I'm watching the Today show right now and they're featuring dresses from the Oscars - well, the knockoff versions. I just don't get it, or maybe I'm just weird (highly possible) but who actually buys these dresses? Isn't that sort of Halloweenish? To wear such a high-profile dress look a like? It's like hey I'm dressed up as Angelina Jolie on the red carpet... i don't know... i just don't get it.
Anyway, that was my random thought of the day - have a great weekend everyone!!!
So far...
7:00am: walked Maddie
7:15am: coffee coffee coffee
7:45am: responded to comments on Melissa Loves, Heart Handmade, Etsy and here!
8:20am: queued up blog posts for the day
On today's To Tackle list...
1. Pack orders and head down to the post office to ship out two sold houses!! SO excited - thanks Cindy and Cynthia!!
2. I'm falling behind on blogging duties, but now that the houses and my extracurriculars are done I can once again tackle the world of hearting the handmade.
3. Start thinking about March goodies! Any requests??
Update on the lunch thing... I've been packing Hillsy's lunches but the boy has been repeatedly "forgetting" to bring his pack to work...hmmm... is that his way of saying....
PS. I was so disappointed with Idol last night, but hello? cute-TAY who sang Man in the Mirror!!! Oh lord, I'm such a teeny bopper at heart!
I did it, they're all up www.wunderlust.etsy.com!! +Extra pics up on flickr.
I also gave myself a shameless plug on Heart Handmade this morning, Jena of Modish posted the sweetest write up (almost made me cry). On Modish? I feel like I just won an Oscar.... Maddie is walking on our kitchen tiles + wooden landing + took her first dump this morning - my little world couldn't be more perfect.
One more good news for the day but it hasn't happened yet - will keep you posted as soon as it does!!
It's crunch time... I'm currently going through 300+ product shots that I've taken throughout the week for the February Wunderlust shop update. It's our first collaboration project, the houses have been infused with a bit of Hillsy wit... you'll see.
I need to brew a large pot of coffee coz I'm definitely going to need it - I have 14 items, four to five photos for each one and everything needs to be up on Etsy by tonight!!! This is my least favorite part about having an online shop - all of the production time that goes behind each item listed. ok gotta go chop chop chop.
hi everyone!!! happy monday.
This weekend was way too short, I know I say that every Monday but really this one felt exceptionally short - probably because last week's was a 4-day one for us.
Why am I late? I couldn't resist an invitation (Melissa = bad influence) to get a pedicure, my feet/toes were in such bad shape --- dry, old nailpolish hanging on the edge of my scraggly nails, hanging on to dear life. Melis came over for tea this morning with her beautiful dog who I will be looking after for the week (they're going on vacay). Maddie is the sweetest and cutest dog in the planet so I don't really see it as work. She's really well behaved, her only quirk is her fear of non-carpeted surfaces. Our entire house is carpet-free with the exception of the tv/livingroom so I've been trying to fix that...
Maddie checks in at Casa del Hills-Burdman tomorrow so I'll definitely share some pics!!!
Background: Every other week Marichelle cleans the bathroom and has been noticing gross grime buildup at the bottom of the cup being used to hold the toothbrushes. As with most things, the poor guy usually gets the blame...
SCENE
Couple brushing their teeth before bed. Marichelle watching his moves intently. Hillsy "rinses" his brush under the running tap and shoots it back into the cup...
marichelle: Do you think you can rinse your brush more thoroughly? Hillsy looks confused. I don't think you're rinsing your brush enough and well... bacteria is forming.
hillsy: Bacteria is forming? A bit more confused but gives in and runs the brush under the water again, attempts to shoot it back into the cup, but before he gets it back in...
marichelle: ... The handle too.
Man I killed it. I may have forgotten to water them and that one was too weak to survive the thirst...I'm sorry kiddo.
But all is not lost, I watered it, gave it a little pep talk and yesterday I noticed this...
We'll see. I may have to stick to these succulents (thanks IKEA) - I love these plants I think I need to get more of them. They're not needy. Just the way I like my men and plants.
My favorite one is mr. fuzzy. I really should take them out of their plastic containers but I haven't had a chance to buy soil... (lazy)
Having less disposable income requires you to be a little bit more creative and smart when dealing with your budget. We definitely don't go out to eat as much as we used to, and we rarely order in. Having a budget doesn't necessarily mean you need to sit at home and eat chicken breast everyday of the week but it does mean prioritizing and learning when and where to shift the dollars around.
