neighboring towns outside of Boston, such as Quincy and Milton.

No, you’ll never again be able to buy a 50 cent Red Sox ticket! But if you would like to live in the city, and are looking for property, look no further than Seaport Realty Group!

I am a big fan of the destination wedding. This means that the couple travels to some place to get married. It can be an elopement, such as Mike and I had, or it can be a full-fledged wedding, with guests and all. You can make it whatever you want it to be!

One of the nice things about many destination weddings is that you can get some really gorgeous wedding photos. That’s why tropical paradises such as St. Thomas are such popular wedding places. And there is this great st thomas wedding photographer who can provide such pictures.

I was browsing through Ashley’s site, and I was impressed. Too many wedding photographers specialize in those boring, stiff, posed shots. But Ashley is more into candid shots, which I feel really capture the essence of your special day…much more so than posed shots do.

I liked these pictures a lot!

Sometimes, I’m so disgusted with things in this country (namely a certain person whose middle initial is “DUHBYA”), I wish we could move to another country. We actually have considered Canada, but perhaps Ireland would be nice, as well.

But a move like that would be a nightmare. In reality, when we do move to Maine, we’d probably just rent a U-Haul and do it ourselves, as it’s not all that far. However, a really big, long-distance move would mean that we’d have to look towards International Movers.

It can be a daunting task to find a mover that you can trust, though. That’s why This Service Network site would come in handy. They help you get connected with the right mover for you. No moving company is accepted into their network unless they are licensed and insured, and meet other stringent quality requirements. And should there be any problems, Service Network will assist with the matter.

The only problem with moving to a foreign country…many make you quarantine any pets. I have a friend who moved to the U.K., and she had to wait SIX MONTHS to bring her kitties over. Luckily, she found someone good to take care of them during that period. But she missed them so much!

I would miss my kitties, too. Also, Duhbya will be gone in a couple of years, and whoever is elected in 2008 has GOT to be an improvement!

I don’t know about that! I have a diamond ring, my engagement ring. But diamonds, frankly, are kinda BORING. As in, no color! I like more colorful gemstones myself.

The diamond is also my birthstone…April. I was looking at the Reeds Jewelers website, and was admiring all of the aquamarine birthstone jewelry for March. Why could I have not been a premature baby?

Anyhoo, they do have a aquamarine and diamond ring…wish I’d seen something like that when we were picking out my engagement ring! I love the ring I have just fine, but sometimes I long for something with a little more color to it.

It’s pretty easy to get credit these days, even if you don’t have the highest credit score. If you own a home, you have collateral, and have the option to take out secured loans. If you have good credit, there are a myriad of unsecured loans that are at your disposal.

Every time you turn around, you see ads for someone who wants to loan you money…but the big question is: should you borrow money?