Birthday Websites

Looking a way to fete your big day? Whether it's your 10th birthday or your 16th birthday that you're celebrating, you're sure to find some help or just some fun from these online resources:

Birthday Calculator (http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp)- Fun facts about your birthday.

Birthday Celebrations from around the world (http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/traditions.htm)- A site that discusses the birthday traditions of different countries.

Extreme Teen B-Day Story (http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/living/article/0,1406,KNS_2796_5028219,00.html)- A story of a rather extravagent teen birthday party.Gift Finder (http://www.gifts.com/)- This site can be used to shop for or just to get ideas for birthday gifts and other gifts.

Teen Birthday Party Ideas (http://www.teenpartyideas.com/)- Birthday party ideas submitted by teens and their parents.This post was inspired by the fact that my own little brother, Frederik, is turning 12 on March 25th. I will get back to the series on doing something big that I started a few weeks ago sometime in the future.
Best B-day Wishes,

Aurelie
http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com

Online Cartoon Websites

Fun sites to close off a fun (hopefully) March break:

Comic Creator (http://www.readwritethink.org/MATERIALS/COMIC/)- This site lets you make your own comic strip.

For Better or For Worse (http://www.ctcpublishing.net/cmd.php?Clk=2883990 )- The official site of the popular comic strip.

Garfield (http://www.garfield.com/)- Whose life would be complete without Garfield in the comic section?

Gocomicx (http://www.gocomics.com/)- A popular comic site.

Witty Comics (http://www.wittycomics.com/)- Make your own "comic".


Cheers,

Aurelie

Become An Entrepreneur: Helpful Websites

Hello Everyone!

Post two holiday related posts, I thought I'd get back on track with the mission of the dekoposh blog and start a series about websites that can help you do something BIG." BIG" being something that empowers others and demonstrates a willingness to change the world for the better in some way.

For this first post, I'm featuring entrepreneurism and how to become an entrepreneur as this is something I know about (since I'm an entrepreneur myself). I've covered everything from fun games to help build your entrepreneurial skills to information about the legalities of setting up a business.

Of course, even with all the right resources, starting a business requires plenty of time and energy, but the payoff is worth it. There is nothing more satisfying than working for yourself.

Enjoy:

Business Issues (http://www.business.gov/)- A site hosted by the goverment that explains the legal stuff that starting a business requires.

Homeschool Entrepreneur Newsletter (http://homeschool-entrepreneur.com/)- This site offers a free online newsletter that's great for all entrepreneurs, not just homeschooled ones! I love this newsletter and find it very useful. Many of the websites in here were recommended in issues of this newsletter.

Investopedia (http://simulator.investopedia.com/Authorization/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fhome.aspx)- This simulator based on the actual stock market can help you understand how stocks work.

Johnny Money (http://game.johnnymoney.com/)- This in-depth game will teach you how businesses are run.

Teen Business Resource (http://www.sba.gov/teens/index.html)- This site is unique in the sense that it covers starting up a business, but from a teen's point of view.

Teen Business Stories (http://www.youngbiz.com/)- Interesting stories of teen entrepreneurs who've had success. Navigate the story section using the side bar. This website also has some useful business resources, like the one above.

Solo-E (http://www.solo-e.com/)- This site features a ton of articles written by small business experts that are geared to the home-based service business.

Best Wishes,

Aurelie
Author of The Healthaliciously Good Cookbook, http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com, aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com

Friday the 13th Websites

Hi Everyone!

After being culturally obligated to talk about Valenine's Day last week, I have decided that this week I would feature Friday The 13th websites in order to make up for "neglecting" the holiday last week.

You may think that there are no websites for a holiday like Friday the 13th, but there are.

Here's the breakdown:

A bit about the history of Friday the 13th (http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110009086)- This site explores why we fear the 13th and whether or not more unlucky accidents occur on this auspicious day.

"Cures" for Friday the 13th (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_friday13.html)- This articles explores the origin of Friday the 13th like the website about, but it also offers suggestions for those who have trouble coping with superstitions.

Friday the 13th Factoids (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090213/sc_livescience/13factsaboutfridaythe13th)- How many Friday the 13ths will there be this year?

