Ideal Bite

You can vow to take your hangers back to the dry cleaner a million next-times; at some point, you actually might. Or, you'll simply grow tired of their tangle-y presence in your closet and eventually you'll toss them. All of them.

Remedy: Don't take them home with you to begin with. Pay, smile, delicately remove your garment from the plastic (filled with chems unless you green clean), dehanger, and walk out, clothing in hand.

-SF Editor Hanah...off to vote with my mouth and dollars at Mission Street Food...

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In today's tip we suggested turning used underwear into rags, but who needs another boring armoire duster? Not you. Here are three more original uses for unwearable unmentionables:

Got a pair of men's size 52 briefs sitting around? Grab some scissors and you're just a few cuts away from a homemade bra.

Those novelty "Bite Me" boxers might not look that sexy on you, but on your Dear Diary it's a different story.  

So you've been saving your threadbare knickers for years. Two words: GOLD MINE. Spin those granny panties into your own stay-at-home business (note: PG-13 rated link, and

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I just eat like one. For the most part, I don't cook meat (chicken, raised sustainably, on occasion), but I do order it. I'm your average animal lover who feels guilty about eating 'em, but just can't help herself when faced with delicious menu choices like these. Just this week, two peeps told me they were flexitarians (they eat meat/fish only when there are no good veggie options). I envy the vegans I know, but I can't imagine life without Cowgirl Creamery's Parmigiano Reggiano Organico or Petit Blu (grilled and spread with chutney = divine). It helps knowing, tho', that these dairy cows weren't raised on U.S. factory farms (90% of animals raised for

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I used to have an old roommate who was awful about turning off lights when she left a room. As soon as you walked in the door, you could pretty much map out her path through the house depending on which lights were on. (She was big on running the heater all night long too.)

I warned her about the upcoming power bill, to which she replied, "Oh, just charge me two-thirds then. Power bills never add up to anything."

After the $194 PG&E bill came, our place was dark and cold for the next few months. She may not have cared about the environment, but when something hits you in the wallet, you tend to change your behavior.

-Senior Editor Mike...off to tell someone to put on a sweatshirt before they turn on the heat...

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As I type this blog, I'm sitting in front of a relatively old 27" television set, watching one of the 30,000 Law and Order reruns running on cable during any given hour of the day.

Of course, the only reason I can watch mindless multitudes of SVU and Criminal Intent reruns is because I have cable. If our set were hooked up to rabbit ears, I'd only have access to the broadcast channels (and even then, only for a while longer).

When The Boyfriend and I decided to live in sin, we merged our furniture, including our TVs - which were each about 10 years old. And since we were combining our budgets, we got a tricked out DVR cable package (complete with Showtime, so we can watch Californication), so the upcoming analog phaseout really doesn't affect us at all.

But if you are currently using rabbit ears and getting your TV over

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• NY Editor Brianne: "I always keep a USB memory stick with all my Ideal Bite work, a toothbrush, extra undies, a pair of flats just in case my heels are killing me, and my phone charger, because I always lose it."
• Managing Editor Diane: "I have lots of paper in my purse: numerous Post-it note reminders, a receipt, a postcard, a business card..."
• Editorial Assistant Erica: "I carry: my gym clothes and tennies, my lunch, snacks, extra warm layers (gloves, scarf, and sweater), bike lock, reading material, water bottle, wallet, head phones, makeup bag, and sunscreen... My friends make snarky comments about me lugging around everything I own but

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Herbal remedies can indeed help speed the way to dreamland. A finger of Benromach also tends to work. But for most of us, the surest method is to de-stress - that means something different for different people, but a few tried and true for me:

• exercise (duh), but the kind that absorbs you mentally - ballet, for instance, where you have to remember sequences of actions
• cooking, especially stuff that requires you to pause between steps (baking bread or making pasta from scratch)
• a quick evening shower with lavender soap + clean nightgown + clean sheets

Got tips of your own? Do share.

-Jenifer...off to wake up, actually...

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Note: Keep your fruit in the fridge and it'll already be chilled.

Just juice (I use my Juiceman juicer):

• 1-2 organic Granny Smith or Red or Golden Delicious apples, cored, deseeded, and sliced
• 5 medium-size organic carrots with the tops cut off
• 1 inch piece of peeled organic ginger root (more or less, depending on how spicy-gingery you like your juice)

-Jen...off to the farmers market...

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I believe two things:

My cell phone should always be confiscated after I've had 1 and 1/2 glasses of wine.

As long as Google exists, we will want for nothing.

Before I justified my iPhone purchase, I was just a girl with the capacity to call and text on the move. Then I discovered 466453 (GOOGLE). OMG.

Say you're driving down Market Street in San Francisco when the Indian food mood strikes and you need it, stat. Text: Indian Food Market Street San Francisco to 466453. Two seconds later, GOOGLE replies with the addresses and phone numbers of "Bombay Indian Restaurant, New Delhi Restaurant, Raja Cuisine of India," and even more if you hit "next." Best part? It costs nothing, which is a whole lot less than the cost of not abiding by tenet #1.

-SF Editor Hanah...off to

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Most popular tip among me, myself, and I: getting everything out of your product containers.

Most popular Wanna Try among me, my taste buds, and my stomach (my Wii Fit scale disagrees - its electronic voice actually said, "Oh!" - and mind you, it was an exclamation - when I stepped on after Halloween): homemade pumpkin pie.

Most controversial tip topic: For me, it's actually the blog accompaniment to gifts $100 and under. WHO is pilfering Tosh's underwear...and why?

And speaking of unmentionable oddities: How come people put on things like this for movie premiers, when they

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