So if buying a $20 bottle of wine at the end of the week or subscribing to 5 magazines is something that's high on your priority list, you just need to reallocate.
We've been meaning to reassess our budget for a while now and we've decided to start a little test. How much money could we free up if I started to make Hillsy's lunches for the week. So we added 1/2 lb of sliced turkey meat, 1/2 lb of cheese, pint of mixed nuts and an extra loaf of bread to our usual grocery list. The pack of chicken fillets were enough for what I needed for the week plus a couple of extras to be used for his lunches. Probably ended up being an extra $15 or so. Hillsy usually spends anywhere from $7-10 a day on lunch so already that's a $20/week ($80/month) savings at a minimum. I think the key is to get creative with the lunches so it doesn't seem like a cut-back but more of a treat right? I'm still working on that part...
This morning I woke up a little earlier than usual and put together his lunch for the day. Kind of boring I admit but I promise these will get a little better!
Turkey + Provolone + lettuce (he hates tomatoes)
mixed nuts + grapes
If you plan on doing this for you and/or your loved one, it really helps to prep as much as you can Sunday evening - shredding lettuce, grilling chicken, premixing tuna or chicken salad, dividing nuts/fruit etc... believe me, it's a real time & mind saver - I'm not the most alert at 6:30am so every little thing helps!!
For next week I was thinking of buying some cranberries - so I can fix up a Thanksgiving sandwich. You can save even more money if you purchase the meat uncooked and cook/slice it yourself. I'm thinking about buying some pork loin next week and learning how to make apple chutney - now that would be a treat!!
PS. I'm definitely less cribby today. And I'm still twittering...
I'm getting really spoiled with Hillsy being around so much this weekend, he also has today off thanks to his employer's cut-back plan. We're heading to see our new dentist in a couple of hours then hopefully watching Friday the 13th (he' s a huge fan). Other than that, we didn't really plan to do all that much. Tax day went well, our new accountant seems like a winner so we'll know in a couple of days how much our refund will be, provided that the state and the feds decide to give us back OUR money.
I'm feeling SO restless these days, having one of those weeks where EVERYTHING and ANYTHING annoys me. It might do me some good to go in the backyard and let out a loud scream, that might actually make me feel better. Do you ever have those days? Last night was the worst, something in the blogworld set it off and I was in a bad mood all night long. Oh and I think I need to limit some of my blogging-related activities (aka Twitter).
It's too early to tell if I'm still in a bad mood... so far so good.
Picture above has no relevance, just a cute mini cupcake I had a couple of weeks ago :)
...completely forgot to mention that I was going to be lazy and not post today... but since I'm here...
So we had dinner at Stone Barns yesterday and it was soooooooooo good AND I even got two quick glances of the man Dan Barber (boy I sound like a groupie). Sorry no pictures though, I wanted to thoroughly enjoy my meal and I have to admit I was also a little embarrassed to bust out my camera!!! I know, I know, what kind of blogger am I?? I'm not really sure how else to describe the meal other than to say that I finally understand the difference between good food and GOOD food. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that you can actually taste the thought, love and passion that went into each dish. We're hoping to get a chance to go back during the Summer season, I bet the grounds are even more lovely and full of life during the Summer and Fall seasons.
Hillsy and I had a nice long chat thanks to the hour or so drive up there. You never know what sort of things you start discussing when you find the time to fully unwind.
To be continued...
... since I won't be around tomorrow to greet everyone properly!
Sorry I'm so late this morning, I was being a chatter box with bff Zandra - the only person I can stay on the phone with for 1:31:34 and still have more things to say an hour from now!
I'm soooo frickin' excited for this weekend to start. I'm finally going to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, wonder if Chef Dan Barber will be around!!!! You don't know how much I've been dying to go here.
Less exciting news - tax man is coming over on Monday to help us file taxes. I'd also like to put up the wallpaper in the bedroom if I'm not too mentally drained from IRS-related activities.
Tuesday - I finally said adios to my favorite dentist in Forest Hills NY. I used to trek down to Queens even when I moved to the East Village. But driving or taking the train from here to Queens would be a little too crazy even for me. So I've made us appointments with a local dentist that came highly recommended. So I guess we'll see how that goes.
It's a four-day weekend for us so we're both really excited to spend some quality time together!!
Alright, I'm usually pretty good with shopping. Haven't really gone too ballistic lately and if I do it's usually stuff for the house. I always say, if you don't look then you won't be tempted. Right Z?
