Believe it or not, fashion has evolved to the extent that even world class tennis players are pouting their lips and saying “I have nothing to wear!” before they go on court. The premier players now demand both style and the latest fabric technology in their tennis apparel. Maria Sharapova, the princess of on court tennis fashion may not have won many tournaments but she has certainly made many opponents green with envy for sporting the latest trend and style. Many tennis stars like Daniels Hantuchova, The Williams sisters, Ana Ivanovic and Nicole Vaidisova are now emulating Maria’s on court fashion sense.

Even the leading sports apparel manufacturers such as Nike, adidas, Lacoste, and Diadora, acknowledged that womens tennis apparel are just as essential as their on court tennis skills. Hence, the services of the world’s top women tennis players are constantly in demand to showcase their latest tennis dresses and skirts. Adidas has teamed-up with clothing designer Stella McCartney, to allow rising WTA star Maria Kirilenko to sport the new designs. Nike is also doing equally well with its designer Serena Williams. If you ask me, whether it’s adidas, Nike or Diadora, each has their own favourite line of tennis wear that appeals to their audience.

  

 

It certainly cannot be denied that some people may have a passion for tennis, while others love fashion, and then there’s those who love tennis fashion!

One of my good friend will be delivering her baby in a couple of weeks time and she has asked me for opinion on blood cord banking. I really did not know much about it and decided to do a little reading about this topic. I’ll post some of the information that I’ve gathered here for those who are interested…

What Are Stem Cells?

Unlike normal cells, stem cells have the potential to develop into many different type of cells in the body regardless of its source. Hence, they serve as a repair system for the body. Stem cells can divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the human body is alive.

Stem cells can be derived from the embryo, the bone marrow, the umbilical cord blood or adult peripheral blood.

Advantages of Harvesting Stem Cells From Umbilical Cord

Some studies have suggested that stem cells that are harvested from the umbilical cord have an added advantage over those obtained from the bone marrow. Another advantage is the ease to retrieve stem cells from cord blood as it can only be obtained immediately from the placenta after the delivery of the baby.

Cord blood stem cells can be stored and transplanted back into the donor and to a family member. It differs from bone marrow transplant as the later requires a nearly perfect match of the HLA between the donor and the recipient for it to succeed. Cord blood stem cells do not require such exact match as they accept a recipient’s environment more easily.

The Collection Process

Whether it is vaginal or caesarean births, collections can take place after that. The cord is clamped and cut and a needle is used to take the cord blood. The blood is then drawn from the umbilical veins and fills the specialised cord blood collection bag. Procedure wise, there is little risk and poses no pain to the infant or mother.

Benefits

Cord stem cells can be used in important life saving treatment for more than 70 different kinds of blood diseases, including cancer, immune deficiencies, malignant blood disorders and other inherited metabolic disorders.

Transplants that have been done around the world using stem cell technology include spinal cord injuries, cancers like acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, acute melogenous leukaemia, heart failure, Hodgkin’s disease and Non-Hodgkin’s disease and blood disorder like beta-thalassaemia.

You can do a google search if you want to find the cord blood banks available in your respective country. Despite the high cost of investment,  I totally agree that cord blood banking is a form of bioinsurance. If a child’s cord blood can be used to treat diseases for family members who need it, the effort is without a doubt worth every single cents.

Last weekend, I went shopping for home furnishings with my cousin who has just been transferred back to our hometown.

She wanted to buy some furnitures for her new house so, we stopped by my favourite furniture showroom to browse through their selection of Studio RTA Furniture. As there was a Sale on at that time, she managed to buy a bedroom set, a sofa set, TV cabinet and some decorative items at a discounted price of 30% off.

However, this is not the end of our shopping as there are many more items to purchase. So, I am booked throughout the first two weekends of June. Though we both enjoy shopping very much, it was also a good opportunity for us to catch up with each other.

Novica is an online store with a difference. Its mission is to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. Novica serves as a “bridge” for you, yes YOU to access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values via the internet.

I truly believe Novica has the largest online collection of handcrafted jewelry, including pearl, turquoise and extraordinary silver treasures. With such a tremendous variety of handmade treasures to explore, I could not help myself and actually spent more than an hour browsing the site. Having “Amber” as my birthstone, I was totally besotted by Novica’s Amber Choker Summer Sun (pictured below) which comes with a flirty pendant.

I also love the fact that I can learn about the designer who designed this jewelry just by clicking on the item. It gives such a refreshing and personal approach that I cannot find elsewhere on other similar website. Without any doubt, Novica certainly stands out from the rest.