Funny Superstitions (http://www.islandnet.com/~luree/silly.html)- A long list of superstitions and their origins. Some of these I hadn't heard of before.

Stories of Bad Luck on the 13th (http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/chat/your_comments/newsid_3486000/3486123.stm)- Read about other people's bad (and even good) luck on Friday the 13th. Scroll down to see.

Good Luck,

Aurelie
Author of The Healthaliciously Good Cookbook, http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com/, aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com

Valentine's Day Websites

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

Today being the Valentine's Day, I thought I might feature Valentine themed websites to honor the holiday. Since today everyone will be scrambling off to spend time with their loved ones, I've made this list short and sweet:

89 Ways to say "I love you" (http://www.electpress.com/loveandromance/iloveyou.htm)- This site tells you how to say "I love you" in 89 different languages. (Btw, they don't have I love you in Esperanto, so I thought I might supply that. It's "Mi amas vin.")

Boycott on Valentine's Day (http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/LoveAndMoney/boycott-the-valentines-day-madness.aspx)- For those of you against the holiday, here's an article in your favor.

E Cards (http://www.care2.com/ecards/)- What better way to say "I love you" than an ecard? Use these ecards, from the care 2 website and share your love with enviromental charities as well.

History of Valentine's Day (http://www.history.com/minisites/valentine/)- This won't help you with your upcoming history test, but it is interesting.

Proposal stories (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28757125)- A gallery full of cute proposal stories that viewers of the Today show sent in.

Until next week,

Aurelie
Author of The Healthaliciously Good Cookboo, http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com/, aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com

Fun on the Net

Hi Everyone,

After a few resolution driven posts, this relaxing post will be just the one to pick you up off your feet.

This week, I've decided to find the websites on the net for having fun. Some of these are just plain goofy, others are cute and useful, others are mind boggling, and the rest are just plain fun.

Here is the list:

Fun Trivia (http://www.funtrivia.com/)- This site is packed with trivia in the form of quizzes and puzzles.

How Stuff Works (http://www.howstuffworks.com/)- This site is already well known, but I thought it deserved a mention anyways. This site, kind of like wikipedia, explains how different things work.

Kidzworld (http://www.kidzworld.com/)- Despite the name, this site is for kids and teens. Just like the name implies however, it is a "world", taking into account the size of the site. This site has numerous articles, games, chat, forums, and reviews.

Laugh Lab (http://www.laughlab.co.uk/)- This site was formed in order to help a professor find the "World's Funniest Joke" (no joke!). People from all over the world would submit jokes and rate other people's jokes. While the research has ended and a book has been written on the subject, the site itself still has a lot of interesting facts about jokes. For example, which country tells jokes that are appreciated by people from all over the world? What is the world's funniest joke? What was second place?

Mensa Workout (http://www.mensa.org/workout2.php)- You may have heard of Mensa, an organization to which only those with superior IQ can participate in. While I find this idea creepy, this workout is fun!

Photo Funia (http://www.photofunia.com/)- Special effects with photos- Put yourself on the cover of Vogue or on a coin among others.

SandLot Science (http://www.sandlotscience.com/)- Optical illusions galore.

Until next week,

Aurelie
Author of The Healthaliciously Good Cookbook, http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com, aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com

New Year's Resolution #4: Get Healthy!

Hi Everyone!

Hope everybody's doing well and looking forward to a dreary February... spent getting healthy?

After my New Year's resolution posts on charity giving, studying, and organization, I am now on my last post for this "series". Ironically, this is the post in which I have decided to cover by far the most popular resolution last.

It may seem a bit strange that going online can help out your health, especially considering the only things that can really improve your health are eating right and excersise, but there are online tools that truly can help you get healthy, including:

BMI calculator (http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/dieting/bmi.html)- BMI stands for body mass index and can help you determine if you are the right weight for your height and age. It's important when calculating the BMI of a teen to use a calculator made especially for teens who are still growing, like this one.

Gimme 20 (http://www.gimme20.com/fitnesstools)- This site has online fitness tools, including a workout builder and measurement tracker.Goal Setting courtesy of

Justin Sachs (http://www.justinsachsonline.com/Landing_Pages/A_New_You.html)- This is a teleseminar about goal setting, courtesy of Justin Sachs, one of dekoposh's DAPL.

