Shopping | List Producer

Gifts for New Moms Like Kate Middleton

July 22, 2013/in Children, Food, Health, Home, Reduce Stress, Relationships, Shopping, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

I can’t believe it was nearly two years ago that the first Royal baby was born. I’m just as excited as I was then for Kate’s second baby. Especially as it’s a baby girl! It’s about time the Royal family added a little femininity. This time around I caught the whole thing on Periscope, it was really fun to be part of such an important moment. The second royal baby was born on Saturday May 2nd, weighing 8lb 3oz, so a little smaller then her older brother. Re-living the experience reminded me of this post, which is just as pertinent now.

The world has been buzzing for months about the Royal Baby and I’m no exception! Finally a little prince was born on July 22, 2013 at 4:24 pm London time. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 6 oz. (where did Kate Middleton hide him?) and he and his mum (!) are said to be doing well. New dad Prince William said, “We couldn’t be happier.” It’s been said he bought a little teddy bear for the next in line to the crown.

A Gift Fit for a Princess

This Royal birth got me thinking — in lists, of course. What do you get a new mom? Especially a woman who has everything? You want to get something that she’ll really appreciate and value. It’s a big time in her life and you want your gift to be memorable.

It’s always a good policy to give something that can come from only you, but if you’re stumped, here’s my list of great gifts for new moms: Read more

Best Food Apps

March 25, 2013/in Apps, Decision Making, Food, Increase Productivity, Saving Money, Saving Time, Shopping, Technology, Tool for Success, Travel, Wine/by Paula Rizzo

Salumi e vino lucchese. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s no secret — I love food! For someone who works in television I don’t actually watch it that often but when I do I’m always watching a cooking show. I love talking about food, eating it and planning out menus.

So when Mindy Kobrin of Meals on Heels asked me to write a guest blog for her food site I was thrilled! I decided to write about some apps that make planning, eating and enjoying much easier. Here’s a look at that blog post: 5 Must-Have Food Apps.

Bonus App

While on vacation in Italy and Paris recently I found another useful app that I didn’t include in my guest post. It’s called Delectable and it’s a wine app that is very smart. You just snap a photo of a wine that you’re enjoying and the app does the rest. The photo is sent to a database that identifies where the wine was produced, what year it was, what type it is, etc. And it even tells you where you can buy the wine. It’s a clever and practical app for wine lovers. It definitely came in handy in Tuscany. More on that trip soon. But I hope you find these apps helpful in the meantime.

Shopping Site Saves You Time and Money

December 20, 2012/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Holidays, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Shopping, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m done with my holiday shopping and plan on enjoying Christmas music, movies and all the food, family and festivities that go along with it.

Shopping App

Over the past few months (I start shopping for the holidays in August) I’ve already cashed in on some great deals thanks to retailers like Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and The Limited running amazing promotions for up to 40% off! I’ve also used some online auctions and if you want to learn more about them, check out some dealdash reviews. But not everyone wants to watch and wait for deals. Now you don’t have to! There’s a fabulous new site called Hukkster.com that will do it for you. There are so many sites similar to Hukkster that uses the impulsive buy tendency we all have, and it’s great, especially when you are shopping for holidays!

The site was started by two former J. Crew merchandisers who wanted to help people save money, clear clutter and save time. Katie Finnegan and Erica Bell just launched this site to the public but I’ve been using the beta version for a bit and I’m really loving it.

Here’s how it works:

1. Do a little online holiday shopping on your lunch break

2. Find something you love but don’t want to pay full price to purchase

3. “Hukk it” using their handy bookmarklet

4. Get an email notification when that item goes on sale

5. Save money

6. Cross another person off your holiday gift list! Read more

Produce Your Life With Lists

December 5, 2012/in Benefits of List Making, Boost Memory, Decision Making, Fashion, Food, Health, Holidays, Home, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Radio, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Shopping, Technology, Tool for Success, Travel, TV/by Paula Rizzo

As a TV producer — I think in lists all day long: segment ideas, schedules, questions, shots, etc. Many of the skills I use at work come in handy in my everyday life too. Grocery shopping, looking for an apartment, traveling and even clothing shopping becomes much easier with a plan — and a list!

If you think of your life like a newscast — and break it up into little bite-sized segments — it will be much easier to manage and be successful. I talked to Hilary Topper on her show, “Hilary Topper On Air” about how thinking like a producer will make you more efficient and less stressed in every aspect of your life. We talked about websites to make your life simpler, how to get your holiday shopping done with ease and ways to save money.

Take a listen to her show on Blog Talk Radio and let me know what you think!

Track Packages and Spending With Slice

October 22, 2012/in Apps, Holidays, Increase Productivity, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Shopping, Technology, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Life just got so much easier for me. I’m constantly buying things online — especially now that I’m in full on holiday shopping mode. Sometimes its hard to keep track what I’ve bought and when the deliveries will be made. I don’t have a doorman and if there is alcohol in the package then an adult has to be home to sign for it. And that isn’t always possible so either my husband or I end up stalking the UPS or FedEx truck. But no more!

I’ve discovered Slice.com. It’s the perfect away to keep on top of all your shopping and save money too. You can link it up with your email so the website and app will find all of your recent purchases and organize them for you.

Slice will tell you when the package is expected to ship, when it actually ships, where it is currently and when it’s supposed to arrive at your door. There’s even customer service numbers and return policy information attached to each order.

Your history will show all the items that you’ve purchased and categorize them for you so you can track your spending. (This is useful eventho it’s a bit scary to see where all your money actually goes.) And the coolest feature of all — you will be alerted if an item you bought went on sale and that merchant will issue a price adjustment if you ask. That alone is worth signing up for Slice.com.

It’s free to sign up on the website and the app is also free. I’ve been singing it’s praises ever since I found it. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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