Simple Frugalista

2011 Recap and Resolutions!!

2011-12-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

2011 was an exciting year full of scary but good changes! First, the biggest change was that we moved to NJ from NYC. We moved into a small lakehouse and had work done, well ALOT of work done on the house to get it ready for winter. It wasn't winterized and didn't have underground water that wouldn't freeze for winter, so that was one of our goals...and we did it! We had the house raised, went without water for 6 weeks, (and survived) and happily, oh so happily got water back!!! Here is our house before and after some of the work we did on it.

Another change that happened, was I left my 10 year job working for the Mayor's Office of Film in NYC to teach yoga and attend Acupuncture school full time, my true passion. Its been amazing and words can't express how grateful I am to God, the universe and my hubby Martin for supporting me to be able to teach yoga, take care of the puppies and Martin and attend school for my Professional graduate degree in Chinese Medicine.

Next change, we got our new beautiful cutie puppy Corbin! He is a handful at times, and has so much energy but he is the sweetest (and softest) big puppy (he's almost 70 pounds at 6 months!) we could ever have asked for and we love him so much!) and we're so glad that him and Lealu get along!! (that could've been a disaster)

We had the wonderful chance to go on vacation to Hawaii with my sister and her husband. We had so much fun, and hopefully there will be lots more vacations together!

Over the summer, my wonderful good friend Danielle married her soulmate, Kevin and my sister and I got the chance to be there for it!

Next my Gram and her companion Harry made their way up to heaven to continue on with their journeys:)

Its been a year full of change and love, more than I could've asked for. I hope 2012 will be a year of good changes. I would like to show so much gratitude and love to my husband, to finish work on our home and make this my last year in school (which means, taking my comps in January, my CNT course in March, signing up to take my license exam soon after and then finishing up my classes!) I have hope and faith that everything happens for a reason and I know that God and the universe wouldn't put me in this place without the goal of becoming an acupuncturist...so I keep that faith and hope that everything will work out with classes and that I will pass my tests on time. :)

Wishing you a wonderful New Years Eve, day and 2012 year!!!

Christmas Corner 2011

2011-12-22T03:21:00.000-08:00

I slid the couch over to the side and made ourselves a little Christmas corner! Most of our ornaments from Brooklyn are still there, hidden somewhere under our bed I think, where Martin couldn't find them, so we were stuck with what we had here. No star on top, but I did make a little bow with ribbon! :)

I haven't been on here for a bit! Things have been busy but really good, my husband has put in the spiral staircase (I know he's awesome!!) and its almost done with all the steps. (I will post pics when its all done!) Things are taking a bit longer because we are doing everything ourselves, but we are doing it! We are working on giving handmade gifts this year. For my aunts, we bought homemade quilts from my Mom, along with giving everyone handmade soaps. And the wine we're giving as gifts are from the local winery. My aunts on my Mom's side, we're giving homemade welsh cookies (my Gram's recipe). I'll be putting them in a little festive baggy with a tag label that says "Gram's Welsh cookies". I think they'll love that! Those cookies were a trademark of my Gram's every year over the holidays and I'm grateful that she gave me the recipe so that it can be continued:) It was a little difficult for the guys, but we found a cigar store that sells cigars made in the USA, so we got some of those for my Dad. Its difficult to get everyone's gifts handmade, local and made in the USA, but its a start! Are you giving any handmade gifts this year? What are they?

House Update - err well it was Wednesday just a second ago:)

2011-11-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

The house is coming along!! My awesome Dad came over yesterday to help me put in insulation. We used the good kind with plastic surrounding the insulation so there wasn't alot getting all over everything and that we would have had to breathe in, called John Mansville. It was alittle expensive but so worth it when I didn't have itchies all over me after! You might notice all the duct tape used to hold up the insulation. Usually people have wood studs up that they can just staple or nail the insulation into. We used metal studs, so there wasn't anything we could nail/staple into, so we used duct tape! My dad double checked with a builder first to make sure that was a good idea and they said yup, so we did it! Looks kind of funny, but whatever works! Now we move onto putting sheetrock up. With the sheetrock, we are going to nail the boards into the metal studs. More on that in a few weeks after we actually do it! The stone is also finished!! We're so happy with how it came out, and the guys did a great job. They were from Pennsylvania, figures! Every person we've met so far from Pa knows how to do a great job on building house stuff without overpricing. Here are a few pictures!

Frugal Friday - oatmeal cookies from scratch!

2011-11-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

I was craving the homemade smell of oatmeal cookies the other day. I thought, I can either go to the store and buy some fake smelly thing or really make some oatmeal cookies. I got to town and started baking. How hard can it be?? I have to be honest, I'm not very good all the time with following directions when it comes to baking. I usually end of putting alittle too much of this or alittle too much of that. I got the ingredients together and it didn't seem too challenging, but with baking, it never does and it always is! Here are the ingredients -

3 cups instant oatmeal (I used regular old fashioned instead of instant because thats what I had, I thought I'd just try it and see what happened, this was where I went wrong I think! when you use instant, the oats absorb less water than with regular oats, with regular, the cookie seemed alittle too dry, like sconie instead of cookiey)
1 cup warmed butter
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp cinnamon (I love cinnamon and may have put more like 2 tsp in there! I know, I'm bad with sticking to the recipe with this baking stuff!)
1tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup sugar (I used about a 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of agave sweetener syrup)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Mix all dry ingredients together in one bowl. Then mix all wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour wet into the dry bowl. Mix together. I had some fun and mixed with my hands:)

Take mixture and roll into cookie balls and then flatten. Put into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.

Let cool and taste! they were yum but like I said above, alittle more like a scone than a cookie:) Just need to have them with jam I guess.

Happy Friday to you!!!

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2011-11-01T13:23:00.001-07:00

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Happy Holidays!!!!