Gyminee (http://www.gyminee.com/)- This site also features a workout builder and can also help you calculate your fitness progress. Nutritional info and a food dairy are available as well. The basic account is free.

Nutrition Data (http://www.nutritiondata.com/)- I love this site! It gives you a complete nutritional analysis of almost every food you can think of and allows you to calculate the nutritional info of your favorite recipes. While these numbers aren't exact (don't obsess), they can help give you an idea of the nutrients in what you're eating.

And last but not least, there is also my website, http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com (see http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com/articles for healthy eating articles).

Stay tuned for a nice, long, fun-orientated post next week!

Aurelie
Author of The Healthaliciously Good Cookbook and Co founder of Aurelie's Healthy Cuisine Inc.
aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com
http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com

Aurelie D.A.P.L. January Recipient Writes a Blog Post for Deko and Posh

Note: A big thank you (even though these letters are tiny) to Deko and Posh for letting me write a blog post on their fantastic blog! My words are not worthy…

Among the things people most often ask after hearing about my rather grueling schedule is “Do you ever do anything else?”. The answer is yup! I do plenty other than my cookbook and business. To prove it, I have come up with a list of the top 5 things I do besides work on The Healthaliciously Good Cookbook and related cooking.

List of the Top 5 things I Do Besides cookbook/business

1. Read! I love reading. I am so notorious for it that I always get books or gift cards from book stores for Christmas/my birthday. I don’t have a single favorite book (I can’t pick), but I do like and am currently reading the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini (although I find them a bit too blood and gore… usually skim through those parts) and the Aurelie Laflamme by India Desjardins series (This series is written in French because, being a bilingual Canadian, I also speak French. I enjoy reading them because I get a kick out of seeing my own name in print. Too cool!).

2. Playing my clarinet. Another one of the things I do often, even though the “woody” feeling of a clarinet reed in my mouth bugs me. I typically practice around a half hour each day and I am trying to work that amount of time up to 45 minutes everyday (New Year’s resolution!).

3. Choir (practices, concerts, fundraisers, and everything in between). Although I seem like a very musical person because of 2 and 3, let me assure you I’m not (in fact, I don’t have a favorite song, group, or anything. I’ll listen and appreciate just about anything playing on the radio with few exceptions) . I just happen to participate in both of these activities because a) I enjoy playing the clarinet and b) Choir is fun and we get to go on trips and perform at concerts. Anyhow, yes, I am in a choir and we practice often. 2 hours and a half every week + 4 hours every month+ fundraisers/concerts/extra practices = a lot of time spent at choir.

4. Walking with the dog. Our family is honored (or doomed, depending on your point of view) to live with a small, energetic (a.k.a. excessively hyper), always-hungry-no-matter-which-time-of-day beagle dog named Julie (Yes, we named our dog a human name, despite our best intentions.). She requires long walks daily (rain or shine) to be placated otherwise she will chew your socks or find some other havoc-wreaking activity to do.

5. Surfing the net. Probably the activity that is the less interesting of the 5 (because who doesn’t do this?), but yes, I must admit that I love to surf the web. Some of my favorite sites include are http://www.freerice.com which quizzes you on vocabulary words (and also on geography, languages, and other subjects, if you want) and gives money that helps pay for rice given to the needy after you get a question right, http://www.goodsearch.com which gives money to your favorite charity every time you search, and http://www.care2.com which lets you send free ecards and earn money for environmental charity at the same time.

So that’s my top 5! What about you? What do you do in your free time?

New Year's Resolution #3: Get Organized!

This week, in my next-to-last New Year's Resolution related post (see the first and second posts), I'll be covering organization. Organization is something that's on most people's lists that tends to never get done, but seems to be one of the more simple things to do. It's not much about changing your habits but rather arranging your enviroment to suit your habits.

Organization being one of the top elements on my list, I decided to share with you my favorite internet resources I have used to get my resolution resolved (Yes, I can actually find something in my room now! Not that I couldn't before, but it's easier now.)!

