That's the winner of the first-ever 4th of JULY FLAG CAKE SMACKDOWN - my cake! I know, I know - Stone Cold Rock Star Mommy was robbed. Well don't worry, I'm not eligible to win this year. I'd be worried about Stone Cold Rock Star Mommy if I were you, she is bringing the HEAT this year!

We've been getting tons of questions lately about the RULES for the Flag Cake Smackdown.

Here they are:

The rules are ... There ain't no rules!

It needs to be a Flag Cake. So, all you creative types with your fancy cameras and your mad baking skillz - don't forget the basics: Flag + Cake.

Other recommendations:
- Your cake should look delicious! If you have to hold yourself back from eating it, that's a good sign.
- You should probably hull your strawberries.

That's really it - everything else you need to know is written in Heidi's entry!

GOOD LUCK!!

GAME ON SISTERS (and brothers)

WE CHALLENGE YOU

Bring your best game and enter to win the rude, crude, wild and unbridled Second Annual 4th of JULY FLAG CAKE SMACKDOWN



Calling all Cake Hos. It's Mean. It's EXTREME


REMATCH – STONE COLD ROCKSTARMOMMY

We challenge you…specifically....(please, add challenges as you wish girls/boys)

Snickrsnack!!
Mad Mom!!
Tesco!! (hehehe)
Carissa
Steen – newlyweds can make cakes too ya know…




We challenge you to see how you stack up.
Bake and set jello with a VENGENCE. Join the MANIA.
Its grueling, its ruling, and you’ve got a long weekend (maybe) to work on it.

Submit your photo of anything from White Trash to Martha Stewart PIECE DE RESISTANCE by midnight Sunday July 8th to The Chicks. JUDGEMENT DAY will be the following week.

We’ll choose an outside 3rd party unbiased OFFICIAL from the culinary world to judge the outcome.

[Official ChickChat Tip: you can’t see flavor! But your “loved ones” might turn you in!!]

Need a little help? Here's the gold standard
It's FlagCake MANIA!!
Are you ready to RUUUUMMMMMBBBBLLLLE???

PASS IT ON!!! (the more the merrier...)

Do you love TV? I've always loved TV. When I was a kid, my babysitters used to let me stay up to watch Fantasy Island on Saturday nights from 10-11 pm. It rocked!

If you loved those 70s-80s shows, then you're probably old enough to not have the time to watch entire seasons on DVD or camp out in front of TV Land or Nick at Nite to get a 30- or 60-minute fix.

Maybe you can find five minutes to watch "minisodes" of your old favorites. Shows like Fantasy Island, Charlie's Angels, Starsky and Hutch, Diff'rent Strokes, or Facts of Life.

Some poor team of editors have reduced 15 old TV shows down to a couple of minutes, and posted them on MySpace. I just watched the pilot of Silver Spoons in about 4 minutes - all the 1-liners, all the doe-eyed looks of little Ricky Schroder, all the plot points are still there. I'm totally satisfied and I only wasted 4 minutes instead of 22!

Silver Spoons - Pilot

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Check it out - there are 15 TV series represented here.

I would LOVE to see The Love Boat or Good Times posted some day - what other shows are missing??

I used to have a stock wedding gift, one I would give my closest friends and family when they got married:



I thought it was cute gift! A card says, "Congratulations. May the vibrations from these bells reflect your own happiness and love."

I couldn't have said it better myself. And I hated the idea of buying one place setting, or three wine glasses, or clearing out the OXO kitchen utensil collections. I wanted to give a personal gift, one that meant something!

Then I got engaged.

We're getting married in September -- we just booked the hall today! But now we have to do...everything else. Except register. We did that months ago.



For some reason registering was easy, even though I felt really uncomfortable, if not greedy, doing it. The whole concept of telling your friends & family what to buy you? And I'm not a young girl, moving from her mother's house to her newlywed house, starting from scratch!

On the one hand, it makes life easier for your guests, so they don't have to guess what you want/need.

On the other hand, I feel like a cross between a spoiled princess and a jerk. Especially since if I hated buying stuff off the registry for my own peeps!!

My current attitude is that it's the thought that counts. Any gift is...a gift!! I don't care if we don't get ANY wedding presents!

Every wedding season brings such debate on this topic, it's like the sweetness of giving someone / getting a gift gets lost in the hubub!