Fright Fest - Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T03:10:00.000-07:00

This was a fun Halloween weekend! (aside from the foot of snow we got turning our work in progress aka the house into a winter wonderland!) I have to say, even though dangerous at times driving through snowy scary hills etc, the lake and trees looked so beautiful! Before the snow happened, we went to a local Halloween festival called Fright Fest. Its a really cool little festival located near the Renaissance Festival by us that we've been to a few times before. But this year, it was eerily spooky (don't know if I used that or spelled it right!) I guess with all the scary stuff in the world, the people who organized the fest decided they had to spook it up about ten notches, cause I was even alittle scared! and I didn't even go into the haunted house! From a girl skipping around in a dress, with a bloody knife hiding behind her back, to a green faced goblin man jumping at a fenced cage making rattling noises! I took some great pictures, so you could see, and when I clicked enhance, so you could see the picture better in the dark, all these little orbs showed up. Scary! check it out!

House Update Wednesday!

2011-10-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

This week is proving to be a beautiful one! Its been chilly in the mornings but sunny in the afternoon, which is really nice! I'm a bibliography away from finishing my 20 page paper for school in points and the way points are used in the three styles of acupuncture and we have stone!! (see below)

we are also having the pellet stove delivered tomorrow, and this weekend, thanks to the help of our awesome families, we're putting in the puffy stuff that goes in between the wall and the sheetrock, and the sheetrock!!! then next week, we're going to work on the tile and ordering the spiral stairs, that because of lack of funds, we've decided to take on ourselves! how does that go? creativity is the mother of necessity? something like that! hopefully we'll have the house done and ready by the holidays!!

Frugal Friday - its apple season!

2011-10-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

I love our neighbors here. One woman especially is always so nice and brings us apples from her orchard upstate! Our apple trees haven't been so abundant this year, so I was so excited when she brought us a bag! I knew we wouldn't be able to eat all those apples before they went bad, and in the spirit of apple pie's everywhere, I made one apple pie and then made an apple pie filling for later. I thought about canning it...but I got nervous about it and decided to just freeze the filling for later. I've been talking about learning to can for awhile and every time I think about doing it and get ready, I get too nervous and back out of it. (this weekend, I'm really going to do it. I'm going to can pears on Saturday. No fear!! :) Buying or picking apples during apple season can save alot of money and preserving them in different ways can save alot too. First, I peeled about 5 small apples, and chopped them up. I put them into a pan with alittle water, about 1/2 a stick of butter, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, and about 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. I cooked this until the apples were soft. Afterwards, I let the apple mixture cool. Once the mixture was cool enough to put into a plastic freezer bag, I scooped it into a freezer bag for later. The way I make my apple pie is to take this mixture, add it to a graham cracker crust (we love the lightness of graham crackers crusts), with some apricot preserve and cranberries on top. I cook it for another 20 minutes. This is the perfect way to save homemade apple pie filling for the holidays! If you are a busy lady with work, and/or with children, and you have some free time to bake and not so much free time when you want to bake, this will help! :) You can also use this filling for an apple crumb. Just place the apple filling in a baking dish, add 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar with 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Yum!

Happy Frugal tip Friday! Hope you're having a great one!

RIP Steve Madden sandals & Happy Pet Wellness Month!

2011-10-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Did you know October is National pet wellness month? When I was told it was pet wellness month, I had to let you all know. Our pets are very important to us, they join our family and become a part of it so fast, shoe chewing tendencies and all. I've had my share, this past weekend Corbin tackled a shoe of mine that I loved while I was away at the Harvest Festival Craft Fair in Cape May NJ selling homemade soaps that my Mom and I make. I was very upset but I thought about it and after hiding my other shoes (we don't have too many places to hide them as the house still isn't ready downstairs), I thought, this is just a pair of shoes, yes they were one of my faves and they were totally cute (they were platform Steve Madden sandals with leather straps and leather lining on the base so that my foot just slid in so nicely, anyways, right back to the point), I love him and my sandals were just a thing. I can always replace the sandals (hopefully maybe I can get them on sale since they are not in season right now) but I can't replace his cutie, furry, soft face. Both he and Lealu are our pups forever and so special to us and just really cool puppies. So in honor of National Pet Wellness Month, Martin got them each a bone, not the ones with the raw hide which can hurt their tummies, but the real ones with the marrow inside (yuck, they go nuts over it). There is a great site that I was told about where a Pet Nutrition Center just began, called PetMD.com where pet owners can get all cool snippets of information as well as ask questions to veteranarians about what is healthy for your pet in regards to food, vaccines, anything really. You an also take a Nutrition Quiz on the site as well. Check it out! Its kind of like webmd but for animals! In addition to the PetMd.com site, there is a dog food that I was told about called New Hill's Science Diet Ideal Balance. I'm interested to try it just based on the facts about the food. Our puppies are great with either Holistic or Purina One Beyond, other types that we tried that do not have so many natural ingredients and whole foods have given them the worst diarrhea, so I'll start them slow with alittle bit to see how they like it. If it doesn't work with their system, we have to stick with what works. Here are a few facts about New Hill's Science Diet Ideal Balance -

Offers natural ingredients and the power of advanced nutrition
Meat-first formula – first ingredient is fresh chicken
Contains whole grains, fruits and vegetables
No corn, fillers or artificial colors
Noticeable improvement in skin and coat in 30 days
Not too much, not too little – just the right balance of natural ingredients for the best nutrition for your dog
Available for Puppy, Adult and Mature Adult (two-three sizes per lifestage)

They sell the Science Diet Ideal Balance at Pet Specialty stores so maybe they'll have it at Petco. Cost is not bad either, with the price between 9.99 to 39.99. Holistic can run up to 50$ for a large bag.

I'll let you know how they like it! Hope you have a great Monday!