Check these out!:

Backboard (http://www.getbackboard.com)- This free service (as long as you don't upload files bigger then 5mb) allows you to upload files of all sorts and screen shots of websites for others to review. You can make your backboard visible to the world or just to a few people. This would be great for school projects or personal projects were you would normally be forced to email your document around.

Organization podcast for the creative(http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/193035)- My mom and me listened to this a few weeks ago and we were laughing the whole time. Not only is it hilarious, this interview with Lee Silber(author and entrepreneur, http://www.creativelee.com/) is really helpful and interesting. His organization strategies are based on the right brain/left brain theory. In résumé, right brain people are creative and scatterbrained while left brain people unoriginal and highly organized. This podcast is aimed towards right brains, but I think anyone who has trouble organization could enjoy it.

Notely (http://www.notely.net/)- This site has everything you need to get organized for school including notetaking, a to do list, homework schedule, class schedule, and more. It also has tools that can be helpful for your work such as calculators and converters.

Pageonce (http://www.pageonce.com/)- Ever had trouble remembering all those passwords and usernames (sarcastic comment here!)? This site can help it. Pageonce allows you to create one password protected page which automatically logs you in to all your accounts and shows you a preview of them. It's free, completely secure (although, personally speaking, I wouldn't have it log me in to any uber-important stuffs such as a bank account), and not a gimmick.

PBwiki (http://pbwiki.com/)- This site is great for organizing group projects for school. It creates a webpage that only members can access that allows you to upload folders and allow certain people to edit or read what's in the folder. Finally, no more desperate searching for a time to meet up with your group partners! To sign up for a personal account (PB wiki also offers business accounts), see https://secure.pbwiki.com/signup.wiki.

Remember The Milk (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/)- This site lets you create a high tech to-do list for yourself and others. They have both free accounts and a fee-based pro account which offers more service. I would definetely recommend the free account for teens- the pro account offers higher tech services that you probably won't end up using.

Wuduplz (http://wuduplz.com)- This site lets you open a free account that you can use to send text messages to friends and family at a scheduled time. For example, you can program the site to send a text message to your parents a few minutes before the end of ballet practice (or whatever other activity you do) to remind them to pick you up.

Anybody else have recommendations for organization sites?

Aurelie
aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com
http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com/

New Year's Resolution #2: Boost those grades!

Bonjour tout le monde,*

*Hello everyone in French, a language you can learn using one of the sites below...

This is part 2 of my New Year's Resolution post series (click here to see part 1) and this post is dedicated to using the net to boost your grades.

There are a ton of great education sites online that can help you work towards that resolution of yours to get all A's (better grades were one of your resolutions, right?). Below are a few of my favorites:

Babble (http://www.babbel.com/)- Using this site, you can learn or improve your foreign language skills in French, Spanish, Italian, or German. The site teaches you through a variety of fun activities and adjusts to your level (beginner to native).

Free Rice (http://www.freerice.com/)- I mentioned this site in my last post, but I thought I'd mention it again since it's such a great educational site that gives to charity at the same time. Use this site to build your geography, math, foreign language, vocabulary, chemistry, and English language skills.

Lernu (http://lernu.net/)- This site teaches you Esperanto, "the language of hope", using free lessons ranging from beginner to advanced. There are even volunteers who can check your exercises in order to help you grasp the language better. Learning Esperanto can be a good idea if you're interested in foreign languages as being a very basic language, it can help you understand how a language functions.

Official SAT Prep Test (http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/test.html?BannerID=pretest&AffiliateID=PREPCENTER)- Offered by the College Board itself, this online practice test can help you see if you are up to the challenge for the SAT.

Purdue Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/)- Upkept by Purdue University, this site can help you out with various writing assignements.

Quizlet (http://www.quizlet.com/)- Started by a teen looking for a better way to study, this site allows you to create, save, and share virtual flashcards.


Okay, that's it! All you need to get good grades... if you so choose.

Does anybody else know of any good education sites to add to the list?

Aurelie
aureliefp@hotmail.com
http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com
http://www.delectablevegetable.blogspot.com

New Year's Resolution #1: Charitable Giving

Hi everyone!

