Want to WIN $200 - Take Part in a Contest!

Wanna make some extra CASH! Come on who doesn't these days.
Blogger Tricks is having a $200 Giveaway!!
Visit their Contest page to get all the details.


Here is a lost of sponsors for this contest:

Directory Submission Service
She Told Me
Discount Codes
Make Money Online

Make sure you take part! Don't miss the deadline! The Contest will end on May 16th at 1PM IST (Indian Standard Time)


And there is more, there is ore than one price that they are giving away!!! There is a total on 8 prizes to be given away and one of them could be yours!

1st Prize - $100
2nd Prize - $50
3rd Prize - $25


The 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th place winners get $5 each.

25 Random Things about me!

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. It actually took 4 people to tag me to get me writing this thing

2. I lived and studied in India for 8 years an am a proud Alumni of Woodstock School!

3. I love sweets, anything that has sugar, but more I love cheese, I think I should have been born a mouse! :)

4. In school I was number 1 athlete - running. Oh where have those days gone! :(

5. I worked in a night cub in Brighton for 3 months with a friend and we had a time of our lives...it was so much fun!

6. I'm really scared of snakes

7. is my lucky number

8. I had a pet monkey when I was about 8, but I had a fight with it so my parents had to give him away! we fought over a candy... :))))))))))))

9. I hate waking up early, if I could sleep I would wake up after 11 everyday! But if I make it a point to be on time everyday I can do it! *hint hint* :)

10. I love dirty jokes - sounds bad but they are too funny especially when Voldemar tells them.. :)

11. I have had my hair colored - red, orange, purple, blond, brown, little greenish tint and I think there were more.

12. I'm a happy person, I always try to look for something positive even if its all negative!

13. I love shoes, its my weak side... not just any shoes but high heels!!!! I honestly can understand my husband when he sometimes complains that there is no space in the cupboard for his.. :)

14. i don't like gold jewelery, I like silver or white gold. Does not stand out too much!

15. I love Wind Surfing, but the last time I had a little accident that's why I have a small dent on my left ear...

16. I'm a fan of extreme sports, not sure if they are that extreme but I love jet skiing, flying with a parachute behind a scooter, water skiing, etc...

17. I'm a facebook addict!

18. I like heights - flying, but I'm very scared of fire or anything to do with things that blow up! that includes guns!

19. I like pink wine and archers with lemonade

20. I love buying presents for family and close friends. I love the process, especially perfume... I get such a thrill!

21. I would rather stay home and read a book on a Friday/Saturday evening than going out and getting drunk, but there are always exceptions!

22. I love traveling, there are still so many beautiful places I haven't seen! I'd rather go to an abandoned beach and live in a small condo, than spend my vacation in a big city where there are clubs and parties everyday! although so far have always ended up in one of those places... :(

23. I think my favorite cocktail is a Mohito and Mai Tai

24. I have never had one of those moment when I wake up the next morning and had to ask my friends
" What happened last nite" or "who are you?" :) Although I sometimes wish I could just say I don't remember anything!

25. I have a blog that I write, I try to write a couple of times a week. You can check it out here:

http://www.my-bits-n-pieces.blogspot.com/ Basically its random things...

This is me and Fedja ( my monkey)... back in 2006.. :)

Meet Susan Boyle - A Light In The Darkness - Britain's Got Talent!

Britain's Got Talent ( My Bits N Pieces) - last Saturday featured an amateur singer, Susan Boyle.

"Britain's Got Talent" is a Great Britain's version of American Idol.

Initially when she walked on stage you could hear people cat calling from the balcony and making faces as were expecting an instant failure... what a surprise everyone was in when she was done singing... the audience was speechless and every single person stood up to applaud!
Hear for yourself!!

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 - Watch more Funny Videos

Sex Menu in a restaurant in Thailand!

This is a hilarious menu that my husband and I came across on our recent trip to Pattaya, Thailand.

We took a picture of one of the menus that are offered to tourist to come to a sex show in one of the clubs. Everything in the menu is translated into Russian as there are so many Russian tourists and some pictures drawn on the side. ENJOY!

