it is not the most beautiful day in our neighborhood -- >> hold on just a second. >> smile there, beautiful. >> there's sunshine now. >> oh, you're right, wait, the sun is breaking through the clouds! ladies and gentlemen, a late-breaking development. we hope it will be a fantastic day here in rockefeller plaza. welcome back, i'm ann curry along with al roker. matt has time off, hope he's enjoying his vacation. natalie's in for me at the news desk. and my goodness, this has now crossed over to all 50 states. >> wow. >> however, we have the head of health and human services talking about the swine flu vaccine, which is coming, and also the flumist, which is already here. what you need to know to protect yourself and your family. >> and to protect your family and your economy, well, we have, of course, gathered together our "today's money 911" experts to answer your questions. everything from short-term saving strategies to what to do with your 401(k), what to do in case you've been laid off with

that. and the truth about your credit score. we are going to get some critical answers. >> so helping people feel good about their money. we're also helping people feel good about their face, which is a good thing. >> yes. >> because i know you feel good about your face. >> i love my face. >> we're talking about, if you have the same beauty routine for the last decade or if you just want to look a little younger and can't find a foundation that works, we have a makeup expert and extraordinary bobbi brown here with help this morning. >> love the double b. >> first, let's get a check of the news with natalie morales in at the news desk. >> good morning to you. as the war in afghanistan enters its ninth year today with president obama and his national security team meeting to devise future u.s. strategy. on tuesday, congressional leaders met with the president, who said he had not made up his mind about a troop build-up, but he ruled out any significant pullback. congressional aides say he might be considering a troop surge much smaller than the 40,000 that his top commander recommended. the senate on tuesday passed a $626 billion pentagon spending

bill. about one-third of the money would go towards operations in afghanistan and iraq. and that would bring total spending on the two wars to $1 trillion. well, even though the h1n1 swine flu is in all 50 states, and most cases are mild, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius is urging people to get vaccinated. earlier on "today," sebelius said that the vaccine is safe and that inoculating children should be a top priority. >> this flu is a younger person's flu. kids have no immunity to this flu so that not only to protect your own children, but to protect the folks around them. children are great carriers of bugs and viruses, and giving it to their classmates or playmates who may have an underlying health condition or to a grandmother or to a babysitter is always a very dangerous situation. >> sebelius said a substantial amount of the vaccine should be available by the end of this month. today, two american scientists and an israeli won the noble prize for chemistry. they were honored for their work

in mapping ribosomes. the federal government says home heating bills should average 8% less than last winter, thanks to cheaper fuel prices and a forecast of milder weather. natural gas customers will save the most. wisconsin parents who tried to save their dying daughter with prayer instead of medical care were sentenced tuesday to six months in jail and ten years probation. 11-year-old madelyn newman died last year from an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes. the judge called her mother and father very good people who made a bad decision. actress elizabeth taylor revealed on her twitter website that she is going into the hospital to have a leaking heart valve repaired, although she did not say where or when. the 77-year-old star told fans the procedure does not involve open-heart surgery. and the sweet smell of success. a skunk got its head stuck in a peanut butter jar on tuesday under a police car in colorado springs. wildlife officers used a stick to free the animal, but they got out of there real quick, not

sticking around for any thank-yous there, you can imagine. it is now four minutes past the hour. let's get a check of the weather from mr. roker, right across the way. wow, that stinks. anyway, let's show you what's going on, and we'll show you, for today, we're looking at this storm system working its way a hair into the northeast with some strong winds and some heavy rain. rainfall amounts, we're basically talking about anywhere from one to three inches up through northern maine. however, the winds are the big story. we're looking at winds gusting 25 in detroit, 17 in pittsburgh. we've had some reports of wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour in chicago. and then to the south we've got wind advisories, i should say, stretching throughout parts of the northeast. and then down to the south >> when the advisory in effect, gusting over 40 miles per hour this afternoon. ulysse

