Shelf By Shelf, Item By Item - Hall Closet

Slowly but surely I'm working up to cleaning out the office, and whatever else I can.

It feels great to make little accomplishments though, and do them in 5 minutes or less which definitely doesn't make cleaning and de-cluttering feel like a chore. I have no schedule, just more of what looks like needs to be de-cluttered and cleaned gets done.

Maybe I should have a schedule?

No, I don't do well with self-set schedules. They don't quite make sense to me, as I don't know where to start and I may not have 15-30 minutes to do something on that day, nor might I feel like tackling a whole room.

Baby steps, my friends, baby steps.

Which is why I share with you my two shelves that I cleared out this morning in under 10 minutes. Thanks, to Curious George on PBS I had time. WOO HOO.

However, since I really wasn't sure what was even in these shelves (because I just kept putting things in and not taking them out....), I really didn't know what I would find.

I kept a pile of bags to use for gifts, but I think I might go through them one more time and toss store-specific bags. I don't want to put a gift in a bag that doesn't correspond to the store. And I gave Simone two of the smallest bags so she can pretend to "shop" with her shopping cart at home too.

I do need to keep tissue paper. I ship all of my crochet wrapped in tissue paper, attach the invoice, etc... so that is all staying. The square basket will have to be sorted through again another time because somehow spare parts to pretty much everything were in there and not in a tool box (nails, braids, hardware, weird Ikea tools, etc...). I don't know if those things will need to be saved or not. I guess if they haven't been used in years, then I can toss.

But they look better than before. I didn't take a before picture. I didn't even think about it.

Just an FYI - The Monkey thinks Clinique's Be More Happy stinks so I tossed it. It smells like an old lady. Too bad I sprayed myself with it because I couldn't remember what it smelled like.

Freezing Fresh Corn

I LOVE fresh sweet corn. And so does The Monkey and Bimmer Man. I don't feel like I've bought enough of it this year though so I bought 5 ears of fresh, organic sweet corn from the Linden Hills Co-op last week. I opted to freeze it since I have to cut the corn from the cob for the Monkey to eat. 

I don't look at ears of corn when I buy it anymore. After not being able to pick my own ears from belonging to a CSA, I just don't bother to look. Organic corn can have worm damage and sometimes the worms are still alive - that's because there's either no pesticides used on the corn or less harsh or natural pesticides or something else is being used as a pesticide or herbicide (the label "organic" doesn't mean "no pesticide/herbicide" it means there is something else being used in place of the bad pesticides/herbicides, it may be an organic pesticide or a natural pesticide or a different type of farming, I'm not an expert at the organic labels though, so this is just the basic explanation). 

Just cut off the worm damage and carry on with your normal corn cooking routine. 

For freezing, I just boil the corn for a few minutes and then cut it off the cob, freeze it flat in a Ziploc bag (I need to find something to freeze stuff in flat instead of Ziploc bags!). 

The corn above has worm damage, I was surprised that the worm wasn't in the corn. Just chop off the damage and continue on...

Out of the 5 ears I had to cut damage off of a few. I don't mind cutting off the damage - if no one buys this corn at the store then it just goes bad. Might as well eat what we can!

After cooking, just stand the corn on one end when cool to the touch and slice off the corn into a bowl.

Nom, nom, nom....

Now we can have fresh corn when it's out of the season!

Review Series - Part 2 - Arbonne Cosmetics

I didn't buy a whole lot from Arbonne, but I did try a few things.

First, let me tell you about my beauty routine.




Um, yeah, that blank spot... that's it. I don't really have one. Isn't that awful? I thought all women had beauty routines.

I use Murad Time Release Acne Cleanser on my face in the shower, toner at night, toner in the morning, and most definitely Doterra's Melaleuca oil on any random oily spots and zits (especially my forehead and chin after I've been biking!). I still get zits, sometimes bad ones, I still have oily skin in spots, I break out randomly, and I have larger pores than I did when I was younger.

So, since I don't really have a beauty routine, I decided to go ahead and try it.

The Arbonne rep gave me a little sample bag (I think they may be called friendship bags?? Not sure, I didn't pay that much attention...) with the Calm Collection in it.

Let's just say that it didn't go well. I stopped using my usual stuff since the acne stuff doesn't mix well when you use it with other acne products (I get a little itchy, I've used two acne products at once before and I didn't want the same thing to happen again). I don't use much on my face anyway so when I did 3 steps, I'm not sure what did it but my face was as red as a tomato and it seriously looked like I spent hours in the sun without sunblock on. So it didn't go well.

