There is officially less than a week left until Mother’s Day. I know – that little holiday totally sneaks up on you when you are swamped with exams, packing, and living out the final days of the school year. But don’t panic if you forgot (and your mom hasn’t been dropping hints every day as to what she wants).

The school year may be over and the cash flow may be pretty low, but there are some easy DIY gifts you can make for Mom this year. And you can make them fast and you can make them cheap. Not that your mom deserves something cheap – I’m just pretty sure she’d much rather have something from the heart than something you whisked off the rack at Nordstrom.

Labeled Herb Pots – A great gift for a mom that loves to cook and enjoys having fresh ingredients.  Go and buy some herb plants, and put them in small terracotta pots. You can paint the rims with chalkboard paint then label which the plants are inside. This way, if your mom has a black thumb she can easily switch up the plants if (or when) they die, and not be stuck with the labels. Or she can even reuse these for completely different reasons! Cute, cheap, personal and earth friendly.
Pretty much the perfect gift..

Variation on the “coupon book” – Think back to your elementary school days and chances are a Mother’s Day Coupon Book was made at some point.  While coupons such as “setting the table,” or “five hugs” are still sweet, we at CC think you can do better.  First, instead of printing out some “coupons” from a Word Document and stapling them together, get creative. Why not make Mom a jar of fortune cookies and put your little coupons inside? She will never expect it, not to mention the fact that everyone loves a fortune cookie.

And don’t just get creative in HOW you give the coupons, but in WHAT the coupons are, as well. For the technically challenged mom, try “One hour of explaining and setting up Facebook,” or “A two hour lesson in uploading and printing digital photos (from the camera dad hasn’t given you yet).” For the uber-busy mom try “Three grocery shopping trips,” or “Dinner on the table by the time you’re home.”  If you’re the eldest kid, and have a lot younger siblings, try “Afternoon outing with the kids” or “Five free nights of babysitting” to get the kids out of Mom’s hair for a while.  Or, if you’ve been neglecting your mother-daughter time lately, why not have “Two hours of fashion consultation at the mall,” or “one just-us outing of your choice.”

Hand-painted pottery - Remember when you were five and you could bring home macaroni glued to a piece of paper and your mom would proudly display it on the fridge?  Well, unfortunately that won’t cut it anymore.  So, why not bring Mom home a masterpiece she won’t have to pretend to like?  There are paint your own pottery places everywhere (Color Me Mine has locations all over the world), so grab some friends, and go make some presents for your moms. It happens to be super fun and incrediby therapeutic, so this is a gift that everyone can enjoy.  Or, if you are pressed for time, you could always make a fortune cookie coupon with an afternoon of pottery painting with mom!

Photo Album – There is nothing moms love more than their children, so give her the ultimate gift and put together a family photo album for her. But not any old photo album with a bunch of pictures stuck inside some sleeves – really go to town. You can get really crafty and build a scrapbook of some of your favorite family moments, or simply compile some of memorable digital photos into a real bound photo book. These books are beautiful and allow you to get creative without doing all that time consuming work.

This gift may take a bit longer, but the end result will totally be worth the wait. And your mom will agree.

Got any other ideas for good, personal Mother’s Day gifts? Share them below!

[Welcome to my Weekly Love List. A list, on all things I love. Because if I love them - well then obviously you may (and should) love them too. As the Backstreet Boys song says (and yes I am actually quoting them) “My Love is All I Have To Give.” So with that throwback, here are this week’s list-worthy things…]

1. Cover Girl Last Blash Mascara. Until this moment I have been shelling out prime dollars for department store mascara. But with one stroke of this bad boy I was hooked. Hooked and fluttering my eyelashes all night long!

2. Astrologyzone.com: Maybe I’m a sucker, but I am addicted to this site that gives you a detailed (we’re talking like 3 pages baby!) horoscope for the month. I had a chance to hear the astrologist who runs the site, Susan Miller , speak once and I was hooked. Yes I’m into things like The Secret and all that other new-age stuff, but even if you aren’t there is something just so fun about horoscopes. It’s like playing M.A.S.H. when you were a kid. (Although that was never fun if you ended up in the shack married to Steve Urkel).

3. Shutterfly photo books. You have thousands of pics on your computer, but now because of all this digital stuff no one prints their photos anymore! Shutterfly makes it easy to put your best pics on display by putting them in these cute little hardcover plastic books that YOU can design. A great gift idea; after all, who doesn’t love having pics of themselves in their Halloween costume doing a kegstand on their coffee table for all to see? Only everyone worth being friends with.

4. This video. because it never gets old and I never stop loving it.

5. Hautelook.com. Sample sales from your favorite designers – from Ella Moss to Elizabeth and James – and just about everyone in between with prices as much as 70% off! Heavenly and Love List worthy – that’s for sure.

What are you loving this week?

As we approach August, we may have started to take summer vacay for granted. In the dog days of summer, it’s easy to sleep until 2 p.m., get caught up on Maury, and not realize we still have our PJs on until it’s time to go back to bed. But with the countdown to Fall Semester ticking fast, it’s important to make the most of every spare minute. Whether you’re working your ass off or dedicated to being a lazy bum until a full courseload kicks back in, it’s time to get in gear and create some glorious summer memories.

1. Take a roadtrip. Sure, gas prices are skyrocketing, but you’re only young once, right? And once you’re shackled into a nine-to-five, you’re going to crave the spontaneity that’s currently yours for the taking. I’m a self-professed workaholic, but even I’ve been known to squeeze in a few quality roadtrips between May and August each year. One summer, I took a fourteen-hour drive to Ohio with two girls from work I barely knew, for the birthday party of one of my brother’s grad school friends. And no, my brother didn’t go. So, three random girls showed up at a party in the boondocks (aka Wooster), and promptly put on our party shoes. Liquor flowed, regrettable hook-ups were had, and the girls and I totally bonded over the experience. Even if you can only spare one day, find a town you’ve never been to before, and head out to explore. You never know what adventures might arise.