♪ somebody call 911 and now, "today's money 911," our half hour dedicated to some of your biggest financial worries. our experts with the answers are "today" financial editor jean chatzky, david bach, founder of finishrich.com, and sharon epperson, a personal finance correspondent for cnbc. everybody looks like "men in black" today. >> i know. we think it's the weather. we managed to all wear the same color. >> nothing to do with the money. >> good. good thing, because natalie's across the street with questions from our viewers. so, let's get started. our first question comes from a caller. we have david from san francisco

on the phone. david, good morning and what's your question? >> caller: hi, al. here's my question. i pay off all my credit cards in full every month and don't carry any debt other than student loans. i can live within my credit card limit, but should i look to increase the limits on my credit card to get a better credit score? >> jean, what should david do? >> well, he's right, that increasing the credit limits will give you a better credit score because it improves your identity liesation, which is the percentage of credit available to you that you're using. the other way to improve that is to pay down some debt. and many people are under the mistake opinion that because they pay off their bills every single month, it doesn't count toward their utilization. it actually does. you want to aim to use only about 30% of that credit each and every month, even if you are paying it off. and make sure that you're using it pretty much equally across your cards. you don't want to load up one card, because that will hurt your utilization ratio as well. >> we've always told people in many cases to improve their credit score by doing exactly

what he's asking, which is increase your limits if you don't have any debt. but what's happening right now is some of the credit card companies are turning around the moment you ask to increase your limit and they're lowering it. >> so, i talked to the american banker's association about this, because i wanted to know if it was the phone call that was triggering the reduction. >> yeah. >> it's not. it's that what they say is that it's actually the fact that the reduction has already been assessed and they're happening so frequently these days that people are getting the news when they make the phone call. >> it's just coincidental. >> how about if you don't know your credit limit. if you're an american express card holder, you're not sure how far it will go and they might assume what you charge is your limit. you want to make sure that you pay off that balance before the statement date ends. >> absolutely. >> did that help you, dave? okay, dave is gone. all right, so, now let's go across the street to dean & deluca. natalie has a viewer question. >> i do. i have bridget from arizona with a question about saving for college. >> yeah. i'm a mother of five children and i was just wondering, when

should you start saving for college and also how to do it? >> i think that's pretty simple, isn't it? >> yeah, right now. >> when they're in the womb. you know, honestly, as soon as possible. and we've talked about this so many times on this show, but the real secret to saving for college, wherever you put the money -- i'm going to recommend a 529 plan, but the real secret is to save that money automatically. too many parents wait until their kids are really in their teenage years. i would tell you, you should set up an account, you put in money every paycheck automatically, eve if it's $50, $100, $200, whatever you can afford. you can put it in one account, do one 529 plan. you can go to savingforcollege.com, look at the 529 plans. the real key is to save that money automatically. if you don't save it automatically, what happens is people don't consistently do it, and it's going to cost by the time your kids get to school hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> and i want to try to get in as many questions as possible. we have a viewer on skype, trevor from roswell, georgia. good morning, trevor. what's your question? >> hi. we have approximately $18,000

sitting in a cd at the bank right now, and we'd like to use that for a down payment on a house within the next probably 12 to 18 months, and it's only earning 1.5% at the bank right now. we're willing to be a little more aggressive and maybe little more risky with that. what are some options we should look at trying to grow that a little bit rather than the 1.5% at the bank? >> trevor, do you have a emergency fund? do you have savings in case something happens with your job? >> yes, we do. >> and you do have student loan debt as well, right? >> yeah -- that's pretty much the only debt we have now. >> what is your interest rate there? >> on the student loans? >> yes. >> you know, i'm not real sure. >> i would assume it's probably higher than the interest that you're gaining on this cd, and one of the things that i think that you're likely going to want to do when you buy a home and buy another home is kind of upgrade. you're going to be paying more debt. why don't you start the disciplined debt reduction now by paying off that student loan?

