The Big Crash

Ugh, what a mess we had!  Apparently the pins in one of our cabinets were shorter than the other cabinets and it all came crashing down.

We heard a noise, couldn’t find anything wrong in the house, but when hubby started to open the cabinet, the shelf had collapsed and it all came tumbling down.  Thankfully he wasn’t hurt, and none of my appliances or the granite counter were damaged.

And the dishes?  Well, if I could have picked a shelf to fall, it would have been this one.  It was serving pieces, a collection of Chantal that I’ve had for years.  I was tired of it anyway.  The brown covered casserole, however is another story.  I’ve had that since John was a baby.  But I can replace it on eBay and I will, and then I will just replace all of the serving pieces with Pioneer Woman.  I feel a shopping spree coming on.

Check your cabinets ladies, if this would have been a cabinet shelf filled with Fiestaware, I would have been really upset.

Berkshire Blankets

Time to share the good stuff.  I was at my friend V’s house and she had this Honeycomb Blanket on her bed.  I ran my hand over it and I was SOLD!

This is the softest, body hugging blanket I’ve ever had.  It’s the perfect weight, not too heavy, and it’s affordable.  So, if you’re in the market for a new blanket, you can’t go wrong with this.  It’s a total winner, hall of fame worthy.

Here’s the link.  Amazon has many styles to choose from, but I wouldn’t even try one of the others, this Honeycomb style is just perfect.

Think of me when you snuggle into this, trust me, if you buy it, you will love it.

~ Jan

Pioneer Woman's New Bedding Line, I'm in Love...

 

Ree has done it again!  This woman and her creative team just keep blowing it out of the ballpark.  Oh, this new bedding line, introducing next week at Walmart makes me want to redo my guest bedroom NOW.!!!!!   But I can’t, I just can’t, or can I????  I LOVE IT ALL!!!!

And the cow, ohhhhh the cow, it calls to me...  

My Pillows, do I love them?

I like them, I’m not in love with them yet, but I just got them last week so I haven’t had time to really bond with them.  I’m brutal on pillows, BRUTAL - I punch them, flip them to the cool side incessantly, wad them in a ball, flip them again, fluff them, pull them toward my head, then away from my head, all in the space of, oh an hour.  You guessed it, there hasn’t been a lot of restful sleep going on at my house.

I’ve watched the infomercials about how these pillows are the end all, I’ve talked to people, our neighbors, Don and Jacquie have them, they hate them, my buddy V has them, she loves them, her hubby, Rich hates them.  Zuilly occasionally has these pillows for a good price, $64.99 for a set of king size, and when they came back in stock a few weeks ago I ordered them.

Now LC was just shaking his head, he’s lived the pillow wars with me.  I’ve had goose down, duck down, chicken feathers, foam, gel, poly filled, are you starting to get the picture here?  I’ve spent a chunka change on pillows over the years and they just aren’t all that! Currently I have this worn out feather pillow that I drag everywhere like Linus with his blanket.  Seriously, if we’re going on a car trip, that pillow is the first thing that is loaded.  Other people have horrid pillows too, it’s just not me and I detest a hard, unyielding pillow with a purple passion!!!

So last week the pillows arrive, it takes for-ev-er to get things from Zuilly, I’m spoiled with Amazon Prime, Zuilly is in no hurry to ship.  They came in this little box, hubby unpacked them and instantly complained that we had been ripped off because they were flat as a flitter.  I explained to him that V told me you had to put them in the dryer sandwiched between a damp towel, so I did that and they came out nice and puffy.  I bought the soft-medium ones, I put them on the bed and took them for a spin.  They are supposed to have a “cooling” effect, so you don’t put a pillow protector on them, just a 100% cotton pillow case.  When you lay down they feel firm, they’re filled with shredded foam, they don’t lump, but they do adjust to your head and it’s kinda soft in the middle where the indentation is.  

