Recently in Cathy Hirko Category

This story about Utz Quality Foods on "Mad Men" reminded me of a movie I watched Saturday night with my family, "Alvin and Chipmunks." If you have kids and have checked it out, there are tons of Utz products in the movie. Let us know if you see any local product placements. My personal Utz favorite: The sour cream and onion chips.

Just looking at the AAA fuel gauge report and gas prices are already creeping up in the past few days. Do we thank Gustav?

My family stopped using a phone landline three years ago. And we are part of a growing market if you read Jess Milcetich's story on the reasons you either keep or ditch your landline. We did it too to save money. But the story made me revisit our cell-phone plan.

After I read Brent Burkey's local story on how York's smaller coffee shops were still buzzing in this economy, I remembered my trips to the local java places in downtown York.
Whether it was a caffeine fix or an excuse to get out the office and take a walk on George Street in York, there's something about local shops -- and not only coffee shops -- that make you feel more connected to the community.

We went back to the theater.
After swearing off movies this spring after yet another bad experience in a movie theater, my husband and I decided not to go the movies anymore. It was too expensive and folks surrounding you in the theater are either too noisy, rude or -- in our last case -- too young to be at the movie.

Who knew owning a pet can creep into the thousands of dollars.

I was reading a recent story here on msn about what my pet can cost me. Our family has three small dogs and a cat and we are dishing out some serious cash to take care of them.