Woman Tribune » Housekeeping

The Great Moving Debacle

Holly — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:51:26 +0000

Believe it or not, this picture is not a screenshot from the show Hoarders. I really wish I could say that it was, but I must admit that this has been the sorry state of the Room Formally Known as the Living Room for the past two weeks. I have a life-long habit of waiting until the last possible, yet still manageable minute to do much of anything, so you would think that when I was made aware of the date in which my partner and I would be moving that I would put off packing up all of our belongings until that date was right around the corner. Normally this would have been the case. In fact, that was supposed to be the case.

We started to look for possible new places to live a few months ago. This had become a routine of sorts for us throughout the past couple of years. When yet another thing in our two-bedroom apartment would break or the rapid deterioration of our apartment building would become even more apparent, we would go on the hunt for other, affordable rentals out there. Turns out that around these parts, or any part within 100 miles of us in any direction, the words affordable and rental are oxymorons. We would get frustrated, stop looking, and reside ourselves to living unhappily in a place that has been steadily falling apart around us. Rinse, wash, repeat. We were destined to fall into that same cycle again, but after some number-crunching, my partner brought up the option–and the realistic possibility–of purchasing.

I have never given the idea of purchasing a home too much thought. It has always been something nice to think about that could possibly happen at some point in the future, maybe. That maybe is what made it continue to be a nice thought. I do not deal with drastic changes very well. They make me feel vulnerable; as if I am teetering on the edge of a cliff thousands of stories high and even the slightest gust of wind could send me falling to my demise. When I was a kid, my mother had moved me and my younger sister around more than six times in ten months. From the time I was an adolescent I have wanted nothing more in my life but stability; something that I can count on without it changing or disappearing overnight. But the idea of permanence makes me feel as if I am being trapped in a box too small for my body and my air will run out soon and every part of my body is going numb.

Something that can be counted on has always won out when my mental processes start to become conflicting, blood-thirsty enemies, and we began to look for single family homes on the market. What we immediately found is that while affordable rentals don’t seem to exist anymore, affordable homes do and in the end, they can wind up being even more affordable than any rental I have personally ever lived in.

After looking at just four homes, we simultaneously had our hearts latch on to a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with an additional basement apartment (hello in-home recording studio for my professional guitarist partner!) and an actual yard with an above-ground pool in the same town we have been living in for the past four years; a town that is quiet and surrounded by woods, where everyone you meet is still kind and humble and good.

We put in two offers before the owner of the home accepted and when she did, we got excited. We had to keep telling ourselves that in the next few months anything could happen. Something could go wrong. There was still time for everything to fall through. I started calling it “our house.” I realized just how excited I was at the prospect of having a home. Somewhere I belong; where I make sense; where I can create and thrive instead of merely floating in the limbo that is basic survival. Somewhere I can really live and grow, happily.

We soared through the purchasing process full steam ahead. We let our excitement grow until it was barely containable, and then we ran into issues with the bank. Twice. I began to wonder how it could be so hard for the bank to allow us to give them money every month. Our move-in date was unexpectedly pushed back which resulted in our existence being lived out in a barely-functioning apartment. We thought this place made us want to rip our hair out to begin with, but now most of our belongings have taken over the entire downstairs where there is but a small path just wide enough to walk through from the landing of the stairs, through the living room, and into the kitchen. But our days in this crowded, barely able to walk state are coming to an end, just as our days living in this apartment that we tried so desperately to make feel like a home have ended.

We get the keys to our new home this afternoon. Even as I sit here, on a mattress that is sitting on the floor with our bed in pieces and stacked around the room, with only seven hours until we have the keys to our very own home in our hands, it still feels like it isn’t happening. That something so good and filled with so much hope and optimism is just that inconceivable. But maybe that is what new beginnings and life changes feel like–too good to be true, until they are.

Check Out the New Tassimo Professional Office Brewer and Sign Up for a Free Demo

Holly — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:00:26 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tassimo. All opinions are 100% mine.

Coffee is an integral part of the morning routines and workdays of countless people everywhere. Without it, I predict that the level of productivity we’re used to seeing collectively put forth day after day would surely decrease to a slow crawl in no time. Some people would go as far as to say that they are not sure what they would do, or how much they would accomplish, if it weren’t for that cup of coffee that starts their day each morning. I am undoubtedly one of those people.

If you work in an office, frequent coffee shop stops are most likely part of your daily workday routine. Even after you’ve settled into work after your morning coffee, by the time early afternoon rolls around the craving for a delicious, rich coffee can be downright insatiable. Instead of having to make time during your lunch hour to run to your local corporate coffee chain, Tassimo has the perfect solution–the new Tassimo Professional single-cup specialty brewer.

I am a big fan of Tassimo already. I have had their T20 Brewbot home brewer for almost a year now and as soon as I tasted the quality of coffee drinks it produced, I was an instant fan. Being able to enjoy a coffee house-style (and quality) beverage in the comfort of my own home has been a treat and with this new office brewer, you can now do the same right in your office, without having to leave during your workday, and without having to spend that extra $5 on one single cup of coffee at your local shop.

The new Tassimo Professional office brewer allows you to enjoy an assortment of luxury beverage brands, such as cappuccinos and lattes made using Gevalia espresso and real milk creamer. If you’re not a coffee person or if you’re simply in the mood for a non-coffee beverage, this brewer can also prepare rich and creamy Suchard hot chocolate and Twinings tea, just to name a few. I love that Tassimo brewers are capable of making so many different types of beverages, unlike a standard coffee maker where all you can make is coffee. Tassimo brewers do this easily and flawlessly with intelligently designed T-Discs that are filled with the contents that will be brewed into your mug. Tassimo Professional T-Discs feature unique double-bar brew codes that ensure precise brewing and consistent quality; also, the T-Discs are only compatible with Tassimo Professional brewers so your co-workers won’t be able to stash them away for home use.

If you’ve never used a Tassimo brewer, or any other type of single-cup or luxury beverage system, a new small appliance could look daunting. Luckily, this brewer is simple to use. With one-touch activation and a real time LCD instructions, you can brew a perfect mug of delicious coffee, or any other beverage you like, in under two minutes.

If you are an office-dwelling coffee-lover, Tassimo has awesome news for you! Starting now, you can sign up for a Tassimo Professional free demo and enjoy delicious hot beverages at your office for free!

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Hoarding Clean Up: Leave It to the Professionals

Holly — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:14:39 +0000

I used to have a particularly negative attitude towards documentary/reality television shows documenting a person’s struggle with a mental illness, an attribute that sets them apart from the society-accepted version of “normal,” or the challenge to change themselves in the face of discrimination. In my estimation, these shows, while they did strive to reveal a supposedly honest depiction of living with conditions such as substance abuse issues, obesity, and particular phobias, they were doing very little else but exploiting the subjects that were plucked from obscurity and put on the television screens of millions of homes nationwide. I saw the benefit of these shows in the sense that they bring a certain level of success to the television networks who produce and air them, and for the viewers who typically see quality entertainment value in the distress of the others.

While I certainly have some questionable taste in trashy reality television myself (Keeping Up with the Kardashians, anyone?), I wanted nothing to do with shows like Heavy, Addicted, Celebrity Rehab, and so on. That is, until I started watching the A&E show Intervention on a whim. This particular subject matter interested me because when I was growing up, my mother was an alcoholic and drug addict. She may still be, but she has not been in my life in any capacity whatsoever since I was about 10 years old. In some feeble attempt to make sense of my entire childhood within the course of seasons upon seasons of 44-minute episodes, I started with this show. I branched out to others over time, and more focusing on other subjects as I noticed articles popping up on blogs and websites I frequently read where the authors used these shows as catalysts to share their own stories, knowing that much of their audience had seen these shows and would know the basis of the issues they were discussing.