you have a pretty hefty student loan amount and it's probably better to take that money and start paying down that student loan. that amount you're paying down, if you can increase that, think of that as being the mortgage payment on the new home. so discipline debt reduction is what you really need to concentrate on now and keep that money somewhere liquid if you do want to use it for a home in the next year and a half or so. >> okay. i want to get one more viewer question. thank you very much, trevor. now e-mail question from tom from kentucky. "i just turned 60 years old, laid off from a job of 17 years. i have a 401(k) that i participated in while i was employed. the 401(k) was 84% stocks, 16% bonds. what would you recommend is the best course of action for me now?" jean? >> he's too aggressive for somebody his age. we're all in agreement here. you want to rebalance that account and essentially look at moving at least probably 50% of the money into safer havens so that it can continue to grow, and the last thing that you want to do is start to pull it out before you need it.

let it come back. >> all right. we're going to take a break, but when we come back, how improving your credit affects your other finances. then later, from money to beauty. bobbi brown answers your e-mails. prilosec otc. dominates heartburn. 24/7...

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that smells clean! that's the power of pine-sol, baby. we're back with more of "today's money 911." our expert panel today is "today" financial editor jean chatzky, david bach, founder of finishrich.com, and sharon epperson, a personal finance correspondent for cnbc. natalie's still across the street getting lattes and questions from the crowd. >> i am. >> mm-mmm. okay, we've got another viewer on the phone. it's kristy from olive branch, mississippi. good morning, christie, what's your question? >> caller: good morning, al. due to health reasons, i've been out of work since february. i've gone through m- savings and 401(k). i'm behind on my mortgage and it's been turned over to a foreclosure attorney. i'm still looking for a job but haven't found one at this time and i inquired about a loan

modification, but i was told i don't qualify because i'm not employed. are there any other options to allow me to keep my home until i find a job or is bankruptcy an option? >> christie, sorry for the tough times you're going through. david, what would you suggest? >> first of all, my heart goes out to you. i'm so sorry to hear what you're going through. first, i would triple check to see whether or not the property has really gone into foreclosure. three months is a very short amount of time to be thrown into foreclosure. we're hearing people with properties nine months, ten months, a year before it's gone into foreclosure. so check that. the second thing is, you're right, you actually don't qualify for this program that's maki makinghomesaffordable.gov, and that's a problem. i would tell you to look for some non-profit guidance. we were talking about operationhope.org is a non-profit organization that's helping people in mortgage crises like you. so, i would look into that. also, or legal services in every state right now that are helping people just like you go to court

to try to keep your home. now, here's the challenge. you bones won't be able to keep home indefinitely if you can't make mortgage payments, and even bankruptcy won't help, because at the end of the day, you have to make payments to stay in a property. so it's only a short-term solution getting legal help, but i would check and see if the home has gone into foreclosure yet. >> christie, we wish you all the best. good luck. now across the street to natalie with a credit from the crowd. >> i'm here with john and darris from nashville, celebrating their 50th anniversary. and john, you have a question. >> yes, after inquiring about your health care, i rolled my money over into med life. that's a guaranteed 3% per year. it comes up for renewal next month. do i leave it there or do i do something else with it? >> okay, sharon, do you have an answer there? >> first of all, happy anniversary to both of you. >> thank you. >> welcome to new york. i would say that you need to really think about diversifying that money when it comes due. one of the things you need to

also have is a financial adviser. met life may have already assigned someone to you, but glou you need to pick someone that you trust, that you believe in, that you think is competent that you can work with. and have that person help you diversify your money, just not into this one, probably one vehicle that you're in right now. you want to have a mix of stocks and bonds, and it really depends on if you have other investments as well like real estate, et cetera. so that's what you want to do right now, find a financial adviser who can help you. >> all right, hold on just a second, jean. let's go, we've got another viewer on the phone. shanna from denver, colorado. shana, what's your question? and good morning. >> caller: good morning, al. my question is, my mom and dad are retired, living on a fixed income of social security and disability. they are on the verge right now of losing their home and they have contacted their mortgage lender, but the lender was unwilling to help. they stated that the new government program to help people keep their homes is for people whose home loan is owned by fannie mae or freddie mac, which my parents' is not.

