Sticker Shock

I don't normally talk about home renovations here, but I thought I'd share this little experience I had this week with y'all and maybe you can give me some tips/pointers/sympathetic smiles.

The back story: my husband physically built our house over 20 years ago {of course, I was 9 when he started building it so it wasn't really 'my' house at that point...} and he loves the house very much.  In the nearly 7 years I've been living there, I've come to love it to.  It's quite charming in a very rustic way.

It's also cluttered.  And by cluttered, I mean that I think my husband might be a hoarder.  We have a lot of stuff.  I'm pretty good at culling through my things and getting rid of stuff I don't want/need.  Husband is not good at that.  And if I want to get rid of his stuff, I have to go into ultra stealth mode and basically lie to him.  Which I don't like to do, for obvious reasons.

At any rate, it's our basement which is the worst.  And the study and yard, but that's for another day.  Now, I'll spare your eyes from any pictures of what it currently looks like. Let's just say that the basement is like a graveyard of broken, dusty, dirty bits and pieces of stuff.  Plus all of my books and materials from college and when I was teaching.  Oh, and the washer and dryer are down there too.  {and the boiler and other 'boy' stuff, but I don't have anything to do with that}

I hate going down to our basement.  In fact, I only go down there to do the laundry.  Otherwise, I avoid it like some scary beast lives down there and is just waiting for a Maggie-sized meal.

The situation {not the Jersey Shore guy}: Tuesday night we had a basement finishing company come to the house and take a look at our basement.  You know, one of those companies that comes in, draws out a plan for your space, shows you their product and then gives you the bottom line?

$35,000

No lie.  The product is beautiful.  And I totally want to get this done.  But for that price, I'm really nervous.  Now, the sales guy was fabulous.  He had it all worked out that if we agreed to start the deal that night he'd shave off like $8,000 as long as I could give him a little deposit {like $250} to get the process started.  And then, of course, there'd be the credit application and the financing.

So we got a sort of general idea of what the financing might look like: 8.99% for 12 years.  12 years!?!?!?!?!? It's essentially a credit card issued by this company.  And that makes me a little nervous.  It would be like $300 a month, but for such a long period of time.  And my husband figured out that with that interest rate we'd end up paying almost $16,000 just in interest.

Yikes.

So husband and I had a little pow-wow about this during the presentation and decided that we didn't feel comfortable doing this right now.  It's not really about the monthly payment, we could come up with it.  But it would mean not putting money into savings every month and then what happens if our cars break down or something?

By the way, that quote didn't include the flooring.  Because we can do that on our own...

So, has anyone gone through this situation?  I really really really want to get our basement finished, but not at that cost.  It's likely when we decide to do it that we'll take out a HELOC or an unsecured loan at our credit union, which will have a much lower interest rate.  Or maybe we'll win the lotto and I won't have to worry about it.

Suggestions?

P.S. go see Andrea and check out her 1 year blog anniversary giveaway!  and don't say I never have you anything fun to do!

Freezer Storage

Organizing is one of my favorite hobbies.  I routinely reorganize my closets, dressers and fabric scraps.  I also like to tinker with my systems of storing spices and dry goods.  And bathroom goods.  The list goes on and on.

But I've been really stumped on how to keep track of the things that I have in my freezer.  I have to be honest, I found some really amazing free printables {pretty sure I just googled free organizational printables.  Do it, now.} that help me keep track of lots of things.  I keep them in a binder, along with my weekly planner and weekly menu/grocery list.

My printables track the following things:
1. freezer items
2. pantry items
3. bathroom items
4. spices

And on these forms I just list out the items that I have.  For instance: 4 sticks of butter, 10 rolls of toilet paper, 2 jars of cinnamon {ground}, or brown rice.  This makes forming my weekly grocery list really, really easy.

But the freezer still poses a problem.  For instance, my printable states that I have 6 containers of frozen soup.  That's great!  We won't starve!  However, it doesn't tell me what kind of soup I have.  And why doesn't it tell me?  Because I don't actually know what kind of soup it is....

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you *might* know that I go grocery shopping 2 times a month and generally spend $100/month.  I plan 8 full meals a month, and for the rest of the time we eat what I fondly refer to as "mystery leftovers" or pantry staples.

