I grew up in a home where there was a lot of de-fizzing going on.

My brothers loved to open soda cans, and leave them, open, half-drank in the fridge. My parents preferred to start bottles of seltzer, and then bicker about who closed it wrong and let the fizz out. And I lost count of the number of times I was labeled a bad child for letting the diet pepsi go flat.

Someone might have thought there were crucial compounds at work.

Imagine, thus, my parents’ elation a few weeks ago, when I visited them and gifted them with a soda maker from the Soda Club.

I hear back in the olden days, making your own seltzer at home was actually fairly popular (but then again, I also hear the same was true about making a meal of chicken fats while wearing leisure suits) - so I was not really chomping at the bit to research it. Then, the opportunity fell into my lap and I realized how incredibly cool it actually is.

Gone could be the days of well…buying soda. At all. Have a guest who likes a certain flavor of cola, or sparkling water? Conjure it up! Life without lugging home heavy bottles, storing them, and having them go flat…well, it’s the closest thing to paradise south of an iPhone. (Sorry, still having those tech-wet-dreams…)

Back to reality…more reasons I love this new option:

Fresh just tastes better! Example: My mom and I attempted to make seltzer at the highest carbonation level. There was so much fizz, our eyes teared! It was beautiful. You control the flavor and fizz, so it can be as “fizzy” (NOT frizzy!) as you desire! And if you leave it open and it gets flat? Just start over! One innovation that could have neutralized YEARS of strife.

It’s better for the earth. As part of your package, you will receive reusable glass bottles. This reduces packaging, saves energy and conserves natural resources. You drinking soda can SAVE THE PLANET! Not so bad for sitting on your ass staring at the wall.

Plus: I am proud to say, it is dummy proof. Within my life, I’ve blown up microwaves, coffee pots, toasters…actually, I did all that the same week. Here, I was playing with a carbonator, and no explosions took place! That’s saying something.

There’s many other reasons (like tons of flavors to choose from, for instance) but I tend to go on and on…and on and on… (did I mention that I had attended a cocktail party at 11 am today and never fully recovered?) but it’s totally worth checking out…and two of you will get your very own set!

One grand-prize winner will receive the Soda Club’s Penguin Starter Kit (valued at 199.99) which includes:

Penguin Sparkling Water & Soda Machine
2 Alco2Jet® Penguin Carbonators
(makes approx. 90 carafes of seltzer)
2 Penguin Glass Carafes
FREE: SodaMix Taste Sampler (an assortment of Soda-Club’s most popular sodamix flavors)
2 MyWater flavors (Lemon-Lime, Orange)

And a runner-up will receive the Black/Silver Fountain Jet Start-up Kit, including:
This Package Includes:
Fountain Jet Home Soda Maker
1 Alco2Jet® Carbonators
(makes approx. 110 liters of seltzer)
FREE: SodaMix Taste Sampler (an assortment of Soda-Club’s most popular sodamix flavors)
2 Carbonating Bottles
2 MyWater flavors (Lemon-Lime, Orange)

To have your chance to win, share one really weird household trait your own family has. Oh, and three things you learned this week in my blog. Deadline July 27.

“Metaphorically speaking, the BlackBerry has a priority system of selecting which data to save.”

I’m sorry, but how exactly is that a metaphor?

Perhaps it’s iPhone-envy, or just my excellent luck with technology, but little Pearl (i.e. my pink BlackBerry Pearl) has been raising a ruckus of late. Not even a year old, she’s dropping calls, MISSING calls, and my favorite -randomly and spontaneously erasing data. The other day, I visited the Verizon Wireless store, begging for help - they recommended a hard reset (I stomped my feet) and then, if that did not work, calling their special “data crisis” hotline.

Today, I called the hotline, and listed all my troubles - pointing out that as someone who is juggling a million projects at any given time, life with a sub-standard phone is hardly worth living.

I chatted with one tech, who then instructed me to download software and update my own. (I then pointed out the site that she sent me to was not MAC-friendly, and besides, I already had all my software updates.) She then put on her boss, who was at a loss, and then connected me with…their BlackBerry expert.