However, there was this gel eye roller thingy that was pretty cool. I used that on its own after my face looked like a tomato and decided I really liked it, so I bought it. In four months, I can see that the bags under my eyes aren't as dark (I use it at night and in the morning), the skin is softer, and I think it's maybe helped combat some wrinkles. Maybe. I'd buy it again. Especially in the winter since my skin gets so dry here in Minnesota.

But here's the catch - I was looking at the bottle and it only lasts 6 months. If you don't use it every night and day, you'll end up tossing a whole lot, so I've really forced myself to use it, which is why I think it's working. I'm really not great at following through with skin routines. If it's easy, you've got a 50/50 chance that I'll continue it.

I also bought eye shadow. I decided to try something new so I bought a green eye shadow. It's ok. By that I mean, I'd much rather spend more money on MAC, Clinique, or STILA. Arbonne's eye shadow is matte and I prefer shimmer shades over matte - I did have to sort of layer it on because it can be pretty powdery depending on what you use to apply it (I used a sponge brush first, hated how it turned out, then used an angled brush, hated that too, and then I used a round small paint brush and I liked that, what can I say? I'm an artist, if I can't find a brush in my make-up bag, then I raid my fabulous assortment of expensive paint brushes!). It's also a single shade so I did apply a layer of a shimmer powder over it. I don't think I'd buy it again, I'll just use it up.

Overall, I would say, if you like trying new beauty products, go for it. Buy something you want to try and let me know how it went. I'm interested in trying the mascara next, but I just bought a new one from Clinique (I buy mascara often, my eyes can tell me when it's old before I even have to look at the expiration dates). I do like trying anti-aging products, but I'm also not interested in paying over $300.00 for a set. I'm not quite that into the anti-aging stuff yet. I will buy the gel stuff again, maybe I'd try out the nutrition bars (but it's $25.00 for 10 bars, when the Luna bars at Target are 6 for $5.00 right now). Maybe if I have extra fun money later this year I'll order a pack.

I've never been to an Arbonne party or anything like that - I just ordered from the rep and put her number into the website when it asked for your information. If you want a referral for any of the products I mentioned, let me know and I'll get you connected.

Have you tried any Arbonne products? What did you try? Did you like them? Would you recommend them? Order again?

My Recycling Conundrum

First world problems whine, I know.

I know.

I KNOW.

This has been a problem in our house for years. Where do we put the items we need to recycle in our kitchen. Well, we don't use the side door so I just pile up our paper bags in front of it and that's that. Problem solved. Sort of. I unfold 4-5 paper bags and we just fill them up, let it all pile up, and then I get mad that nobody but me takes out the recycling (which isn't totally true... but at the same time... yes, I do take out almost all of the recycling or I put it in front of the back door for Bimmer Man to take to the big bin so I don't have to nag him. Nobody likes being nagged at, right?).

But the other thing is that I hate stealing paper bags from the grocery store just for my recycling. How stupid is that?

And why can't Target just stop with the plastic bags? JUST USE PAPER. I don't know. That's another first world problem. I guess I do live in the land of Target, I could complain.

I think I'm going to get these, suck it up, and take them out to the large bin when they get full instead of just opening another paper bag and filling it up. Now I can use my re-usable bags all the time, not just at the Co-op and the farmer's market.

Bimmer Man better bring these bags back in the house instead of using them for car parts in the garage instead.

We've had this recycling problem for years. Please, please, let's just hope these darn bags fix it. 

Cleaning Out My Non-Existent Pantry

I don't have a pantry.

Our house was built in 1949, so there's little storage, little or no closets, no mud room, a teeny entryway, and no counter space in the kitchen with not very many cabinets.

A few months ago I was dreaming about a HUGE kitchen with a mudroom and a ginormous center island and butcher block counter tops and a fantastic selection of pots and pans.

I have realized that I don't need all of that (but butcher block counter tops would be AWESOME, then I wouldn't need a cutting board), and I still want a mudroom (not just for storage but because we don't use our side door and basically, when two people walk inside at the same time, you have to balance yourself so you don't fall down the basement stairs. Not cool).

In any case, I digress.

This morning I cleaned out the "pantry cupboard" in the kitchen.

I threw away old flavored vinegars that expired in 2012 or 2011. I tossed an unopened container of Hershey's chocolate powder that expired in 2010. Into the trash went a box of Bisquick that expired earlier this year.

If we had a pantry, I don't think I'd be able to use half the stuff in it - I would be tempted to fill it up just because I had the space and then we'd be tossing unused food. That's not cool either. That's just plain old wasteful.

