Old Earrings, Pretty New Barrettes

A couple of weekends, I got the chance (i.e. free Saturday morning) to go and look around the resale shops.  These are my favorite places to look around and think up new projects.  I've been looking for some cool looking clip on earrings, and I finally found a pair.

What do you think?

These were easy as pie (which isn't easy by the way) to make.

All you need is some rubbing alchol to clean them. 

Then you just clip them on the barrettes you got at the craft store.



Then Enjoy!

Later~

Cyn

How will you remember the day?

Hubby and I have been watching 'Remembering 9/11' on the National Geographic Channel for the last couple of nights.  It has been really interesting and I'm learning (or relearning) things about that day that I never knew.  Last night that there was a very interesting interview with Fmr. President Bush, like him or not, it was interesting to hear what his day was like.  Tonight we are watching Mayor Giuliani's day, amazing how close he came to being a victim. 

I know that everyone remembers where they were that day and what they day was and what it became.  I just remember being alone.  I was in a new city, with new friends and my closest family was 6 hours away.  I remember packing a bag with clothes, water and candy bars in case I had to make a hasty retreat to Ohio.  I remember wondering 'what should I do?'

Now, it's 10 years later and I have built a family, in a city that I love, and I'm still known to carry candy bars in my car...but for a much different reason.

There were so many acts of random human kindness that day, that saved alot of lives, what better way to remember those we lost by giving back.  There is a wonderful website, 911 day, that helps you create ideas on how you can give back in your community.  I would love to hear your ideas.

Later~
Cyn

Are you ready?

Just sitting here this morning, watching the Hurricane Irene coverage and enjoying an egg sandwich & some Starbucks.  I cannot imagine being in the path of this hurricane, especially not knowing what it's going to be.

This got me thinking alittle bit about being - how prepared are you for a natural (or other type) of disaster?  I think we would all like to think that we are pretty prepared, we have canned goods and a first aid kit, flashlights and candles.  I actually checked Ready.gov and we are anything but ready.  We need water, cat food, and so many other things.  I am picturing a Rubbermaid tote full of things.  So I guess that is something that I need to work on.   I encourage you to check out that website and see if your family is ready!

Later~
Cyn

New Use for an Old Shirt

This is the shirt that I wore to my rehearsal dinner.  Of course Hubby didn't remember that when quizzed the other night, but that's okay.   When I came across it in the closet the other night I was devastated to find a hole in it.  Not because it was something I wore alot, but I just couldn't see getting rid of it, or making it into dust rags.  Too much sentimental value for me.

So I came up with an idea.   So I turned it inside out and sewed the bottom up.

See my helper...

So this is now hanging in my laundry room filled with dust rags, I remember my Grandma had something similar hanging on her clothes line filled with clothes pins, although I don't think that was the top that she wore to her rehearsal dinner...

Hope that everyone is having a good week.  Things are getting better here and sometimes that's all you can ask for.

Later~
Cyn

Late Summer Cleaning Spectular!!

I cannot believe that I have a weekend with nothing to do and no where to go. It feels awesome. Too bad, that I penciled in a overall house cleaning. So I guess that means I do have something to do, I try and schedule this at least 4 times a year. I block off a weekend, and I get all those things done that I've been meaning to do for the past few months. I'll give you some examples.


Bag up and Drop off the goodwill items

Clean the windows, sills and all

Vacuum the heating & dryer vents (kitty totally hates this one)

Wash bathroom rugs and fabric shower curtains

Clean the burner covers on the stove

Wash down the shelves and bins in frig

Busy day....better get going....Have a great weekend..

Later~
Cyn

Mexician Veggie Pizza

I promised to post this recipe so here it is.  It's great for a potluck or a party.  It's soooo easy to make.

What you are going to need:

2 packages of crescent rolls
1 package of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup of sour cream
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 cup of shredded lettuce
3/4 cup of diced tomatoes

1 (8 oz) can of corn, drained

1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained

3 tablespoons of fresh cilantro, coarsely cut

1 cup shredded cheese (I used triple cheddar)

Here's how you do it:

Roll out the crescent rolls onto a cookie sheet and bake according package instructions.  **tip: put the package of cream cheese on the stove to soften it up** You will want to let this cool, while it does this rinse both the corn and black beans, layer them on paper towels to dry them out.

After you have done this, you will want to mix up your 'sauce.'  Mix together, the cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning.  Once the crescent rolls have cooled spread the sauce over the rolls.