the only thing the lender was willing to do was lower their payment for three months. what advice can you give them? >> jean, what should she do? >> first of all, you take the three months because it gives you a little bit of time to work. here's my question, shana, do they have any equity in this home? >> not really, maybe a little, but not very much. >> all right. well, that's the first thing that you want to check, because if they do have equity, at their age, they may be okay candidates for a reverse mortgage. it can be a little bit expensive to get the money out. but the other thing that you all need to do is first call operation hope or get on the line to one of these not-for-profit housing counselors who can work as an intermediary between your parents and the lender. but also, have a family meeting. because here's the thing, this is going to fall on you and your siblings, if you have any. you have to figure out what your family priorities are as far as the money goes for this year, for next year and for the future, because in a lot of cases, mom and dad are now having to move in with the kids. and if we plan for it, it's a

lot easier. >> shana, we wish you the best and give our regards to your folks as well, okay? >> thank you. >> all right. jean chatzky, david bach, sharon epperson, thank you so much. if you have a money emergency you'd like our experts to tackle, head to todayshow.com. coming up, singer and reality star nick lachey stops by. did you fall? oh. rollerblading. you poor thing. skiing accident? um... mountain biking. mmm! snowboarding? um, hang gliding. respect. hard water stains, huh?

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just add spicy ro*tel tomatoes and green chilies along with smooth creamy velveeta to chicken and pasta. and before you know it, you've got a quick meal. - thanks. - ro*tel and velveeta... actress drew barrymore makes her directorial debut in the new movie "whip it," but our gene shalit says "skip it." >> good morning and welcome to the "critic's corner." when drew barrymore announced her directing debut, i hoped it would reflect her spirit, be alive and refreshing. instead, it's "whip it," yet another coming of age tale of a young girl declaring independence from her stuck-in-the-past parents. >> you're being a little selfish with your mom. >> she's the one who has been shoving her agenda down my

throat since day one. >> first of all, you're lucky to have a mom that even cares. >> she is played by ellen page, who scored as a pregnant high school kid in "juno." in "whip it," ms. page is again 17. she's still in high school, but she's not in a family way. her family's in her way. >> i'm sorry that these pageants don't live up to your high moral standards, bliss, but there's a lot you can learn from them no matter what you go on to be in life. >> mom says her future lies with her texas town's beauty pageant. ah, bliss slips off to join the roller derby with rough-and-tumble girls who sport names like rosa sparks and iron maven. bliss is the babe ruthless, and that's a strike for this knock-them-over mayhem that's amusingly emceed by jimmy fallon. >> let's get them! >> kill them dead. >> skate fast, skate hard!

>> i'm gonna puke! >> men, hang onto your cookies. >> despite the personal conflicts and derby hurley burly, the film feels ordinary. it should not be pedestrian. the girls are on skates! >> 23. >> round and round they roll. and long before they stopped spinning their wheels, i had had it. i was skate-bored. that's the "critic's corner" for today. >> gene, i love you, but i disagree. >> you liked it, right? >> i really disagree, because it's such -- well, maybe because it's really about girl power. >> oh, and gene is maybe not. >> your relationships with your mom. i've got to tell you, we consider this -- it's kind of more like -- i can't think of it. ht, blueberry muffin. yeah, a little family reunion. ( blowing, shouting ) what now? we're cereal here! what? just cooling it down. - enough said. - gotcha. yeah, safety first. whoo hoo! watch the whole grain.

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vaccination against the h1n1 swine flu virus, they are also temporarily suspending their in school seasonal flu mist program. guidelines require a four-week gap between receiving the vaccine and the nasal h1n1 vaccine. it is not needed as kids received the h1n1 vaccine through a needle, or if you get both flu shots through injection. a family dispute is believed to be at the center of a confusing disappearance of the 1-year-old boy in northeast baltimore. it began at 2:00 a.m. when the family says they were startled awake by the son of a slamming door. when they investigated, they thought he was no longer in his bed with six hours later, he was out crying inside a neighbor's car. >> it was weird, seeing a baby in your front seat as you are going to work.

