product review

Our CSA {Love}

Posted by Nat on May 1, 2012 | 2 comments

…

We joined a CSA!  A friend of mine was posting about a local company that will deliver fresh fruits & veggies right to your door.  When I read that I thought to myself, “Well, no more excuses.”  I knew that if we joined a CSA but I had to go pick up the box, I would miss a week here or there.  But if they’ll bring it to me?  Love.  And now that I’m doing a weight-loss challenge (today is Day #1!) it will help a lot that I have fresh stuff to eat.

Now, every Wednesday is Squeeze Play Day.  Sometime in the morning they bring a box of fresh veggies & fruit to our door.  I’m never quite sure what they’ll bring, but it’s always beautiful, plentiful and organic.  How awesome is that?

If you are in California and interested in finding a CSA in your area, you should check out Abundant Harvest Organics.  They have a ton of locations where you can sign up for the same kind of thing, though I’m sure it varies area to area. One thing I love about our particular CSA is that they charge us weekly, which is nice for our budget.  We don’t have to pay for an entire season all at once.

Here are some photos of things we’ve received in our first few boxes.  They make for fun photography practice, too.

Time to open the box!

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

And these peas; Oh, my they were so tasty! We cooked them with our butternut squash ravioli and it was heavenly- didn’t even need sauce.  Just a bit of olive oil & salt, good to go.  YUM.

We love you, Squeeze Play!  Thanks for making it possible for us to get good, organic produce!

Note:  I was not compensated for this post.  I am totally writing about it because I love Squeeze Play and think they are all rad.  No freebies here- just the real deal, folks.

Children’s Music: A Review!

Posted by Nat on Apr 4, 2012 | Comments Off on Children’s Music: A Review!

Hello friends!

You may or may not know that I was an elementary music teacher not too long ago.  There are many things I don’t miss about teaching, but I do miss having wonderful moments with kids.  They can make you laugh so hard, and seeing their brains light up on a daily basis is always fun.

Recently I was sent a copy of a CD for kids called “Be Happy: Fun Music for Fun Kids.”  This CD is associated with  Positively Kids.  I absolutely love the message this CD brings to children.  It actually is a reminder for me in my daily living to “keep it happy,” something I’m working all year (and hopefully beyond that, too).

On “Be Happy,” we are introduced to Captain Positive, an adorable dog, who helps children laugh their way to a better mood and choose to be happy.  Fourteen tracks, some familiar and some new, lead us down a path of learning to choose our attitudes (and make it a good one!).

When I first received the CD things were too busy for me to give it a focused listen, so I waited.  When I had time to sit down and really listen I was most impressed with the overal uplifting feel of the whole album.  But I knew the real judges would be my kids.

I had clicked around the site and found this video of Captain Positive singing about the things he loved, so I invited the kids to watch it a few days ago.  Needless to say, we watched it five times, I think.  If you take a cute puppet like Captain Positive, a clever song, and then you sing it again really fast:  you have children in the palm of your hand.  We have also listened to the CD in the car and it is a new favorite as we toodle around town.

What I love most about this CD and the people behind it is that they are helping kids learn about their feelings, that it’s okay to have negative ones, and that it’s also up to them to stay in a foul mood or choose a better, more positive one. That’s a valuable lesson for not just children, but all of us.

Well done, Positively Kids!

You can check out Positively Kids on their Facebook Page, Twitter, and Google Plus.

*Note:  I was sent a copy of this CD in exchange for my review; all opinions are expressly my own.

Microcrafts: Halloween Bunting

Posted by Nat on Oct 20, 2011 | 1 comment

I am so excited to tell you about a new book, “Microcrafts,” by Margaret McGuire, Alicia Kachmar, Katie Hatz, and Friends.  I was sent this book by Eric at Quirk Books, the publisher.  The book itself is very nice- quality paper, great photos and instructions.  If you Google it you’ll find lots of lovely reviews with photos from the book, but I’m more into showing you what I’ve made from the book.  I’m new to the world of microcrafting, and after looking at this book I’ll be trying several things from it.  Having a little girl obsessed with tiny things helps.

The first and most accessible project for me (given when it arrived with family and friends in town) was bunting.  I guess one would call it “micro-bunting” because the little flags are only 3/4″ across!  It was super easy to slice up the paper. I dug into my crafting stash and found an angle guide for my paper cutter (which is broken- I need a new one).

I decided to add to our Halloween decor, so I chose the paper, and cut it into a few 1-inch strips.

