How to Find Shoe Values Online

One of the products that is easily bought online are shoes. Retailers, understanding that some people hate to set foot in shoe stores, have put much of their product inventory online including some of the latest and most popular fashion designs. Shopping for shoes online can be done by visiting a trusted retailer, but if you are looking for a special pair of footwear such as ladies black leather boots, then your process will likely start with a search engine first.

1. Search engines. First, navigate your browser to your favorite search engine: Google, Bing or Yahoo to name a few. Second, in the search bar, type in the words that best match what you are looking for. In our example, that would be "ladies black leather boots." You might also consider inputting "black leather boots for women" or "leather womens boots" to see what your search turns up.

2. Examine the results. The search engine results pages will likely turn up dozens of pages of information. You may end up with more information than you can handle, therefore concentrate on the first page's results and go no deeper than page three. Begin to visit each result to see what your search efforts have turned up.

3. Read carefully. Your results should turn up a variety of black leather women's boots, but there are a few things you should note. Some boots are sold in U.S. sizes only while others may include British or European measurements. Use a shoe size conversion table to find what you're looking for. For instance, a women's size 6 shoe sold in the United States and in Canada would be a 3 1/2 in the U.K. and a 36 in Europe. The size differences extend to other countries including Australia, Japan and Korea, therefore confirm what size basis a retailer is using before placing your order.

4. Materials offered. You are getting real leather when you order your boots, right? Well, not always. Besides imitation leather, known as leatherette, you may discover that your boots are made of calfskin, goats, crocodile, ostrich, lizard or even shark. Ostrich is softer and easier to shape while shark leather is resilient and resistant to wear. Find out what type of materials are used including straps, buckles, inner lining and soles.

5. Color choices. You want black boots, but confirm that black is what you are getting. This applies to all colors, not just shades of black and white. Concerning black, there are off-color black colors that come in very close, but are not precisely the same. These variations include ebony, charcoal, onyx, licorice and jet. You may be fine with these variations, but you need to know that that black you are ordering may not be in fact black.

6. Secured site. Shopping online can carry additional risks, including some that are not so obvious. You want to shop from a secured website, therefore when you check out verify that either a closed padlock can be found on the edge of your screen or the web address is changed from "http" to "https" with the added "s" telling you that you're at a secured site.  When a website is secured, then you know that your credit card information is protected. Avoid fraud by shopping on legitimate retail websites and storefronts only.

7. Shipping information. How much will it cost for you to have your pair of ladies black leather boots shipped to your home? Shipping, handling, taxes and a restocking fee if you send the item back should be considered. You may find that if you hit a certain price threshold, such as $50, then you can get two-day shipping included with your final price.  If you need your boots tomorrow, expect to get hit with a correspondingly high shipping charge.

Shopping Notes:

Always shop with a credit card when shopping online. Credit cards offer more protection than debit cards with consumers covered by the Fair Credit Billing Act in the event of fraud or identity theft. If you are not sure about the legitimacy of any website, simply make contact with the company directly by phone or by chat, or move on to the next retailer. Lastly, don't forget about using a coupon code to get the best savings on ladies black leather boots and other items.

Robert Langdon is a professional blogger that writes for GreatDeals.com. Great Deals offers thousands of good deals at hundreds of retailers including BestBuy.com coupons. 

Scarf Basics and More

The fashionable crowd wears a scarf with almost every outfit. A versatile collection of scarves includes a variety of colors, shapes and fabrics. There are inside wear and outside wear scarves.

Scarves With Benefits: 
While scarves are considered an accessory, not a wardrobe necessity, they add a great deal to an outfit. They have many purposes, some of which are:

• Scarves enhance an outfit by adding color, texture and dimension.
• They update an otherwise dated outfit with color. Popular and trendy scarf designs include overall florals, very popular animal prints and chic metallics.
• The texture that a scarf adds to an outfit is unparalleled, whether it is a warm and bulky knit or a thin and silky adornment.
• A fashionable scarf keeps any neck warm and cozy, regardless of the fabric.

Tying it Up

There are an unlimited number of ways to wear a scarf. Again, it depends upon the desired look. A scarf can be knotted, around neck or just at the scarf ends, looped, loosely draped, tied in a bow and more. There are innumerable websites offering illustrated instructions for different scarf tying techniques. Check the web for details for the perfect site that fits your needs.
The basics of how to wear a scarf begin with the shape of the scarf. There are squares of varying sizes and long, thin scarves of varying lengths. The shape and size of the scarf will dictate how it will be worn.

