Crafty Adventures

I finally gave William the demin quilt that I have been working on for what seems like forever. Luckily she loves it. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before she took it home, so nothing to post by way of picture. Hopefully William will take a picture of it and send it to me and then I can post one for all to enjoy.

Thanks for the pic William!

One can dream

I found an intriguing advertisement in the real estate section of the WSJ for a private restored Tuscan estate called Castello di Casole. Now of course, I still really love my Mexican casa idea, but there is something so romantic about a Tuscan Villa that just can't be beat. I may have to put Under the Tuscan Sun on my netflicks list again.

Anne of Green Gables

I borrowed some of the Anne of Green Gables series from my MIL under the auspices of reading them aloud to Audrey. At first I did just that. But truth be told, Audrey is a bit young to listen to a story being read to her without pictures or the like, so she got bored of listening and played while I still read aloud to her. Then I just got into the story too much myself and I just kept reading without her. So I just finished reading Anne of Green Gables for the first time in its entirety. (Prior to this I read an abridged version once.) The real thing was absolutely delightful! I can't wait to read the rest of the series. And I really want to visit Prince Edward Island - which sounds so magical.

Bikram Yoga

William has been raving about Bikram or Hot yoga for a couple of months now. She is completely addicted and goes several times a week. When I first heard about it, I thought she was crazy. It is 90 minutes of yoga in a 105 degree room. Somehow, I gradually found myself wanting to try it too. Yesterday I finally got my chance.

The room was shockingly hot - I guess I didn't realize what 105 felt like. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised when an older fellow, our teacher, walked in to start the class in a speedo - but I was. William had warned me to keep myself hydrated so I brought in a big bottle of cold water - which was luke warm half-way through class and down-right hot by the end.

I was pleasantly surprised that I made it through the whole class. When I walked out of the room my whole body felt like jello. But about an hour later, I felt energetic and good in a way I have never felt before and it lasted about half the day. Coincidentally I think it took about that long for my face to return to a normal (non-red) shade. So even though I am good and sore today, I am going to try to do it every weekend.

Reading

Recently someone asked me what I was reading and I was a little embarrassed to tell them I had read three Harry Potter books back to back and was planning to keep going. The truth is my daily reading is almost exclusively the Wall Street Journal. I read at least four or five articles a day and often more over the weekend section - which is my favorite. I rarely read anything that has "hedgefund" or similarly boring stuff in the title. I always read their wine and cocktails articles - because I don't know much about that stuff and would like to learn. I generally read their real estate articles and especially the column talking about who is selling and buying what for how much - v. interesting. I usually read their product review sections - I found the section on affordable suiting very useful as was their review of shaving mirrors. So you could safely say that I am a soft reader of the WSJ - with one exception - I always read articles about companies that my investment club owns or is thinking about buying.

FruFru

Ocasionally I get a bit nostalgic for our old 68 VW poptop camper van - Frufru. I can think of a number of times where we got stranded when Frufru broke down, but I can think of even more times when we had great fun at campouts, road trips, etc. in Frufru.

So it is no surprise to anyone who knows me that I regularly look at VW vans on ebay and dream of owning one again someday.

Harry Potter

Last month, I found out that HP 7 is finally going to come out in July. I am definitely not a fanatic, but I do like Harry Potter quite a bit. I remember when HP 6 came out I hadn't read the first 5 books for several years and I felt like I was forgetting so much history and depth to the characters. So this time I decided I was going to reread all 6 books before I read HP 7. I figured if I read one a month I would be done just in time to get book 7.

I am happy to report that I finished the first two books already and I am really enjoying this. Harry Potter books are just fun and have a way of making you feel like you are in on some secret world - just hiding among the muggles like the other great witches and wizards.

If anyone else would like to join me, it isn't too late...

Project - blinds

This week my project is to put up the valances for the last 4 windows in our house where the valances didn't fit. Sadly this project has been in the works since we bought our house and put up all the blinds in the first place nearly 1 1/2 years ago.

Steps to do:
-Measure the 4 windows
-cut the valances to size
-install the valances

Project - basement door

It is funny how sometimes I can just procrastinate something for no real reason at all. Lately, I have been trying to get to the small and big things that I procrastinate finished one project per week. So this week I put up a paper shade over the window to the basement door. This project took me literally all of 5 minutes - and yet, I have had the supplies to do it for months just sitting in the garage. At least it is done now.

As a side note, I must give credit to Mary Merna for letting me in on the one project a week idea. She found a blog where the lady does that and posts her progress.

Milanya the mini-van

I have been trying to figure out a good name for my beloved car for quite some time. The other day, it just hit me - Milanya the mini-van. I am so happy to finally have a good name.

Sleep Solution

I have felt generally sleep deprived for a while, but recently (two days ago) I decided to take a stand. I decided that for one week, I was going to head up to my bed at 9:00 with the goal of being in bed by 9:30. So far I am already feeling much better.

Gilby Baby Blues

Ryan and I went to a Wizards game today for his 30th bday. It was one of the worst games I have ever seen. The Wizards played like they didn't care and/or had a collective hang-over.

Gilby Baby said he was going to score 50 points this game - he scored 9. He couldn't hit a three point shot to save his life.