And what do I think of them?  Well, they are not what they advertise, I still toss and turn all night, and I flip the pillow, but I no longer wad it up or fluff it, I just flip it.  Does it have a cooling effect?  Oh who the hell knows, I’m still hot all the time, so I’m not a judge.  But I have been waking up lately with neck pain and I have to say that it’s gone now, probably in part because I’m laying on a pillow that isn’t all bunched up.  I just asked LC this morning how he’s liking them and he says, “oh they’re okay I guess, I never know which pillow I’m sleeping on anyway.”  Men Schmen!

But I am going to order two more of them, so I must like them.  Well, actually it’s more economics and desperation.  They’re decent pillows, and you don’t buy decent pillows for $32.50 apiece, at least I haven’t been able to do so.

So, if you think you might like them, go ahead, knock yourself out, pull out that old credit card and CHARGE!

The link, ya, I know you want it, here it is...

Let’s face it, you’re not breaking the bank, these pillows in king size are usually over $100 for a set.  The worst case scenario, you blew $64.99, less if you buy queen size.  Hope you enjoy.  ~ Jan

Downy Fresh Protect, It's AMAZING!!!!

In a perfect world I would have clean sheets every single day.  No, let me rephrase that, in a perfect world I would have a maid who would put clean sheets on my bed every single day.  But, it’s not a perfect world, hubby is the closest thing i have to a maid, oh he will love reading this, but seriously, he always strips the bed for me, we wash the sheets and we both make it again.  But back to my story.  I love the smell of clean sheets, who doesn’t.  I grew up with line dried sheets and nothing in the world smells better, but that’s not possible anymore, so I dump in tons of fabric softener in an attempt to get a fresh smell.  And it works, for a day and then they don’t smell fresh anymore.

I read online that Gain Detergent scent lasts a long time so I bought it after making myself nauseous in the grocery store, smelling all of their different fragrances. I ended up buying their original scent, bought the pricey pods, bought the softener, came home, washed the sheets and they smelled HIDEOUS.  Those reviewers must have been paid because that Gain was some nasty stuff!  It went in the trash and it was back to Tide Pods and Downy for me, but I still wanted that fresh smell to last longer.

Then a few weeks ago we were at Costco and I saw this Downy April  Fresh Protect Scent Booster with Febreze, you add it to your wash and you can sprinkle in a little or sprinkle in a lot.  Well, I washed sheets and blankets and I sprinkled in a lot, I filled that little pink cup to the rim, if a little dab will do ya, then a lot has to be better, right???  And the result...

Oh my, my bed smells amazing and the scent lasts for days.  

You may think this is an unnecessary expense but the smell is so worth it, your bed smells so fresh, your linen closet smells fresh, your clothes smell fresh, your laundry room smells fresh, what’s not to love..

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner, these little pink beads pack a big punch, this is definitely holy grail at our house now...

Phillips Air Fryer XL Review

Those of you who follow me know that I love kitchen gadgets.  I love to research and buy the highest rated versions because quality gadgets last a lifetime.  But when everybody started jumping on the Air Fryer bandwagon, I wasn’t that impressed.  And then I started reading more about them, the seed was planted and I was off to the races.

I did my research, and while there are cheaper versions of air fryers there were many complaints, one of the primary ones being that the finish came off of several models, but Phillips invented the air fryer and they have remained the industry standard.  So I bought one from Williams Sonoma, because they have a great return policy and always take care of their customers if they have any issues.  I bought the XL, you don’t want a smaller one, even for one person I would want the XL, the smaller ones just don’t hold enough food.  The price was spendy - $300, but I had a 25% off coupon and free shipping so that helped, and I knew since I bought it from WS that I could return it if I didn’t like it.  

It just didn’t seem possible that food could get that crispy when you fried it with no or little oil.  But boy was I in for a surprise, this thing is a rock star.  The first thing we made were french fries, then fried veggies, hubby wanted fried pies, so we made those, and everything turned out great.  He loves hash browns fried in it, I do drizzle the with a little oil, and while they aren’t grease laden like regular hash browns, they are still delicious, very crisp and so easy to cook.

The unit heats in two minutes, I line the basket with perforated parchment paper to make cleanup a breeze, you don’t heat your kitchen, it’s so fast, so easy, I would rank this as one of my very favorite kitchen gadgets.

