advice

8 Uses for a Blowdryer (Apart from Drying Your Hair)

August 30th, 2010 • advice, baby, mommy • 1 comment

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Apartment Therapy has a great article on 8 Uses for a Blowdryer (Apart from Drying Your Hair). I like this one the best:

Take wax off of furniture: melt the wax using the slowest, hottest setting. Remove the wax using a paper towel then wipe off the residue with a clean cloth dipped in a mixture of equal parts vinegar (or vodka) and water. Use the same method to remove crayon marks from the walls.

New uses for old Things: Part duex

August 23rd, 2010 • advice, daddy, home+garden • No comments

Car wax, unclogging drains, and how to get your husband to do more work around the house. I can’t seem to get that last one to work right for me. I’m going to try the daily routine chart on him. It works for the kids, so I’m crossing my fingers.

Source: I don’t remember for all of the pieces, but judging by the fonts and kerning, I’m going to say it’s another case of Real Simple Magazine. They really put out a great product – one of my favs

New Uses for old things

August 16th, 2010 • advice, home+garden • No comments

Once upon a time, I convinced myself I’d publish a book called “How to be a… Rocker Mom …without breaking a sweat”.  Now, my nickname might be funkEpunkEmonkE, but the last thing I am is a Rocker or into Punk music. I mean, Irish punk – maybe, Old school punk – Maybe. Mostly I’m into obscure indie rock and, more recently, anything I can dance/workout/clean to.

From there, I decided “Mrs. Suzzi, Homemaker’s Journal” would be more suitable, especially because more of my tips have to do with home making than with anything else. I have tips on fashion, beauty, exercise, and just about everything else in the sun, but homemaking is the majority.

Since the book is taking FOREVER, (read, I still haven’t scanned in any of the pages…actually, I don’t even own a scanner anymore, but those cool slim ones “as seen on tv” look cool.) I’ve decided to post some of the more useful tips here!

First, a compilation of new uses for old things that I’ve gathered over the years from Real Simple magazine.

Vegetable Oil, Tape, Toothpaste, Cornmeal, Baby oil, and brooches all have higher purposes in life. The best tip:

Lighting lemon scented candles triggers that cleaning memory and provides inspiration when I have to rush. The lemon scent has the added benefit of fooling people into thinking I’ve been dusting all day.

It reminds me of a quote from The Return of Jezebel James: “I finally got the place to smell entirely like vanilla.” <3

Things to Bring to Craft Shows

July 8th, 2010 • advice, artsy fartsy, jobby • No comments

Product/Packing Related:
Hang tags & care instructions
Tagging gun

Literature:
Product information signs
Brochures (including invitations to other shows of your works)
Business cards and holder
Company name sign (sew it to the front of your tablecloth)
Media kit (in case of interview at show)
Wholesale Kit (terms/price list)

Office Supply Kit:
Clipboard and writing pad
Pens
Tape – scotch, masking

Sales Related:
Apron
Calculator
Cash box with change, ones, fives & tens
Cell phone
Receipt book/sales book

Miscellaneous:
3 Ring binder with all your show information in chronological order, including Clear Paper Protectors to hold the following:

• Copy of your sales tax certificate
• Correspondence with the promoter – directions, rules, regulations, phone notes, copy of canceled check, etc.
• Copy of application with date sent and check number
• Any notes about the show – pros or cons

Tablet to record sales and mileage

Display Props:
Chairs or stool with a back on it
Folding tables
Table clothes (clean & pressed) – to ground level

Display Hardware:
Canopy or tent & weights (Gallon jugs of water)
Fishing line (invisible hangers)
Clothespins

Cleaning Supplies:
Clean cloth rags
Glass cleaner
Paper towels
Small trash can

Food:
Cooler with drinks & food
Frozen bottle of water or juice
High energy foods and juices

Miscellaneous:
Camera
Cushion for chair
Battery operated fan
Bug spray
Jacket or sweater
Pair of rainproof boots
Sun hat and/or sunglasses
Sun screen

June

June 24th, 2010 • Monthly Recap, advice, baby, food, home+garden, rant, roller derby • No comments

There comes a time in a marriage, or a family, when you realize there is disconnect. Each of you is going in different directions and no one really wants to stop and listen to what the other has to say. Busy and stressed and distracted seem the norm. With cell phones, computers and t.v.s the opportunity to disconnect is so great, I wonder how much connection I have lost along the way.

from Hannah’s Harvest

This is the quote that has been driving me today.

This month…

Rats won the first home bout. Alex, Phil and I had the most awesome Haven Brothers Burgers. Upon leaving, we chased the big Nazo puppets through the city to the afterparty, where a marching band played. Knife did a fancy dance, and skidd caveman-style left with stylz!

The next morning, Beth’s Bridal Brunch, where I proceeded to get more drunk and talk about shooting guns and other things Cate has never done.

We went hiking in NH (Franconia Notch), and had a picnic near the river. Aly wanted to climb the rocks, and promptly fell in. We spent the next 30 minutes drying her clothes on a sunny rock while she ran around naked.

Aly’s friend Cayleigh had a carnival themed birthday party complete with dunk tank and water slide. Guess who got to be dunked!

I ran 10th Annual Foxboro Against Diabetes 5K to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I didn’t train, but did better than expected. I came in 653rd out of over 800 people, finishing with a time of 45 minutes. I met a couple of cool locals, like Donna Burns, who doesn’t have a connection to Diabetes, but whose family decided to come from all over the country to run the race. How cool is that?

Aly had a mysterious 24 hour stomach virus, but quickly recovered. I have to say, it was a little nice to have her that calm for a day, but it broke my heart to see her so sick.