In the past few months I've become more conscious and aware of what we have in our cupboards to eat, or at least I thought I had. New items went into the cupboard and old stuff was just moved to the back.

Sort of like our other cupboard with glassware. Somehow we kept getting new glassware and the old stuff just went to the back and wasn't used. So I donated whatever we didn't use on a regular basis (um, I don't drink martinis but we had several martini glasses! I see a drink shaker that we've never used but had for years, that will be going into the donate box today too!).

Food expires. You have to toss it, it's just making the time to go through your pantries and cupboards and cleaning out the shelves. Don't remember when you bought it? Toss it. Expired? Out it goes. Never going to cook with it again? Into the trash (or organic waste bin in our house).

Lately my favorite time to do this is when I'm waiting for a pot of water to boil for pasta or waiting for chicken to cook on the stove. I'm already in the kitchen, why not kill two birds with one stone?

So, the bottom shelf of the cupboard has been cleaned out, I just need to wait until The Monkey's nap this afternoon to do the rest. I'm short so I need to stand on a chair and I don't want her to see me doing that - she may get some new ideas of her own if she knows she can stand on chairs in the kitchen. Aye, the things you don't think about until you have a toddler....

So, if anyone wants to follow along with me... Challenge yourself to clean out one shelf in your kitchen of expired, unused, old food. I think you'll feel great once you've finished!

Review Series - Part 1 - PartyLite Candles

I have bought so much stuff from people that I know who have home-based businesses. Like, well, boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff. I'm going to do a series of all the products that I've bought and what I liked, didn't like, didn't work, tasted great, tasted horrible, etc...

Why?

Because I didn't know shit about these businesses before going to a party and I ended up buying a lot of stuff. I thought I would be helpful. Plus it's pretty fun to read reviews.

Onto the good stuff -

Part 1 - PartyLite Candles

If you don't like candles, don't read this. If you like candles, then please, carry on.

I like candles. I don't burn them all the time but lately since I have a shitload of them, I burn them daily. I have a ton of tea light candles which I like better than the larger candles because I hate leaving out wide candles because I don't burn them, they end up dusty and when I do finally manage to light them, they end up sparking so badly from the dust and they just don't smell right. So, tea light candles it is for me.

I use a tea light oil warmer when I use essential oils (there will be a post on essential oils in the future) so I mainly buy unscented tea lights. Colors don't matter for me because the flame is hidden in a little marble candle holder thingy. PartyLite tea lights come in packs of 12, the wax and wick are contained in a plastic case (which is recyclable!). The wax doesn't move around like the tea lights from Target in the package of 100 with cheap metal to hold the wax. The ones from Target suck. The little cases also seem to be a bit taller than the wax which makes them easier to move and not spill hot wax all over. I've done that before and that sucks. Overall, if you use a tea light oil warmer, buy these tea lights. You will be pleasantly surprised at how long they last and at the strength of the wick. There's nothing worse than dropping your last tea light before lighting it and the wick breaking off when all you want to do is freaking smell something good in your house.

I have also bought several candle holders. I bought a set of three bug tea light holders for our outdoor patio set. They're way too small to hold anything that has citronella that repels bugs. They're just for home decor. If you're looking for something to hold citronella candles, do not buy any tea light holders. They won't do a damn thing to keep away mosquitoes. You're better off getting a bat house.

The other indoor candle holders that I've purchased work as described. They hold tea lights. They look great! I bought them all from their sale section since I'm a pretty cheap person and I like to find great deals - if you don't mind paying full price, then go ahead and get what you want, otherwise hold out for awhile and you'll get a great deal on candle holders. If you weren't invited to a party, ask your host if you can just order from someone else's party to get a good deal. I'd love to get some outdoor lanterns but we just don't hang out after dark outside enough for me to justify buying any large lanterns.

The scents are pretty good. I like the Perfect Pet, Fig Tree, and one with Blue Lotus something or other, and I also really like the smell of cucumber so I bought some of that scent too. Nothing is too over powering unless you stick your nose into the wax (especially burning tea lights, they're small anyway, so not enough melted wax to spread scent all over the house). If you want more scent, just burn more candles.

I recommend hunting down a representative and asking them to bring out their scent box so you can actually smell everything before you buy. I realized that some of them just started smelling the same to me so I ordered whatever I remembered that I liked. I'm not really a "girly" smell girl, I don't have too much scented stuff around the house so ordering the scented candles was a bit out of my comfort zone.

Questions? Comments? Anything that you want to share about PartyLite Candles?