I was given a sample to try from Science Diet Ideal Balance. I don't know how Lealu or Corbin will do with their dog food, but after I give them a little, I'll make sure to let you know!

I had to share this video! frugal tip to come...

2011-10-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

this little girl is an amazing singer! Gifted is all I can say.

House Update Wednesday - wordless!

2011-10-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to show you this! My awesome Dad came up to the house on Columbus Day, (which was his day off) to help us finish the siding! How awesome is he!? He showed us some cool stuff, and not only showed us how to put up siding last year, but taught me that when finishing siding at the bottom, its best to have a piece of J-channel along the bottom (this will help separate the siding from the stone we're going to be getting in a few weeks, hopefully if everything works out). You can see the radon pipe, that big white pipe is now going straight through the roof, when the radon guys installed it, they made it go around the roof. We thought it would look better just going up through, so Martin got the tools and fixed it! He did an amazing job! Thank God for men lol. I think its something in their brains that know how to do this stuff instinctively, like how women just know how to multi-task. You can see Lealu and Corbin below playing, she looks kinda mean but I promise she's just defending herself. Poor girl gets pushed around when Corbin plays!

Here is a gorgeous view of sunset on the lake. We were driving to dinner over the weekend, and pulled over to take this. Gorgeous, right!?

Corbin's funny face - wordless

2011-10-11T11:39:00.001-07:00

Corbin's funny face! Poor guy will be getting neutered next week:(

Frugal Friday - harvesting herbs!

2011-10-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Its getting cold outside already! Today was beautiful and sunny but with a chill in the air. My nice neighbor brought over some jam for us. She makes like everything herself, its amazing! (she doesn't make soap though, so I gave her a mint soap!) When she came over she mentioned that she was beginning to harvest her vegetables and herbs. She picks the herbs, washes them and cuts them to put into a freezer bag and then freezes them for when she wants to use them later during the winter. I had never thought about harvesting herbs! What a great idea and I figure this could save lots of money on buying dried herbs throughout the winter. I took a look at the herbs that were growing and decided to leave the herbs that were going to seed or would go to seed so that the seeds would be free to come up next spring. The herbs that I know die off throughout winter are the rosemary and parsley. The mint already went to seed, so did the cilantro, the basil and the sage. Here is a picture of the rosemary and parsley-

I picked most of the herbs

washed them and trimmed them, bagged them in freezer bags and labeled them.

Now all you have to do is freeze and use when you're ready to use, just open and take a few pieces out to thaw and place back in freezer for the next time!

Happy Frugal Friday!!

Do you have a frugal tip you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you!
Email me at simplefrugalista@yahoo.com!

House update Wednesday - all words! :)

2011-10-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

Good news! We received our certificate of occupancy! which means we can legally be here and all the inspections have been approved. This is a huge relief!

Our well water systems contact came through and installed a water softener along with another filter to clean the water and another system to bring up the Ph of the water. We also had a test by the town for the water to see the bacteria levels and all is well! Good enough to drink, and its great because its well water which means no flouride or chlorine.

We are in a standstill right now with a staircase because we are working on putting studs up, and then insallation can happen and then sheetrock and then the floor, and finally after that the stairs can go in...hopefully. We need them in before the winter though because we have to make sure the pipes downstairs stay warm. Hoping we get more nice sunny days like today!

Sometime soon I'll be painting the front deck and back stairs with water repellant stain so that should keep the life of the wood for longer.

Thats pretty much it for right now with the house! I can't tell you how great it feels to be taking showers and to be brushing my teeth and washing my face knowing we having good water! I feel like the richest person in the world lol.

I hope you're having a great week!!

Autumn - Changes Poem.

2011-10-03T02:53:00.000-07:00

Leaves are falling in yellows, reds, oranges coloring covering the ground, as the golden sun finds its way through branches.

Apples burst from the trees, the smell of the freshest air.

The lake is still, quiet after a loud summer, she takes a deep breath. All is silent as she sends the remnants of children’s laughter and motor boat engines through the light ripples in the waves to the shore.

The trees have had their time to grow, the grass has been green, the earth has been spent.

Time to take a break. Time to put on your sweater and your knit scarf with a good book and a cup of hot tea. Time to wander and wonder through a new story. Getting comfy, getting warm, ready for the cold to come. Sitting by the low fire.

Crunching through the leaves, she visits her rosemary, she wishes good luck.

Feeling time through the seasons. Hear the earth weeping. Her time is growing to a close, and she must let go. Let go of the summer's breeze, the warm sun on her back, as she lay curled up under the mountain. Its the fall. The fall of leaves, the fall of light, the fall of the carefree summer. The seeds begin to burrow under the soil until Winter leaves fall to protect from the cold. Animals gather food and make their homes strong.

She lifts her face to that last ray of bright sunlight streaking through the branches. Feeling for a last bit of warmth. Something to hold onto until the Winter leaves.

Has it already been 3 years!?

2011-09-27T03:47:00.001-07:00

Frugal Friday - Expert on Cars talks how to save $ on purchase of a Car!

2011-09-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

(via)

Today I'm so excited to welcome Sean to guest blog about saving $ on cars! Its one of the purchases that are super difficult to make especially when you want a good car thats not going to break down but don't want to spend an arm and a leg for it. M and I are talking about one day getting one those babies above, how cool are they!? Growing up, my Dad purchased most of our cars used and fixed them up for us, and I always remember anything that went wrong with them, he would just amazingly be able to fix. I think that kind of stuff is built into dads:) Sean knows a large amount about cars as he works for an automotive company. He blogs over at cash for cars, a company that helps people sell a used car! Thanks Sean for stopping by!

There are various ways you can learn how to save money on a car. At times, you need some time to make the best purchase. When you save enough money for a car, you must follow a few simple steps that will prepare you for your purchase.