One topic that has come up quite a bit throughout the past few years is hoarding. The shows Hoarders and Hoarding: Buried Alive have continued to gain more popularity; because of this success it’s safe to say that while it is still technically “taboo” subject matter, these shows have instilled knowledge of what hoarding is along with how and why it happens into the people who have seen an episode or two. This has given people who hoard just a little more confidence in reaching out to others and sharing stories of their own struggles with this compulsive behavior.

Television shows on the subject of hoarding always provide the people who are the subject of an episode with a therapist to battle their obsessive compulsive behavior, which they always end up needing because with being on an episode of one of these shows comes the often traumatic cleanup process. Hoarding clean up is extremely risky to do without the help of professionals because often in spaces that are affected by hoardings, there is buildup of dust, mold, mildew, trash, expired food, rodent and animal droppings and infestations, and sometimes even live or dead animals who have also inhabited the same spaces. These spaces have become uninhabitable by the time these cleanup crews get to the house of someone who hoards, and by that time the disorder has become as unmanageable as their space for the person affected by a compulsion that they cannot cease on their own. The risk to one’s safety and health when cleaning out a space that has been inhabited by a person who hoards for in almost every instance, a prolonged period of time is quite high. Paths and exits become blocked and human interaction with expired food items, airborne contaminants that rise after moving items that haven’t been moved in years, and on a more severe level, animal dander, excrement, and in some cases, carcasses are very likely to get people sick.

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is transmitted by infected rodents and their urine, droppings, and saliva. It can be passed to humans who breathe in the virus and even more frightening, it is a disease that has no specific treatment or cure. This is a major reason as to why if you are cleaning out a space where someone who hoards has lived, or if you have any cleanup job that contains biochemicals or hazardous waste of any kind, that you must contact a professional service to help. Cleaning up a serious mess on your own may save you a few bucks, but it isn’t nearly worth the risks you would be putting your health in.

Photo by Dragonarium

Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid Review and Prize Pack Giveaway [Closed]

Holly — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:46:56 +0000

Seventh Generation is a leading brand of household products that you can feel good about buying and using in your home. Their products are not only effective and healthy solutions for countless housekeeping needs, but are also created and manufactured with the health of the environment and sustainability remaining a top priority.

We recently received a Seventh Generation prize pack that included four bottles of their new natural dish liquid. This dish liquid has awesome cleaning power and leaves dishes clean and fresh. One major thing I noticed about Seventh Generation versus most other brands of dish liquid I have used is that I needed only about half of the amount I have normally used, which means these bottles will last much longer and help to save money. Saving money is always a good thing.

The amazing, rich scent of Seventh Generation dish liquid are created using only authentic ingredients, including essential oils and botanical extracts that come from fields, not factories. Their lavender originates from the fields of Drome in the foothills of the Alps, clementines from Calabria, and lemons from the soils of Sicily. Seventh Generation never uses unnecessary synthetic colors or chemically engineered scents.

Seventh Generation has immense pride in their company and the origins of their ingredients, as they should. To celebrate this, they are currently running the Nature Makes Perfect Scents sweepstakes where you can enter to win a trip for two to one of the sourcing sites of Seventh Generation natural dish liquid fragrance ingredients; either France, Italy, or Vermont–your choice!

Giveaway

MyBlogSpark has generously provided us with the opportunity to give away an additional Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid prize pack to one lucky Woman Tribune reader. Included in the prize pack are four bottles of Seventh Generation natural dish liquid varieties (in scents Free & Clear, Lavender Floral & Mint, Fresh Citrus & Ginger, and Lemongrass & Clementine Zest), a premium 3 Qt. 12″x9″ baking dish from Le Creuset, two Twist loofah sponges and scour pads made from 100% post-recycled materials, and a set of three organic cotton dish towels. Everything you need to serve–and then clean up–your next home cooked meal.

To receive coupons and special offers directly from Seventh Generation, you can sign up for the 7th Gen Nation and start scoring deals and getting rewarded.

Disclosure: The Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by Seventh Generation through MyBlogSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Want to Find an Extra Hour in Your Day?

Bethany — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:00:54 +0000

Wouldn’t that be nice? How many times have you said to yourself, “If I just had an extra hour, I would…” Of course, it’s not possible to extend each day to 25 hours – although that would certainly help some of us to balance our work and family schedules. But you can assess your schedule and juggle it even more creatively to squeeze out an extra hour each day to spend time doing something that you love.

Stop Wasting Time!

Okay, now it’s time to be honest. What areas of your life are sucking time from your schedule? These time sucks may come in the form of TV, Internet, and mundane household tasks that you do each day. If you cut out just one hour of television a day, you could spend time going on a jog with your spouse or helping your daughter with her homework.

If you are at work, set aside specific time blocks to respond to e-mails. If you respond to an e-mail each time that it pops up on your desktop, you’ll likely stay distracted and off task all day long. Tackling all of your e-mails at once will save you precious hours on a weekly basis.

Where Can You Juggle?

The good news is that women are masters at multitasking. So try to think of creative ways that you can juggle activities and kill two birds with one stone. Maybe you can exercise with a friend to catch up on social time and burn calories at the same time. Or perhaps you can walk your children to school to spend time with them and squeeze in a little bit of daily exercise.

You could also watch television while cooking dinner, listen to a book on tape during your commute, or work on your cross-stitch while watching TV.

Stop Waiting

If you think about it, a large majority of your day is spent waiting on other people. Try to minimize the time that you spend waiting by leaving for work earlier or later, if possible. Schedule appointments at off-peak hours, or take a book or your laptop with you to catch up on work while you’re waiting.

Another great tip is to try to squeeze in as much as cleaning as possible during television commercial breaks. This will make housecleaning seem like less of a chore since it will be broken up into small increments, and you’ll be done cleaning up your kitchen by the time that Grey’s Anatomy is over!

Photo by tisner

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I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Toast2TV Star-Studded Kit Giveaway [Closed]

Holly — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:15:50 +0000

This year’s Emmy Awards season has been pretty eventful for us. First, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! hooked us up with a free tub of Not-Butter (I couldn’t believe it) as well as a few recipe cards that provided simple inspiration for light, delicious snacks to enjoy at home or serve at a small get-together. I enjoyed a batch of Roasted Sweet Potato Chips while talking all things television during the #Toast2TV Twitter party last Tuesday. Then, we live tweeted the Emmys last night in all of its somewhat-predictable glory.

Now that all of the Emmy Awards chatter is dying down, we have one last thing to properly bring our celebration of this year’s best in television to a close, and that is of course, a giveaway!

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! has offered up and amazing Toast2TV Star-Studded Kit to be given away to one lucky Woman Tribune reader. The kit includes:

VIP coupon for a free tub of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!
Dualit toaster
Tiffany & Co. butter spreader

I received one of these kits myself and I am completely impressed with the Dualit toaster. The opportunity to receive these goodies came at a great time for me, as my poor, little old toaster should have been replaced years ago. It should have been, but because it was still working about half as well as it did when I first bought it (for my very first apartment nearly eight years ago) it wasn’t an absolutely necessity to replace it–and so I didn’t. This brand new Dualit toaster, on the other hand, is awesome.

Let’s just first state the obvious, shall we? The toaster is yellow. Yellow! I love it; kitchens with splashes of fun colors make me extremely happy and my yellow toaster goes quite well with my red tea kettle, I must say. In addition to its most fabulous color, this toaster also has the ability to heat just one slot, it has a setting to defrost frozen bread before toasting, there is a selector control of toasting buns and bagels and extra-wide 28mm slots to make sure everything fits inside of it, a removable crumb tray for minimal, crumby messes and more.