Fabric Choices

The popular fabric choices in scarves include fine silk, luxurious satin, cotton and warm, wool weaves and knits. Making the fabric choice for a scarf is personal but there are a few basic guidelines to help make the decision:
Silk: This fabric dresses up a day wear or evening outfit on the inside. The soft, flowing fabric also can enhance a solid color wool dress coat on the outside.
Satin: This thick, soft and luscious fabric is a dressy addition, a step up in weight from the thin silk option, to a suit for day or evening wear. Satin scarves are often dual tone with one color presenting on each side.
Cotton: This fabric especially works for summer wear. Yes, a scarf is a fashionable summer outfit accessory. Jersey is a popular form of stretchy cotton that allows a stable palette for sequin or studded embellishments on a scarf.
Linen: A linen scarf made of flax a fiber is another summer wear choice, but dressier than simple cotton, option.
Knits: Knit scarves can be a fine gauge thin knit, worn inside or out, or a bulky, warm outside knit. Knit scarves include such fibers as mohair, cashmere, wool and more. A knit scarf can be fabricated from these fine wools fibers:

• Alpaca, which is warm, soft wool.
• Cashmere, which is ultra soft and warm.

Pashmina

Pashmina is fine cashmere wool originating under the outer hair of Himalayan goats. The fibers are woven into a fine wool fabric, which is popularly used to make oversized pashmina scarves and shawls.
The term, pashmina, has quickly become a generic term that incorporates any woven, oversized scarf worn draped over the shoulders, around the waist or otherwise.

A Basic Scarf Statement

Not only does a scarf make a fashion statement, it also adds warmth, texture and dimension to any outfit. Long, short, tied, draped, floral, solid, lightweight or bulky, a scarf can do so much to finish an ensemble.
James Scaggs is the Director of Marketing for ecommerce retail sites Ties.com and Scarves.com, based in Orange County California. Check out Scarves.com for a huge selection of winter scarves, pashminas, knit scarves, loop scarves, and more!

Let's Talk: Textbooks

I'm all about saving money and looking to get the best deal and let's face it, as a college student, textbooks are expensive. There's no way you can save money and get a great deal. I avoid the college bookstore like the plague, because it's too expensive. So, I resort to either buying them online or renting them online. My school allows you to rent them, but it's still expensive.

For the past 2 years, I've used Chegg, a textbook rental site. Compared to my school, it's a lot cheaper. But, I found an even cheaper textbook rental site called Campus Book Rentals and they are a lot cheaper than Chegg.

I rented my history textbook, Making America, on Chegg this year.

As you can see above, Chegg's price is $59 (plus tax and shipping). Campus Book Rentals' price is $45.51, plus FREE SHIPPING. I'm all about saving money, getting the best deals, and free shipping. So, you know where I'm renting next semester.

Campus Book Rentals saves you 40-90% off of bookstore prices, offers FREE shipping both ways, flexible renting periods, they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented, and you can highlight in the book. I love the fact that they have a flexible renting period, unlike Chegg, and that they donate to a great cause.

If you don't know what Operation Smile is, it's a charity for children who are born with a cleft. They heal children's smiles. These children are unable to speak, eat, socialize, and smile. In some places, these children are shunned and rejected and in many cases, their parents can't afford surgeries. Since 1982, Operation Smile has been giving smiles back to these children. They give free surgeries to children and young adults born with cleft lips, palates, and other facial deformities.

So, how does it work? Check out the video below.
CampusBookRentals.com RentBack

The views expressed in this article were my own. I would like to thank Campus Book Rentals for asking me to write this article and commissioning me for it.

Have a lovey day!
xoxo

Sponsor In January

If you'd like to sponsor my little blog, please email me at mscdyson@ymail.com or visit the PR/Advertise page. We can swap ads or if you feel like paying, you can purchase an ad for $1. Whatever you choose, I'd love to sponsor you in the new year. Or if you'd like to renew, please let me know. 

Have lovely holiday! 

xoxo 

Let's Talk: Doomsday

If you've been living under a rock (and I assume you haven't been), doomsday's tomorrow (or whenever you read this today). According to everyone, that means we die. Yay! 

FALSE! Newsflash! Nothing going to happen tomorrow (or today)! We aren't dying and the world isn't going anywhere. You'll still have those lovely bills to pay the next day. You'll still have that doctor's appointment that you've probably been avoiding (or trying to get out of because you thought the world was ending). You'll still have those tests to study for and papers to write. Life will continue. 

So, what's happening then? What's all the hoopla all about? Let me explain. 

Warning: Explanation will be a little lengthy and I will be going into astrology. 

The Mayans didn't have a leap year, so their calendar is shorter than ours. Their year of 2012 ended last July. So, according to the Mayans, 2012 has come and gone. If the world was going to end, it would habe ended last July. They weren't predicting the end of the world. They based their calculations on a five thousand year cycle and predicted that one event calendar was ending on December 21, 2012 and another one beginning on December 22, 2012. They were simply predicting the end of the five thousand year solar or planetary calendar. We’re entering into another era, that’s all. Right now we’re in the age of Pisces and on December 22nd we’ll be entering the age of Aquarius.