Certain times of the year like the holidays are the best when you want to secure a really good deal on a car. Also, waiting to buy a car is highly recommended because you will get a better price. It is also a good idea to shop around at different dealers.

Another way to save money on a car is to start saving as much of your money as you can now. If you need a car in the future and you do not want to buy one now, start saving. Tighten your budget and save a certain percentage every month. Besides, you may be paying for certain items every month that you do not even need so it’s smart to analyze all of your spending habits. It is also advised to use Kelley Blue Book so you can see if you are receiving a fair price.

If saving money on a car is your goal, then your first priority should be function and not appearance. Spend money on a dependable car that is put together well instead of spending a large amount on a vehicle that is designed well but does not give you reliable mileage. Many people who want to save money on a car choose to buy a used car that is just as effective as a new car but costs much less. Also, a new car’s value will depreciate a great deal right after you buy it, so a used car will be a very good option especially if you want to sell it later.

When you save money, you must learn to be practical. In the midst of buying a new vehicle, it is smart to keep your old one as long as you can. Low trade-in values will make you lose money when you trade cars in a short amount of time. You have to rely on a good, quality car for a long time, so you have to invest well.

People who want to save money on a car have to keep their options open and be ready to analyze all kinds of options. Look at a complete comparison of different types of makes, models, and dealers. Even though doing all of this can be very tedious, it will improve your chances of saving money and you will go home in the car of your choice.

Happy Frugal Friday!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

House Update Wednesday - new deck!

2011-09-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

I hope you're having a great Wednesday! I think I need to do alittle acupuncture to take away the monster headache I have from dealing with construction stuff but other than that things are good. We still have water (having water at any time is just wonderful) :) Today our carpenter came who is just awesome and he finished the permanent back stairs and finished putting in the rest of the windows. He'll be here tomorrow to put in the doors and then he is done with his work with us! A great company that I got from the inspector came to put in a radon tube. A radon tube is for radon that might come out of the ground, and if it does, instead of going into the house, it goes into this tube and outside. Sounds alittle scary but hopefully we don't get radon. I spoke with a stone mason who came by with sample and to do some measurements. We another possible stone mason coming tomorrow, so that we can get a few different prices. If there's any advice I can give on working with contractors is to shop around! I spoke with the stone mason today and just by me saying that we are meeting with someone tomorrow, he dropped the price alittle. A-w-esome. Next thing is tomorrow I have to order a ton of pellets for heat this winter (we are only using pellet stoves) from Home Depot, pay the carpenter for all of this work and call the inspector to set up a time to meet for final inspection. How exciting is that!? I never thought we'd reach final inspection, but its here and I'm so grateful:) Here are photos of the house so far -

new front deck!

new permanent stairs in the back!

here is the radon tube -

as I was cleaning off some chairs to bring on the deck that we had left outside all this time we were doing work on the house, I found this little guy, I promise its not one of those fake halloween spiders, and...well that chair is still outside and I won't be moving it:) and it won't be coming onto the deck until M sprays it with a hose to make sure mr. spider is gone. I literally screamed and Corbin puppy ran over to save me lol.

isn't that like the biggest scariest spider you've ever seen!!??

Frugal Friday - a wreath for every season

2011-09-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Wow its amazing how fast the time is going! Its already Friday and almost halfway through September, just crazy! In celebration of our house getting water, and just in getting all this work done, I went to Michaels a few weeks ago with the intention of buying a pretty wreath for our front door. That intention ended quickly as I noticed all the signs on fully decorated wreaths, 29.99, 39.99, so I decided to buy the elements and make our own! I found a great stick wreath on sale for 4.99, along with flower/beaded garland that came in a circle on clearance for 3.99 each. I purchased 2. I wrapped both garlands around the wreaths, sticking the pieces in between the twigs. It looked alittle plain, so I found some old red ribbon from last Christmas and wrapped that around the wreath, alternating going on the inside and then the outside. The best part of this wreath isn't the low price (although the sales at Michaels are awesome), its that instead of having to buy a wreath every season, you can just change the ribbon! So for the holidays, I have red (its alittle early for the holidays but for Halloween you could even use orange ribbon!) for Spring you can switch it to a lime green and for Summer maybe a lavender or an eggshell color! Here is a photo of the wreath getting ready for the holidays:

Total spent - 13$

wreath - on sale 4.99
2 garlands on clearance - 3.99 each so 8 total
ribbon - you can just whats laying around or you could probably find some at Michaels or your closest dollar store!

Happy Friday! brrrr its already starting to get chilly! Where did the summer go??

House Update Wednesday - update*** we have water!!!

2011-09-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

Today is the day, hopefully, I'm praying, that we will get water!!!! The plumber is just getting back from vacation but he knows that we are desperate and have been out of running water now for 6 weeks so he is making it a point to come today to hook us up! The well guy will also be here to test the water to see what kind of filter we'll need (whether its hard water or soft). The builders are here to to finally finish (thats right finish!!!) their work with us. I am so excited. Its been a long 6 weeks. Last week they did the sonnet tubes, which allow for the carpenter to build the front deck and the back stairs and landing. They are buttoning up (thats a construction term lol) the cement block where they had the steel beams coming out of when they lowered the house down, so the downstairs will be ready to start with sheetrock but before we can do sheetrock, first we have to put these things up called metal studs. Today Martin took an emergency day off of work and him and his Dad are putting those up. His Dad and him are amazing working with electric so they are also working on that so that we can get the well working once the plumber comes. Crazy amounts of planning, seriously you couldn't pay me enough to be a contractor! So now I'm waiting here with Laura my MIL, for the plumber, drinking chai's:) We're even using real mugs and crossing my fingers that we'll have the water to wash them after lol. We have the windows and doors delivered but the carpenter has another job he wants to finish before he finishes ours, and so it goes...so we're waiting for either Thursday or Friday for him to come and finish the stairs, the front deck, and install the windows. We found a great electric heating fireplace that we might be using for heat downstairs, we have to start thinking of that because, I can't believe it, but its almost October. Here is the progress in photos so far.