Giveaway

So, you want a rad, kind of retro (but in the coolest way possible, I promise!) yellow Dualit toaster along with a Tiffany & Co. butter spreader and a coupon to go pick up your favorite I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! product?

Required Entry

Browse through the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! recipe selection and leave a comment telling us what recipe you most look forward to making with the product you would redeem your coupon for.

Extra Entries

Leave a separate comment for each additional entry and be sure to include your username for Twitter and Facebook entries if applicable.

Follow I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! on Twitter
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Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post and details about the Toast2TV Star-Studded Kit. (This entry is worth 2 entries so leave 2 separate comments with the link to your blog post.)
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Win a Dualit toaster, Tiffany&Co butter spreader and coupon from @ICBINotButter & @WomanTribune http://shar.es/HVTgH ends 9/27

This giveaway ends Tuesday, September 27th at 11:59 p.m. ET. This giveaway is open to all U.S. residents over the age of 18 at the time of entry. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted by email; they then have 48 hours (2 days) to respond to that email or another winner will be chosen.

Full Contest Disclaimer

This giveaway is now closed and the winner is…

Congratulations!

Disclosure: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Toast2TV Star-Studded Kit review item and giveaway were provided by I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!

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How I Taught My 10 Year Old to Manage Animal Hair and Odors

Mikki — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:00:47 +0000

I have worked in animal rescue a long time. One thing that I’ve learned is how to effectively minimize animal hair and odors on my own. You see I have a system, and it works. The only flaw in my system is that I’m the only one who does it. The kids, well they tend to make themselves scarce when animal needs arise. That was until my youngest daughter came to me and asked if she could rescue a little of homeless kittens.

To her helping homeless animals is a natural part of life so when she saw five little babies heading to the local animal shelter she knew right away what fate they had in store. She also knew that mommy doesn’t offer to help too many kitties and so she offered to take full responsibility if I said yes. What she saw was an opportunity to save five kittens. What I saw was an opportunity to teach!

You see animal rescue isn’t all about fun and playing with cute babies. In fact there is a huge amount of responsibility in their care, feeding, hygiene and vetting prior to adoption. Until now my 10 year old spent her involvement on the play side of rescue. Now was my opportunity to get her involved on the more demanding side, and that included helping maintain a clean, odor- and hair-free living space!

It All Begins with the Litter Box

What many cat owners may not realize is the majority of your cat odors come from the litter box. Either odors seep from the box or particles stick to your cat’s paws and fur when using the bathroom, later to be tracked all through your house. If you can properly maintain your litter box you’ll be leaps ahead of kitty odor.

But it’s not just odors we are preventing when it comes to a clean box. Failure to remove dirty litter can actually lead to diseases such as urinary tract infections. When you have five kittens this becomes five times more important!

So my daughter and I sat down and discussed the frequency it would take to ensure our home smelled clean and our cats stayed healthy. We agreed to scoop the box twice a day and a complete change out once a week. After showing her how to clean the litter box I turned the complete responsibility over to her, with a little reminder if it needed to get done.

No More Cat Hair? It’s All in the Way You Vacuum

If you’ve ever assigned vacuuming to your children then you are probably all too familiar with their haphazard approach to sweeping the floors. I am always amazed to see my children push the vacuum in a zigzag back and forth over the same spot then wrap up and claim they’re done.

This type of sweeping will never remove the fast-accumulating cat hair from these five kittens and it was important that my daughter understood that. To begin I let her vacuum her way for a week. Then at the end of the week I took a broom and “swept” up all the hair along the edges of the carpet.

She had to laugh when I showed her how much was there. After this demonstration she happily confessed that she figured since our allergy vacuum was so good it would get all the hairs by itself. Such a simplistic view I always admire.

It only took one time showing her how to make sure she covers the entire floor and the speed in which she should move the vacuum to ensure picking up as much hair as possible. After a few practice runs she was ready to take charge again and I was more than satisfied with the end result.

Lending a Hand with Odor Control

It wouldn’t be fair to put the entire burden of odor control on my daughter. After all we do have other rescues in the house that she didn’t ask to bring in. This is where part of my system comes in handy. Remember I said I have a proven system that worked? A huge portion of that is of course how I clean on a daily basis, but one portion is definitely lending a hand when those sneaky odor particles get past our efforts.

When my daughter brought home her foster kittens we had already select which air purifiers we would need to manage all the pollutants and odors that float around our home. Adding the kittens and their litter box was well within the air purifier’s capacity to clean from the air.

So that my daughter could be part of this aspect too I showed her how to monitor the purifier and determine if it needs service (we don’t use filters) and how to assess if we might want to consider adding an extra purifier to the mix.

By allowing my daughter to take responsibility and foster her first litter of kittens I not only encouraged her passion to save a life, but I also got a helper in the daily routine of controlling animal hair and odors. After all, life gets easier when you have someone to cut your chores in half!

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How to Effectively Clean Cat “Accidents” and Odors Out of Pretty Much Anything

Holly — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:10:41 +0000

About a year ago my partner and I took in an 8-week-old kitten that we named Vincent; he is one of the cutest and most affectionate cats I have ever met, but for as snuggly and super cute as he is, he has also been just as frustrating. In the first month we had Vincent, I realized how well-behaved and low maintenance our older cat Devin is. We have it good with her, which could be due to two things; either because of the different breeds they are or because Devin is female and Vincent is male. Since adding Vincent to our household, I have been told numerous times that male cats are more difficult and higher maintenance than females; isn’t that odd considering how it is mostly the opposite in our human world?

The source of most of our frustration with Vincent has been the litter box. He has historically been so off-and-on with using it that I could not figure out what, exactly, his problem was with it.

I first interpreted his litter box problem as spraying and marking his territory because it started when he was so young. A few weeks before he was six months old we had him neutered; what he lacked in age he made up for in weight, so having the procedure done before he was exactly six months was still completely safe. Phase one of narrowing down Vincent’s litter box problem complete.

We then started going down the list of factors that could cause cats to have this particular problem. He did not have a urinary tract infection, he had no reason to be overly stressed, the litter box was cleaned daily, and we changed litters hoping to find one that he liked more than the others. Through this process, Vincent began urinating where he was sleeping most often. Unfortunately for my partner and I, this meant our bed and any blankets we had laid down anywhere for the cats, whether on the couch, chairs, or on the floor. Needless to say, there has been a lot of cleanup needed around our apartment. My partner had seriously considered trying to find a new home for Vincent, but I got attached to him and believe strongly that if an animal is experiencing a problem that we cannot figure out, it should never mean that the animal loses its home. It should never work that way.

In the end, we found that Vincent is afraid of litter boxes that have a cover on them causing him to simply avoid the litter box. I actually found this revelation to be kind of cute, thinking that he is afraid of the dark and of venturing into a litter box he can’t assess first from the outside. By simply removing the cover of his litter box, we have not had any problems since. I wish I had thought of this before the months of frustration ensued.

So, you’re probably wondering how we removed all of Vincent’s little “accidents” up until the time we finally figured out what the problem he was having with his litter box was. Here is a little recipe for a natural cleaner to get rid of your pet’s messes and odors.

You Will Need

Hot water

Vinegar

All-natural, all-purpose soap

Baking soda

Directions

Fill spray bottle with hot water, two tablespoons of vinegar and a generous squirt of all-natural, all-purpose soap. Shake well.

Spray cleaner over area until it is soaked completely. Let cleaner set into area for about an hour while periodically soaking up excess water with a towel.

When area is dry, cover with baking soda and let sit. After about an hour, vacuum up the baking soda.

This has worked much better than any other pet cleaner I have ever bought, which makes me just a little ticked off that I wasted a good amount of money on cleaners that never worked half as well as this natural cleaner I made at home did!