Well, I looked. And I was tempted. And ... *hillsy stop reading now*.... I gave in.
Target. I love you. But that's another post.
Today, I wanna share my latest home decor buys...
Cyclamen by Ilan Dei wall decal. (also like Anise) I've been so apprehensive about using decals, but I finally gave in when I saw these. And if I had concrete floors, these would be so mine!
I also snagged two fabric lanterns from India Rose. 25% off thanks to Daily Candy, can you really blame me?? I'm sure I can get cheap lamp cord kits at Ikea. I'm thinking living room or dining room for these.
***UPDATE (again)***
I noticed that the can of food from the trap that's left is gone but obviously there's no raccoon in there - I think a remaining raccoon decided to let me know that he knows... hmmm... I see Mr raccoon. I know your games. The battle continues....
Do you ever force yourself out of your comfort zone and then get an immediate reminder of how much you don't know and then go home feeling really out of it? You suddenly want to read books that don't naturally appeal to you, watch movies that you don't even know how to pronounce or listen to public radio that will surely cause you to go into a deep depressing slow state of coma?
Oh oh oooh how about going into someone's lovely home and once you leave, the only thoughts left in your head are... holy shit my house/apartment sucks. I really need to get my shit together... hmm lighting need more lighting, and that rug in the dining room what was I thinking??
But hold up, someone else has had these thoughts about you. Yes you. You too have been a subject of admiration. So yes your home will never be featured in Elle Decor but the look on your kid's face when they see you after a long day at the office or the simple fact that you top everyone's friends list... I've envied that.
images: elledecor.com and dominomag.com
I completely overslept and my sleep was interrupted so abruptly that I don't really feel rested! How odd. It was one of those TV wake ups when you see the character sleeping then all of a sudden they wake up with wide open alarming eyes, as if someone snapped their fingers after a long hypnotic treatment.
I was having such intense dreams too - I dreamt that I was in a weird clan and the leader was going to defect and was taking a few of us with him... but in order to prove our loyalty we had to eat an ginormous amount of cotton Tshirts and sweaters. I don't know, maybe he was joining J.Crew?? heheh. Two of my girlfriends were already done with their batch and I was still munching away trying hard not to throw up. Not really sure why I was so afraid, since I would guess throwing up in this instance would produce nothing but yarn-throwup. The dream before that one was about my ex. He came at me all disheveled, long hair, dark circles around his eyes explaining how stressed out he was and that he was going to move away.
I don't remember any other ones but those two were so vivid and I'm pretty that they were in color as opposed to black and white. Well I'm glad I'm awake, that tshirt one really freaked me out.
Happy Friday friends!!
Why do days fly by when you're faced with deadlines? I've been such a busy bee this week - my eyes are starting to hurt from staring into my monitor for more than 8 hours straight every day, and I mean straight. Gross but true - I actually didn't take a shower until about 5:45pm yesterday. I literally got up and started working at 7am, no workout, no lunch (well I had cookies), and no bathroom breaks.
One of my twitter buddies brought up a really good point the other day - as much as I love working from home and answering to myself, I do miss the occasional water cooler break. Or shouting over cubes and cracking up with my favorite cubettes (hi Luis, Jess and Sarah!) And that's where twitter comes into play and why I'm so addicted. It's like basically having coworkers throughout the entire day, a little different from IM because it's not so much a one-on-one thing. For instance, you can get instant feedback about anything. Pass on a link to a movie and ask if anyone has seen it, forget a URL? just ask - one of your "followers" will know it.
If you haven't signed up for an account - head on over to heart hi-tech, Hillsy is giving a quick Twitter primer today.
Happy weekend!!
I lightly* covered the hole that I suspected... 1) to let them know that I know 2) so I can have something to blog about today
Damn compost, we should've bought a bin.
It's a match.
PS. I'm available nights and weekends.
*no raccoons were hurt during this investigation
Paw prints courtesy of http://fwp.mt.gov
hi gang, I'm taking a vow today - I need to get off this computer and work on my next shop update, no excuses.
It's sort of a big deal that I have the next batch of treats in the shop ready in two weeks because I'm taking part in two "things" that can potentially drive traffic to the shop and I really need to stock it up with the February goodies and not have 3 garlands from January up there. Pressure.