Well, finally.

I (for the third time that hour) listed my complaints, whereupon he came up with the above brilliant “metaphor” and then told me that I clearly was downloading too many applications and killing the memory.

“Um, no, sorry. I haven’t even ever downloaded a ringtone!” (Though my mom has an awesome Sex and the City one that I might change that streak for…)

He chuckled. I am not certain he believed me.

“Well, do you download music? Videos? Pictures?” Yes Verizon-man, I am using Pearl as porn-central. Just wait till you see what I have on that baby.

“No….I have like three puppy pix, and that’s it…”

“That’s it then! You are using up the memory, and your BlackBerry is deleting the data to safeguard your calendar and contacts! It’s for your own safety!”

Nice. My “safety” thinks that a SMARTPHONE should be a little more intelligent and not overwhelmed by 3 photos. But whatever.

I do not believe him. But I did as he said and deleted what little media I had…supposedly now, my data will stay where it belongs.

“Metaphorically speaking,” I’m not going to hold my breath.

Is anyone at Apple reading this? I’m ready to be wooed.

We have all felt the peril of bad hair cuts, and stylists who did not see things our way.

Meet Scarlette.

Scarlette is just about the cutest thing to walk the earth since the invention of pleated minis, and yet, she was reaching a time of scraggle. Nearing her eighth-month birthday, she had yet to have a grooming. Half shih-tsu, this was leading to hair growing out in all the wrong places, and increasing difficulty in getting her to sit still for a good brush.

The time had come for her first grooming…but like all girls undergoing their first visit to a new stylist, she was a little frightened.

Scarlette though, was so frightened that she bit the groomer, was put in solitary confinement (OK, she actually was just separated from her brother and had to sit with the receptionist until we came and got her) and had a fit when the groomer tried to give her pig tails.

She won though, and got a hair-cut she seems (relatively) happy with.

(Pictured below with Max!)

Still, my little friend remains emotionally exhausted from the experience (we’ve all been there), and has some regrets. (Like, that the groomer got even one bow in her hair!)

If Scarlette had it her way, she’d never go to the groomer, and eventually begin to resemble a sheep dog! This is not an option for her, and not an option for us two-legged girls either, and yet I hear more and more that women AND men fear change (or bad results) so much they go as long as possible between hair cuts!

This is never a good idea. “Unstyled hair will always look unstyled, especially if you have long hair. No cut is entirely no-maintenance (unless you are shaving your head),” points out Carl Hoffman, a stylist at Tonic Salon in Las Vegas.

Granted, he was talking about people. But as my shorkie-tsu isn’t about to get a crew cut, I have decided that this advice applies to all animals, whether they stand or crawl or beg or talk. In fact, even more so for us!

Note: I do not agree with Scarlette. I think her hair cut (and she) is adorable! And, I did tell her it was not nice to bite her stylist. (Though, seriously, haven’t we all sort of wanted to at one time or another?!)

In celebration of my sanity’s downward spiral, I’ve decided to give away some nuts.

(Seems appropriate.)

Seriously, I’ve been told that positive snacking can go a long way toward positive “being”. Truth be told, overextended–paranoid-a-little-sleepy-needs-a-vacation-but-is-busy-and-poor me can use that. And, since you put up with my insanity, so do you!

In fact, check this out: “We believe in the power of positive snacking and in enriching people’s lives through simple, healthy snacks,” says Mike Mellace, president and chief executive officer of Snacktrition, a purveyor of, well, nutty goodness.

“Snacktrition is enhanced with key nutrients such as calcium and fiber, which makes good-for-you foods like almonds and cashews better than ever. Made from real fruit and nuts, every bite is bursting with mouthwatering flavor and a crunchy texture that every snacker craves.”

In other words, it is a simple snack that will…enrich your life. That’s pretty nuts.