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“Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living” Chapter Review, “Meal Planning: Not Just for the Control Freaks”

Holly — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:23:06 +0000

When it comes to housekeeping and generally knowing my way around the kitchen, I am not nearly as knowledgeable as I probably should be; especially when you consider that I have been out in the real world for quite some time now. I’m not saying that I don’t know how to keep a place clean and well-kept, because I definitely do, but that is pretty much where my talents come to a full-stop. Yes, my grandmother is not impressed. Not at all.

Recently, I have been attempting to learn more about this whole cooking for myself business. It has been more successful than I had initially thought it would be, but that could also be because my partner, who has grown very much accustomed to preparing all of our meals throughout the past five years, has been the person taking me by the hand and easing me into the kitchen. I’m nearly ready to stand on my own now, though, especially after reading chapter 20 of “Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living”.

The One2One Network recently introduced me to this new book by Heather Solos and the chapter I read was all about meal planning and it started out with an uncanny little story about my adult life thus far. Solos even knows that my kitchen table is the household dumping ground and that we don’t eat at it, practically ever. I have no idea how she knew this either, but I’m telling you, it was a little freaky to read. But then something amazing happens; Solos gives hope to neglected kitchen tables everywhere and tells you that the time to clear the clutter off and actually start using it for its intended purpose–to eat real food that was prepared in the kitchen and not in the kitchen of a take-out restaurant–has come. Kitchen tables unite!

We all know that preparing meals at home and sitting around the kitchen table is important and beneficial to everyone at that table. Not only does it ensure that you are getting vitamins and nutrients that your body needs through prepared foods made from actual ingredients, instead of fats and a whole host of fillers that do very little good to your body, but it also gives you a chance to unwind, relax, enjoy a meal and enjoy the company of your family while also getting closer to them. We also know that getting into this mindset and into the routine of actually following through with our intentions is not as easy as it may seem in our heads. So, what Heather Solos does in this chapter is she starts with very basic, beginners knowledge of the kitchen and of food; very basic knowledge is about all I have in this area, so I appreciated having a resource that didn’t throw terms at me that I then had to go and look up the meaning of before continuing on with the chapter. She then goes on to introduce new ideas as well as reminding you of just how beneficial traditional concepts are in the kitchen. Not to mention, this woman explains how one roasted chicken can last for up to three days worth of dinners and just how important (and easy!) it is to learn how to make soup. This is amazing to me.

More than anything, this particular chapter within “Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living” is practical. It is 16 pages full of relateable and truly useful information. I have obtained a great deal of inspiration and ideas for meal planning, especially since she includes three 5-day weeks of meal ideas, as well as a recipe for stock and for basic meatloaf. While I could have done without feeling as if I had been warped into an episode of Bewitched with the very blue, very retro illustrations and font usage within this book, the content within was beneficial and I’m sure that if I can manage to master the basic meatloaf recipe, my partner will be thanking the food Gods for Heather Solos’ recipes and tips.

“Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living” is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can also see Heather Solos blogging and answering your everyday living questions at the Home-Ec 101 blog.

Disclosure: I received digital access to “Home-Ec 101: Skills for Everyday Living” chapter 20, “Meal Planning: Not Just for the Control Freaks” in order to write this chapter review as part of a blog posting campaign with the One2One Network.

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“Pretty Neat: The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection” Book Giveaway Winner

Holly — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:26:32 +0000

Thanks to everyone who entered our giveaway for the home improvement and organizational book from Buttoned Up, Pretty Neat: The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection.

Getting organized can be an on-going struggle, especially if you’re an HGTV junkie and automatically begin to compare the miraculously-decorated and organized spaces on television shows, in magazines and even in photos that bloggers and friends post online of their own homes.

Pretty Neat is full of stories, anecdotes and interviews from such a wide variety of (mostly) women who may work in completely different fields, have completely different families and lifestyles, but all have clutter and the feeling of domestic inferiority. It is also full of tips to take control over your home, your clutter and your life. It’s like showing you inside the lives of many different women who aren’t so much unlike yourself and then presenting you with some clarity and helpful tricks to combat each and every clutter-filled aspect of your life. Some of these tricks are even complete shortcuts, giving those who may visit you at your home the illusion of a polished, un-cluttered and completely clean and organized space, but don’t know that you have a pile of mail three weeks old that you still haven’t sifted through inside a desk that you are completely okay with having there. Just as some interviews within the book with women focus on the disorganization in their lives, there are much more that offer helpful tricks to steal and use yourself to create just organized enough spaces.

The entire concept here is to get your home–and yourself–in order to create a space that you can be happy with on your own terms because it is what you truly want and not something that someone else may want for you. That is one sentiment that I could not agree with more, not just when it comes to finding peace in your home and tackling clutter whether it’s in the kitchen, the living room, or even in your work area (you’ll also find an entire section within this book dedicated to helping your organize your workspace, desk and even your inbox!), but also when it comes to the choices we make for our lives. Finding peace and happiness in who we are is an amazing and radical step in practicing self-acceptance and that is something that no one can ever take away from you once you have it.

Pretty Neat was written by Alicia Rockmore and Sarah Welch, the creators of Buttoned Up, a website full of tips and tools for getting imperfectly organized, and line of organizational products.

Pretty Neat is available now in book stores and on Amazon for about $10.

Now onto who will be receiving a copy of Pretty Neat for free!

The winner of our Pretty Neat giveaway is Jennifer T. who left comment number 24!

Congratulations!

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“Pretty Neat: The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection” Book Review and Giveaway (Closed)

Holly — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:40:08 +0000

This giveaway is now closed.

I am by no means a “fan” or even a dedicated or avid reader of Heather Armstrong’s blog Dooce, but when she posted pictures of her newly-decorated study, I wanted to travel to Utah for the sole purpose of kicking her in the shins–and then running away as fast as possible because I know she works out regularly and I do not. This is not a poor reflection of Heather Armstrong, or her miraculously-decorated study that I can only hope was completely trashed within 10 minutes after taking those pictures. This is within me and I have very much the same reaction every time I dare to go to HGTV’s website or sucked into any one of their television shows. Instinctively, my mind reverts to “Why doesn’t my house look like that?” Then I go and get all down on myself while at the same time flying off into fits of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder-fueled housekeeping and organization.

I refuse to believe I’m alone here. In fact, I know I’m not after reading “Pretty Neat: The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection”, a book full of stories, anecdotes and flat-out confessions from a myriad of women who have known the feeling of domestic inferiority.

“Pretty Neat” comes from Alicia Rockmore and Sarah Welch, creators of Buttoned Up, a website full of tips and tools for getting imperfectly organized, and line of organizational products. The entire concept of the book is to throw away the expectations you have for your home in terms of perfection and more importantly, in terms of the expectations you have put on yourself because of outside influences.

I was able to apply a lot of aspects of this book to my daily, personal life, starting with the introduction which talks about “org porn.” Yes, org porn, something defined by the authors as “that glossy, airbrushed fantasy world where everything is pristine, serene, and perfectly in order, sort of like Playboy, but with chore charts and name-plated cubbyholes.” My first thought was just about every single show you (and I) have seen thousands of times on HGTV and other, like-minded, make you feel bad about your home and your housekeeping and organizational skills programming. See, I’m not the only one who thinks those television shows are a reincarnated version of the devil!