Then it was just time to make triangles:

 As I was slicing I gained an assistant.  Often I have to tell Anna that she can only watch with my projects, but she is totally into using scissors right now, so I just gave her a few strips and traced the triangles on for her- she loved helping, and she actually did a great job.  She also helped me sort the triangles after slicing them so that I could load them into the sewing machine in a pattern.

I got lots of “awesome mommy” points that afternoon- she was so happy.

The only problem I had (please share if you know a solution) is that they won’t lay flat like they do in the book.  My first attempt was too embarrassing to post, so I tried again, lengthening the stitch, and that helped a little.  I tried flattening them overnight with a magazine or two (hot doctors can always help, right?)…

…But they still don’t look as nice as in the book.  Oh well- they are still super cute.

I’m going to make some more for our laundry room, which will be updated soon, so I’ll post more about them if I figure out what helps them lay flat. Maybe something to do with the tension in my thread…  There will definitely be more microcrafting posts coming up!

Disclosure:  While I was not paid for this post, I was sent the book for free with the expectation that I’d do a review.  Thanks, Quirkbooks!  If you’d like to get your own copy, it’s available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Best. Swagbox. Ever.

Posted by Nat on Sep 15, 2011 | 1 comment

Are you a brand person?  I’m a brand person.  My husband is not a brand person- he’s a “generic stuff is just fine” kind of guy.  The last time he bought me oatmeal at the grocery store he got the store brand instead of Quaker.  I sucked it up and tried it, but it wasn’t as good.  I’m very attached to a brand once I like it, and will buy it whether or not I have a coupon.  I think that makes me a typical female consumer- but I’m okay with that.  I stick with what works.

At BlogHer this summer one of the biggest pieces of real estate on the expo floor was Proctor & Gamble’s “booth.”  You can’t really say it was a booth- it was essentially a house that you could take a tour of.  Throughout the house you could see different products that were in the P&G family.  They also gave you a little questionnaire to fill out, and at the end you gave it to a guy with a bunch of raffle tickets.  I think the raffle was for a new washer & dryer- I didn’t win that.  However, turning in that questionnaire also allowed me to give them my address, and they promised to mail me a “swag box” that I wouldn’t have to lug around the conference- rad!  The guy I spoke with said, “Believe me- it’s a great box.”  He wasn’t lying.  It showed up on our porch a day or two ago and as soon as the kids were in bed, Michael and I opened it up.  It was sort of like “home product Christmas.”

I am amazed at how many of these products I will actually, honestly try and/or use.  Many of them I already use- score!  I also liked that they included a challenge to all of the BlogHer participants to save energy.  Thanks P&G!!!

Here’s a few photos of what was inside:

…and here’s a list of what was in my P&G Swag Box.  I’ve broken it into 2 lists, Health & Beauty, and Home.

Health & Beauty:

1 Box of Tampax Pearl tampons

1 Box of Always Infinity Maxi Pads

1 Jar of Vicks Vapo Rub

1 Bottle of Vicks Nature Fusion Cough Syrup, Honey flavored

1 Box of Vicks Nature Fusion Cold & Flu Relief

1 Bottle of Ivory Simple Clean Body Wash

1 Gillette Venus ProSkin Razor

2 Cover Girl NatureLuxe mascaras, 1 in black and 1 in very black (I’ve been wanting to try this- woo hoo!)

1 Box of Pantene Damage Repair for Curly Hair

2 Boxes of Pantene Damage Repair for Medium-Thick Hair

1 Box/2 Bars of Oil of Olay Body Bar

1 Box of Oil-of-Olay 2-in-1 Daily Facial Cloths

1 Bottle of Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex

Home:

1 roll of Bounty Paper Towels

1 bottle of Febreze Air Effects Air Refresher

1 Bottle of Febreze Fabric Refresher

1 Bottle of Downy In-Wash Scent Booster

1 Swiffer 360 Duster Kit

1 Sample of Tide Washing  Machine Cleaner

2 Samples of Cascade Complete Action Pacs

1 Thumb Drive, 1 GB; this also has some tools for conserving water & energy on it

I think this is an incredibly nice gift- can’t wait to try them all out- thanks again, P&G!

Invitations, Paper Punches and Planning, Oh My!

Posted by Nat on Jun 8, 2011 | Comments Off on Invitations, Paper Punches and Planning, Oh My!

I love a good party.  What’s not to love about getting together with people you like and celebrating something… or just eating and drinking yummy things?  Last year we put on a Thank You Party for the teachers at Anna and Jack’s preschool, and it was a big success.  I didn’t get very many pictures last year- I’m hoping this year will be different.  Hindsight 20/20, Michael and I did way too much complicated food, so we were running around the whole time trying to balance entertaining with cooking.  This year I hope to choose much easier food that we can prepare ahead of time and then we can enjoy the company of our guests a lot more.  I will also have a new baby on my hands, so that’s another reason to keep it simple.