Now you are going to start layering your toppings, start with the lettuce, tomatoes, then add the corn and beans.  On top of these layers add your cilantro and finally your cheese.

Let this sit in the frig for at least a couple of hours (or overnight) to help it set up, cut and serve.

Hope you enjoy it!  If you try it, let me know how it turns out!

Later~

Cyn

Sunday Night Dinner on a Monday

When I was a little girl, my sister and I had a favorite dinner that my mom would make.  Beef Stroganoff.  It is so so good.  But, it was one of those meals that my Mom would always over the weekend, usually on Sunday.  My sister and I would complain all afternoon about when it would be done.  I thought that it was the hardest thing to make because it took so long.  Once I got my own kitchen, I had the bright idea to make it myself, I looked up a recipe, and I was amazed to find out how easy it was to make, it's just the time involved with making it (just give me a minute and you will see what I mean.)  When I brought this up to my Mom she said "I didn't say it was hard, it just takes forever." I decided to experiment with it this week.  I would prep most of it on Sunday and finish it off on Monday night.  Below are the yummy results...

What you are going to need:

1 lb. of Round Steak (or stew meat) cut into bite size pieces

1 cup all purpose flour

ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/4 cup of white onion diced

1 (15 oz) can of beef broth

2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce

1 jar of whole mushrooms, quartered
1 package of Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Savory Garlic
1 bag of egg noodles

Step One: Sunday Afternoon

Add flour to a medium size bowl, ground pepper (I use alot) over the flour, add cut up meat.  Coat meat in the flour mixture.  At the same time you are doing this, in a large skillet with high sides, add your olive oil and turn the heat to medium.  Once the pan is hot, add your onion and allow them to cook down.  After this, you are going to add your meat (use a slotted spoon to remove the pieces from the flour mixture, don't worry about getting extra flour in the pan - it's all good.)  Brown your meat (haha), and then add your beef broth and worcestershire sauce, bring to a boil.  Once that has come to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and let it simmer for an hour. Yes an hour. 

While that his simmering quarter your mushrooms, and stir the sauce mixture every 20 mins or so.  After an hour, yes an hour.  Add your mushrooms and allow it to simmer for another half an hour.  Once this is done simmer allow it to cool and put this in the frig for tomorrow.

Step Two: Monday after work

Begin by cooking your noodles, at the same time heat up the sauce mixture, remembering to stir, once this hot, add your Philly Cooking Creme, you can also use a cup of sour cream (if you do, I would recommend adding a couple of cloves of garlic to your onions), drain your noodles and serve.  So, on the second night it will only take as long as your noodles do!

The results were so good that I forgot to take a picture.  I always serve this dish with a veggie (green beans) and fresh bread.

I hope that you enjoy!

Later~
Cyn

Using Sunday Night to get ready for Monday Morning

Arghhh…it’s Sunday night again…I think that I dread bedtime on Sunday more than getting up on Monday morning. So last week was a mess at our house, cable was out for a couple of days, everyone working late, I had a seminar one night. Crazy busy…and I was completely unorganized so that just made the week even worse.


This week I vowed to do better, and so today I’ve been busy. So this is the way that I get ready for the week….

Cook Ahead

I plan our menu for the following week on Thursday nights when the new grocery ads come out. I make a list and hang in the frig so that everyone knows what night we are having what. On Sunday’s I do all the prep work that I can do; cleaning and chopping fruits and veggies, cooking ground beef for tacos, grilling chicken for salads, etc…

I was very busy today!!

Today I made some potato salad, some brownies, cooked some meat for beef strongoff, and cleaned lettuce and tomatoes for salads.

Laundry

I hate to fold clothes, and not just socks. That is usually the last task that I do during the week. While as I write this now, all my laundry is clean, folded, and put away. Excuse me while I pat myself on the back.

Briefcase

I have also cleaned out my purse and briefcase. Last week I couldn’t find anything in either of them. Not going to be a problem this week.

Clean House

A clean house leads to unclutter mind. Well, at least for me. House is clean, that ought to help this week.


What are your routines on Sunday night that get you ready for Monday morning?

Later~
Cyn

Rainy Sunday...

What a lazy day it has been around our house.  Which is good because we were out way past our bed time last night, but it was worth it.  We had such a good time at the Brad Paisley concert.  We had good seats and at one point, he was singing in the middle of the crowd and I was literally 4 feet from the back of his head.  See picture below.  He is very tiny and I could have just tucked him in my purse and took him home.