This is Buddy, my FIL, starting work on the electric box.

landing check, stairs are off because the sewer pipe was exposed for plumber, and wasn't backfilled.

will be our new doorway oneday! coming along...

downstairs...coming along with the new floor.

front of house with sonnet tubes in, ready for the front deck.

window wells installed on 2 windows where the grade of dirt is high.

hopefully I'll be taking a shower...maybe shedding a tear or two tonight:)

*** Update! We have water!! the plumber came and surprised us while we were taking M's dad to dinner, and he worked until 8pm!! He gave us the greatest gift of running water! I gave him the biggest hug and thank you!! I'll be happily washing dishes and taking a shower tonight:)

ps did you know that you can cook using just foil!? Last night we cooked broccoli with cheese and olive oil, with chicken and sweet potato all in foil. So you can survive without water, even though it probably didn't taste as good as if I had cooked in a dutch oven or something. At least if we are ever stuck in the woods, I won't panic without having running water, or maybe I will...lol.

Where I was for 9-11

2011-09-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

My best friend wrote about what had happened to her on 9-11, and since our paths led to eachother that day, I thought I would too. That day I was commuting into my first day of my internship at Fox Publicity. I was so excited and nervous. I remember in my car on the way to the train in NJ, forgetting my cell phone and thinking on the way, that maybe I should turn around to grab it, but then I'd be late so its probably a good idea to forget about it and just go in. So I parked my car like I usually did, and waited for the train. A great start to the day, I was going to be on time. I got to Fox studios early, grabbed a coffee and sat outside to watch the huge tv news screen they had for the public. The next thing I know, on the screen is a plane flying into the towers. I was confused for a second and thought this might be a tv show, so I went to a pay phone to call my Dad. I told him what I saw, and he said to just go into the building and that it was probably part of a show. I walked alittle and at this point, people were freaking out and running around. I stood outside and saw that the second plane had hit the other tower. I walked back to the phone and waited for the person to get through their call. I called my Dad and at this point he had heard the news on tv and told me to go inside the building where it would be safe. I hung up and started walking to the building. There were people panicking in the streets yelling "Its time to get out of the city!" I was alittle nervous but my Dad was calm when I talked to him and that always helped me to remain calm. I went inside and found the few people at the office huddled in a room on the couch watching the news. We sat there for a bit and decided it was best that everyone leave and go see family. Pay phones were jam packed and I didn't have my cell, although I was told that the cell signals were jammed. I went to the college I was attending and sat in the lounge for a bit. A woman asked me if I had anywhere to go. I thought of my best friend's aunt's apartment close by and decided to walk there to see if she was there. I walked and met her aunt there and, after her trek there, her too. It was wonderful to be around caring friends during a scary time and I will be forever grateful to her aunt for having me and to my best friend for being there:) There are some people you can always count on, and she is one of those people. We stayed up late and watched the news. I remember the next morning I went out to get us some Dunkin Donuts coffee and there was a cop in the shop who we all clapped for. Outside there was the oddest silence, on a very busy street in a very busy city, just some garbage rolling down the street with alittle wind. It took another day or two for the trains to start working. The first time I took the train home, I just remember feeling so happy to be home.

When I met my husband I found out he was there too, he was a crew sent by the electric company. Today I'm thankful he is okay and was wearing a gas mask. I've heard of so many volunteers who tragically have fallen ill because of the debris from the buildings.

Sending Love and Peace to All, to the innocent lives lost in the 9-11 attacks, and to the innocent lives lost since that day during the war.

House update Wednesday - wordless almost

2011-09-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

The construction people and masons are here! and my wonderful in laws are here! Martin's dad helped us hook up the pellet stove upstairs so we have heat now! Its kind of crazy that its beginning of September and we need heat, but for some reason with all this rain, its really chilly out. And it works! We got good news and bad news. The sonnet tubes which allow the carpenter to build the front deck and back stairs (permanent) couldn't go in because of all the rain so we have to postpone the sonnet tubes until Saturday, which pushes the carpenter coming until next week. Good news is we have a floor downstairs!!! The floor needs to dry but when it does after a few days, we can start ordering our pellet stove for downstairs, our spiral staircase, have the water put inside with a tube, and start work on the septic. Here are some photos so far -

Frugal Friday - changing pillows with the seasons

2011-09-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, its been difficult to stay frugal during the house raising. Its hard. Because we have no dishwasher, its mostly eating fruit and veggies that don't have to be washed. Because we have no water we can't really cook, wash dishes, or wash clothes so I usually will bring laundry to my parents or M's parents to wash. But one thing I can do right now to get ready for fall, is change our pillows! I bought these pillows from Pier 1 last year for 5$ a piece on sale. Then I bought pillow covers at Target for 2.50$ a piece clearance. Its sad but I haven't washed them in a long long time. I've been noticing doggie hair etc on them, so its time to bring them for a wash! As I took off the pillow cases of the pillows, I noticed the older cases also had zippers. How awesome is that!? So I can wash all the cases and maybe I'll be able to find a clearance wintery/holiday cover for sale somewhere! It saves us tons of money to be able to wash pillow covers and give them a change of season instead of buying all new.

Here are the pillows with summer covers (2.50$ each from Target, you can see how horribly dirty they've gotten!)

And here are the older pillow cases on the pillows from Pier 1, a bit mismatched!

Do you change your pillows during the seasons? Do you have a system for washing you're pillows when they get dirty or when you want a change of style?