I am hopeful that enriching your life will enrich my life (this is purely selfish) and…by giving you nuts, I’ll stop being nuts. (Works in theory.) So, five winners will each receive a Snacktrition prize package, including a 3-oz pouch of each of the following:

• Sea Salt Cashews with Fiber
• Sea Salt Almonds with Calcium
• Salt & Pepper Cashews with Fiber
• Smoked Almonds with Calcium
• Fruit & Nut Mix with Fiber and Calcium

For your shot at the basket of bags of nuts (in celebration of my going nuts, due to all the nuttiness around me), please do the following:

1 - Tell me what (or who) makes you nuts.

2 - Share three things you recently learned from reading my blog.

3 - Send me love! (It may help recoup my mind, but you’ll still get nuts.)

PS: Nutty but true: I’m actually deathly allergic to nuts, and cannot eat them. And yet I’m giving them to you. (After a very careful taste test by my most discriminating loved ones.) Ain’t love grand?

PPS: My bff Allie, who herself is quite overextended, yet not nuts (though she DOES eat nuts), has just promised me that eating raw fish tonight will save my mind. I shall report back. I think she just has a craving for salmon.

Deadline July 23.

Remember a few months ago when I wrote about the Nintendo Wii, and instantly, basement-dwellers across the world were creating voodoo dolls in my honor?

Something sort of similar happened last night, but in a way that is more scary.

Apparently, the bed bug infestation in our country (and our world!) is worse than I imagined…so much worse that in the hours since I wrote that post, the following two things happened:

I received a comment from a bed bug victim in Perth, Australia that is actually chronicling his experience in his own blog.

Right here in the city, Bedbugger.com wrote an entire article about my post! Apparently, it parallels a very scary reality.

These two things happening back to back, and in a matter of hours, sort of made me think the end of the world really is nigh! So, we’re totally going to work on an investigative article on this - and it’s not just so I can get a free set of Allergy Luxe Premium Bed Bug Barrier bedding collection. (Supposedly they are scientifically designed to prevent them! Since I don’t have them, thank god, I suppose I should have someone who already does test them…but it seems in their case, it’s like buying a sling after the arm is amputated.) But anyway, they are pretty.

Good news for me, though: After having a nervous breakdown at work, and giving ALL my friends and family mental creepy-crawlies, I came home and did a thorough inch-by-inch inspection - no bug of any kind in sight. If there is an infestation in NYC, it hasn’t hit Park Slope yet. (We pray.) But until then, I’m going to be vigilant to make sure it doesn’t get here!

That said, I seem to have made some new friends during my insanity - which is always exciting!

Breaking news to those of you considering the keratin straightening, but are squeamish about dousing your hair with Formaldehyde. (Not that I could blame you…)

La-mama-de-Alytude (i.e. my mom) reports that she had the new Formaldehyde-free version of the Brazilian Keratin Treatment in a small Brooklyn salon yesterday. She is SO excited about it that she pretty much threatened to disown me if I didn’t share the tale of her experience. (Though she refuses to allow me to share pictures. Whatever.)

For those of you new to my trials and tribulations, the Keratin Treatment is an innovative process that transforms hair that is frizzy and unruly into locks that are sexy and shiny. The treatment is keratin based, which is the primary protein of the skin, hair and nails. Ideally, this natural substance gives hair the ability to return to its original healthy, shiny, smooth state -and unlike other products available in the market, such as relaxers or the Japanese thermal reconditioning (my poison of choice), the Keratin Treatment straightens the hair without damaging or changing its texture. This means it washes out over time rather than growing out and leaving you with inch upon inch of frizzy root.

Thus why my mom tried it out. She refuses to give up her highlights, and thus, her hair is SO chemically damaged that the Japanese straightening that I am a slave to would likely render her as bald as a sumo wrestler.

The down side? It lasts only 3-4 months, and will start washing out way before that. I cant deal with that - I wash my hair so often, that for me, it lasted maybe two months. Not worth the time and effort! But for those of you with thicker hair (who don’t have Japanese straightening as an option) this is pretty darn cool - and I have to say, when I saw her tonight, her hair did look as sleek and sexy as if she had ventured over the bridge into the city to have it done!

She asked that I pass on to my friends and readers, though, that where she had it done is significantly cheaper than the city counterparts…though I warned her that me sharing this info will likely render that no longer so.