Another great, big aspect I immediately identified with personally was putting tremendous pressure on myself in terms of housekeeping, organization and the overall presentation of my home while always seeing my grandmother’s face when I notice something happening in my home that she wouldn’t stand in hers. Things like even one dish being left in the kitchen sink until the next morning, an unmade bed and a spotless bathroom. Yes, my grandmother’s bathroom is completely and utterly spotless and it has always been that way. Growing up, me, my father and younger sister lived right next door in a half double home to my grandmother and aunt. I was in her house every single day, multiple times a day and I have never, not once in my life, entered her bathroom to see one thing out of place. With a 33-year-old man, two cats, a litter box that always, always has a small amount of litter at the entrance from the two cats jumping in and out of it, and way too many bath and body products, I cannot imagine my bathroom even remotely resembling a space without something out of place. This in itself has always been enough to send me off into a wild fit of cleaning and organizing, but never following through until the next time I go off into another fit of cleaning and organizing. Maybe that’s the trick. Follow through. Or, as I picked up from this book, simply realizing that every single thing being in place in my bathroom is not something that truly bothers me because it is a personal preference that came solely from me, but from the way my grandmother kept her bathroom, and therefore not something that is worthy of driving myself out of my mind over.

“Pretty Neat” is full of stories, anecdotes and interviews from such a wide variety of (mostly) women who may work in completely different fields, have completely different families and lifestyles, but all have clutter and the feeling of domestic inferiority. It is also full of tips to take control over your home, your clutter and your life. It’s like showing you inside the lives of many different women who aren’t so much unlike yourself and then presenting you with some clarity and helpful tricks to combat each and every clutter-filled aspect of your life. Some of these tricks are even complete shortcuts, giving those who may visit you at your home the illusion of a polished, un-cluttered and completely clean and organized space, but don’t know that you have a pile of mail three weeks old that you still haven’t sifted through inside a desk that you are completely okay with having there. Just as some interviews within the book with women focus on the disorganization in their lives, there are much more that offer helpful tricks to steal and use yourself to create just organized enough spaces.

Giveaway

So now that you’ve heard me go on and on about “Pretty Neat”, I should probably tell you that we are also giving away a copy of the book to one lucky Woman Tribune reader.

Required Entry

To enter for a chance to win a copy of “Pretty Neat: The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection” by Alicia Rockmore and Sarah Welch, leave a comment on this post telling us what area of your home or life that has become the biggest source of organizational stress.

Extra Entries

Please leave a comment for each additional entry.

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Tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use the following tweet or write your own. [Can be done once per day, leave a link to your tweet in your comment.]

Win a copy of “Pretty Neat”, a practical organization book for the masses from @WomanTribune http://ow.ly/4c6M2 ends 3/20

This giveaway ends Sunday, March 20th at 11:59PM EST. This giveaway is open to all U.S. residents over the age of 18 at the time of entry. The winner will be chosen via random.org and contacted by email; they then have 48 hours (2 days) to respond to that email or another winner will be chosen.

Full Contest Disclaimer

Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of “Pretty Neat: The Buttoned-Up Way to Get Organized and Let Go of Perfection” in return for my review, as well as the opportunity to host this giveaway. All opinions expressed throughout this post are 100% mine. This review and giveaway was made possible through the Global Influence Network.

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A Traveling Rule of Thumb: Clean Your House

Holly — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:56:31 +0000

This morning is a very busy one. In fact, it’s a bit of a madhouse around here, thinly veiled in a single word of truth that has become my, and I’m willing to bet many others lives–procrastination. You see, in just a few hours my partner and I will begin driving from Northeastern, Pennsylvania to Kent, Ohio. It’s a business trip, although thankfully having nothing to do with my business. I don’t think I could take that kind of pressure after three days of making sure we had the right hotel booked for the right dates, picking up last-minute, needed items for the house, particularly items that ease my mind when it comes to leaving my two cats home for two and a half days by themselves, and making sure every inch of the house resembled something that I would look forward to coming back to.

And there, in a nutshell, is the purpose of this post. You may think that traveling and everything that comes with it has very little to do with housekeeping; especially when you’re running around the last few days prior to your trip, making sure your accommodations are correct, that you have everything you need, that you didn’t accidentally leave something that you should have packed laying out, albeit neatly folded on the bed, and so on. I used to think the same thing, but after traveling out of state a few times and spending those couple of days in a nice, super clean hotel room that in such a short amount of time you trick yourself into thinking resembles your life and how things will look when you walk through your front door when returning home, and then returning home to a lived-in, mildly cluttered house, is a very rude awakening. Very rude.

Now, when I know I’m going out of town for a few days, I make sure my house resembles something that I can really look forward to returning to. Sometimes it isn’t enough to know that your cats are home, probably curled up on your great, big bed that you haven’t laid in in days. So, as a rule of thumb, here’s what I tackle before even packing my bags to leave the house:

Light dusting. Living in the sometimes harsh lighting of a hotel room will make it that much more apparent that there is dust collecting on the shelves, entertainment center and other surfaces of your house.

Vacuuming. If you have pets, you know that vacuuming is already an everyday or at most, an every-other-day occurrence. Just imagine what you would be walking in to if you let the vacuuming go the day before you left on a trip and returned home a few days later. Hairball and lint central!

Make the bed. Just because when you leave a hotel room and return the bed is magically made with fresh linens, does not mean when you return home the same thing will have happened in your bedroom. Take a few minutes and make up your bed, preferably with fresh linens and blankets so the first time you go to sleep after coming home from your trip, it will be the most comfortable and inviting it can be.

As for as I am concerned, those are the top three things I have never put that much emphasis on before leaving on a trip, but really make a huge difference when you return home from one. Of course, you’re going to want to also make sure that all of your dishes are done, your kitchen counters are wiped down, and all of your garbage and everything resembling garbage is taken out, but they don’t require any further explanation than that.

So there is just some small, friendly advice from me to you and now I’m off to vacuum my living room and pack before embarking on a 7-hour drive. Obviously posting on Woman Tribune will be light today, but I’m sure you all can understand that.

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Tassimo Valentine’s Day Special: 20% Off Brewers and Free Hot Chocolate Treats

Holly — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:13:48 +0000

As a very proud owner of a Tassimo T20 Brewbot (read our review) which I love immensely, I wish I could give every one of you readers one to enjoy for yourself. But I can’t. That would be beyond expensive. What I can do, however, is tell you how to get one for yourself, and at a discount no less!

As part of a special Valentine’s Day promotion, Tassimo is giving you a reason to get a new brewer for your coffee-loving sweetheart, or even as a special holiday gift for yourself. 20% off Tassimo brewers and free hot chocolate.

When I received my Tassimo T20 Brewbot, I received two free T-Disc packages; one Starbucks Cappuccino Primo and one Gevalia Signature Blend coffee. When you purchase as part of the Valentine’s Day promotion, you will receive one free T-Disc package of Milka Hot Chocolate and another of Suchard Hot Chocolate. Score, free hot chocolate!

I actually have a package of the Milka Hot Chocolate and I can tell you that it is incredibly delicious and I highly recommend it. It is rich and creamy and perfect for the horribly cold weather and snow storms we’ve been experiencing over the past few days. There is nothing like curling up on the couch with a great big mug of hot chocolate when you’re snowed in.

In addition to hot chocolate, Tassimo brewers also brew coffee, iced coffee, tea, espresso, cappuccino, latte and crema coffee.

This promotional offer is only valid in the U.S. and cannot be combined with any other offers or discounts.

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Tassimo Brewbot Review and Giveaway [Closed]

Holly — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:04:41 +0000

This giveaway is now closed.

