By TIMES STAFF
Published October 29, 2005
Tonight's the night: Turn your clocks back one hour when you go to bed (fall backward). We return to Standard Time at 2 a.m. Sunday. It will be brighter earlier, and darker sooner in the afternoon. Replace the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, too.
Just when you'd got used to thinking of Dan Marino as a steak-and-a-martini guy (see his string of restaurants, including the one at BayWalk) . . . or at least a big, thick pizza guy (those Papa John's commercials) . . . now we have to start thinking of Marino as a cushy-mattress-and-pillow guy. Stop in at Linens 'n Things or visit its Web site (linensandthings.com; click on "bedding," then on "mattresses"). Marino's hustling the Dan Marino Mattress made of "memory foam," 8 or 12 inches thick, ranging in price from $899 to $1,799. The line includes mattress toppers and pillows. Said a male shopper, inspecting the mattress at a store in Tampa: "If it had his number on it, I'd buy it."
From clutter to clean
Tips from a new book from Good Housekeeping, The Complete Clutter Solution (Hearst Books, $19.95): Donate canned goods you haven't used in nine months; if you haven't eaten them now, you never will. Use smaller wastebaskets throughout the house; you'll empty them more often. Code your storage: Red boxes for holiday decorations, green for clothing. Use a small table at your bedside to limit the amount of items - read "clutter" - you can pile there.
with photo #224205give it some size
Fresh idea for fall dining
There's time this weekend to make these pumpkin place cards for Halloween, or remember this idea for Thanksgiving. Hollow out miniature pumpkins. Write names with permanent marker. Soak flower foam in water for 30 minutes, then cut it to fit inside the pumpkins. Cut chrysanthemums (or the flower of your choice) to stems 4 to 5 inches long and insert into the foam, working for a rounded shape.
HURRICANE TIPS
These tips come from the Weather Channel. When you make your evacuation plans, let somebody know where you're going and when you think you'll arrive. Designate a friend or relative outside your town as your contact if you are separated from family members. Agree upon a place where family members can meet if separated.