House for Sale in Jurmala, Latvia - Dom v Jurmale

Is your dream house located by the sea? The Baltic Sea?
Have you always wanted to enjoy the beach in the summers?
Is your dream still just a dream!
Let your dream come true!

Click here: House in Jurmala

! Check the site!

How to earn cash at home - CashCrate

I have been doing research on this subject for a while now. Who wouldn't want to make an extra couple of hundred a month working at home and doing what they love doing? Maybe not everyone loves completing offers for free, but we sure all love doing it then receiving money or great prices for it!

After all my research I can honestly say that I would say this site is the best one I could find, at least it works unlike all the others!

The name of the site is CashCrate and you can check it out by clicking here or on the picture below!


Now a little something about the site on how it works and what you have to do!

Basically the truth is that companies need consumers to try and review products, services, and websites and are willing to pay money to have them do so. Most of the time you're asked to do this without any compensation, what CashCrate does is take the money companies give them for your and my participation, and give us back up to 75% of it!

Are there any requirements for participation?

You must be at least 13 years old. Members from the United States and other English speaking countries will have the most offers available to them, but members from other countries are welcome as well.

How much can I make?

How much you can make is dependent on a few things such as what country you're from and how much time you're willing to devote to making money. As it is, most members have the opportunity to make more than a thousand dollars!

When do I get paid?

Although there is a little catch, you have to meet their minimum payout (only $20!) , you have your payments processed by the 20th of the following month So, if you earn $250 in June, you'll get paid in mid-July.

How does the referral program work?

The referral program has two levels. You get paid 20% of what your direct referrals make and 10% of what THEIR referrals make. Members can make hundreds a month just by referring other members to the CashCrate program!

What's the best way to get started?

After you sign-up, you'll be presented with a short message on how to complete offers along with a "fast-track", which is a list offers which you should complete right away because they are high paying and take little time to complete.

Well this is a little bit of information that I have to share for the moment, I will share more info as it come along! Good luck! And remember that you should not give up at the end of the day, this does pay at the end but needs some patients from your side! :)

How I increased traffic to my blog -1000th visitor

I know this is not such a high number to get all hyped up about but it is still a something for a start. And I can't say that I didn't do anything to get to this number either. I actually started signing up and reading a lot of material on blog promoting!

Actually what really helped me was a recent post I read at Blogger Tricks, it has all the information you might need to increase traffic to your blog, get more readers, SEO, just info on blogging, etc

In the last couple of days I have signed up for numerous directories, blog forums, network communities and honestly they have been great. I'm actually feeling traffic coming in, slowly but steadily. If before I had 700 visitors in over a year something than now I had over 250 in the last couple of days alone.

I feel that I have finally managed to achieve something with my blog, its not much but I'm still learning. I decided that I will share this little secret (not really) o how I increased my traffic a bit.

First of all here is a great list where you can sign up and have people actually see that you have a blog that you write! Click the pictures or links to go directly to these great sites! :)

• www.technorati.com - this one has been great. Good traffic and if you have good content then you receive good reviews.

www.stumbleupon.com - this so far proved to be one of the best though, basically it lets readers decide if they like something that they came across the Internet and let other people know that they actually stumbled upon something interesting. So the more hits you have the more ofter you will show up. :)

The next couple of sites are for bloggers, basically here is where you can let people know that you have a blog, add friends, do your networking, etc

• www.topblogarea.com
• www.topblogging.com
• www.blogtoplist.com
• www.fuelmyblog.com
• www.blogcatalog.com
• www.blogarama.com
• www.topbloglists.com
• www.bloggapedia.com
  
• www.reddit.com
• www.bloggersunite.org
• www.intensedebate.com - this one actually has a great widget that you can add to your blog to have your comments organized and neat looking.

• www.delicious.com

Well this is my little list, I'm sure that there are tons more that you can use, but I just managed these many in the last couple of days. I will post some more as I continue blogging and will share the little that I learn on the way! :)

How to open a PayPal Account

First of all what is Paypal.