Good news is I sold another garland today - "Love me Love me" YAY!!! I'm so excited! I'll be heading into the post office shortly because I want to make sure it arrives before Valentines, since it is the LOVE garland after all.
I really love taking the time out to wrap and package up each order in a special way, probably something most higher-volume businesses can no longer feasibly do. It's my favorite part so I guess I better enjoy it as much as I can ... although I don't really have plans to increase production anytime soon. I'm really enjoying the limited series aspect of wunderlust, it's perfect for someone with A.D.D!
So I'm testing out this new facial skincare regimen - The Oil Cleansing Method. Basically, I've said buh-bye to my Sonia Dakar cleansing lotion and have replaced it with a curious mixture of oils. Why? For no particular reason other than the fact that I love trying new things and I'm easily lured by things that claim to have anything to do with tighter pores, clear, glowing, dewy-looking, free of blackheads & pimples skin! I thought that would get your attention!
The original formula is a mixture of Castor oil and Olive Oil but since I've already tried olive oil and didn't care too much for it, I've replaced it with other oil wonders. It's important to note that Castor Oil is the basis of this method for it's anti-inflammatory, cleansing and healing properties - so in other words, don't replace it.
My first formula was pretty simple, I used a 2:1 ratio of castor oil and jojoba oil. I used that up for a week and noticed a bit of flaking around my nose, did a bit of research and found that I should try decreasing the amount of castor oil in my mixture. Castor oil, because of its cleansing properties has a tendency to dry out your skin, so the make up of yours will determine the ratios that you use. So now I'm on week #2 - with a new and improved formula. I've also added a couple of new oils to the mix - macadamia nut and coconut oil. My skin is really lovin' this stuff! I've noticed that the pores around my nose and forehead are significantly tighter - my skin isn't producing as much oil as it used to 2 weeks ago. I'm no longer sitting in front of my bathroom mirror for an hour pressing and squeezing the crap out of my skin with Hillsy in the background shaking his head in amusement.
So what exactly do I do with the stuff? Well, I just apply it all over my face wait as long as I can (at night, I like to slab it on and wait for 20 minutes) then I use a wet{ish} paper towel (hot/warm water) and gently wipe the stuff off. I really should go to Target and buy a couple of wash cloths. The stuff removes makeup really well so you do not need to remove your makeup beforehand. Then I go about my usual regimen - which is pretty simple, I just use my favorite Sonia Dakar Hydrosoft lotion. In the mornings, when I have time, I like to apply it to my face and leave it on while I'm in the shower - supposedly the extra steam is good - then wipe it off after the shower. Oh and I also scrub my face with a face scrub formula (store-bought) at the end of the week - just for good measure. I guess I still can't get over the fact that my skin hasn't been washed with a soapy bubbling cleanser for more than a week and was getting a bit paranoid. So, I'm not really sure if it's necessary.
What I find fascinating, is that I've always gravitated towards products touting "oil-free" formulas; thinking that since my face was prone to pimples, oil would be the last thing I'd want to slap on my face. Au contraire mon fraire!
So if you're interested in learning more about this, I suggest checking out the links below. I'm waiting to see whether my current formula is worth sharing with the rest of the world (well, I mean the five of you) - I have another two weeks or so to make sure I don't suddenly break out with massive acne cysts. Fingers crossed!
There are TONS of reading material out there, but here's a good place to start...
www.theoilcleansingmethod.com
www.acne.org/messageboard/OIL-CLEANSING-METHOD-Hi-t141871.html
www.highonhealth.org/why-you-need-to-start-
using-the-oil-cleansing-method-ocm/
PS. I've been applying my wonder oil to Hillsy's finger which occasional breaks out with eczema when he's stressed out and it's actually been helping a lot!!!! Hmmm.
Heater boiler acting up, fractured arms, glaciers forming and now raccoons shacking up rent-free!!
Hillsy was down in the basement last night and I got the famous "I don't want you to freak out...but" line. I hate sentences that start off like that!!! "I don't want you to freak out, but a raccoon was just staring at me in the laundry room" There's a tiny window right in front of our dryer that looks out into the space below our deck - where the family or raccs have decided to settle in for the winter. Not only do they have ample space but because of our brilliant idea to start a compost heap, they also have had unlimited access to all sorts of fruits and vegetables :)
Hillsy began researching "humane" how-to's and found....
- play talk-radio
- keep the space lighted
wow, those are our options????
Anyone out there have any tried & tested tips?
Images: www.itsnotart.co.uk and www.city-data.com
