In my high school, you could get out of gym class for one semester if you took home economics. It was either spend the second half of my freshman year sweating it out with most of the varsity softball team, who looked at me like I was a pretty doll they planned to vandalize, or try my hand at the domestic arts. So I baked, sewed and, in order to appreciate the responsibilities of parenting, carried an egg around in a basket for a week without breaking it. I did not excel in any of these arenas, but I was especially bad at sewing.

I am befuddled by buttons and harrowed by hems so it goes without saying that I am always in need of a tailor. That was, however, until I found Bristols 6 “Hem Tape”. I had just bought my first pair of Genetic Denim and wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep them long to wear with my new spring wedges or shorten them to show off my summer sandals. In 5 minutes, Hem Tape gave me a clean, shorter hem that was temporary enough to remove easily without any damage to the fabric but sturdy enough to last multiple wears and even a couple of washes. Problem solved – the new jeans did not have to go under the knife and I could wear them with whatever shoes I wanted.

Bristols 6 has a lot of fashion fixes to help you keep things in place and cover others but I am most intrigued by their “Adjust-a-Button”, which allows you to extend or tighten your waistband. The genius of this invention is obvious – poke a pin through the waistband of your favorite pants and let them out or take them in up to 1.5 inches. While I haven’t tried it myself, I am really excited about the possibilities…

Gain a couple of pounds in the winter months and now things are a little tight? No need to buy new pants, just add an “Adjust-a-Button”. Tone your tummy in Pilates and now your favorite jeans are loose? Cinch them in with “Adjust-a-Button”. Not to mention the miracle this could be for women in early pregnancy who need more room but aren’t ready for maternity jeans. It seems to me that having some of these on hand could be very useful.

You can buy Hem Tape ($12) and Adjust-a-Button ($18) at Bristosl6.com or on Amazon.com.

xoxo Melina

If you are anything like me, you are a highly social gal but not a natural hostess.And the idea of organizing and creating a party, much less one with a theme, is curiously daunting. I love the idea of throwing parties; I just don’t ever seem to know where to start. With numerous friends getting married and having babies, I have a lot of reasons to celebrate but no source to help me compose these various events.

Socialcouture.com answered my party-throwing prayers. An on-line store for home entertaining products and services that provides you with the whole package – from party décor and tabletop ideas, to the napkins your guests will use. Their pre-packaged parties make it easy to throw a festive fete with little effort from you other than the choice of occasion. Whether you are celebrating Cinco De Mayo, a baby shower, bridal shower, or a child’s birthday, they have a your party planned.

In addition to their “parties in a box”, socialcouture.com sells individual products and offers abundant tips for the eager entertainer including food and recipes, complete menus and etiquette. They also have a great blog with creative ideas and products that will be helpful to even the most haute hostess!

Whatever happened to the simple pleasures in life? Taking a leisurely walk on a sunny day, a home-cooked meal, or a hand-written note? Walks now accelerate into shoving other pedestrians out of your way, home-cooked meals are made in someone else’s foreign kitchen, and hand-written notes are typed and sent through cyber-space.

But it doesn’t always have to be that way.It has now become a lot easier to reinvent the time-honored tradition of the hand-written word with the help of Carrot and Stick Press.

Sure, there are a lot of stationary companies out there, but Carrot and Stick Press’ products caught my eye with their cool collection of colorful journals, placemats, photo, table and folded note cards.  The company was recently founded in 2000 by two dedicated grad students who turned their love of playful prints for every occasion into one they could share (and we’re sure glad that they did!)

I read the newspaper, I watch MSNBC – we are in a big-time recession…I get it! The title of this section is Coveter, not Glutton, so we intend to show you how to save money as well as spend it. RetailMeNot.com ensures you “never pay retail” by providing updated coupon codes for most major online retailers, from big-box shops like amazon.com to my favorite virtual fashion boutique, shopbop.com.

The site has a unique array of tools to guarantee that you are always saving at checkout. These include personalized email alerts when your favorite sites are offering discounts and promotions, a “hot coupons” weekly newsletter, and bookmarks that will send pop-ups of available coupons while you are out trolling your favorite online haunts. MKIA is not here to fix the economy, nor do we claim to understand why it’s in the state it is in. But we are here to help you live your lives and that includes shopping – now with what we hope is a little less guilt!

My friend made the honest mistake of buying the JimmyJane Ember candle with the sole purpose of having its beautifully rich and intoxicating scent permeate her apartment. Boy, was she in for a wicked and sensual surprise! Simple and non-descript candle by day, sensual massage wax by night!

With a small and elegant spout for easy pouring, your partner will be as grateful for such a stimulating indulgence as Ricky Martin was in his Livin’ La Vida Loca video. With invigorating scents like Lychee + Lapsang and Truffle + Gardenia, you can go ahead and get your “new kicks in the candle light.” Go to the website for other classy, yet naughty, adult accessories: jimmyjane.com. Now that’s hot!