I hope you have all had a great back to school (not too much groaning and moaning, right?) after some lovely vacations.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am going to dedicate my January Go Online! column posts to New Year's resolutions. This week, I am kicking things off with charitable giving, which is something I hope is on everybody's list of resolutions because it is definitely something we can all do more of.Believe it or not, there are ways to help out charity online that don't require giving a monetary gift.

Below I've shared a few of my favorites :

BookMooch (http://www.bookmooch.com/)- This site gives you points when you give free used books to people interested. You can then use the points to get a free book yourself or (resolution friendly part) use the points to donate books to one of the many charities that work with BookMooch.

Care2 ecards (http://www.care2.com/ecards/)- This site donates money to save "1 square foot of th rainforest" every time you send an ecard. They have a ton of cool cards to choose from and are my number one stop when it comes to ecards.

Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org/)- If you're looking to make a big donation or you want to raise money for a charity, check out Charity Navigator to help you choose which charity or group will be the lucky benefiters.

Click To Give (http://www.google.com/)- Although I'm not giving a specific website for Click To Give, you can find oodles of charities who have Click To Give programs with a google search. All you do is click on a link (usually only up to once per day) and a sponsor will donate money to that charity.

Free Rice (http://www.freerice.com/)- I love this! This site quizs you on your vocabulary and every time you get a questions right, Free Rice's sponsors donate rice to the needy. You can also change the settings to quiz you on geography, the periodic table of elements, foreign languages, math, art, and grammar. So you can study and be charitable at the same time! (Note: In the past, some people have thought this site was a hoax, but this has been verified and it is not true.)

Goodsearch (http://www.goodsearch.com/)- A search engine that donates a penny to your favorite charity every time you search the web. There is also a GoodBuy program linked to this which gives your favorite charity a larger monetary donation every time you buy at one of a few popular online stores.

MSN.com (http://www.msn.com/)- Did you know MSN gives to charity too? If you have a hotmail account, you can donate by selecting options in the top right corner, then clicking on more options, and then lastly clicking on i'm making a difference under the Customize Your Mail heading. MSN will then donate part of their advertising revenue to the cause you select from their list.

See? Being charitable is easy when you have access to the net! What about you guys? What are your favorite charitable websites? Have you heard of these before? Leave me a comment or email me one and I'll be sure to include it in my next column.

Aurelie
aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com
http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com/
http://www.delectablevegetable.blogspot.com/

Nice to meet you!

Hi Everyone!

Aurelie here.

For those of you who subscribe to Dekoposh, you may already know that I am Dekoposh's new Go Online (a weekly Dekoposh column that features great websites) column writer. For those of you who don't subscribe to Dekoposh, well, now you know, so go signup! (see the sign up box on your right). You'll find the updates very useful for keeping you in the know (for example, did you know John Travolta's son died recently?).

In this post, I'll be boring and take the time to introduce myself so I can jump right into my column next week.

*Note: Before continuing my introduction, I want to start off by saying how very happy I am to be a column writer at the Dekoposh blog. I'm excited by this opportunity and know of a lot of cool websites that I can't wait to share with you! As a cookbook author and teen entrepreneur, I do a lot of work on the net and have learned about a lot of neat resources and websites that can make your life easier, help others out, or just entertain.*

A Little Bit About Me...

So my name is Aurelie and I'm from Canada. I'm a cookbook author and teen entrepreneur. (I've included my whole story right here for those of you interested.). I'm dedicated to healthy eating, the environment, my family, and good food. In my free time, I can be found reading, singing in a choir, surfing the net, walking the family dog, inventing new recipes, and playing the clarinet. However, about 90% of the time, I can be found working on my business with my mom at one of the many jobs running a business entails.

Although I don't want to give away any surprises, (because what is life without surprises? :o) I did want to let you know what I was planning to post about this January and February.My upcoming posts are mostly inspired from New Year's resolutions of all sorts. So I will be featuring websites that help you give to charity, that can help you improve your grades, that can help you get in shape, and that can help you get organized, among other things.

No excuse for not following through on your New Year's resolutions this year! ;o)

Best Wishes for 2009,

Aurelie Pare
aurelie@aurelieshealthycuisine.com
http://www.aurelieshealthycuisine.com/
http://www.delectablevegetable.blogspot.com/