tip of the day

via ikea.com

Tip of the Day:  Next time you have a jar lid that you just can't seem to open but you feel like it's a funny situation because YOU were the one to close the jar last time so you think to yourself, "Well if I'm strong enough to close it this tight I should be strong enough to open it?", try wearing a rubber kitchen glove on the hand that is doing the turning to grip the lid much better.

lolz

image via Pintrest

My hubby's man crush: Maurice Moss from the British show, The IT Crowd.    You will recognize Chris O'Dowd from the movie,  Bridesmaids.  If you have Netflix you can watch streaming episodes online.  Oh those crazy Brits....

unsolicited wedding advice wednesdays : real life

image via google.com

So I'm a planner.  I like to think ahead and have a plan in place.  My co-worker is the same and when her daughter was a senior in high school she started getting together somethings for her to take with her to college.  The typical stuff like bedding and stuff but she also got together a medicine/first aid kit.  She said that young people just don't have the wisdom of life to do something like this for themselves.  As in they wouldn't think to buy band-aids unless they cut themselves really bad and have to drive to Target to buy a box with their bloody finger.  I thought this was a really good idea and I also think it would be a really nice gift to give or receive because when you're getting married you're not thinking about the next time you might get sick.  This maybe not the most "aww"-worthy gift but very practical one (which I like).

So here are some medicine cabinet/first aid kit ideas:

• band-aids (technically bandages), different sizes
• cotton balls
• rubbing alcohol/antiseptic
• antibiotic ointment 
• Q-tips
• gauze with tape
• cold medicine
• thermometer
• Alka Seltzer
• TUMS/antacid 
• Advil/ibuprofen 
• Tylenol/acetaminophen 
• Tiger Balm (is rumored to cure cancer...just kidding)

apple pie

My first pie made from scratch from the crust to the filling.  It was stressful LOL!  I made a few mistakes but it was a good learning experience.  I had actually finished putting the top crust on and closed it up when I realized I forgot a step and had to open it back up like a banana.  Oh my....

But all in all it turned out just fine and I couldn't taste the mistakes but only the yummy apples Mark and I picked.

mary blair (1911-1978)

Mary Blair's birthday is today.  She was the genius behind so many dearly loved Disney creations including the original 'It's a Small World' at Disneyland (they should never had changed it) among other things.  She's my hero.

etsy love : ilovedoodle

Check out these cool, smart, witty, and cute prints from the ilovedoodle store on etsy.com.  Here are a few of my favorites:

[1] Woody Allen  

[2] Ballet of Mustache  

[3] All we need is... love  

[4] The Choir of Antartica  

[5] Happy Ever After

unsolicited wedding advice wednesdays : blogs

I never really followed blogs of any kind until I started planning my wedding.  I'd only have a few websites that I would frequent but once I started planning for my wedding I knew I would wanted to check out wedding blogs regularly to help me plan for my "budget" wedding.  Now that I'm done with my wedding I find that I still following wedding blogs for inspiration for other things.

Bride Tide has published their Top 100 Wedding Blogs of 2011.  All the ones that I follow were on the list so I have nothing to add to it.  However I would like to suggest that on top of wedding blogs that brides-to-be also check out photographer's blogs.  And now would be the time to make a shameless plug for Love & Lemonade who shot my wedding.  Love you Nina!  :)

an apple a day

quick snap shots at the local grocery store

I don't think we're in California anymore, Toto.  Yeah, I definitely live in the midwest now.  How can I tell?  It's apple season....I never saw so many apples before....haha

unsolicited wedding advice wednesdays : what to register for

I always had a love/hate relationship with dishtowels.  Some do the job right but some are horrible and make the job twice as difficult because I'd end up having to finish up with a paper towel or something.  I hate it when you have a puddle on the counter and you wipe it with a dishtowel but it just ends up pushing the water all over the counter....so annoying.  

Now, full disclosure I have NOT tried out these towels but I've experienced so many bad towels that I really want to get them when I have some disposable income.  It's like when you have the right tool for the right job it's just magic.  These Now Designs Ripple Towels have been tested and recommended by Cook's Illustrated (parent company of America's Test Kitchen an Cook's Country).  They had testers use the towel and discovered that the towel was able to fit in hard to reach areas like inside champagne flutes and still get a streak-free shine.  Stains were removed after one wash and the towels themselves only had 17% shrinkage after washing from their original 30"x 20.5" size.  See their comparison chart, here.  Check them out at cooking.com or amazon.com.  

world without color

Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1964 via National Gallery of Art

2AM...wide awake...head downstairs to the gym and jog/power walk for 30 min...for some reason afterwards I feel more like myself than I have in 4 months.  I hope I'm starting to come out of my funk.  I'm tired of feeling this way.

lake geneva, wi

I went to Lake Geneva, WI  for the first time this weekend for a women's retreat armed just with my point and shoot camera.  The weather was unusually warm and the lake was really beautiful.  It seemed like Lake Geneva was busy with tourists visiting for the last warm weekend before the cold really hits.  The trees around my area in IL haven't really put on their complete fall wardrobe yet so I was really happy to see all the fall colors in WI (you can kind of see the different colors behind the water).  So pretty.  I picked up some leaves to press and send to my nephew in CA.  

EOS

Recently my lip balm ran out and I was about to buy a new one when I saw this cute little sphere in sea foam green.  I was a little more expensive than what I went to Target to buy but I had to try it out because it was just so darn cute...always a sucker for color + design.

The brand EOS stands for Evolution of Smooth and a lot of their products are made with organic and/or natural ingredients.  Their unique lip balm is called "Smooth Spheres" which comes in several flavors/colors but they all apply on clear.  The sphere has a twist off cap which reveals a dome of lip balm.  The one I got is Sweet Mint and it gives the right about of minty fresh tingle.  Here are some other flavors from off their website:

If the unusual shape of the sphere is too weird for you then they have three different flavors of lip balm in stick form.  One thing that I really like about their website is that if you click "find a retailer" it'll show you exactly which of their products local stores around you carry.  So convenient!  I think next I'll try out their hand lotion...

taking a break

Fall has hit IL and it's wonderful.  The windows are open, the humidity is gone, the sun is still shining, and the leaves are starting to change colors.  This is my first time being in IL for the fall and I'm enjoying it.  

Unpacking has been more challenging than expected so on Mark's days off we've been trying to do fun things....like apple-picking.  The last time I went apple-picking was in CA when I was just a kid.  I think it was a 2 hour car ride to Apple Valley and let me tell you it was no joy ride getting there but I remember having a good time picking the apples and eating as many as I could. 

For our apple-picking pleasure we went to the Jonamac Orchards in Malta, IL.  Fall as been a bit colder than usual so we were told that the apples weren't ripening as fast as usual so the pickings were slim.  We found more half-eaten apples on the ground than on the trees themselves.  But we had a good time nonetheless choosing our pickings and being outside together. 

 

We rewarded our hard work (check out that heavy bag...nay, BUSHEL of apples Mark had to carry) with apple donuts and an apple slushie.  Yummers!

Yes please and thank you!