Every party starts with an invitation, and I wanted to try something different for these.  I’ve been oooohing and ahhhhing over Martha Stewart’s “Punch Around the Page” sets, and came across a coupon in one of her magazines for 40% off any item, so off I went to Michael’s.  I ended up buying this set:

I’ll admit I was a bit intimidated by these- I mean, really.  Can you really make them look as nice as they do in the photos of things that Martha’s people make?  The answer is: yes!  There is a bit of a learning curve, though, so I thought I’d share with you some of the things I ended up doing to help them look (close to) perfect.

Firstly, it’s important to know that you have to size your paper to a certain measurement in order for them to work correctly.  This makes sense, but it forced me to adjust my invitations a bit at the onset.  Also, do some practice punching on paper that doesn’t matter at all- scraps you’ve saved or something- just to get used to how they feel and work.  I do think they are very nice tools- they will last a long time.

I printed my invitations 8.5 x 5 inches.  I made about 4 extra so that if I messed up I didn’t have to print more- which ended up being wise because I did make a few bloopers.

Step 1 is to do your corners with the corner punch.  Turn it upside down so you can get it just right.

After your corners are done, you can do the edges.  This is where I made the most mistakes, but here’s what ended up working best.

The edge punch has a graphic guide that you line the corner up with.  I found that after punching those first segments just off the corners that I did better when I turned the whole thing upside down so I could see exactly where I was punching.

And here are some final product shots for you:

I just love all those little holes lined up.  I’m such a nerd.

Now that the invitations are out it’s time to plan, plan, plan.  I’m using two of my favorite magazines to lift ideas from.  I have some in my head, but nothing on paper yet.

How do you plan parties?   Any favorite sites or tools you use?  I’m a list person at the core.  I could use an app on my phone or something, I’m sure, but there’s something about writing a list out that helps my brain figure everything out.  More to come!

Product Review: Ironing Pad

Posted by Nat on Aug 15, 2010 | 1 comment

I hate ironing.  No really.  I hate it.  I know of some people who love certain household tasks (my mom and my brother-in-law love to vacuum).  I have yet to find one that I look forward to. That being said, I love a product that makes any household task easier or better or faster.  This one that I have found does all of these things.  I love it.

We are blessed with a laundry room in our house, which is great.  Not having laundry in the garage seems to be an anomaly here in SoCal, so I was really pleased to know I would have a designated space for laundry and a place to keep chemicals and other things up high.  However, our laundry room is pretty narrow, and an standard, run-of-the-mill ironing board would not work.  I didn’t want to use our guest room or another room for ironing because I’d never take it down, so we’d always have piles of fabric and clothes needing to be ironed, and one more thing to do.  Up to this point I’ve been either a) avoiding ironing all together or b) using our old, over-the-door ironing board.  It’s loud- when I take it down it’s creaky, and when I iron it’s creaky.  The board itself is too small, too.

I wasn’t exactly in search of anything, but then I was looking through Improvements catalog and found this.  (Improvements is one of those catalogs that you never know what you’ll find when it shows up.  Lots of great things for your house, and then as you’re flipping through it they spring things on you like the “health and intimacy” pages- oh my.)

I love this thing.  It’s the answer to my ironing prayers.

Here’s my dryer before:

And here it as after- this was a great “forced organization” for me- I reassigned some things in about 10 minutes to make way for the pad (okay, and I also finally put away the carpet adhesive).  Now the dryer is always clear.  Love it!

What I love it for best is pressing/ironing fabric that is ready to be sewn into something.  I throw all the fabric behind the dryer and pull it forward as I’m ironing, like this:

(Sorry about these photos- they were taken at night.)

It’s great.  I have to shift it to the left or right as I go, but I still get ironing done so much faster, and having nothing to pull out or set up makes it so great.  I wouldn’t say I love ironing now, but I’m enjoying it much more than I used to because of this thing.

So far it’s held up great.  The only place I’ve noticed with any wear and tear is when I ironed some very small parts of sewing projects to press them, the area around it did show some heat damage.  Also, when it comes it reeks of plastic, so if you’re sensitive to smell you may want to open it outside and let it air out before bringing it inside.  Last possible negative is that it covers the lint filter on my dryer, so I have to remember to clean it.  If you have a fancy dryer like the one I dream of I’m not sure where the filter is, so it might not be an issue for you.

I think for $13 you can’t beat this thing.  I’m wondering if one could make one on their own with more fun prints or something.  Maybe I’ll add that to my list…

Happy Weekend!