2. Go multimedia. Have a photo or videoshoot with your friends. No, you don’t need to be drunk, you just need to be creative. Use the summer foliage as a backdrop. Pretend you’re on America’s Next Top Model and work the runway. Yes, it’s childish, but nobody will know if you seal all the evidence in the vault. I have countless “Dress-Up” portraits, in which I’m dressed as anything from a Spice Girl to a Showgirl, as well as some priceless dance routines caught on tape to Tupac’s “California Love,” in which we substituted rolled-up toilet paper for Pac’s signature bandanna headband. It makes for a quick pick-me-up on future bad days. I didn’t make this stuff myself– go watch Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegates’ “Movie Montage” scene from The Sweetest Thing.

3. Get off your ass. There’s a variety of activities that can fall into this category. Take a bike ride, go rollerblading, go hiking. Hell, go to the local playground and play on the jungle gym. We all know exercise boosts your endorphins, but it’s a also a great way to maintain your tan and your bikini bod. Side note: some of my most romantic summer kisses have occurred on the docks of the local lake or underneath the monkey bars once the sun sets on a sultry summer’s eve.

4. Enjoy the local festivities. Whether it’s a local fair or a weekly farmer’s market, a tour of a historic landmark or a downtown block party… what do you have better to do? Besides, even the smallest towns have kooky summer activities. I know a guy who runs in a citywide roadrace every year, donning nothing but a loincloth. You can also check out the local downhome watering hole that reeks of flannel and flasks. Who knows what goes down when the townies come out to play?

5. Have a midday drinking festival. Seriously, this is the time in our lives when we can do it without being labeled an alcoholic. During every spring semester of my college career, I wouldn’t skip a single class until the first nice day of spring. Then, my friends and I would cut every single class to sit out on the quad and booze it up from inconspicuous Nalgene bottles. Sure, school’s been out for weeks, but you can still have a good old daylight drinking binge on a random Tuesday. The good news? You’ll probably pass out early enough to get a head start on tomorrow. The better news? If you follow this step, you can move on to the local festivities or the multimedia extravaganza.

Just don’t attempt a summer roadtrip if you’ve already been hitting the bottle in 90-degree weather.

There are some things you can live with and others you can live without. Seasoned travelers learn to live without, and when they do they often find hospitable people that let them live with. Travelers have the burden of deciding what to take with them and what to leave behind. They carry their lives in bags big and small. Big bags may mean better quality, but also result in a heavier burden. Small bags may mean lesser quality, but more freedom.

There are, of course, activities that require equipment — often heavy or bulky. Fishermen want to bring their own tackle and poles. Surfers want to bring their own boards. Scuba divers want to bring their own regulators. Horseback riders want to bring their own… saddles. Before you try to squeeze your heavy, bulky gear into that small bag of yours, there are just three things you need to consider:

Purpose

What kind of trip are you planning, and how frequently do you expect to use your equipment? The burden of bringing your gear is multiplied by the number of places you will lug it around to. On the other hand, if your primary reason for travel is to participate in the activity that requires the gear, then you have a greater purpose to justify bringing it.

Utility

What kind of use can you get out of bringing your own gear? Are you willing to risk travel damage or wear-and-tear to your equipment? Keep in mind that more and more places offer reasonable rentals for equipment, consider whether you would be willing to rent the gear to get what you need out of it. Some oversized or heavy baggage could also require that you pay extra, so consider this as well.

Necessity

What this dilemma really comes down to is just how much you really need your gear. If your happiness and satisfaction depends on bringing your stuff, then by all means, bring it — but be aware you are sacrificing the ease of traveling by doing so.

I once brought a big photo album to Europe so I could show my new photos to my sister. I never considered bringing just the photos. Sometimes, leaving something behind doesn’t mean you can’t bring what you want with you. Traveling requires creativity: You could always body surf instead of surf — or, even better, you could body surf without those heavy fins. You can still do what you love without sacrificing the fun.

Ah, Thanksgiving traditions.

Some of them are sweet; sitting around a table surrounded by people you love, giving thanks for all the things you’ve been given. Some of them are funny; deep frying an entire turkey or playing board games with a bunch of drunk family members. And some of them, well, some of them we’d really like to never go through again; dodging the inevitable “why are you still single / what are you studying / what are you going to do with a liberal arts degree?” question or watching your uncle’s face turn red as he realizes your politics in no way represent his.

My family has a lot of traditions (many of which include alcohol and loud Italian yelling matches), but one of my favorite things to do every year as a kid was sit down in front of the TV with my aunt and uncle and watch Mystery Science Theater 3000.

You may not have heard of this small, late 80’s to late 90’s show, but Mystery Science Theater 3000 remains one of the best concepts ever invented.

Even though the actual premise sounds like something a bunch of your stoner friends came up with (“In the not too distant future, a man and his robots are trapped on the Satellite of love, where evil scientists force them to sit through the worst movies ever made”), the episodes mostly consisted of a guy and his two sarcastic robot friends sitting in an empty movie theater, making fun of ridiculous old movies.

If you’re one of those people who love talking your way through stupid films, considering YouTubing Mystery Science 3000 this Thanksgiving.

Whatever happens, it’ll be better than staring at a photo album dedicated to that perfect cousin you hate.