What does this exactly mean? These ages that we go through, isn't part of astronomy. It's part of astrology. The Sun goes through all 12 signs of the zodiac annually and the zodiac also changes signs approximately every two thousand years and is called the precession of the equinox. Each zodiac lasts on average for about 2,150 years actually. The sun’s position at the time of the March, or vernal, equinox moves in front of a new Zodiac constellation. The Age of Aquarius begins when the March equinox point moves out of the constellation Pisces and into the constellation Aquarius. So as we're move into a new era on December 22nd, we are going through a transitional change. 

So, what's going to happen in this new era? Well, the symbol for Aquarius is the Water Bearer, but in reality it is not water, but knowledge that is being poured. This era will bring forth a drastic change and humans will be affected. The Age of Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, the planet of shocking and revolutionary change and is associated with freedom, social justice and new technology. Basing on the Zodiac characteristics of Aquarius, this new age will be more about computers, modernization, revolution, humanitarianism, autonomy and democracy. It is believed that this new era will inspire a massive shift of global consciousness. People will be more aware and concerned about the whereabouts of the world. 

The is era will last until the year 4000 (approximately). The next era the future will see is Capricorn. So, we'll be in Aquarius for sometime. 

Have a lovely day/night! 

xoxo

Sponsor Chase All Your Dreams In December

It's that time of year again! If you'd like to sponsor my little blog, please email me at mscdyson@ymail.com or visit the PR/Advertise page. We can swap ads or if you feel like paying, you can purchase an ad for $1. Whatever you choose, I'd love to sponsor you in December. 

Also, for those who I'm sponsoring this month, you'll hear from this weekend. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxo

Let's Talk: Project Unbreakable & No More

I'd like to bring to your attention two organizations/projects that are very important to me. Project Unbreakable and No More. Both organizations deal with sexual assault; No More also focuses on domestic violence, while Project Unbreakable just focuses on sexual assault. 

Project Unbreakable is a project founded in 2011 by a photographer named Grace Brown. She tours the country and photographs victims holding a poster with a quote from their attacker. No More, on the other hand, is more of an organization that wants to bring awareness to domestic violence and sexual assault. Personally, I think both organizations are great and I'm working towards bringing awareness to sexual assault and domestic violence (mainly sexual assault). 

Why am I talking about this and bringing this to your attention? Well, it's not just because it's an important subject and it's wrong, it's also due to the fact that I was sexually assaulted. 

Here's my story. 

Except for my parents, I never really told anyone this story. I tried telling my friends, but they could care less. All they said was “Was he good looking?”

I knew this guy from my psychology class and ever since the first day of class, I sensed this bad vibe from him. I never liked him since day one. Later in the semester he asked me to study with him and I told him no. The following semester we meet again, in the hallway this time. I said hi to him just to be nice. Later that day, he found me in the cafeteria having lunch and then outside on the bench waiting for math class. He asked me if I wanted to go the park, which was a few blocks away from campus. I tried getting out of it, I tried to lie my out of it; but I felt forced to go with him, so I did. That’s when he sexually assaulted me. He touched me inappropriately, he forced me to kiss him, said things to me that I don’t even remember, and he did a few other things. I was shaken to the core. Somehow I went to math class that afternoon. I was broken inside, I cried most of the day. The memory of the incident plagued me for a whole year, I would get flashbacks of him forcing me to kiss.

After the incident, I would see him everywhere I went on campus. I would have to be on guard, put my guard up, run from him, change my direction/go in a different direction. I was extremely uncomfortable on campus that whole year.

To this day I have trust issues with guys especially. I feel uncomfortable whenever I get close to a guy. It’s been 2 years now since the incident and I still have trust issues, but I am stronger than ever. I’m not afraid to talk to guys and I plan on going on a date soon. Even though I have trust issues and I feel uncomfortable when I get close, I’m not afraid to be in a relationship or to be loved by someone anymore. I got through it and with time everything started getting better. I’m stronger than ever. 

So, that's my story. Like I said above, I haven't really told anyone and I feel like my story should be told and heard by everyone. I don't speak about it a lot and unfortunately, when meeting a guy, I have to tell them within the first few conversations. That way, they understand why I'm acting a certain way. 

If you've been sexually assaulted or domestically abused, stay strong and don't ever give up! Don't let your attacker get the best of you, because I know I didn't. Yes, it'll take awhile to move on and you might never completely forget it/get over it, but in time things will get better, trust me. 

Remember, time is cure for everything. 

Stay strong and have a lovely day!
xoxo