House update Wednesday - not totally wordless

2011-08-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

After an urgent request to teach 2 yoga classes today because of crisis's, I fled as soon as the carpenter showed. He said he'd start today working on fixing the rotted wood underneath the floor (now the 2nd floor) and he could begin framing out the windows! Which is exciting! It was a bit difficult to focus on yoga while these things were happening but hey, thats what yoga reminds me to do! Focus on where I am instead of worrying about where I'm not. I won't lie, these days without water have been challenging to say the least. I'm used to running water, warm showers and being able to cook at home. Its all become a luxury and something I'm so looking forward to having again. The backfillers are doing a great job, and the builders are supposedly returning this Saturday to pour the floor in the basement/1st floor! Can you imagine!? a real floor down there? Once they pour the floor, the builder is also putting in footings called sonic tubes for the deck legs to sit on. After that, the carpenter can come and give us permanent stairs, the front deck and build permanent supports under the house. Then the well guy can come and put in the hot water tank, we can get the pellet stove (for heat) in downstairs, and we can get the doors in! Then at some point we will have to get the septic fixed, which our builder said he could do also and then...wait for it....wait for it....we will actually have running water!!!!! Here are a few photos of where we are now with the house progress -

ok getting alittle nervous now in the house. I keep hearing all this loud banging and wood splitting. I'm guessing they are taking out rotted beams?? Praying that the floor is strong enough to hold whats here...

House is lowered! Hope you stay safe for the hurricane!

2011-08-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hope you are staying safe during this hurricane! We figured the best way to fight the weather was to leave town...and go visit my sister and her husband in Pa! We're in Pittsburgh and so pretty up in the mountains and inland, here's hoping far enough away from the hurricane! And, after a long 3 weeks, our house is finally lowered! Its on temporary supports rightnow, and the carpenter just came this morning before we left to put hurricane clips on the house and bolt the top to the bottom. Crazzzzy stuff! Praying that our house doesn't get blown down! Stay safe during the hurricane!

A few photos of the house lowered:

Our house finally has walls!

2011-08-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

We're so excited! Things are slowly but surely coming along. Our well guy finished our well so we are halfway to having water in the wintertime (cheers!) and the builders and masons just finished the walls! Here are a few photos of the progress!

Frugal Friday - how to live without water for 2 weeks!

2011-08-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

ahhh water. We've been doing alot of our work on our house recently. If you've been here before, then you know Simple Frugalista was once Simple Living in a big city, we moved from NYC to the country to a little lakehouse, by little I mean little, about 20x24 with a loft upstairs for a bedroom. The house isn't winterized so we knew we'd have to do alot of work before the winter. When Martin my husband got a job transfer, we jumped at the chance at our dream of living in the country. And we're here! We're making it! I get to work at a dream job of mine (who can call it work really) teaching yoga, and I transferred to an acupuncture school beginning in September. Life is going great, the house just has to catch up with us! And it is! Slowly but surely I have faith that everything is meant to be, at the right time God and the universe work things out. Right now, we're living in our house, as its raised on stilts and steel beams, 11 ft in the air. We're waiting for the walls to be built downstairs...which has taken longer than we would've hoped, because of all the rain happening and emergencies at our contractors other jobs. But good news, the well guy is here today! and he is digging! alot! :) With his wonderful help, we are going to have water this winter. And with our builders, help, we'll get these walls done and be able to lower the house, and start on the walls and the floors downstairs. Fingers crossed:)

We are keeping our sense of humor throughout this house in progress, so I've decided to give you a Frugal Friday with 10 tips on how to live without water:)

1- Make sure you have lots of places to stay in case of emergencies. Emergencies can happen all the time, without having lots of construction going on right underneath you. Make sure you talk to family who live within 2 hours of you to ask if its alright for you to stay there, go there for the day and use the shower, or just to get out of the house for the day, if needed. If you have puppies, make sure its okay if you bring them too:)

2- Have an alternative nearby. Without water, you don't have a shower. Check to see if you could get a one month membership to a gym that is close by where you could use their shower, or if you're work has a shower in their locker room, make sure to leave early for work to use their shower.

3- It works out for us that Martin took off for vacation during the time that the house is without water so we have a budget already for vacation to go out to eat. Remember without water, you have to way to wash dishes, which means cooking can be an issue. Plan on going out to eat, alot.

4- Because there is no way to wash dishes, its so important to buy foods that you don't have to cook. Salads are great, so are sandwiches and raw veggies.

5- For when you do eat in, have plastic utensils (you can purchase biodegradeable utensils if you'd like), paper bowls and paper plates ready to eat on. This way you can just throw those away after use and not worry about having to clean them.

6- Become friendly with the local cafe or diner. This way, in the mornings and at night you can stop by for a coffee, and use their bathroom to wash your face and hands!

7- Check out deals for water at your local grocery store. Right now, Poland Spring has 2 for 5$ 5 gallon jugs of filtered water! We're using this for everything, including tea/coffee in the mornings. Who can live without tea!??

8- If you own a keurig coffee machine, you don't have to worry about cleaning the filter, just simply take the kcup out, and put the new one in.

9- Brushing your teeth. Mouthwash is a great but you also need to brush. We've been taking a cup of poland spring water, and using the cup to brush with. I'm sure we're also saving water here! Yaye for the environment!

10- See about renting a local port-o-potty. We've rented one for 2 months, and...its...a...life...saver.

Thats it for now! I might have more tips, the longer we have to go without water. I try to imagine its like camping right? What would you do if you had to live without water?

Simple Frugalista signing off from the waterless treehouse:)

We have a winner of the Uprinting flyer giveaway! Comment #3, Shannon from Milk and Cuddles, is the winner! Shannon, Apryl will contact you within 30 days to set up your flyer winnings!

In an effort to prevent the dogs from running around in the mud...