What's a mystery leftover?  It's when I grab 2 frozen blocks of something that resembles food and we eat it for dinner.  This can be pretty interesting.... because I don't have any way to LABEL the food in the freezer.

Except, I do now.  My delightful husband came up with this idea all by himself.  I know you can hardly container your excitement.... what is our trick?

Rubber bands.

I picked up a big bag of extra wide rubber bands from Staples for about $3.  How does this work?  Oh, it's sooooo easy!  Just put your leftovers in a freezer safe container, stretch a rubber band around the container, grab a pen and write out what it is {you can add a date too} and then throw the whole thing into the freezer.  I don't know yet if you can remove the ink from the rubber band, but you can just scratch out what you've written and continue on.... many uses per rubber band.

Mystery Leftover meals are solved!  Now I'll know what we are eating.  Of course, I'm not going to attempt to label what's already in there.... I don't want to take all the fun away from ML dinners.

Is this idea great or what?  We drove ourselves crazy trying to figure out how to label our leftovers.  Should we just write on the container lid with a marker? No, that just makes the container icky.  My bff Laura's mom uses masking tape on the lids.  Except it doesn't stick so well to frozen things.  Keep a chart on the freezer like my mother in law?  Too time consuming.  {although that is a pretty great way of keeping track of things}

How do you keep track of your leftovers?

A Surprise Ending {To A Bad Day}

I had a really rough day today... just lots of drama at work and outside of work.  

Normally I can deal with this stuff.

Normally.

Today I hit up the Bach's Rescue Remedy at 10:00 AM.

By 3, I was feeling better.

But those hours in between, oh dear.  

{TR - just don't mention it, ok?}

A quickie talk with Sir after lunch helped me figure out some perspective.

Getting further along in my knitting project helped too.

But this.  This helped the most:

I was putting away the mail and my work stuff when Sir got home.

When I came into the kitchen to greet him, this is what I found.

All my favorite things!

Crackers, brie, chocolate, fresca & flowers

I cried.  Seriously.

Then I hoovered 1/4 of that cheese like it was my job.

My. Job.

What's your favorite kind of surprise??

Peace & Love,

Easy Weeknight Cooking: Roasted Vegetable Pie

It's time again for an easy weeknight menu option.  This one takes a bit longer, but totally worth it!

Roasted Vegetable Pie: A Picture Tutorial

Step 1: Gather & Prep Your Ingredients

you will need: 

2 tbsp bread crumbs

1 tbsp corn starch

salt & pepper

1 tsp EACH thyme and oregano

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 cup vegetable stock

2 pre-made pie crusts

1 egg + 1 tbsp water, lightly beaten together

and....

1 small butternut squash, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small florets

2 large carrots, sliced

2 large parsnips, sliced

{my peach of a husband totally did this chopping for me!}

I like to put my dry seasonings aside since I'll be using them later.

Step 2: Cook Veg & Make Sauce

So you're going to mix your veg with the oil and a little salt & pepper.

Toss to coat and try and keep it in a single layer on your baking sheet.  

Clearly I had to use two....

Cook in a preheated 450F oven for 30 minutes, shaking once about half way through.

Just before the veg are done, heat up the vegetable stock and cornstarch until just boiling an starting to get thick.

Add in the salt, pepper, thyme and oregano.  Stir around a bit to make the sauce.

Step 3: Make Pie

When you take your veg out of the oven, throw them into a big bowl.

Add bread crumbs and sauce, and toss gently to coat.

Put one pie crust in the bottom of the pie plate.

At this point, you can dust the bottom of the pie crust with a little Parmesan cheese. 

{I skipped that because my husband doesn't eat cheese}  

{lame}

Dump the veg into the pie crust and top with the second crust. Crimp edges as best you can.

This makes a very stuffed pie, so crimping the edges is a wee bit difficult.  

Pierce the top crust a few times to vet.

Brush on some of the egg wash.

Step 4: Cook & Eat

Put the pie in the 450F oven for 15 minutes.

Then, cover the edges of the pie crust so it doesn't burn.