Novica also features an online gallery which boasts an international collection hosting the works of established masters as well as newcomers. Its collection of original paintings is a celebration of artistic freedom that ranges from personal interpretations of tradition, to exploring the depths of surrealism.

From home decor to exquisite jewelry and apparel to gorgeous paintings, Novica is definitely a great site to shop for a gift. Please check it out for yourself and see the beauty Novica has to offer.

This is an interesting wesbite that I am going to review. Subliminal-CD.com, as it is appropriately named sells subliminal CDs and appears to be one of the web’s largest store selling such products.

For those interested in looking for the best method to make changes to their inner and outer self, I would suggest you browse through their extensive range of subliminal recordings. All CDs are professionally produced using the new 5-part Encoding System™ developed by self-development guru, Bradley Thompson.

There’s no limit to what you can do with Subliminal CDs. From losing excess weight, gain super confidence, develop your genius, boost your business success, and turbo-charge your charisma these subliminal CDs are meant to improve one’s life beyond belief! So, if you are low on self esteem or simply want to change your world, why not try out this popular and powerful method of self growth. They’re scientifically proven, they require NO effort, the results are measurable, AND best of all, you can even listen as you fall asleep

Generic Flonase is now available under the brand Nasaclear. Nasaclear is a non-drowsy treatment providing 24 hour relief from the symptoms of allergies and hayfever.

For treatment of symptoms of hayfever allergies including sneezing, nasal congestion, irritation, nasal itching and excess mucus, you only need to use it once daily. Nasaclear is also known to be effective in a wide range of allergies including those triggered by pollen, dust mites, moulds and animal hair or fur. However, do note that it is not to be used for children under 12 years of age and is also meant for short term prevention or treatment only (3-6 months).

For further information such as dosage, orders and shipping, you can click on the above link to check it out. A word of percaution, it is always advisable to consult your doctor or pharmacist before using Nasaclear Generic Fluticasone.

This is a neat product that I stumbled on through Pay Per Post. This innovative hose reel automatically rewinds with only the power of water! There is no electric, no batteries, no springs and certainly no cranking required! In short, this product offers hands-free rewinding of garden hoses. 

NO-CRANK™ hose reels use a patented water-piston engine to rewind the hose. All you need to do is simply flip a lever and let the power of water rewind the hose so you can eliminate one of the most stressful job of maintaining your garden.

NO-CRANK garden equipment is available in a variety of designs with features suitable for small or huge gardens. Interested? Click on the link above and check out this technology breakthrough hose reel.

Woot! I am so excited about holding my first contest here. So, let’s wait no more and get right down to business.

1. This contest shall run from today 19/05/2007 to 9/06/2007.
2. Announcement of result will be on 10/06/2007 via this blog.
3. There will be only ONE winner and he/she will be chosen by the best and most creative entry.
4. My decision on the winner will be final and I will not entertain any “complains”.
5. Prize may change and be replaced with another product of similar value at the discretion of the sponsor.
6. Contest is open to all bloggers who resides in countries that the sponsor has shipping service to. You can further check their website for confirmation.
7. Here are the rules and regulations:

• Participants are required to write a blog post with minimum of 100 words
• Blog post should include a link back to this blog at http://www.mylilventure.com with another deep link to any post on this blog which you fancy. That is a total of 2 links required.
• Tell me what you enjoy about this blog and why you deserve to win the prize
• Once your blog post is up, send me the post link to my email add (biz4sahm[@]gmail.com).
• DO NOT leave the link to your post in the comment section

 The lucky WINNER will get a 8×8 photobook (see picture below) sponsored by Shutterfly.

This is your chance to Shower Dad With Love and Memories thanks to

Check out the beautiful items they have for Father’s Day, including special discounts just for this occassion.

I’m planning to run some contests in a couple of weeks or sooner (I hope!). Initially, I had wanted to put up a Mother’s Day contest but due to my hectic schedule, am unable to get it up and running.

So, if you are an advertiser who is willing to sponsor your product, including shipping internationally (my readers come from all over), please do not hesitate to email me. In my contest announcement post, I will provide one link of your choice back to your website with a mention that you are the sponsor.

On the other hand, if you are a reader who is keen to participate, come back often to check when the contest will be up!

Has anyone downloaded WordPress 2.2 yet? I know it’s out with many awesome features and some of which I am dieing to have.

However, I dare not upgrade yet as I read from John Chow’s blog (the dot com mogul) who upgraded and realized that the alignment on his template was out due to bugs. After that, he switched back to the older WP version. Being totally lost about tech stuff, I’d better not take the risk

So, have you try it out yet? Any problem? Please share your thoughts. Thanks.