I love my coffee. Well, that is a bit of an understatement. I really, really love my coffee. It is always the right time for a cup of coffee, always, and each cup is just marvelous. The smell of it while it’s brewing, pouring some into a mug that is about the size of my head, and that first sip. Oh, it is fabulous, and there can never be too much of it. Have you ever heard someone complain that they have too much coffee in the house? No, you have not, and if you have, those are the people with a problem! In fact, I would recommend you get them some counseling. I have never been the kind of person who gets jittery or anxious after drinking coffee, not even after having two pots of it, which is about my average daily intake. No, I can drink coffee all day, every day, and I very often do, and I can then fall right to sleep afterward. This tends to boggle the minds of some people who know just how deep my love of coffee goes. I don’t willingly go a day without it; that is when the feelings of anxiousness and a case of the jitters come on. Yes, I know that is called addiction, but really, a coffee addiction is just about the lamest, yet most awesome addiction ever.

As you can imagine, I love trying out new coffee products. Brands and brews I hadn’t previously heard of, brewing systems, everything. Most people think you can walk into any store, pick up a coffee maker and be done with it. I beg to differ. What you brew your coffee in is almost as important as the brand of coffee you brew in it and everyone has their particular preferences. I shop around and try whatever I can; you never know when you’ll stumble upon something you absolutely love and can’t believe you hadn’t heard of until the day you tried it. So you know I was pretty much jumping in anticipation when I was given the opportunity to try out a new Tassimo Brewbot through my affiliation with Project You Magazine.

Once my new Tassimo T20 Brewbot arrived, I wasted no time opening it up. What I thought was really great is that Tassimo includes two packages of T Discs (ready-to-brew beverages made specifically for the Tassimo machine) with the Brewbot. I received the Starbucks Cappuccino Primo and the Gevalia Signature Blend coffee, so I didn’t have to wait a minute to begin using it. After running it five times with plain water to make sure it was sufficiently cleaned through-and-through and ready for use, that is exactly what I did.

The Tassimo T20 Brewbot is small; it’s about half the size of my standard coffee maker and definitely clears a sufficient amount of space on my counter tops, which is great considering my kitchen doesn’t have too much counter space in the first place. It has a water basin in back that is easy to lift up and out of the machine, be filled with water, and put back in place. On the front of the machine, you can see in the picture above, there is a plastic compartment in the middle of it with the Tassimo logo printed on it. That compartment catches stray drippings of whatever beverage you are brewing that have either spilled from the mug or from the spout above it after the mug has been removed. That entire compartment comes out and is easily cleaned, in fact all of the parts of the Tassimo Brewbot are dishwasher safe, and you can also remove it to accommodate larger mugs or glasses.

So here’s how you use the Tassimo T20 Brewbot to brew a single-serve mug of coffee. Get your T disc ready, open a small compartment on the very top of the machine, placed right above the spout, and place the T disc inside with the barcode on the disc face-down. Then, close the compartment and press the large button on the side of the machine. The beverage then brews and to get your desired strength, you can press the large button again and hold it in when the symbol of the mug with a plus sign above it lights up. Keep holding the large brew button until your beverage is just the right strength for you, and then release it. Take the mug or glass from the machine and enjoy. It is a tremendously easy and fast process, perfect for mornings when you can barely see straight and need your coffee right that instant without having to wait for an entire pot to brew.

Tassimo claims that their Brewbots use quiet brew technology, and while it has a great deal of amazing qualities that I love about it, I would beg to differ with the level of noise it produces. It is actually pretty loud when first beginning to brew your beverage. Initially, it makes a whirring noise that transitions into a puttering, then it quiets down to about the same noise level of a standard coffee machine.

The final result is, to put it mildly, fantastic. Have you ever been in the mood for a really great cappuccino or latte, having to then leave the house, go to a coffee shop, and then get charged $5 for it? Well, with the Tassimo T20 Brewbot, you can brew your own and it tastes amazing. When you brew a cappuccino, you have two T discs; one is the creamer and much to my surprise, this thing makes foam. The second T disc is the espresso and it dispenses just the right amount for an 8oz. beverage.

Tassimo Brewbots can brew seven different beverages; standard coffee, tea, espresso, cappuccino, latte, crema coffee, and hot chocolate. Each type of beverage is available at all major grocery stores, as well as on Tassimo’s website, for about $9.99 for 16 servings. Not too shabby when you pay that exact amount of two coffees at a coffee shop.

Giveaway

Tassimo not only gave me the opportunity to try out their T20 Brewbot, but we can also give the same Brewbot to one lucky Woman Tribune reader!

Required Entry

To enter to win the Tassimo T20 Brewbot, leave a comment on this post with the type and brand of beverage you would like to try with your brewbot if you won. You can see the list of beverages available for Tassimo machines here.

Extra Entries

Leave a comment for each additional entry.

Subscribe to Woman Tribune
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Enter to win a Tassimo T20 Brewbot from @WomanTribune http://ow.ly/3xVPJ ends 1/11

This giveaway ends Tuesday, January 11th at 11:59pm ET. This giveaway is open to all U.S. residents over the age of 18 at the time of entry. The winner will be contacted by email and has 48 hours (2 days) to respond to that email or another winner will be picked.

Full Contest Disclaimer

This giveaway is now closed and the winner is…

Congratulations!

Disclosure: I received a Tassimo T20 Brewbot as well as the opportunity to host a giveaway from Tassimo through my affiliation with Project You Magazine. All opinions expressed throughout this post are 100% mine.

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16 Uses for Nail Polish Remover…Other Than the Obvious

Holly — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:00:48 +0000

This is a guest post from FreeShipping.org, a website dedicated to digging up all of the best free shipping codes from your favorite stores.

There’s a lot more to nail polish remover than noxious chemicals, a deadly odor and naked nails. This handy house-bound acetone is the WD-40 of the cosmetics world, able to tackle all sorts of nasty jobs without requiring you break out tankards of toxins.

As with all poisons, however, keep nail polish remover out of the reach of children, remove all traces after using and avoid inhaling the fumes. Also remember to apply acetone gently as you don’t want to ruin or remove the finished surface of whatever you’re cleaning.

Without further ado, here are 16 unusual uses for nail polish remover that don’t involve you-know-what.

1. China Stains
Company is coming, you pull out your favorite (and only) Limoge plates and find ugly spots. Apply a dab of polish remover, gently rub in with a soft cloth and thoroughly wash and dry. Be very careful, however, not to remove the china’s glaze.

2. Patent-Leather Shoes
Despite all her adventures down the rabbit hole, Alice in Wonderland’s patent-leather shoes always looked pristine. Perhaps that’s because she kept a bottle of acetone with her to buff out scuffs. Dip a cotton swab in the remover, rub very gently so as not to remove the leather texture or paint, wash with soapy water, thoroughly rinse and buff dry.

3. Tile Floors
If your kids refuse to pick up their dang feet when they walk, your tile floors likely end up with unsightly scuffs. Fortunately, a bit of nail acetone removes those scuffs with a minimum of elbow grease. Just apply with a cloth, sponge or cotton swab, cleanse with soapy water and rinse.

4. Permanent Markers
Walls and other flat surfaces haven’t been safe from budding artists since the invention of permanent markers. Don’t panic. Soak a corner of a clean cloth in remover, gently rub the area in a circular motion, clean with soapy water, rinse and buff dry. This method works on everything from appliances and windows to wallpaper and skin.

5. Stickers on Glass and Metal
My beloved Honda Prelude sported the remains of a window price sticker until its dying day because I never figured out how to remove the danged glue residue. If only I’d known polish remover would have eliminated that gummy adhesive from glass or metal. The process is fairly simple: Remove the bulk of the sticker, wipe the area with remover, cleanse with soapy water and rinse. Apply the acetone to polished metals with a gentle hand so you won’t remove the finish.

6. Super Glue
Have you ever stuck two fingers together with super glue? Don’t pry them apart or you could remove some skin. Soak a cotton ball in nail polish remover and apply it directly to the skin’s surface until you feel the glue loosen.