Both John Speck and Jason Hogue got married, and not to each other. Both weddings were special and unique…not to mention I made the bride’s dress for one of them! I wish I had pictures, but my laptop died, and I can’t find the cord to connect my camera to this computer. bah. So, here’s a picture from the photo booth silliness.

And after the weddings, we stopped by the PRD afterparty at Luxe Burger. Lots of dancing in the rain!

An ex-boyfriend’s father had some health problems and went into the hospital. I really struggled to find a level of worry and support that was appropriate to the situation. I decided that a hospital visit might not be welcomed, and wrote some encouraging words via text message instead. I hope his significant other isn’t offended by me reaching out.

To celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary, Alex went bowling with Phil. I see a trend emerging in our relationship.

A few of my cousins graduated high school, and there was a huge party at my aunts house to celebrate. All the babies are getting so big! I want more…

PRIDE fun bout was rained out, which is just as well, because I couldn’t find a babysitter.

I went to Audrey McClelland’s Soul at Work cafe last night, and it’s inspired me to be more consistent and diligent in my writing.

Tonight is the Mob Squad craft night, which basically means a bunch of smelly women eating all my food, drinking all my wine, and making a mess…but you know I’ll love it!

Soon, a surprise!!!

I am hoping: That my “Spin it to win it” idea is approved by the board. I really think it’s a great way to bring in some profit, and people love those games.

I am teaching: Pumpkin, the nickname I’ve given my 4 year old, Letter Recognition, Consonants, Vowels, Rhyming, Phonics, Spelling, Counting, Addition, Patterns, Sizes, and Weather. Wow – those topics are meaningless unless I explain the activities, huh?

So, I have 3 different workbooks that I pull 2-5 pages from per day and have Pumpkin work on anything english/math related. The workbooks I have are pretty nondescript, but are all from School Zone publishing company. I found them gently used at Savers.

I also downloaded a whole curriculum, which I haven’t even looked throughly at yet. It was free (well, arrgh!), so no biggie if it’s terrible.

Last, but not least, Pumpkin has the Jumpstart suite of computer games and plays anything from baby to 1st grade, depending on what type of day she’s having.

Last week, we really focused on weather, though I can’t wait until she’s older and I can delve deeper into the water cycle and what effects certain disasters have. I bought this chart for her to weekly track the Weekday, Date, and Weather. She watched the Sid the Science Kid episode on Wind, and a few episodes of Captain Plant. Yeah, my kid is that cool.

We briefly talked about habitats, mostly water, as that’s what she’s interested in. We live near the beach, so there’s always water around…plus, there was that run in with the river.

I am creating: Nothing at the moment. I mean, I’m always creating, but there isn’t one large project I’m working on at the moment. I’ve got 2 pillows to finish recovering, then I’ll probably redo the kitchen chairs in a wipe-able fabric.

I just made my boutfit for Providence Roller Derby’s Mob Squad, which is military inspired, but I went a little overboard with faux buttons and I need to find something to make them less shiny.

In the kitchen: I’ve continued Mexican Monday, Breakfast Tuesday, Chicken Wednesday, Pizza Thursday, Fish Friday, Mooch Saturday, and Pasta Sunday. Of course, if something comes up, I’m flexible.

Some of the highlights this month were Salmon Burgers from Trader Joe’s, Beefy Nachos (which is the same as my chili recipe – served on top of chips), and Pancakes with cherries and caramelized bananas.

Actually, that last one wasn’t planned as much as inspired by cherries from the farmer’s market and overripe bananas in my fridge. Those happen to be the last selection of bananas for a while. I’m planning on keeping things local, and bananas don’t grow in Rhode Island.

The more you type bananas, the crazier your hands feel. Bananas, Banana, Bandanas. what?

Around the garden: My garden is a major failure so far. None of the 2 pack of corn came up. The peas and beans all died before producing anything. The carrots are wee, after waiting for 3 months to harvest them. I got 2 salads out of my spinach before it went to bolt. There are no buds on my tomatoes and peppers. Fortunately, there’s some plants that sprouted out of our compost that look promising and my potatoes (in a garbage barrel) are doing friggin’ awesome.

I think the problem is crappy soil, so I’m going to fertilize the crap out of the rest of my beds and then plant more beans, beets, carrots, cukes, lettuce, tomatoes and squash.

Around the house: After seeing John over at Young House Love put in his water filter, I installed this under-sink filter from Filtrete. Next up, I’m going to convert our toilet into a dual-flush tank using a simple $20 converter kit.

I also faux painted wide plank wood flooring onto the plywood kitchen floor, which didn’t come out as good as the hall, so I might go back with a small brush and work some more dark paint into the crevices. Next up in painting, is more floors and them faux granite painted counters.

Next month…

My first roller derby home bout jamming for the mob squad on July 10th. Buy ticket here. I’m super excited cause I know our strategy is sick.

Actually, next month isn’t filled up with tons of things yet. I might actually be able to focus on getting some workflows and auto-response emails nailed down. Of course, once July is actually here, I’m sure it’ll be a different story.

A few things to share:

• How to refill your Swiffer wetjet from Curbly
• Fourth of July Crafts from No Time For Flash Cards
• Repopping unpopped popcorn from The Kitchen
• Why Having a Toddler is Like Being at a Frat Party from Suburban Snapshots
• Stranger Danger from New Life on a Homestead
• Theme of the Week {Veggies}
• Innovation through art and education… a local group called RiverzEdge
• How to stick your hand into molten lead
• This is almost as good as the doily wedding dress: Doily Table Runner
• Paint Bag
• If you want more of the things I share, subscribe to this feed.

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