Lower the oven temp to 425F.

Cook for another 15 minutes, or until golden brown and amazing looking.

Pretty sure that's the prettiest pie I've ever made!

Serves 6, so just go ahead and pre-cut this into 6 servings.  

Plate and eat...

Doesn't that look amazing?!?!??!

{I need to invest in at least 1 plain white plate}

I immediately put the other 4 servings into plastic containers for lunches or leftover dinners.

You could probably freeze this too.

Happy Eating!

March Birchbox

My March Birchbox came in the mail last week, and this month marks my 6 month anniversary.  Of all of the boxes I've gotten, this one is my favorite.  Each month I always get excited about at least one of the products in my box {Clark's Bontanicals face cream, Harvey Prince perfume, foot cream, etc} but this month I was pretty darn excited about all of my products.

Here's what I got:

Isn't the packaging so pretty?

1. Ahava Essential Day Moisturizer, normal to dry skin.  Full size $38.50
I love love love this moisturizer.  I love it almost as much as I loved the Clark's Bontaincals one from a few boxes ago.  But the price tag on this one is soooo much better.  I'm considering using my 300 bb points to pick up this cream.  It's nice a thick, smells lovely, and does a really good job of making my skin feel nice.  Although I do get a little bit of an oil problem by the end of the day.

2. Boscia Green Tea Blotting Linens.  100 sheets, $10
I haven't tried these yet, but I did slip them into my traveling makeup kit so I will always have them at the ready.  I've used products like this before and I was never overly impressed.  I'm hoping these will work well with a face covered in makeup.

3. Oscar Blandi Pronto Wet Instant Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner.  Full sizes $24/each
OMG this shampoo is basically amazing.  Smells amazing.  Feels amazing.  And I got pretty big hair with it.  Even without blow-drying.  Haven't tried the conditioner yet.  It's advertised as shortening your blow-drying session, but I never blow-dry my hair.  But if it makes my hair feel softer then straw, I'll be all over it.

4. Talika Lipocils Expert.  Full size $55
This was a slightly weird product.  First, the applicator 'wand' doesn't look like the picture on the box.  I e-mailed the bb team and they told me that the trial sizes only come with the 'doe foot' and not with the mascara wand bit.  But, it's supposed to be like that prescription product "Lastisse" of whatever it's called, without any side effects {like turning your eyes brown}.  I've used it a few times and haven't noticed difference, but maybe it needs to be applied longer.  This was my least favorite product in the box, but really that's only because I don't particularly care about my eye lashes.

5. Kusmi Tea Detox Tea.  24 bags $21.95
I haven't tried this yet, but I do love love love tea.  I think it's a great freebie in the box, and I'm looking forward to trying it.

What did you get in yours?  Where you as excited about it as I was?  As soon as I saw how big those shampoo and conditioner samples were, I did a little dance around my house!

Peace & Love,

What Work Looks Like {M-F OOTD}

It's been a while since I've done any OOTDs on this blog.

And it seemed like I was extra motivated to take pics of myself in the ladies room this week....

So here are the outfits I wore to work this week.

And a picture of the 1st pair of pants I own that aren't in a neutral color like black, brown, tan, olive or grey!  These are loud folks, loud.

{because looking at semi-narcissistic pictures of myself is tons of fun....}

Monday: Why did you have to come so soon?

blouse: ann taylor/skirt&card: lane bryant/ belt: ?

Tuesday: Why can't you be more like your sister Friday?

sweater&pants: lane bryant/blouse: jcpenny/pearls: grandmother

Wednesday: Is this week over yet?

dress:target/cardi:kohl's

Thursday: Almost there.... {how to dress up a t-shirt}

pants&t-shirt: lane bryant {shirt is a new purchase}/necklace: old navy

cardi: lane bryant {new purchase and same as Monday's cardi}

Friday: Holy Hot Pants!!

pants & sweatshirt: lane bryant {new purchases}

shoes: payless

Peace & Love

And thanks for supporting the "Terrible Bathroom Pictures" club. :)  

Got Glasses?