7. Pen Ink
My dad used to tell the worst joke: “Know why we call our pig “ink?” Because he always ran out of the pen.” Yuck, yuck, yuck. Seriously, folks: Leaking pens are yucky enough without punny jokes. If a broken pen stains your skin, take a cotton ball soaked in remover, wipe the marked area and wash with soap and water. While you don’t want to use acetone on most clothes infected with pen ink, it will remove stains from your clothes-dryer drum.

8. Watch Faces
Before cell phones replaced watches as our personal time keepers, you could buy new watch crystals when an old one became too scratched. Now you’re lucky if a jewelry store can even fix your old watch. Don’t despair, however, if scratches are keeping you from using your archaic timepiece. Very gently rub remover over the scratches on a plastic watch face until they vanish. The acetone dissolves the plastic, so the “very gentle” portion is a vital aspect of this instruction.

8. Correction Fluid
Remember correction fluid? Some people still use this stuff on paper documents, but the little white bottles gunk up quite easily because they’re rarely used. Pour a drop or two of nail polish remover into a goop-filled bottle of correction fluid then shake. Test it out then keep adding acetone until you’ve achieved the desired consistency.

9. Computer Keyboards
Dip a cotton swab into remover and lightly rub the computer keys. Rinse thoroughly with a second swab soaked in water. You’ll be amazed at the difference. Make sure, however, that the acetone doesn’t get into the deep cracks between keys.

10. Brass Lacquer
Before you can polish or re-lacquer old brass, you have to remove the original lacquer coating. Pour a small amount of remover on a soft cloth, rub the brass object until the old lacquer lifts off and polish.

11. Paint on Windows
No matter how well you tape windows before a paint job, unnoticed extra paint sneaks onto the glass. Or you may find a previous homeowner missed a few places during their own cleanup. You could break a few nails trying to remove the paint, or use nail polish remover for a small clean-up job. Dab on a bit of acetone, allow it to soak for a few minutes, rub in with a clean, dry cloth and cleanse with a damp cloth.

12. Plastic Bags on Metal
Hot metal toasters and plastic bread bags are not a good match. Once melded together, you could live with a permanent memory of that Wonder Bread bag or unplug the toaster and set to work. Once the metal is cool, pour a little nail polish remover on a soft cloth, gently rub over the damaged area (being careful not to remove the metal finish), wipe with a damp cloth and dry with a paper towel. By the way, this also works for melted plastic on curling and flat irons.

13. Metal Sanitizer
Acetone is a very effective disinfectant for straight-edge razors, tweezers and other personal metal implements. Simply buff with a cotton swab, cleanse with soapy water, rinse and dry.

14. Welding Plastic
Bet you didn’t know acetone fuses most plastics. Just apply a drop to one of the surfaces and hold the other surface in place until it dries. There are other, better chemicals for this (methylene chloride, for example) but acetone works in a pinch, say when you want to create a two-headed Barbie.

15. Glue Cap Loosener
To loosen stubborn glue lids, dip a cotton swab into nail polish remover and rub around the bottom of the cap. Voila!

16. Remove Leeches
How many times has this happened to you: You’re enjoying a leisurely soak in the sun when a child starts screaming, “Leech, leech!!” Naturally, you have a bottle of nail polish remover in your bag because everyone does their nails at the beach, lake or local swamp. This is your chance to play lifeguard; well, leech guard, anyway. Pour the acetone over the disgusting bloodsucker and it’ll peel right off, demonstrating exactly why this stuff should never be imbibed.

For more intriguing ways to use standard household products, see “13 Ways to Repurpose Empty Coffee Cans” and “60 Ways to Green Clean With Household Products.”

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Spend Less at the Grocery Store — Eat Before You Shop

Holly — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:00:25 +0000

I tend to do my grocery shopping very spur of the moment. Being one of those people who is constantly engaging in the vicious cycle of using spare time to figure out when I will again have more spare time to go out and do things that need to get done, like grocery shopping for instance, I tend to run most of my errands very spur of the moment. I’ll finish working a little earlier than I had planned, look at the clock and then go running to my partner saying “Hey look! I’m done working and now we must go run errands because who knows when we will have this time again!” And off we go to the store. Because of this, we often make a very grave mistake before heading out to the grocery store. We don’t eat beforehand.

You can tell when someone goes to the grocery store while they’re starving; their shopping cart is loaded up with things they would love to be eating right that moment and if they’re hungry enough, that means pretty much everything. It has always simply been known that you don’t go to the grocery store hungry, but now there’s some scientific evidence to back that theory up.

Researchers at the University College London recently conducted a study where they put participants on different diets that influenced their metabolism. They then gave the participants options of playing various lotteries, some riskier than others. The researchers found that study participants were more likely to choose riskier options when they were hungry than when they weren’t. As soon as the researchers fed the participants, they began making more conscious and money-saving decisions.

Simply put, eat before you head out to the grocery store. Being hungry and trying to do pretty much anything doesn’t work as well as it would if you were operating on a full stomach; when you’re hungry you are irritable and when your stomach is full, you are a lot more level-headed. You could end up saving quite a bit at the grocery store, or when running any other errands you have, just by heading out of the house right after you eat breakfast or lunch.

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Tackling the Dreaded, Disgusting Bathroom

Holly — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:21:25 +0000

Have you ever walked into someone’s house and immediately have to urge your judgmental meter to give it a rest as you see the stocked up piles of laundry, the sink-full of dishes, pet fur forming entirely new pets in the corners of rooms and if you need to use the bathroom, the minute you walk into it you want to run out screaming? That’s my house!

I have good intentions–really, I do! I intend to do a lot of things around the house and I make plans to tackle a boat load of housework every week. It usually just doesn’t end up getting done. When you work from home, you are never necessarily away from work and when I find myself with an hour or two to spare, my workaholic meter goes off and I end up answering emails and setting up future blog posts instead of running the vacuum cleaner or sweeping up the kitchen. But as “lived in” as my house gets, the one room that consistently gets neglected is the bathroom.

Ah yes, the bathroom. I’ll admit it–my bathroom borders on absolutely disgusting. My partner is a musician and music producer who frequently has other musicians over to our house to record and I’m beginning to think that when it comes to men, the general consensus is that they lack the skills in order to aim properly and after a few days of not mopping the bathroom floor, we have a few messes to tackle. My partner also shaves his head because receding hairlines aren’t sexy and instead of looking like he is going bald–which he is–he will shave his head in the middle of the bathroom, regardless of the amount of times I have told him that if he did it in the dry bathtub, cleanup would be so much easier. But apparently that doesn’t work because every time I hear the razor start buzzing upstairs, I know that as well-intentioned as he is when he tries to clean all of the hair up off the floor, there will still be a mess to tackle.

I have been freaking out over the cluttered and not-so-deep-down-clean of my house for a few weeks now and today I tackled the bathroom. The neglected, disgusting bathroom that is always the last room to be cleaned if I find myself on a cleaning spree. Today, it was the first order of business and I am pretty psyched over how great it looks now.

Taking a cue from 5 Minutes for Mom’s Tackle It Tuesday, I tackled the crap out of the bathroom and yes, I know it’s Saturday, but the sentiment of enjoying a space that is finally clean–Finally! is pretty universal.

I didn’t take before pictures of my bathroom because that could get pretty embarrassing because I am not happy about how gross I my bathroom had become and I don’t really need any more shame from it. So behold, the after pictures!

The bathroom sink and mirror/medicine cabinet. I also found some awesome decorative soap under the sink that I had forgotten about and luckily found in the organization process.

Speaking of under the sink, it used to be complete chaos! Stuff was just shoved under there without any real order, so that had to be dealt with, too!