2011-08-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

we started decorating for Halloween early:) and if you're following along with the house project, yes the house still hasn't had any new work done since Saturday last week. We are both frustrated but trying to keep peaceful and calm about it, but mostly we've decided to use humor to help us!!! :) We are laughing...and laughing...and drinking wine at night in our treehouse. The contractor had an emergency...we keep making a joke that we're living in the movie The Money Pit (except without the huge house, and the x husband, and the affair:)). We made a joke to our contractor that in the Money Pit all the contractors say it will take 2 weeks. Thats what our contractor originally told us...and 2 weeks would be up today. With all that, Martin and I are making as any jokes about it as possible (hence watching the Money Pit)...and we are keeping up hope and having faith in God and the universe that everything will work out as planned. Got any good jokes to keep us laughing?? please share below!

This Friday I'll be doing a post on how to live without running water for 2 weeks:)

House update

2011-08-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Our home is coming along. Although living here for the past week without water has been eventful to say the least, I'm ready to get on with the finishing of the work! :) No but really living so simply has taught me to be grateful, for small things like water and a bathtub...and just being able to wash dishes. Here's the work so far. (its been two weeks) they will hopefully be back Tuesday or Wed. to finish the walls and then the carpenter is coming to put the sil on and then they can finally lower the house! After that, they pour the floor, while the carpenter is working on fixing the top floor, putting in windows and doors, building the landing with stairs and building the front small balcony. After the floor is poured, we can start the well guy going and the septic guy putting in the new tank, as well as the walls and the ceiling downstairs. fun stuff:) We're working on being feng shui friendly with new house stuff, any color ideas that are feng shui friendly?

Here are a few pictures of where the house was a week ago and now:)

Uprinting - flyer giveaway!!

2011-08-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

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I'm so excited to tell you about this great giveaway! Not only because its with an amazing company that has covered just about every possible question on their site, but because its bloggy business friendly! (and any other business friendly too!) Uprinting is a printing company that prints business flyers, brochures, business cards (perfect for next years Blogher if you're thinking of going), canvas prints, labels, magnets, basically anything you could think of, they print! and for a great price and they are super fast with their printing which is nice if you need something in a hurry. I don't know about you but I get sidetracked and things that I was supposed to do for things that I'm doing can get left to the last minute. And....Uprinting is offering you a great giveaway! You could win 250 night club flyers! But you're probably saying to yourself, what do I want with a nightclub flyer??? here's the coolest thing about this, you can use these "flyers" as anything you want! Do you have a small business you're getting off the ground? Why not leave flyers in different shops where people who'd want your product will most likely be?? Do you have a birthday coming up that you need invites for? a wedding? you can use the flyers for invites! Or even make an awesome blog promoting flyer for your next blogging/networking event! The 250 flyers are 4.25"x5.5", 4"x6", are 14 pt cardstock gloss, front only printing, using nightclub flyer templates or business flyer templates. There is a 3 business day turnaround with free shipping! The winner must be a US resident and 18 years or older to win.

To Enter: just leave a comment and let me know what you'd like to use the flyers for!

Optional and Extra Entries: You can sign up on giveaway blogs or like/follow Uprinting on facebook and twitter. Just leave a comment that you did!

Giveaway ends August 19th Friday! The winner will be chosen using random.org.

** disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive night club flyers for hosting.

Hawaii Video! working on the computer in my treehouse:)

2011-08-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

An experience to remember

2011-08-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

The puppies are all snuggled and sleeping and Martin just left for work. Things are about to change again, as tomorrow we'll be going back home, even if the house isn't even close to being finished yet. But we do have a temporary staircase and we do have electricity which is great. We don't have water or a working bathroom though yet and the house is still technically...well...in the air! We'll survive though, we have a portopotty that we rented for 2 months (honestly I don't think I'll be using it...not big big burly working guys using it too!) so I think I'll just do what we did when we visited for a weekend during the winter without water, go to the diner or (and this is a little gross fyi) pee in a cup and throw it in the grass. lol I can't believe I'm actually saying that, but yup...I'm going to live like we're camping:) As for showers, I belong to a gym in the area, so I can take a shower there when Martin is home from work and can watch the puppies, and Martin has his shower at work. I just hope they wait until we're out of the house before they lower it down onto the cement walls! :) We're thinking the house might be finished by the end of the next 2 weeks.

One thing I've learned, and I think we're both still learning, is that we have to be flexible and most importantly stick together. Things don't always go the smoothest way, maybe the contractors aren't doing what they should be, maybe the house building isn't going according to plan, maybe things seem like just a mess, but we stick together. There is a quote that I love that I try to remember when everything doesn't go the way I'd like, it goes like this "Be like the bamboo, bending with the wind. The bamboo never breaks, is always flexible, always bends and so is never broken in the wind." I love that quote, when I'm faced with unexpected change, I remember that. This is also a great teamwork effort on both our parts to make this happen and take care of 2 puppies at the same time, we have to communicate all the time, let eachother know what we're doing, where we are, what the other wants to do, come to decisions about house ideas. Its not easy all the time, but at the end we keep reminding ourselves that we'll have our home, and our own bedroom when its done! I'm just really thankful to have this experience, that can be rough at times but ultimately brings us closer as a family:)

Surviving like a gypsy:)

2011-08-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

While we're having our home raised, we both have been living a bit crazy since we can't really stay at home. I've been bouncing around my Mom and Dads and visiting my Grandmoms while taking care of the pups, while Martin has been going to work and sleeping in our treehouse of a home! He got showers at his job and actually stayed/slept in the house before they were able to put the temporary staircase in, he used a ladder! And there was no electric and no water! I call him Mr. Survivorman:) I made sure to pack all of our food from the fridge in a cooler with ice and icepacks so that it wouldn't go bad while they were actually lifting the house. The electric is back on now, so when we stopped by the other day, I checked everything and was able to load the good stuff back into the fridge. I carried a cooler that I packed before I turned off our fridge with some goodies to cook around with me while I gypsied from family to family (which by the way, they were just amazing, I swear after this experience I don't know what I'd do without family, I am just so grateful for them). Now we're in Brooklyn, visiting my amazing inlaws who are letting us use our old apartment until the house is raised. Martin loves having an actual working shower!!! :) Here is a picture of our house raised up, they are supposed to start with the cement block walls tomorrow!