>> police said they will continue to question family members to see if anyone office charges. >> rain shower activity left out there, especially over the eastern shore and southern maryland, will be ending shortly. a wind advisory is in effect. the winds could gust over 40 miles per hour. i temperatures in the low 70's. dry weather others that, partly cloudy skies, high near 70. look at a high temperature on saturday. mid-60s to close the began on sunday. >> we will have another update at 9:55.

so, not only do you need to protect yourself from the annual flu, but h1n1 as well. so, sneeze into your arm and wash your hands.

>> yes, that's just one of the kids gunning for us, hoping to become "today's kid reporter." >> nice earrings. >> so cute! today is the final day to enter. all entries must be postmarked with today's date. so, get to the post office. >> adorable. the video submission should be no longer than a minute and mailed to "today's kid reporter" at 30 rockefeller plaza, new york, new york, 10112. the official rules are posted on todayshow.com. and please keep the submissions coming. i thought that our deadline is coming up pretty soon. >> today. >> today. >> today! >> do it now. >> it has to be postmarked today. >> this is it! >> like filing your taxes. >> yes. meanwhile, coming up this half hour -- >> except you can't go to jail. don't file this. >> right. you'll miss your opportunity. tom brokaw is coming up. the veteran newsman reports from the heartland of america, and today he has a story of a family-run newspaper that is still living the dream. i love these pieces by tom. >> cool. >> great. plus, bobbi brown has answers

for your makeup questions, from finding the right foundation to concealing the puffy eyes. that's all covered, we hope, coming up. but first, the beautiful and great actress jamie lee kirshner, enjoyed success and now is on "mercy," playing the role of sonia jimenez, a nurse on the front lines of mercy hospital. jamie lee, good morning. >> good morning! >> i mean, first of all, you play -- i mean, this is a very intense focused, strong woman kind of thing, but you play this bombshell -- >> oh. >> the one who's tough, but yet turning everyone's hands. that's type-casting, i'm going to tell you. >> i'm just going to accept that, but no, that's fine. it's absolutely fantastic. what drew me to the role originally was, i guess -- i'm bi-racial and the character's mixed, mixed race, and i think that's fantastic, because you never see that in scripts. i think, you know, in this industry, sort of tries to

marginalize race and things like that, and realizing stereotypes, and it kind of flattens things. >> so you're making a statement. >> look at our president. he's mixed. nobody talks about that. >> right. >> we're so divided. look at this man completely in unity of the black and the white, and i think it's a point that gets sort of covered up. >> right. >> and you recently were on broadway in "rent." >> yeah. >> i mean, that's a tough, you know, eight shows a week, singing, dancing. which is harder, doing that or doing this? >> currently, doing this. >> long days, right? >> long days. you have to stay focused. there's different directors, the scripts are coming in as we're actually finishing one now and going on to the next one. so you're split in between worlds. >> you know what's really cool is it's about women, really. because usually, these shows really are about men -- excuse me, with all due respect, it's very cool to have women in these very powerful roles and you are doing that, jamie lee kirchner, every week on "mercy," which airs tomorrow night at 8:00/7:00

central time here on nbc. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> and you are so, so beautiful. >> thank you. >> and talented. >> i think there's a girl crush going on here. >> i am >> the big weather story today is a wind advisory in effect. winds gusted to 40 miles per hour. we would sunshine to break out this afternoon. >> and they shoot "mercy" in jersey. >> isn't that something? >> secaucus. >> secaucus. >> great. >> good. gov you in our neig>>hborhoodmi family trying to keep its family business alive, reported by tom