My kids are critics, my son Ryan was here with his family last weekend, and he was very skeptical.  After using it just a few times he said, “Mom, you know I’m going to have to buy one of these.”  And that’s high praise from a foodie.  We fried pork chops in it today, it took 18 minutes and they were so good, juicy and flavorful, no oil and no mess!  Hubby thinks it’s great and he can be a hard sell too, but the man does love fried food and this makes it a lot more guilt free than frying it in oil on the stove.  And did I mention that there is no mess, your kitchen stays clean and you don’t have to heat up your oven.  Of course I mentioned it, but it’s worth repeating. ;)  That’s one of the best parts, not having to deal with a greasy stove.  We haven’t fried food often for years because it’s just not healthy, but this thing is a game changer!

There are several groups on FaceBook that give you great recipes, lots of cookbooks, too, even Paula Dean is on the bandwagon with her own brand of fryer and a cookbook.

So, if anybody has mad money and thinks they might like one of these, I’ll give you the link and also the code I used for the 25% off.  I don’t know if it still works, but they gave it to me this month, so there is a good chance it will.

Here’s the link

And the code:

USE CODE RHJP-KKX9-MH3P

 

Oh, this one is a winner winner chicken dinner for sure!

 

~ Jan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Ideas to Organize Your Life

I struggle with being organized every . single . day.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s all in the gene pool.  Either you have the gene, or you don’t, and sadly, I’m lacking it.  I am, however, for the most part a laid back person, and I think that people that are detail driven are much more frantic, at least that’s what I tell myself.  

So, the other day this article from County Living came across my Facebook feed.  I’ve read so many ways to organize my life through the years, but for some reason, this just clicked.

It’s from a professional organizer, and it just makes sense.  I think I’m going to print this out and post it on my bulletin board, the ideas are so simple and so relevant.

The biggie for me, hands down #3, don’t let those clothes touch the floor!  Awesome advice...

So, here’s what organized people do, if any of you struggle with this, you might gain some insight from this as well… ~ Jan

1. They make their beds."Arguably the most important activity of the day, there's really no excusing this one. Bed making promotes productivity throughout the day and will pave the way for an organized lifestyle. Plus, it's a pleasure to get into a made bed at the end of a long day."

2. They write out a to-do list."Take a few minutes in the morning to jot down your goals for the day. Having a concrete list will keep you on track throughout the day and give you a sense of accomplishment when tasks are completed

3. They tend to clothing as soon as they take it off."Hang, launder, or fold every garment and DO NOT let anything hit the floor. Neglected clothing can slowly build up and lead to an overwhelming mound."

4. They wash the dishes."A sink full of dishes will make your entire kitchen feel and look messy. Get in the habit of washing dishes at the end of the day or at least soaking them so you can quickly wash them the next day."

5. They wipe down surfaces."Your kitchen and sink counters inevitably get dirty every day. So take a minute or two to wipe them down before you head to bed."

6. They sort through the mail."Tend to your mailbox daily to avoid a build up of bill payments and to-dos. Immediately toss junk mail into recycling and store the rest in an active inbox so you'll know where to find it."

7. They always put their keys in the same spot."Whether it's a hook by the front door or a catch-all near the entrance, make sure your keys have a clear destination. You don't want to spend time searching for them when it's time to leave."

8. They empty their pockets and bag at the end of the day."Take a couple of minutes to throw away any receipts or trash that you've acquired throughout the day. Place loose change into your wallet or coin jar and make sure any loose papers are filed or thrown away."

9. They plan for tomorrow."Before heading to bed, mentally walk through the next day and do your best to prepare for it. Set aside necessary items and pack up your bag so you can grab it on the fly if need be."

"If you have a day or even a week when things get disorganized, that's okay,"  "Just get back on the bandwagon as soon as you can. Even the smallest habit change (bed making, dish washing, etc.) can help."

Source:  Country Living Magazine

Remove Wrinkles Without Ironing

 I saw this trick on Facebook, tried it and it works!  Hey, anything to make life easier… ~ Jan