I am still a huge Gilby Baby fan, but he really has to just stop buying into his own hype. He is fantastic, but it would be nice if he let his playing do the talking.

Music

Recently I realized that I live in a silent house. We don't have any radio or anything except my ipod and computer. So I went down to the basement and got Ryan's old stereo with a cd player and speakers and brought them upstairs and hooked them up and viola... the stereo only plays AM radio. So today I am going to try to add on an FM antenna and then I am going old school and getting some of my cds out and I am going to listen to music again - yay!

Speaking of going old school - the salvation army near my house has a huge selection of albums (vinyl records) for $1 each. Most of them are pretty random, but the other day I found some of my all time favorite and I just couldn't resist. I came home with the Footloose and Flashdance soundtracks. I am so excited about these albums. There is just one hitch - I don't have a record player... Oh well, I can still work on my record collection sans record player.

I also recently realized that I don't really like most kids music. Poor Audrey - the music that I consider to be kids music "for both of us" is the classical stuff. I went online and found a good list of kids music for adults who don't really like kids music and I added it to Audrey's wish list. I may end up purchasing some of it myself just so we can have some good stuff to enjoy together.

And since this post is becoming a hodge podge, I will also share a little known fact - my favorite musical genre is R&B. Audrey and I listen to R&B almost exclusively on the radio in the car. I think I must have been black in a former life.

Hanging Pictures

For some reason the hammer and nail bug bit me today and I walked around our house hanging up pictures every where I could. Surprisingly we had a lot of framed things - posters, art, pictures, etc., that were just stacked up in corners here and there. I was waiting to find the perfect thing to put in every room and so most of the rooms in my house had bare walls. Well today I just decided something was better than nothing. The difference is amazing. Our living room is still basically bare, but the basement, and the master bedroom look tremendously better.

Hair

I guess I have been feeling like I wanted something new with my hair lately, so when I went to get a trim a couple of weeks ago, I came out with blondish orange highlights - not a good look for me. I went back the next day and they turned the highlights a cherry cola color - and now I love them.

So yesterday I decided to get some hot rollers and try to do my hair with a bit of curl in it - I am hoping it looks as good as I imagined it would.

Chili

I think chili is a great way to use leftovers so that they are actually delicious. Yesterday I made what was perhaps my finest chili ever, and used up all kinds of leftovers in the process. Here are the leftovers (from the freezer) that I used:
-corn
-ground turkey
-ground beef
-marbled steak
-tomato paste
-tomato sauce

Frugal Food endeavors

Last year I started off doing great with the $50/week for food, but then I got quite, how shall we say, flexible, as to what constituted a week. So this year I am trying something new. I am taking out a whole months worth of cash for food ($200) and for non-food items (diapers, shampoo, etc.) ($50) on the first of each month. Then when it is out, I won't spend anything else on food until the next month.

It worked pretty well for January. That is until Ryan and I went to Costco on Sunday with only $11 cash for the rest of the months groceries. I figured this would be just enough for the basics (milk, bananas and bread) and then we wouldn't be tempted to get any extras. I was right, it was enough for the basics, but Ryan talked me into getting one the foods they were sampling, and since we were going to have to write a check anyway...

Ikea

We went to Ikea over the weekend - which is always a crazy idea - that place is a zoo. But we braved it and bought an entertainment center with glass doors that lock so that lil' Miss Audrey can't open the DVD player at will. So we now have our coffee table back and I am very pleased to have a place to rest my dogs again. :)

Yogurt part deux

I love my yogurt maker. My first batch didn't turn out at all - I tried not heating the milk first (the manual says that should work as long as you are using pasteurized milk). The second batch was delicious, but a little thinner than the store bought kinds we are used to. The third batch I added a bit of powdered milk to thicken it up and it turned out perfect. It is so creamy and smooth. I just add a little brown sugar and it is like I am having a brown cow maple yogurt - yum.

I am actually surprised by how easy it is to make. Seriously, you heat the milk to 180, let it cool to 115, add the starter (other yogurt) and any other fixings (powdered milk, fruit, whatever), pour it into the cute little jars and leave it alone for six hours. The hardest part is not disturbing it for six hours. This is a new staple for us - I feel so frugal just thinking about it.

Yogurt

I have wanted a yogurt maker for a long time. I really love yogurt, but I don't really like how sweet or how tart most brands are. The one exception is Brown Cow yogurt. There is nothing better than a little container of Brown Cow Maple whole milk yogurt - seriously a little slice of heaven. But since Brown Cow is expensive and hard to find it is a rare indulgence. I knew there had to be a better way.

As a family (of 3) we spend around $10/week on yogurt (Audrey's Yobaby is $3 for 6, Ryan's Yoplait is $4 for 8 and my Danactive is $2 for 4) and since I try to spend only $50/week total on groceries, this is a significant chunk of our grocery bill. I am so excited to save so much money. The major expense for yogurt is the milk. I figure it takes just under 1/2 gallon to make a batch of 7 6 oz containers and I will probably need to make yogurt twice a week. So I am basically adding one gallon of milk to our grocery budget - which is about $2.50 at Costco. I am feeling so frugal just thinking about it!!

After some research, I decided to order a yogurt maker with my Christmas money. My mom suggested getting one that uses glass jars and I took her advice. I just got the package today and I can hardly wait to make it tomorrow.