Early last week a representative from GlassesUSA.com contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in writing a blog post about their company.  Like, for money.  I was pretty excited to get the offer, and readily agreed to write a post about Glasses USA.  So I've been doing some research, and it's important to let you know that while GU is paying me to write this... the opinions and photographs are all mine!

hard to see, but those glasses are circa 2005

I've been were eyeglasses since the 4th grade, so roughly something like 20 years {give or take}.  I distinctly remember my first pair... they were pink and plastic.  And I hated them.  I broke them on purpose {sorry mom}.  And since the 4th grade I've been getting my glasses at a local doctors office.  Until last week I didn't even know you could buy glasses online, so imagine my surprise when GU contacted me.

glasses circa 2006

Going to the eye doctor can sure be a hassle, huh?  For me, a visit to the doctors means a total of 1.5 hours in my car.  I love my doctor, but I hate spending most of a Saturday driving around and waiting in the office.  When it's time for me to get new glasses, I'm going to see if my doctor will give me my eyeglasses prescription so I can go buy everything online.  It's a lot easier and a lot less money.

my newest pair, December 2011

At Glasses USA they have what seems like millions of frames to choose from.  You can easily pick between men's and women's glasses, as well as different frame types like plastic, metal, semi rimless and rimless.  There are so many to choose from!  And the coolest part... they have this neat little thing called a "Virtual Mirror" where you can either upload a picture, use your webcam, or pick from a few stock pictures and then 'try on' any pair you want!!!  I'll admit to using a few minutes of my bosses time playing with that feature today while he was in a meeting....

I can hear some of you saying "but what's the catch?".  Well, as far as I can tell, there isn't one.  Get your prescription, and then get ready for sticker shock when you see the prices: these are seriously cheap glasses and by cheap I mean not a lot of money.  Because they've got crazy name-brands too.  Like Coach, Lucky Brand, Kenneth Cole an Calvin Klein.  How much did you spend on frames and lenses the last time you bought them?  When I bought my new glasses in December, my total cost was around $150 after my insurance deductions.

circa 2011

Some of these glasses are $58 for the frames AND the lenses.  That's $58 total.  Granted, it's for single vision only but that's ok.  A little bit more digging shows that it's an additional $70 for bifocals {which I have} and then there are more additional charges if you want things like feather light frames or scratch coating.  So, it could add up to be more then what you might pay at the Dr. office if you have insurance.  Or it might not.  A great feature is that you can decide what you want to pay for on your own... you aren't being pressured by a sales person who is always 'suggesting' things you may or may not need.  For instance, I never pay extra for the feather light lenses because I always buy a substantial frame that hides most of my coke bottle lenses so I don't have to worry about it.

I think this could be a totally awesome place to buy glasses if you only have single vision needs.  Or if you just wanted sunglasses {the charge for tinting is $19}.  Or if you want to have the most control over what you are getting.  I love the virtual mirror and the seemingly endless amount of choices.  And they are almost always running some kind of sale.  Right now if you use the CODE: Lucky50 you can get 50% off ANY pair of prescription glasses {although it's a St. Patrick's day sale so it probably ends soon}.  Or you could use the CODE: Blog10 and take 10% off any order of prescription glasses.

i've had these 'movie star' sunglasses for ages.  love them!

Why don't you pop on over there and check them out?

P.S. Here's that Virtual Mirror thingy:




Peace & Love,

Easy Weeknight Cooking

Another Easy Peasy Weeknight Meal photo tutorial!

Cantonese-Style Shrimp with Napa Cabbage

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients

1 lb. shelled and deveined shrimp

1 tbsp peanut oil

1 tbsp dark sesame oil

1 head napa cabbage {or any cabbage you can find}

2 tsp corn starch

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sugar

3 tbsp ginger

3 cloves garlic

a few scallions

1 cup rice

1/2 cup water or chicken/vegetable stock {I used water, b/c who wants to open a box of stock for only a half cup?}

Step 2: Cook The Rice

No picture, because cooking rice is exciting enough... right?  

This would be even easier if you had leftover rice in your fridge.  Done & done.