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how do you define american character? well, nbc's tom brokaw along with the usa network is on a year-long road trip along i-50 in search of the answer. in his latest dispatch from the kansas heartland, we meet a husband-and-wife team who are keeping the family newspaper afloat while facing daunting odds. >> reporter: it's been called the backbone of america, one highway that cuts through the heart of a changing nation. and at every crossroad, a new story. u.s. highway 50 heading west from the eastern shore of maryland. we're going to take this road all the way to california in

search of the american character. >> the "usa today" cannot tell the stories of emporia. >> reporter: mile 1,361, where highway 50 winds through the kansas prairie and the "emporia gazette" has chronicled the stories of the heartland for half a century. >> you could deliver the paper. >> reporter: chris walker and his wife ashley are the fourth generation to run this newsroom, but these days, the newspaper business is in free fall. >> there are a lot of questions right now about the future. >> reporter: to keep the "gazelle" alive, the walkers are doing something previous generations could not imagine. you've been printing this newspaper in your family at this plant for a long time. >> 114 years? >> now you're not going to anymore. tough decision. >> it is. >> reporter: to cut costs, the walkers are shutting down their printing press after never missing a day. >> we've had power outages, storms, tornadoes. >> reporter: after 114 years,

today is the last run. the printing now will be out-sourced to a nearby plant. f four longtime pressmen are losing their jobs. >> it is very sad. don't start crying. >> it's tough to watch this. >> yeah, it is tough. it's emotional. >> and it's a matter of survival. >> reporter: also at stake is the legacy of william allen white, who founded the "gazette." your great grandfather was also a national celebrity. here he is with teddy roosevelt, who stayed at the house, right? chris has to modify his great grandfather's approach, leaving national issues to others and concentrating instead only on local news. >> who was born, who died, who got arrested for what. it's personal here. you can walk up and down main street -- >> and you'll hear about it. >> you'll hear about it. >> absolutely. you hear it at church sunday morning, you hear about it out

at night. >> reporter: so, for now, the "emporia gazette" does go on. last run, but not the last gazette. >> that's right. as long as there's stories to tell, we'll be here to tell the stories. >> 1,361 miles down, 1,712 to go. >> looks like a story of grit. coming up next, makeup maven bobbi brown answers your personal cosmetic questions. that's coming up right after this. skiing accident? um... mountain biking. mmm! snowboarding? um, hang gliding. respect. hard water stains, huh? cleaning hard water stains... with the wrong product can be painful. lime-a-way is scientifically proven... to eliminate limescale. the leading all-purpose cleaner doesn't. end the frustration of constantly scrubbing... hard water stains and give your arm a break. for lime, calcium and rust... lime-a-way is a must. these are actual farmers who raise vegetables in campbell's condensed soup. so if you've ever wondered who grew my soup,

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your blush just right. she's got everything you need to know before you leave the house this morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> we've got a lot of e-mails to get to. this is from michelle in norfolk, virginia. "i am so confused. what kind of foundation do i use? there is powder, mineral, liquid, stick, cream, tube, the list goes on. what is the best way also to apply foundation?" we don't have a picture of michelle, so it's kind of hard to say given her complexion, because we don't know what's best for her, but speak in general. >> i could speak an hour on this topic, but you need a foundation that works with your skin type -- dry, oily -- and it has to be the exact color of your skin. it has to disappear, the color. it really depends on if your skin is oily or dry. >> and does it change coloration when you put it on? >> oil if your skin is oily, it tends to go darker or oranger. that's why you've got to stick with the right formula for your skin. >> and for me, i always just ask the experts at the beauty counters, because sometimes they're the best eye for you also. >> ask the experts, but also look in the mirror and be in

charge of what you buy. >> true. >> make sure you like it. >> next is from anjali in boston. "i have never learned how to apply brush properly. i have a lot of difficulty finding the proper color. i usually just use bronzer instead, but with winter coming, that's probably not appropriate anymore. help." she did send in a picture, as you saw. what do you think? can she also still use bronzer? >> she can use bronzer all year long. i use one every day. it tints the skin. blush is just applied on the apple of the cheek. bronzer goes all over. bronzer is a warm tone. i suggest using a pretty cooler tone, a pink or nectar that will brighten her cheeks. and stay away from red. i think she used a reddish blush in that picture and it's not the best color for her. >> and she has olive skin tone, too, it appears. what are the shades of blush that are better? >> with olive skin tone, i like pinks and maybe a darker pink if your skin is darker, because almost, if your skin is warm, there's a lot of yellow. so if you use an orange blush, it doesn't look as pretty as a

