Take any vacations lately? My wanderlust friend is currently on an Alaskan cruise that started in Canada.  She’s smart. I sit here in 110-degree heat and she sends me pictures of her in cold weather. She’s thoughtful too.

Apple has some great free apps for travel that I wanted to share with you.

Currency:  Check conversion rates for more than 100 currencies worldwide with Currency. Choose your master currency, enter an amount, and see what that souvenir would cost back home.

Tripit Travel Organizer:  Put all your plans in one place.  No matter how you booked your travel, TripIt Travel Organizer puts all your travel plans right on your iPhone. So you’ll be prepared wherever you are — and wherever you’re planning to be.

TripCase:  Named “Best Travel App” by Business Week, featured in USA Today, CNET & The Wall Street Journal. The best travel app for aggregating & organizing the maze of travel information; real-time flight alerts, gate information, and critical updates before & during travel; sharing with friends & family. Also gives alternative flight information.

Around Me:  Great for locating restaurants, banks, gas stations, hotels, and even hospitals within the area it identifies.

Kayak:  Compare flight, hotel, and car rental deals. Track flight status. View and manage itinerary. Look up baggage fees. Access airline numbers and airport information.

Google SMS: Big tip here.  If you don’t have a smartphone, or you are in an area where the data plan doesn’t work but you can still text you need to know this. Text 46645 (that’s Google without the E) and you can get Google search results back in a series of text. I use this all the time, even locally. For example, you can text “Starbucks, Dallas” and it will give you a series of Starbucks addresses and phone numbers in Dallas. Also, you can get current sports scores by texting team name: “Texas Rangers score” It will also give you movie information “Movies Dallas”. And so much more. I have GOOGL entered in my cell phone as a contact so it comes up automatically to send a text.

There are many apps out there for travel. Please share your favorite apps with me in the comment section.

I like all crock-pot recipes that only require a few ingredients tossed in the crock pot. If it requires browning meat first, or anything extra, I don’t give it a second look. Here is an easy, delicious recipe.

Swiss Chicken Casserole

• 4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 cups dry stuffing mix
• ¼ cup margarine, melted

Place the chicken breasts in a lightly greased Crock Pot. Top with the cheese. Combine the cream of mushroom soup and milk. Pour over chicken and cheese. Sprinkle with the dry stuffing mix, then drizzle the melted margarine on top. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Did you know that Sally’s Beauty Supply has a line of generic products? Well they do. Sally’s Generic Value Products, or “GVP”.  Years ago my hairdresser told me that I could buy the generic of Sebastian Shaper Hair Spray at Sally’s for about one-third the cost.  Shaper:  $16, GVP: $8.  Not a hard decision.  I have used it for years and never noticed any difference.

I also use these two GVP products for shampoo and conditioner:

GVP Moisturizing Shampoo, which is the generic of Nexxus Therappe Moisturizing Shampoo. Nexxus:  $12 (for 13 oz.) GVP: $6.  (16 oz.)

GVP Moisturizing Conditioner, which is the generic to Nexxus Humectress Moisturizing Conditioner.  Nexxus:  $17 (for 13 oz.) GVP: $6 (16 oz)

No foolin’ here kids, this is my favorite shampoo and conditioner, and I have three other shampoos and four other conditioners in my shower!

Sally’s Beauty has an on-line store if there isn’t one in your area.  Here’s a link for the entire line of GVP products at Sally’s:  GVP.  I prefer to go into the store because I love to play with beauty products!

Have you seen anything cuter than this? Or manly? You know, if you are a man. A case that looks like a vintage leather book for your iPad or 11, 13, or 15 inch Macbook.  The Bookbook is designed to look like a book so that your laptop or iPad isn’t stolen when left out in a library or coffee shop.  So much more interesting than a boring sleeve or cover, and it doubles as a stand.