Step 3: Prep Your Ingredients

chop up the scallions, mince the ginger and garlic

put water in a small container, and put your spices near it

shred cabbage

my shrimp came with their tails on, so remove those

Step 4: Make Sauce

put all your spices in the water and stir {riveting, I know}

Step 5: Cook It All Up {This Goes Fast, kids}

heat up the two oils on high for a few, then dump in the shrimp and stir fry for a couple minutes until mostly pink

add garlic and ginger, and stir fry for a minute longer

add the sauce and boil for a few minutes until thicker

Add cabbage and mix until cabbage starts to wilt

Step 6: Eat and Enjoy!

get yourself a plate, add some rice, add some shrimp & cabbage mix, and top with the scallions

Not even joking how good this is.  There is a lot of pepper, so it's kind of spicy.  And delicious.  You're going to LOVE LOVE LOVE making and eating this.

It's like Chinese take-out, only healthier and probably cheaper.  

Happy eating!

Guest Posting: Check It!

Please don't run away!  I'm guest posting today!

My friend Faith asked me to do a post while she's moving....

Please go check it out here: Grocery Shop Like You Mean It

That's kind of a funny title, huh?  But that's my philosophy on grocery shopping.  Get it, get out.  Do it for less then $50.  Try it, I dare ya!

Julian of Norwich Retreat

This past weekend I spent a really wonderful time on a retreat.  This retreat was being hosted by The Order of Julian of Norwich, or which my dear friend KC is a member.  

Several months ago KC asked me if I'd like to go on this retreat with her.  Not knowing anything about Julian of Norwich didn't seem to matter.  The retreat was billed as a Silent Retreat, and I was perhaps the most apprehensive about this aspect.  I'm a pretty chatty girl, and I was quite intimidated by the thought of a weekend full of silence.

What would I do with myself?

Would I be able to entertain myself?

But I agreed to go anyway, because I love to experience new things.  On Friday another gal I know {from church} picked me up and we drove the 1.5 hours west to the retreat center.  Which just happens to be an old Catholic monastery and beautiful farm house, which is where the sisters used to live.  Needless to say, the farm house is all kinds of quirky.  About a million bedrooms, bathrooms and stairwells.  I had a blast exploring it!

We were all encouraged to bring snacks to share with the people on retreat.  Sadly, I left my cookies in the freezer.  But, there were a thousand pounds of other delicious yummies for us to eat while we were there.  And they feed us three wonderful, wholesome, healthy meals on Saturday plus dinner on Friday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday.  The sisters that currently stay at the retreat center are amazingly hospitable.

At any rate, we arrived in the afternoon on Friday and were encouraged to talk with our fellow retretants and get settled in.  We were allowed to roam around and choose any few room we wanted.  There were about 16 of us on retreat, and there were enough rooms for us all to have our own with lots left over.  I do believe there were enough bathrooms for us to not have to share too, but we were less picky about that.

The silence portion of the retreat didn't officially start until after our morning prayer on Saturday and it lasted through morning prayer on Sunday.  And you know what?  The silence was amazing.  At first I was a little scared.  But I realized that in being silent we were freed from any social expectations to make small-talk, we never had to explain ourselves or what we were doing, and the silence allowed for some really incredible deep thinking and conversations with my heart.

It was nice to know, too, that we could talk if necessary and we weren't going to get shot or yelled at.  

Here are two pictures of the room I stayed in for the weekend:

All nice and neat, just like a hotel!  And the E-man goes with me everywhere.

The most charming little cubby hole for me to do my reflections.  :)

What did you do over the weekend?

Peace & Love,

Great Grandmother Purnell

I come from a family of people who cook.  

Or, at least, I assume that I do.

My mother taught me how to cook when I was just old enough to hold a spoon.

My first meals were often fish sticks and mac & cheese.

{the kind in the blue box}

One time I set the oven on fire while making a steak.

And while I learned how to cook the basics, my family often feasted on unusual foods.

I imagined my friends all eating hamburger helper for dinners growing up.

We ate baked scallops, or tofu, or Chinese rice noodles, or pork chops baked in milk.

{those pork chops were nasty.  so was the tofu}

We didn't have a lot of money growing up {despite the scallops on the menu}, but my mother always cooked dinner.

And despite two of the above mentioned foods being gross, most of what she made was amazing.

