Prepare for Hurricane Irene!

Irene is on her way!

Forecasters project that Hurricane Irene will strike the North Carolina coast Saturday morning, then move northeast along the east coast. On Saturday and Sunday, states in the mid-Atlantic and New England will suffer torrential rain and hurricane force winds from the Category 2 storm. According to weather.com, Hurricane Irene has the potential to produce flooding rains, high winds, downed trees, and widespread power outages in and around cities like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

If you don't already have one, now's a good time to create a disaster preparedness plan for you and your family. You can read the National Hurricane Center's hurricane preparedness tips at www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/disaster_prevention.shtml (clicking the link will open it in a new window). The page offers tips on developing a family disaster plan, creating a disaster supply kit, and evacuation.

Click here for weather.com's projected tracks for Hurricane Irene.

Check weather.com, accuweather.com, or wunderground.com for up to date information about Hurricane Irene.

And most importantly, be safe!

Maine: An Outdoorsman’s Paradise

One of the most majestic states in the Union, Maine has been a popular destination for lovers of the outdoors for centuries. The state has over 5500 miles of coastline, making it a great choice for beach lovers. It also boasts spectacular mountains, historic villages, and more.

If you’re there in the summer, the beach scene in Maine is one of the best in the Northeast. Every day, hordes of sun-seekers flock to York Beach to tan, swim, surf, and generally appreciate the crisp, clean water and fine, white sand.

With beaches come lighthouses, and Maine is a mecca for lighthouse lovers. The state boasts more than sixty of them, including the Quoddy Lighthouse, located at the easternmost point of the continental United States, as well as the popular Cape Neddick Lighthouse. The state even has a lighthouse museum in Rockland. A number of other historic sites dot the state, from Civil War forts to ghost towns.

Maine's inland natural parks are equally beautiful, offering miles of hiking, mountain biking, and more. In the winter, the state’s mountains are flocked with skiers and snowboarders. While you’re there, don’t forget to sample the lobster – the best crustaceans in the States come from Maine. There’s nothing that beats a lobster roll on the beach.

Protect Yourself From Telemarketing Fraud

Telemarketers want you to pick up the phone. Although Mom and Dad taught you to be nice to salesmen, the National Crime Prevention Council recommends that you hang up on telemarketers – if you answer the phone at all.

Telemarketing fraud–which attempts to cheat you out of your valuables through deception–is on the rise. Senior citizens suffering from dementia or memory loss are prime targets for schemes like this, but we all need to watch out.

Some helpful hints:

*Sign up for the national Do Not Call Registry at (888) 382-1222 or www.donotcall.gov. This will help decrease calls from telemarketers.

*If a caller asks for personal information such as a credit card number or Social Security number, politely refuse and hang up.

*If a caller offers a free item and then wants you to pay for shipping or taxes, politely refuse and hang up.

*If a caller demands a decision on a limited-time offer, politely refuse and hang up.

*If you don't understand the offer, ask to receive information by mail. If the telemarketer refuses to do that, end the call.

Shop Etsy to Find Unique Gifts For Any Occasion

Handmade goods have made a real resurgence in recent years, as people are turning away from mass-manufactured stuff for more personalized presents. One of the best resources for finding this kind of stuff is the website Etsy. A website founded in 2005 to let crafters worldwide sell their goods, Etsy has expanded to a massive operation with 60 employees facilitating the sale of over $10,000,000 in goods every month. You can buy a huge variety of items on the site, from unique fashion-forward garments made by upcoming designers; to eco-friendly items; to customized portraits, painted to order of you or your pets. Etsy even sells artisanal candy and baked goods for gourmet lovers.

The website offers a wide array of features to help your shopping, including the ability to look for sellers local to your area. So if you’re shopping for gifts that are a little bit off the beaten path, Etsy may be the perfect resource for you.

For more information, visit www.etsy.com.

Cereal Mania!

Cereal is one of America's most popular foods. Despite the often ridiculous price per box in stores, cereals are a fan favorite for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacking in between. There is even a fast food chain, Cereality, dedicated to bringing out your inner child for every meal with a full-on cereal bar for mixing and matching kinds. Cereal has even found its way into yogurt shops as a popular topping. So if you're as big a cereal fan as well, everyone else, here are a few tips for making cereal a healthy part of your day. Here are five websites with cereal facts you'll want to know before you dig in to your next bowl.