PayPal is an online money exchanging company that helps ensure that monetary transactions are performed in a secure, safe manner. PayPal is the method of choice for a majority of eBay users as well as many online services such as magazine sales and website subscriptions. PayPal brings many online transactions to one location to help you keep track of your online spending.

Some questions that come to mind straight away:

• What do I need to open a PayPal Account?

You’ll need your e-mail address and your checkbook.

• How long does it take?

PayPal needs to confirm your bank account. It will take 2-3 days to complete this process.

• How does it work, and what will I need to do?

Step 1: Get Started
Go to www.paypal.com and you will see this page :Step 2: Click Sign up Today
This is what you will see:
Click Personal Account or Premier account depending on weather you are interested to only buy products or also sell and receive money with this account, then choose your country, then click Get Started
I chose the Premier Account and this is the next page you are taken to:
Fill in the fields, then click Agree and Create Account
This will take you to a screen that says “Account Sign Up”. This screen will explain the next steps to you.

You’ll receive an e-mail at the address you provided when you filled in your personal information. That email will contain a link back to PayPal. You’ll need to verify your e-mail address and password by clicking on this link.

Click Confirm
After entering your password, your e-mail will be confirmed and you can now set up your bank account/credit card information.
You have 2 options now, you can either set up your bank account or tie your credit Card. If you want to tie your credit card to paypal (which I personally think is a faster and easier method to send and receive payments) then you have to follow next steps:
After you have logged on to your paypal account this is what you will see:Move your cursor to Profile then move you cursor down to the drop down menu and choose the option Add/Edit Credit Card as seen below:You will be taken to the following page:
After clicking Add a card you will be redirected to the next page where you can fill out you credit card information,etc. The page looks like this:
After you have filled out all the details click add card. Paypal will deduct I think it was1.5USD from your account (they will transfer it back later). Then you should wait for your monthly bank statement. If you have internet bank then you can log into your internet bank in the next 2-3 days and should see from the credit card that you used for your paypal account that there was transaction from paypal, you need to get I think it was 4 digits from that transactions and verify your credit card in your paypal. All instructions are in the paypal when you open the account so not going to go into great detail.
Also you can set up your bank account for which you will need your bank name and your bank routing number and account number. The routing number is usually the first number on your check, and is usually a nine-digit number. Click Add Bank Account and Paypal will make two small deposits (a few cents) to your account. In 2-3 business days, check your account and note the amounts of the deposits from “Paypal.com”. Log in to your PayPal account and click the Confirm Bank Account link on your Account Overview page.
Enter the exact amounts and your bank account will become confirmed and click Continue. This takes you to the Account Overview page.
That’s it! You’ve opened a PayPal Account! I hope my pictures and explanations have been helpful. Once again if you want to open a paypal account click on the banner on top of this post or this link :
open PAYPAL account!

Paying with Paypal on eBay

Is it safe to use Paypal with eBay?

I have been an active member of the eBay community for the last 4-5 years and have been using Paypal since day one! Especially now that Paypal has come up with a new policy that you cannot sell on eBay unless you have a Paypal or a Merchant account.

OPEN A PAYPAL ACCOUNT NOW

You can also read another post I recently wrote about steps on "How to open a Paypal Account"
Here are a few advantages and disadvantages of using paypal on eBay:

Advantages:

• Secure - no need to give out your credit card and personal details to each seller when you buy something
• No Monthly Fees or Costs if you a buyer, if you are a seller then fees apply accordingly
• A lot of eBay users trust and already have paypal accounts
• Lower transaction fees then 2CO MoneyBrokers and many others.
• Great for Start up businesses or small volume business.
• Great for an extra payment option for High Volume and Large Businesses.
• Fast and easy Payment
• Easy to transfer funds/withdraw to your credit card whenever needed with only a lot payment of EUR2 per transaction
• Free to withdraw funds to your bank account if you are in the USA
  

Disadvantages:

• Customer service - takes a long time to solve a problem if you have one, but once you reach someone it usually gets solved
• Charge backs - easy to file a dispute when you purchase something, so if you are a seller you tend to have problems with customers requesting their money back. (personally have never had that problem - I think if your a good seller and honest your customers should not need to file a dispute against you)
• Minimum withdrawal amount USD 10, EUR 10, GBP 6, etc
• High fees, especially when you sell a lot usually a the end of the day you feel the small sums piling up!
  