Now my partner’s heavy duty razor, my curling brush, cleaning supplies, Q-tips, a backup shower curtain and unused hair products are all stacked under the sink nice and orderly.

The inside of the medicine cabinet, as well as some miscellaneous items like more of my hair proucts and alcohol on top. Yes, I only have three nail polishes.

If you live in an apartment like I do, or just have a very small bathroom with no real place to store your bath and body products, I could not recommend a little corner shelving unit like this one enough. It’s amazing and it effortlessly holds an abundance of products my partner and I are convinced we need.

An awesome hanging frog I found while going through some clutter in the hall closet. I think he looks great hanging right above the toilet.

Obviously, the bathroom is decked out in a frog theme. Here’s our shower curtain, which I think is the cutest thing of all time.

Not only is the shower curtain super cute, but it is hung with cute frog and lily pad rings.

And there you have it–my super clean bathroom! And now I have these pictures as proof of how clean the bathroom can be!

None yet, check back soon!

5/365 Days: Laundry, You Will Be the Death of Me

Holly — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:54:47 +0000

It may come as a shock to most of you out there, but I do not have a washer in my apartment; and yes, I live in an apartment. I do not own my own home, I do not live in a condominium, townhouse, or any of the other cutesy names people give to apartments to make them seem not so apartment-like. It’s just a quaint, two-bedroom place that suits me and my partner pretty well for the time being. We used to have access to a washer, which was located in the basement and no, it wasn’t too scary of a place to venture into. However, it broke more than a year ago and the landlord has adapted this ‘Oh, you need access to a washer? People still use those things?’ type of mentality. Now, factor this into the fact that my partner is a full-time musician who is always gone and I’m a full-time blogger, freelance writer and complete and utter social media addict and you’ll get a good grasp on how often laundry gets done around here. If your head is still in the clouds, I’ll spell it out for you: not very often at all.

I had no intention of actually going through the two laundry baskets that were sitting in the bedroom waiting to be put away today. No intention at all. We recently tried to clean our bedroom once and for all, since it has become more of a dumping ground than anything else that we trudge through every night to get to our bed. This did not work, since the partner’s version of cleaning is more like taking every article of dirty clothing in the house and shoving it in both of our closets and to put away those aforementioned two laundry baskets of clothes, I would need to go through the closets resulting in even more a mess and even more dirty laundry to tend to. However, I got a very late start this morning. The alarm clock went off and I immediately assumed the position of ‘I am not getting out of this bed regardless of how much stuff I need to get done today or how much you pay me.’ So after waking up, getting the coffee, putting a blog post up and chatting with folks on Twitter and Facebook, I ventured up to the bathroom to shower and then I couldn’t find any clothes. No clean clothes anywhere. Except for the clothes that were sitting in the laundry baskets, and so, I was forced to take them all out, fold them all into piles on the bed, and lastly, start cleaning out the closets. Notice I said start cleaning out the closets. I cannot predict when the bedroom will be a room we can walk through effortlessly without tripping over a pile of clothes and falling into another pile.

As you can tell by the look on my face, it was not a happy Friday thus far, but I am so, so relieved that some of the insane work it is going to take to get that bedroom whipped into shape is done and because there are still clothes on the bed waiting to be put away, I’m suspecting more of that work will be completed later today.

None yet, check back soon!

New Limited Edition Holiday Scents from The Fragrance Collection by Glade

Holly — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:52:24 +0000

You can always count on Glade for great scents for your home that will last a good, long time and are also extremely affordable. Take away those really annoying commercials with the woman who is always trying to impress her friends and family with something or another, whether it be that she was home cleaning all day or she’s cooking something that smells delicious and it turns out she’s really just using Glade candles, and they’re practically golden.

Just in time for the holiday season, Glade his introduced two new scents to their Fragrance Collection–pomegranate & cranberries and fresh pine & cedar, both will get you, your family and especially your home in the mood for the holiday season.

Both limited edition scents are available as 3-wick soy-based candles and also as reed diffusers.

You can also purchase the pomegranate and cranberries scented products on Amazon: 3-wick soy-based candle / reed diffuser

None yet, check back soon!

Wordless Wednesday: What You Don’t Want to See in the Morning

Holly — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:24:12 +0000

Almost two years ago I moved from a city that is now very widely known, if you watch The Office that is, to a very small borough of about 600 people so close to miles of farms you can smell it when you walk outside at night and notice the burning garbage. Adjusting to a farm town has been interesting, to say the least. I have seen many unpleasant things that you just don’t see in a city, like what I woke up to find hanging outside my kitchen window a few months ago.

Yep, that’s a bat and he was hanging out there for the entire day.

None yet, check back soon!

I Rely on the Swiffer WetJet for Everyday Cleanup

Holly — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:36:26 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to try out the Swiffer WetJet in my home, thanks to the awesome folks over at MyBlogSpark, and see how it stands up against the standard, back-breaking, pain in the butt mop and bucket.

My findings were varied, mostly pros and I found a terrific new kitchen cleanup companion in the Swiffer WetJet. Check out our video below to see how the Swiffer WetJet works and what we think of it:

For more videos from Woman Tribune, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

None yet, check back soon!

The Holy Grail of Coffee Machines: Senseo Single-Cup Coffee Maker Review

Holly — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:45:59 +0000

If there is one thing that I am absolutely crazy about, it’s coffee. This love of mine started at a very young age and has fueled two prior full-time jobs of mine in cafes as a barista and the greatest caffeine tolerance I’ve come to know. I love coffee in all of it’s precious forms, flavors, consistencies and blends and am always interested in new flavors and concoctions that can be made from the comfort of my own kitchen. When a friend of mine hooked me up with Senseo, I was ecstatic, to say the very least.

Senseo is a sub-company of Sara Lee and makes an excellent coffee pod system that literally transformed the way I have my coffee every day.

The Senseo system makes absolutely delicious (and delightfully strong) single serving amounts of coffee with their innovative system that is so easy to use that once I took it out of its box, I was using it within minutes. While brewing my first cup of coffee, I realized that the Senseo actually made foam each and every single time automatically, which makes the coffee that you are brewing at home stand out even more so than a regular cup of coffee you would purchase at any coffee shop.

The coffee that the Senseo produces is also quite different than your average cup of regular coffee. The Senseo cup seemed to go down a lot of smoother than normal coffee does, even my boyfriend, who usually can’t stand coffee and its gritty behavior going down, will drink it if it is made with this machine!

One of the best things about the Senseo that I was also surprised to find is that the entire thing is set up so that it is an absolute dream to clean. There are no small crevices that you simply can’t get your hands into to clean, the back of the system comes right off so you can fill it up with water and sits right back onto the machine with ease. Best of all, the system uses individual coffee pods that the water goes through so they have completely eliminated the horror of coffee grounds winding up in your mug and also the grounds that tend to go everywhere during the cleaning process. Within just a short amount of time using the Senseo, I gave my fully-functional, almost brand new typical coffee pot to a friend of mine because I hadn’t used it once since using this this machine.

There are a variety of different coffees and even teas that are made specifically for the Senseo coffee pod system, so each and every coffee and/or tea drinker out there will benefit from this machine. You can order the Senseo coffee pod system as well as coffee and tea pods at their official online store, Target, Walmart, or even Amazon.

Amazon.com Widgets

Special Promotional Offer

There is a special promotional offer going on with the Senseo machine right now. At Share Senseo, they are giving people the chance to receive a free Senseo single serve coffee pod system just by filling out a questionnaire; the only sum of money you will be responsible for, for this machine that is regularly over $70, is the shipping and handling of just $15.

What are you waiting for? Share a Senseo today.

*This is a limited time offer and is open to US residents only. Promotion ends June 30, 2008 or while supplies last.

None yet, check back soon!

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