Cutting The Sentimental Crap

Slowly but surely I'm getting all the "stuff" out of this house.

Today (after two Bloody Marys from McCoy's) I'm starting to wonder how in my right mind I'm going to tackle my craft supplies. There are items that I KNOW I DON'T NEED. I just don't know what those are quite yet.

And so I got rid of a rug instead of tackling craft supplies.

Le sigh.

There are items that are going to be ridiculously hard but then there are going to be items that won't. Like all the sentimental items in the office.

For example, I encountered a piece of drinkware, ok, a Dos Equis pint glass with Bimmer Man's signature on it and a date.

The date, I confess, I did not remember.

It took me a good five minutes (sorry, Bimmer, I just couldn't remember the specific year...).

And then I remembered, I took that afternoon off of work so we could get married. But the glass? I have NO IDEA why that thing is important. I just don't remember why a pint glass could be so important. I must have saved it for a reason, right? Did one of us steal it from the bar we went to after we got hitched?

I don't know.

Which is why I didn't keep the glass.

I had no idea why a glass was so important to keep after seven years. Why? Why was it even in our office? Why did I not wash it off and keep it in the cupboards to drink out of? I don't get it. If it was so important to us, why wasn't it out in the open where everyone could see it?

My memories are much stronger than an item of sentimental value. The moments of your life are defined by your memories and everyone's memories are different. Your memories are not defined by things.

In the seven years that Bimmer Man and I have been married, I haven't actually heard him even mention this pint glass once. Nope, not ever.

So I understand why sentimental items are hard to let go - they bring back memories of good times and bad times. But when you look at an item and can't remember why you even have it, then what's the point of saving it?

And then at some point I'm going to have to tackle different sentimental items that I won't really know what to do with - old college artwork that I don't like (throw it or donate?), craft supplies (recycle? toss? donate?).

Gah.

I suppose this is why it's going to take me forever to get through this house.

At some point in the future, I will not clean as much crap because it won't be in the house, I will be able to spend more time with my family because I won't be cleaning, I will be able to garden more because I won't have "things" to take care of, I will be able to read more books again because I won't have to worry about buying more storage bins for more stuff. I will be able to do exactly what I want to do.

I just have to get through all the sentimental crap first.

New Crochet Hats

The Monkey needs a new fun hat for this upcoming fall and winter. When I bring her with me to the yarn store she's absolutely drawn to the hot pink yarns. The SOFT ALPACA pink yarns. If she gets her hands on a skein or a ball of yarn, I know I'm walking out of the store with it, otherwise it will end up in a mad mess on the floor. Since I crochet, well, I can't turn down yarn but also, I never have anything in mind to make. She grabbed one skein of this and it's been sitting, waiting for me to think of something to make. I think this hot pink suits the alpaca well, right?

And since I love the pattern so much, I thought I'd try it out with a sock yarn that I found. It was free at a garage sale - I also picked up a yellow variegated yarn too, same sock yarn. I'm not quite sure if I like it yet, but I'll soldier on to try it out. This is the same pattern as The Monkey's hat, just larger for an adult.

As you can tell by the photo, I make these inside out to account for the back post stitch.

The Inevitable Ill-Placed Band-Aid

And sometimes you don't get to choose where your child gets her boo-boos. 

Super Easy Use-It-Up Pizza Burgers

I hate that you never have enough burgers to use up the buns in a package of hamburger buns. Plus I can only eat so many sloppy joes in two days and deal with drooling dogs at the grill with burgers. I hate tossing burger buns into the waste bin, it just seems so wasteful to buy 8 buns for 4 burgers. 

I needed to come up with something quick and I realized that I had leftover tomato sauce in the freezer and grated cheese in the fridge (and since when do I not have cheese in my fridge? I LOVE CHEESE). 

My mouth was starting to water as I put these together. I had made sauce with red wine... it smelled extra great to me after a long day in the sun, biking, playing, cleaning, etc...

And the cheese. I should have put more cheese on top so they were extra gooey.

And baked. Crispy bread, hot sauce, melty cheesy goodness.

Pizza Burgers (sort of)

2 - 4 hamburger buns split in half

2 cups pizza sauce, leftover spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce

2 cups of grated cheese - I use an Italian blend or a cheddar jack blend

And pizza toppings of your choice (I didn't feel like anything other than cheese)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Put bun halves on baking sheet.

Top each half with sauce.

Then top with cheese and all other pizza toppings you want!

Bake for 10-13 minutes or until cheese is melty and buns are nice and crispy.

Serve with a salad.