pink blush. >> okay, great. next e-mail question is coming to us from lynn in naples, florida. she writes, "i'm 60 years young. the front of my hair is all white, but unfortunately, the eyebrows have also gone white. my original hair color was dark brown. i have tried brow pencils, powdered color, membn's mustach coloring and women's hair coloring. the makeup seems too light, the hair coloring makes it too dark. perhaps i'm just not using the product correctly. help!" >> she needs the right color, because if it's too light, it doesn't do anything, and do dark, it's not for her. so, the trick is, even though the front of her hair is really white, she needs to use a slate color, and i use eye shadow. eye shadow with the slanted hard eyebrow brush to fill it in will look natural. it will be defined and it will really make her look fresh and pretty. >> so, slate is the color to go for. >> not gray or dark brown. >> okay, very good. next, from unionville, pennsylvania, a question that we all have. "what is the best way to conceal

puppy eyes, not dark circles?" amy from unionville writes that. >> you know, puffy eyes is really tricky. a lot of times women get puffy eyes from too much salt or they've been out too late. anything puffy, you don't want too much light under the eyes like with concealer. so, maybe after you put on your concealer, did a touch of bronzer on top of it and moisture. when your eyes are puffy, believe it or not, you need moisture. line your eyes, top only, and wear a blush to get your attention away from what's puffy. and if it doesn't work -- >> the good old reading glasses. >> yeah, glasses. hello. >> keep them on. right back to bobby here. >> yeah. this works best. >> that's the look. >> yeah. >> great, thanks. okay, last one is from kathleen, who watches us from cincinnati, ohio. she says, "i'm unsure of how to apply my palate of eyeshadows, the lightest color, the medium color and the darkest color to achieve a classic look." this is a tough one. >> it is. >> you almost need a color chart. >> you don't. i'll make it simple.

you needlight color that goes all over the lid. light goes all over the lid. medium goes on the lid from the eyelashes, three-quarters of the way up. the third color is for depth for women that need a little bit of depth, like women with deep-set eyes. and the darkest color is only for lining the eyes for most women for daytime. nighttime, the darkest color could be the shadow. these are shadow basics. every woman needs the basics before you play with more color. >> right. >> that is really the easiest way to do it. >> that's all you need. >> and here's the application. >> so, one, two, which you saw. >> one is all over, two is the medium, third is the contour. it's got to be blended. last one is the liner, top and bottom, and that's the basics. >> that's day or nighttime. you're getting that same look. >> day or night. in nighttime, instead of the browns, you may use more grays or charcoals, more shimmer. >> like the smokey eye. >> women who like color, they can do the same with a blue palate, if it's navy, a green

palate, but light, medium, dark and darkest, simple. >> thank you, you made it simple for us today. as always. thanks to all the ladies who sent in their questions. if you have one more for bobbi, head to todayshow.com and next time she's with us she'll answer them as well. coming up next, a family favorite.

♪ harry had a little lamb, little lamb, mary and her little lamb were happy as could be ♪ this morning, we're cooking with park avenue restaurant's chef, where as the seasons change, so does park avenue's decor as well as its menu. chef, good to see you. more fall, comfort food? >> we're going into richer, deeper flavors. >> now we're making lamb chops. what makes this lamb chop some. >> this is actually a lamb