I like to think I take after her.  At least in the cooking department.

And we used to bake together.  

Specifically, these cookies:

These are from my Great Grandmother Prunell's recipe.  They are Anise Cookies.

They are crazy easy.

And it takes almost forever to make them.

But, you end up with around 7 dozen of these gems.

I never met GGPurnell, but I bet she was a pip.  

These are my favorite cookies.

And I love that it's a family recipe.

But here's the weird thing;

My mother loves them.  Her brothers and sister?  Not so much.

I love them.  My brother and sisters?  Not so much.

I wonder what would happen if I ever have children.

Will only one of them like this cookie??

Here are a few snaps of me making these:

I make these all the time at Christmas.

It's fun to use cookie cutters! And I have all of my grandmothers' old ones.

Which may or may not have been her mothers'.  {GGPurnell}

These particular cookies are being split between my freezer, Sirs' office & a retreat I'm going to.

I'm keeping the 'burned' ones.

Because I like them best when they are dark brown and crispy.

But I'm sensitive to the fact that other  people like their cookies pristine white.

{boring}

Book Review: Starcrossed

Book review: "Starcrossed" by Josephine Angelini

This book is amazing.  Trust.  I picked it up on a whim from the 'newly returned' rack at my local library.  I quickly glanced at the inside cover for a brief 'about' and decided I'd give it a whirl.  I love YA novels and as soon as the word 'demi-god' leaped out from the cover I was hooked.

The story takes place on Nantucket Island, off the coast of Massachusetts.  Being a New Englander myself, I was immediately enchanted by a novel set near where I live!  That the main characters were all in high school didn't eve phase me.  Whatevs... it's the story that matters!

Upon starting the book, I was a little concerned that this was going to be like the "Twilight" series.  While the beginning bit is similar (girl meets new, mysterious family that moved to town) the story swiftly takes a different direction entirely.

Romeo and Juliet meets High School Musical-esque drama in this novel by Josephine Angelini.  The plot trips along nicely, the characters are well developed and I felt like I developed a relationship with them while I was reading.  In the interest of full disclosure, I love a good story and I'm easily hooked into them.  But let me tell you, I was loathe to put this book down.  In fact, I was getting down right irritated that my JOB was interfering with my reading time!

By the time I was 60 pages in or so I was desperate to find out who Helen really was.  I even went so far to start researching mythology characters in the Internet.  Some of the characters were easy to figure out, like Cassandra the Oracle.  Helen and Lucas were a little harder, but it was all nicely straightened out for me in the end.

But oh!  The drama!  The suspense!  And the amazing attention to detail in the mechanics of the story - great, great references to the Battle of Troy and the Greek Gods.  I've always been fascinated with mythology and this novel certainly captured my interest and held it through the nearly 500 pages.

If you've read the "Percy Jackson" novels, you should read this book.  I think I could read this a half dozen more times and still find something new and exciting.  I don't have a single negative thing to say about this book, except that I don't want to wait until May to read the second one!

Run, don't walk, to your local bookstore/library and get this book.  You will not regret it!

Peace & Love,

Easy Weeknight Cooking: Turkish Lentil Soup

Another photo tutorial for an easy weeknight recipe!

I bring you: Thick Turkish Lentil Soup

Step 1. Gather Your Ingredients

3 cups vegetable stock

chili powder

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups lentils

1 tbsp tomato paste

3 cloves garlic, chopped

broccoli

salt

Strictly speaking, the broccoli isn't in the recipe.  But I had it in the fridge so I decided to add it.  Also, I added an additional 2 cups of water.

Step 2. Saute Some Veggies

Chopped veg & garlic

Toss a little oil in a large soup pot, and saute the onion for a few minutes until soft but not brown.  Throw in the garlic and broccoli and stir.

Step 3. Add The Seasonings

Add your seasonings and lentils.  Stir.

Step 4. Make It Soup

Add the stock and additional water, if necessary.  Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

Step 5. Enjoy

Hubs brought home some incredible bread sticks, so I heated them up and served them with the soup.  This is a hearty soup and tastes very earthy.  Great for a winter day! :)

Enjoy!