So today's has been lazy but productive, I took some things off my master to-do list (only 498 things to go..LOL.)  Posted some books to ebay and paperback swap, baked some cookies and finally got to the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper. I even made it to Target this morning to start 'Back to School' present shopping for the nieces and nephews.  We got this Justin Bebier (sp?) gear for one of my nieces (she has a hard core case of Bebier fever going on) and since I picked it up I've had "Baby,Baby" running through my head, and since I've started signing it, it's now stuck in Hubby's head too.

Things I've learned this Week...

In a dark parking lot when you cannot find your car, do not separate from your Hubby, because the one without the keys and a dead cell phone will find it first.

That my 5 year old niece is fierce.  She had to get 12 stitches in her head this week and hardly shed a tear, and it not mad at her sister for the accident that lead up to it.  She keeps walking around saying 'I have freds in head' she can't say the 'th' - she is quite a little girl..

Have a Great Week..I promise to post the Mexican veggie pizza recipe this week..

Later~
Cyn

Creating Jobs for America

On my way into work this morning, I heard a news story, it was just a few seconds long, but that was enough. The story was about how a business group called Jobs4America was partnering with the FCC to bring 100,000 jobs back to America over the next two years, many of these jobs lately have been 'outsourced' overseas over the years because of cheaper labor.  These jobs would be in call centers mainly for customer service representatives.  But, think about all the jobs that those jobs will create, positions for managers, cleaning personnel, and just maybe the sandwich shop on the corner will be able to hire more employees because he is getting a larger lunch crowd.  Jobs create Jobs.   Check out the article here.

How can you help?

Find out where they companies that you use (and pay) have there call centers.  This can be as simply as calling the 800 number and asking although sometimes they are not willing to give you this information.  If that doesn't work, contact them on their website.  Once you have that information, and it turns out that they are not in America, send them a professional, letter asking them to reconsider their decision, and ask them to bring these jobs back to America.

If a company has these jobs in America send them a letter anyway to thank them for making this choice.  Sprint is actually one of the company that will be bringing jobs back to America through this program, I'm going to send them a letter to thank them.

One more quick thing on putting Americans back to work.  I'm really been enjoying an on-going segment on the ABC 'World News with Diane Sawyer'  the segment is called 'Made in America' and it worth checking out.  It is a story of the Presidential candidates and there merchandise.  Check it out.  If it was all 'Made in America' it could create at least 500 jobs.  How many jobs could those 500 create?

Later~
Cyn

Summer 2011: A Hot Stinky Mess

Has everyone’s Summer been as busy as ours? It seems like we are always on the go. To add to the problem, Hubby has been working super long hours and weekends. It seems like we are so busy rushing around from activity to activity that the summer is just passing us by.

To be honest, I have been having some issues keeping everything straight. We days we have events, times, places, etc..so I decided I need to actually start writing things down on a calendar (I know, who would think that would work?) Once the kitchen was remodeled (and redecorated) I made a strict rule that nothing was to be hung on the walls, expect for pre-approved pictures, and shelves. So, per my usual I decided that I could make one that would look better. So the picture below is of July (since I’m in the middle of making August) and it doesn’t seem like a lot, but I really only filled in the last couple of weeks. On the side is our weekly menu, so I guess you could call this my refrigerator organizing center, next to that our grocery list. (COOKIE MONSTER)

The heat has really been screwing with me lately. After the flood last weekend, it turned my car into a rainforest, and it has been impossible to be outside for more than 5 minutes without ducking back in the air conditioning or jumping in the pool. Another side effect of the heat that I’ve noticed is that our kitchen trash has been extremely stinky over the past month with these warm temperatures (even with the air conditioning on), it seems like we take it out every night, and with it just being the two of us and the high amount of recycling we do, that is too much, and a waste of bags. Then I came across this...

First of all the marketing is genius. I love when companies go all out with product presentation (see they little garbage can?) So, these bags are scented with Febreze and it really does work. I saved the sample until this weekend because we had house guests and I’m not sure if they could tell a difference, but I sure could. We put the bag in Saturday morning, and as of tonight when I got home, things still smelled pretty darn good.  Thanks so much to Vocalpoint for the sample!

So I guess that is my cue to get into my non-stinky kitchen and actually make some dinner…boo….


Later~
Cyn