What's your take - did you register? do you buy stuff off other peoples' registries?

Heidi and I were in NYC for the American Women of Radio and Television's Gracie Awards this week:



That's the sign that was along the red carpet, where all the celebrities arrived. As far as the rest of the pictures? Well, I forgot to ask someone to take my picture with Heidi. And none of my photos of Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes, Joy Behar, Tina Fey, Ann Curry, or Robert Verdi came out. Sorry!!

But I did notice something new and different....Have you been in one of these new-fangled elevators yet? Both the hotel we stayed at and the hotel where the Gracies were held had them. Instead of pushing an up or down button to call the elevator, you push the floor you want on a keypad like this:



The panel tells you which elevator to get on. Once inside, it looks like this:



It felt a little claustrophobic to me - no way out! And if you picked the wrong floor by accident, you couldn't course-correct. I hear it's more efficient, I say it'll take some getting used to!

Also in the weird news, here's a new Broadway show that's knows you're going to think it's a joke, so they put the word 'seriously' on the poster:



Heidi and I closed a bar, too - here's a shot that I love because of the poster and what show is on the tv!



Overall - a great 20 hours in NYC!!

New way to be a 'Peeping Tom' -- Google Street View.

I had been well aware of "Google Earth" - but now things are even closer.

Don't think license plate close....think THONG close...



Check YoSelves Ladies -- you never know who might be watching!!

So are we!!!

What are you getting your Dad? What about your baby Daddy? What about your baby Daddy's Daddy??

We're gonna spend almost TEN BILLION DOLLARS on Father's Day (according to the National Retail Federation)... so what do you have planned?

In today's first hour we tossed around Father's Day ideas and delivered breaking 90210 news.

In our second hour we talked with Kate White, Cosmopolitan Magazine's Editor In Chief!!

Why offer the winner $25,000 dollars OF COURSE!!

The average wedding costs what, double that????????

Cheers girls -- I hope it tasted better than MOST wedding cakes I've tasted.... (buttercream frosting is NASTY).

and of course, if you can't get enough of brides, watch the 4th season of Bridezilla on WE!


Oh, and looking for the perfect shower gift? Yes, they have the first few seasons on DVD! woo hooo!!

I LOVED the Sopranos final episode. Can't think of a better way to end the show. My full rant is on our "Listen" page, "Latest Show," in Hour 1 (until about 4 pm ET today).

If you read the papers, it sounds like most people hated the way the show went out.

What did YOU think of the ending?

And by the way - summer tv programming is in full swing, what are you watching??

Here's another new favorite commercial -- does your garage look like this?



I'm actually jealous she still uses her garage for it's intended original use...

Ha! Why do I have to see this on The Today Show??? Am I THAT out of it?? I guess I'm not the target market for this product?? (maybe that's a good thing ...like Martha says...)

So the Cheetah Lounge isn't the only place with a disco ball - that isn't a disco. That's a Fluevog store in Manhattan. They have some cool shoes out these days, too - not as hard core rock n roll. Strange to see Ballet flats in that store. I have these, in black-on-black. Always feel like a rock star when I wear 'em!

Only a woman who looks like this:



can make fun of Martha Stewart's age -- to here face!!! on T.V.! Friggin' HI-sterical


Amy Sedaris has the sense of humor I wish I could pull off!!!

(and now I just wanna roll myself in whipped cream and have my husband put the sprinkles on.....)

Ladies...there's an event being held at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut from June 11-13 that you need to know about.

"Business & You" is the largest Women’s Business Conference & Expo being held in the Northeast. There are 19 workshops and seminars to teach you how to effectively run, manage, and grow in business.

And since this is an event for women, there's also going to be a custom bra fitting opportunity and a Pajama Party!

What about the Secret? The keynote speaker is Marci Shimoff, teacher of "The Secret" and co-author of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul." How cool is THAT??

Click here for more information, and please let us know how it goes!!

A shoe store SO BIG, its got its own ZIP CODE.

10022-SHOE

Saks Fifth Avenue is opening its NYC 8ths floor entirely devoted to shoes.



The floor will "launch" this fall, with (get this) its own limited edition STAMP!

[INSERT IMELDA JOKES HERE]

And when I someday graduate from DSW and Payless, this is where you will find me.....(when I'm not drooling on my keyboard at Zappos....)