Even back in the 80s, when I was in high school, it was close to impossible to get really cool denim for under $20. I liked the Gap’s jeans back then, and Levi’s. They were pretty much always expensive. Designer denim has only gotten pricier as the decades have rolled past. When I shop for my daughter and my nieces, I nearly skip a heartbeat when I look at some of the price tags.

Listen, I’m frugal and I adore a good deal, but I’m not going to dress like I’ve been scrounging the bargain bin at the blue light special. Know what I mean?

Thank goodness for Heavenly Couture. Absolutely everything on their site is trendy. Everything is also $17.95 or less. The buyers at Heavenly Couture search the globe for the hottest fashions and offer them to you for up to 85% off of regular retail. They focus on Junior Clothing fashions, so everything is the latest in what’s cool right now. They have boot cut jeans and baby doll tops, warm-ups and camis, and even belts by Chinese Laundry.

In May 2007, the United States Postal Service hiked the cost of a first class stamp by two cents. Right before that, they issued “forever” stamps you could buy at the existing price a first class stamp and use, quite literally, forever – no matter how much the stamp prices rise in the future.

Well, the USPS has announced that this May, there will be yet another one penny increase. They will continue selling Forever stamps, too. You can get them now and you may as well stock up. There seems to be no end in sight for the annual stamp increases.

When I was in high school, I remember 15 and 20 cent stamps. Long gone are those days. I do almost all I can to avoid sending a letter in the mail. I pay bills online, I send e-mails more than regular letters, and I even sent out my daughter’s birthday invitations via the internet last year. The only time I really use a stamp is Christmas and the occasional bill.

Anyone who says being happy, really happy, is not at the top of their list og goals is just being dishonest. We all want happiness. It’s human nature.

Now, finding happiness, feeling happy, those are more illusive concepts. Sometimes you have to work at it. I like to use the example of actress Mariel Hemingway. She admits that depression runs in her family. Her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, was notoriously downcast, was diagnosed as manic depressive and in the end, he took his own life. Other members of the Hemingway clan also took their own lives: Mariel’s great-grandfather, two of Ernest’s siblings, and Mariel’s sister Margaux.

Despite all of that, Mariel says she avoids the depression that plagued her family by using the Sedona Method. In “Happy for No Reason” by Marci Shimoff, Mariel talks about overcoming “Hemingway curse”. If you think about it, overcoming such a long history of unhappiness is no small feat.

The Sedona Method is a self-help technique that centers on letting go of thoughts and feelings that are causing you to be unhappy. You focus on the ability to let the thoughts go and learn how to give them over to the moment by tuning into concepts like beingness presence awareness. It is often favorably compared to the popular Release Technique.

You can learn more about the Sedona Method by requesting a free DVD or CD.