I hope I managed to give a little advice, more my personal experience of using paypal. Overall paypal is great and I would suggest it to everyone. I think its secure and very user friendly. And besides eBay accepts it what else one might need? :)

If you feel that this is exactly what you need you can open an account by clicking this link :OPEN PAYPAL ACCOUNT NOW

Would you buy FAKE mac pigments?

Ask yourself, would you buy fake M.A.C pigments if someone told you the quality is as good as the original? There are plenty of fake M.A.C pigments on eBay these days, actually I'm pretty sure that 80% of the pigments sold on eBay are probably made in China ( and no they are not the limited edition). Did you know that M.A.C actually does have a production line in China which they opened not long ago, but that line is only used for the production of limited editions and trust me those do not sell at a discount price of USD4 per piece as they are listed on eBay.
Let spend a minute here comparing. I actually recently bought some pigments on eBay and you guessed right, they were FAKE.
Here are some pictures and a little info on how to make sure before you buy that you are paying for the authentic pigments. Although what you get for the 4 bucks that you pay for the pigment is really quite good quality and if your not a fan of M.A.C makeup you might not even notice the difference.
Here are the few steps and questions to ask yourself before you go ahead and buy M.A.C pigments:

1. Take a close look at the box of the pigment. First of all authentic MAC pigments will always have a sticker on the top right hand corner of the top of the box with the pigment name. The same name should be on a sticker on the jar itself. If there is just a number such as A something of just a number without a letter, its a FAKE!
   
2. Flip the box and look at the bottom of the box, the FAKE MAC pigments will have the bar code printed on the box, the authentic pigments have a sticker stuck at the bottom.
3. Turn the box and see the back where all the writing is. First of all authentic MAC tends to write all the information towards the bottom and left aligned, while the FAKE as can be seen in the picture has all centered and the font is very big. There is also the little picture with the instruction manual, this picture in authentic mac should be on the right bottom corner usually, while on the fake it is tends to be on the left side and a larger size.
4. Look at the lid of your pigment. After unscrewing the black cap, there should be a protective lid covering the pigment. This lid should not have a hole in it to pour. If your pigment lid has a whole in it, send it back for a refund.
5. There should be a round black sticker on top of the box with the name of the color on it. On the bottom, there should be a clear or silver sticker with the name of the shade on it. Stickers that do not have the name of the shade, but only the number on it are fake.

1. This is an authentic MAC pigment box, the sticker is stuck and not printed on the box!

2. In the picture above you can see that the code is printed on the box and not a sticker. This is a FAKE!

1. In the next photo (above) you can see that the stick on top of the box does not have the pigment name and has just a number. That's the first sigh that it is a fake. The second sign is that the sticker is stuck in the wrong place, it should be at the top right hand corner and face up. The one in the picture is a FAKE!

1. The picture above compares the bottom of the jars. the one on the left is a fake as the sticker is transparent and does not have the proper pigment name printed. the one on the right is an authentic jar with a proper sticker in silver with the pigments color.
   

1. The picture above is of an authentic MAC pigment, with a proper half transparent top when you open the jar. If you look closely the authentic Mac should have a tiny number printed on the cover that comes over the pigment so they don't spill.
2. The one above shows a set of the pigments, plus box,etc.. this is a FAKE pigment. If you look closely you will see all the above described details starting with the book on the wrong side of the jar, the size of the text behind the box, no sticker, etc

I hope that I managed to give a little heads up to those who are interested in MAC pigments and are looking to buy them online! If you know more, please leave your comments for everyone to know!!!