t-bone, and it's like a beef t-bone where it has a half sirloin and half tenderloin. >> kind of same price point? >> no, actually, with lamb, it's such a small animal, it's hard to market this piece as a steak, so it's actually a more economical cut. >> cool, all right. so, how do we get started? >> first, we're actually serving it with black mission figs. these are dried black mission figs. we're going to marinate this with orange juice and balsamic vinegar. >> nice. >> and you want to let this sit for about an hour before you cook it. >> so, basically, rehydrating the figs. >> yeah, you're rehydrating it and getting the acidity and the sweetness into the fig. >> then what are we doing with the lamb chops? >> we're going to season it up right now. salt, pepper. really important when you season meat that you season it all the way around. so, like -- >> flip these over? >> yeah, all that stuff on the board, yeah, get in there. >> get it in there. >> i'm going to get my pan nice and hot and add some canola oil. >> is that because it's got a

higher heat? >> exactly, and actually, it doesn't have a lot of flavor, too, so you don't want anything sort of masking the flavor of the lamb, although that's hard to do. >> right. >> so, we're going to put this in there to seer. >> okay. >> and then imagine this would sit for about one hour. we're going to pour this in. we're going to strain it through because we want to take out some of the seeds. >> okay. >> we're going to let that sit and we're going to reduce this for about ten minutes, until it gets to a nice -- >> basically it's going to thicken up. >> yeah, and then we'll add these back in and finish it with some butter. >> very nice. how long on each side would you do the lamb chops? >> one of the important things with lamb is you want to get the fat sort of rendered out. so, not just searing the two big sides, but you actually want to get it up on the side. >> okay. >> we're going to flip this over, imagine we've seared that nice golden brown. we are going to pop this in the oven. >> and what heat oven? >> it's a hot oven, it's 450.

>> all right, and it comes out? >> when it comes out it looks like this, and you can see the fat's nice and rendered, it's nice and brown. we're going to put this right on this plate right here. >> very nice. >> and here we have some of the figs that have been reduced with the liquid. >> oh, that looks so good. >> we're just going to spoon that right over. >> then a little mint? >> a little mint on top. this is sort of a take on a classic mint and lamb dish. >> i don't give a fig about figs. wow! >> that's good. >> what's the side dish here? >> that is something we serve in the restaurant. it's meso brussel sprouts with some bacon and -- >> bacon! mm-mmm, lamb and bacon. >> fresh figs. that's pretty. >> it's a nice, fresh accent to that. >> chef, thank you so much. >> thank you so much. >> great to have you here. still to come on "today," nick lachey's stopping by to hang out with hoda and kathie. plus, solutions for tired hair? who knew your hair gets tired? after your local news. >> mine's asleep. >> i'm tired.

>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. the first doses of the h1n1 swine flu vaccine have arrived in this state of maryland health care workers at maryland general hospital were among the first to receive the vaccine. the state over -- ordered 65,000 doses for the first round. if you are not top priority, contact your local health care provider to find out if it will be available for you. back in a minute with a check on back in a minute with a check on today's forecast. rooster crow. still tired the next day too? when you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, remember 2-layer ambien cr.

the first layer helps you fall asleep quickly. and unlike other sleep aids, a second helps you stay asleep. when taking ambien cr, don't drive or operate machinery. sleepwalking, and eating or driving while not fully awake with memory loss for the event as well as abnormal behaviors such as being more outgoing or aggressive than normal, confusion, agitation and halluciations may occur. don't take it with alcohol as it may increase these behaviors. allergic reactions such as shortness of breath, swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and in rare cases may be fatal. side effects may include next-day drowsiness, dizziness, and headache. in patients with depression, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide may occur. if you experience any of these behaviors or reactions contact your doctor immediately. wake up ready for your day. ask your healthcare provider for 2-layer ambien cr.

>> good morning. any rain showers out there this morning will come to an end shortly. a wind advisories in effect. winston guest at 40 miles per hour at times. >> see you back here for 11 news at noon.

when it comes to italian sauce, some people prefer this jar. but more people prefer this sauce. winner of the blind taste test.

the sweet and savory taste of prego. it's in there. announcer: it's "live with regis and kelly." today, from the new comedy "community," chevy chase. and academy award-winning actress and author julie andrews. plus more of your comments and questions direct from