But if you find yourself in Brooklyn, check out G Concepts on Avenue U and East 20th Street (right off the Q train) and tell them Aly sent you. You can use the money you save to take your sexy new ‘do for some cocktails!

Last night I was burning the midnight oil on a pretty important deadline for an exciting new client. My brain was sort of muddy (late…drunk…fun previous night) and I might have ingested something like four cups of super-strong coffee over a few-hour stretch.

That night, I had visited my parents, and made the mistake of plugging iZac into a questionable outlet in my brother’s lair. All of the sudden, a spark emitted, and a surge of electricity went through my arm.

So, perhaps it was the super dose of caffeine. Maybe it was that I was randomly electrocuted. Or it could have been that I was tricked into eating red meat a few days earlier…but late that night, as I typed away, I had a curious series of chest pains.

Now, as I am a pretty healthy girl in her (late) mid-twenties, I’m relatively certain I am not yet at death’s door or at risk for a massive heart attack. In fact, some may argue that it’s just my body reminding me that supreme anxiety is so not a wise or fruitful way of getting through life with poise and health in tact.

But it did get me revved up.

Ironically, that afternoon on the subway, I had read a just-released article forwarded to me from the Journal of Clinical Hypertension that concluded that an increase in potassium coupled with a decrease in sodium may be the most important dietary choice, after weight loss, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

While this is most certainly not my problem (I just had engaged in my post-drinking banana and multi-vitamin the night before!), most Americans consume about half the recommended daily amount of potassium and double the recommended amount of sodium, (OK, that I AM guilty of - sigh…seaweed…) putting them at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes.

Yay.

So, what to do if you are looking for the easiest, least effort way of not having a massive stroke as you nestle on your satin sheets in your sexy PJs? Promise® SuperShots® contains a good source of potassium per serving, are low in sodium, and are fat and cholesterol free. These shots are a totally easy way to increase daily intake of potassium in your diet. (Minimal effort = maximum results = happy Aly). This is important because diets that containing foods that are a good sources of potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure - which are risk factors for pesky problems like cardiovascular disease and stroke.

It is a bright, new day, and I am not yet dead. Perhaps it is time, alas, to try this stuff and give my body a shot. (har har) First, though, I think I shall celebrate being alive with a nice lychee sake cocktail. (Hey, you only live once!)

You know how people who work in a bakery lose their taste for sweets? (Well, in theory. I don’t actually believe that to be true…)

I have led a similar, almost more terrible fate. From my years of editing, I’ve lost the drive (or perhaps time) to read for pleasure. It happened slowly…and then one day I realized my library card had dust settling on it!

Then, recently, I began anew - I realized that while jotting notes on my Blackberry was a conducive way of passing transit time, one could also spend it, well, relaxing. And then I remembered the part of me that was long buried…the girl who would spend hours at a time lounging on her front stoop with a good, steamy romance novel. Or on the beach with…well, the same. A girl who, it seems, was not lost, but repressed, sadly, under layers of CrackBerry obsession.

I’m a little mad at my Blackberry right now (it’s doing weird, weird things, probably because it senses ensuing iPhone-envy), and thus, I’m totally OK with leaving it buried in my bag and turning, instead, for the pages of a good read…and now I have plenty!

I was recently gifted a BookSwim.com membership. BookSwim is the nation’s first and only hardcover/ paperback book rental club — similar to a “netflix for books”. They mail books “netflix-style” with no due dates, no late fees, and unlimited rentals per month. And they have tons to choose from! All of the latest titles abound, crossing genres - and it’s super easy to use to catch up on your (missed) reading. The more you read, the more value you get!

BookSwim (and Alytude!) wish to help you recapture your reading passion as well, and three readers will each win a 2-month BookSwim (unlimited!) membership. To have your chance to win, please leave me a comment with the most meaningful book you’ve ever read - and three things you’ve learned this week in my blog. (You know why….) Deadline is July 15. Good luck!

By the way, it should also be mentioned that one of the most Bliss-ful places on earth now has a blog of their very own.

http://www.blissworld.com/category/bliss+blog.do