1. Livestrong's Top 10 Healthiest Cereals. Find out if you're choosing the right bowl to start off the day.

2. Top 10 Worst Breakfast Cereals for Kids. Or for anyone for that matter. Even if they say "Made with Whole Grains", some cereals are just way too sugary to be healthy.

3. Healthy Homemade Cereals. Make your own brand of cereal-ly goodness! Here's a list of different varieties you can make at home, from Ginger Snap Granola to Toasted Muesli with Ginger and Blueberries!

4. More Than Breakfast! Check out Kellogg's recipe ideas for dishes using your favorite cereals. Besides the Rice Krispies Treats we have all grown to know and love, you can make All Bran Chicken Satay with Dipping Sauce, or Crispix Ice Cream Dessert Bars.

5. Cereal Coupons! If you buy cereal on a regular basis, check out this website for printable coupons you can use at your local stores. Saving $1, $2, or $3 at a time can really add up!

3 Quick Tips to Save Money on Your Utility Bills

We’re all looking for ways to save money, and if we can do that while also saving the Earth, everybody wins. So here are a few tips to reduce your utility bills as well as save money and resources.

Switch as many light bulbs as you can to compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs – they take a fraction of the power and last forever. You may want to keep traditional incandescent bulbs in some areas (like the dining room), but the more you can swap the better.

On that note, turn off the lights when you leave a room. Forgetting to turn off the lights in an unoccupied room wastes a lot of electricity and money! The same goes for televisions and computers. A quick flip of the switch can take dollars off your electric bill.

If you pay for heat, insulate your windows in the winter with plastic sheeting—this will keep more warm air inside the house. In the summertime, try to only use your air conditioner in an emergency, and use fans and open windows to maintain cross breezes for natural cooling as much as you can.

Host a Game Night for a Fun Get-Together With Friends!

Boardgames are undergoing a little resurgence now, as gamer culture spreads into the mainstream. A game night is a great low-key way to get together with friends over food and drinks and have some fun without staring at the idiot box. You need to select games that can be played by four or more players and won’t take many hours to complete like Monopoly or Risk. Here are a few never-fail games to play in groups.

Balderdash. This classic game of bluffing and vocabulary gets funnier the more people are playing, as players try to fake each other out with fictional definitions for real words.

Settlers Of Catan. This strategy game is a little bit nerdy, but give people time to get into it and you’ll be amazed at the rivalries that develop. A classic players return to time and time again.

Cranium. This innovative party game is a sort of mixture of several classics, including Charades and Pictionary. It’s great for involving groups and can tap a large amount of hidden skills.

5 Sci Fi Flicks Worth Watching

Science fiction has made a big splash on the silver screen, pushing technological advances for special effects and painting pictures of where human civilization could possibly go. Here are five flicks you need to see to get ready for the future.

Star Wars (all of them). George Lucas changed the world of movies with this blockbuster set “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Equal parts heroic myth and corny space opera, it still holds up.

The Matrix. Cyberspace becomes the next frontier in the Wachowski Brothers’ parable of a life spent in ignorance of another world all around you. Avoid the sequels.

Aliens. Ridley Scott’s balls-out action adventure made Sigourney Weaver one of the hottest action heroes of the decade, with equal parts adrenaline and horror.

WALL-E. Pixar’s animated take on humanity’s future as a species of obese, helpless drones drowning in trash is remarkably advanced for a kid’s movie.

2001: A Space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick uses science fiction as a vehicle to give the viewers a truly cosmic trip.

Not Your Average Pie: Chicken Pesto Pizza

Here's a twist on the usual cheese and tomato pizza—it's quick and easy, and substitutes herb-filled pesto for tomato sauce, fontina for mozzarella cheese, and adds the unique flavor of artichokes plus chicken for a protein boost. Add extra veggies if you like, and get your daily dose of whole grains by using whole wheat crust!

Ingredients
1/2 cup pesto basil sauce
1 (12 inch) pre-baked pizza crust
2 cups cooked chicken breast strips
1 (6 ounce) jar artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Spread pesto sauce over the pizza crust. Arrange chicken pieces and artichoke hearts over the sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is melted and lightly browned at the edges.

Recipe Courtesy of AllRecipes.com; submitted by Lisa.
See the full recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Pesto-Pizza/Detail.aspx.

Save 10-15% On Your Electric Bill!

In a philly.com article, readers are encouraged to shop around for their electric company to save money. Click here to read the full article about shopping around and why it might save money on your next electric bill!

Contact the main office at 610-527-8200, or email rent@lisspropertygroup.com to switch your provider.

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