Talk to you soon!

Wordless - our house is being raised!

2011-08-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I have no pics right now but if you can imagine our little lakehouse 11ft in the air, then that is the pic! I'm shuffling the pups between my Mom and Dads for the next few days while they build stairs:) Will have pics up Friday!

Hope you're having a great week!

Frugal Friday - how to make your own herb garden! totally easy! & pet food giveaway winner!

2011-07-29T05:52:00.000-07:00

Today I'd love to talk with you about herb gardens! A wonderful friend was talking with about them and I thought I'd share how truly easy it is to have your own! Not to mention you get to save around 4$ everytime you use your own herbs, and most of the time, lets face it, when we buy those packs of herbs from the grocery store, we never use the whole thing right away, so they can go bad fast, unless you buy the dried herbs but during the summer, its nice to have fresh herbs with all their flavor. Because there are no veggies growing, herbs take up less time from you.

First thing to do - pick out where you would like to have your herb garden. You can have it anywhere you'd like, in the middle of your yard, off to the side, against a fence. I would place your herbs if you can against a fence if you have pets of children so that they are off to the side and have less chance of being trampled.

Next - decide what kind of herbs that you use most. Chances are you will have these herbs for a long time as most of them go to seed at the end of the season, and the next year come up again. We have parsley and cilantro this year. Three years ago I planted a small mint, oregano, lavender and sage and they have come back up every year since then. You might want to choose an herb that goes to seed so that it will come back every year. Our rosemary sadly every year dies during the cold, but alot of others come back more abundant and larger. If you live in warm climate, you don't have to worry about the cold. I remember when we were in Hawaii, and we spotted a rosemary bush! It was beautiful. And just so you know, mint will take over. I planted lavender with mint, and the mint has left a small bit of lavender left so make sure to leave a big area! The plus side is that you have more mint for mojitos:) (or in our case, we use alot of our mint to make our soaps!) You can purchase herbs at your local Shoprite, Home Depot, farmers market or local greenhouse.

Step 3 - bring your herbs home! If there is grass against the fence where you are putting your herb garden, dig up the grass. You can purchase a bag of dirt with nutrients if you have a dry area to use. Dig about 3 inches down, take your herb out of the container, and place in the hole you've dug. Place dirt, store bought or the dirt you've dug out, around the plant so that the herb is standing tall on its own. Now, water the plant until its drenched in water. When you've taken a plant from its usual element, it can be shocked so you want to feed it with lots of water!

Step 4 - Until you are used to what the herbs look like (which you will be I promise after a few weeks of looking at them) make sure to place that little identification stick thingy that herbs come with in the ground next to the herb it goes with. You can also, if you are feeling creative, use popsicle sticks and glue on your own labels:) Whatever you'd like to do!

Step 5 - leave your herb to grow! Make sure to water your herb every morning and pick as needed! Also what we do, and this is totally up to you if you want to or not, is in the wintertime, we noticed that the herbs seeds stay strong and are more likely to come back when kept warm by the leaves. So we don't rake the leaves along the fence through the fall or winter or spring, we just leave them there and the herbs grow through them! It also helps to create a nice mulchy dirt.

Here are pictures of a few of our herbs after it rained -

crazy mint with a few sprigs of lavender trying to shine through:)

oregano -

parsley with some raspberrys trying to creep in!

Good Luck!!! and Happy Friday!!

The winner of the Innova Pet Food giveaway using random.org is comment #1 Laura! Congratulatiosn Laura and I'll be contacting you shortly!

House Checklist - its happening!

2011-07-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little crazy in our new place (well kind of our old place but our new permanent place). We will be (fingers crossed) looking at our little home about 8 feet up in the air by the end of next week! We're getting the house raised to add a floor, I just can't wait to have a bedroom!! Right now we are sleeping in our loft! We received the bright blue portapotty today and its sitting in our yard, lol I guess this is the first step! There are so many things on our checklist for the house:

Apply for permit, pick up permit, pay for permit - check
sign contract for mortgage - check
sign contract for builder and book builder - check
sign contract for plumber, book plumber - check
sign contract for well fix to go inside the house so that we have water in the winter! - check
get portapotty for the month for builders - check
buy cooler for food while we have no electric
I had thought that our inlaws would be able to watch the puppies, thats not happening, so I think I'm going to have to take the puppies to my dads during the day while they do the work. Lealu isn't good with loud noises, so we'll see how that goes!

Still has to happen - take all pictures off walls, clean our fridge because we will be out of electric, and I think thats it for now!

Here's our porta potty:) Its kinda like the blue box in Dr. Who right!? I wish! :)

Hope you're having a great week!

Beet & Potato Soup - recipe

2011-07-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

With the cooling rain happening over the past few days I thought I'd do something good with all the beets we received from our CSA (community supported agricuture) food co-op. I've made beet, walnut and cheese salad before, but I wanted to do something different, so I decided to make a beet soup! It turned out really yummy, and I thought I'd share the recipe. Beets are in season right now so they are at low cost.

You will need:

1 tblspoon butter (you can use less butter and just add alittle olive oil too)
1 onion
4 golden potatoes
3 medium sized beets
2 cups water
1 1/2 cup organic chicken broth
1 cup organic milk
2 tblspoon flour (any kind, can be all purpose, rice flour or whole wheat, I used brown rice flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
handfull of chopped parsley (optional)
salted crackers or crunched up tortilla chips (optional)

First, I chopped and sauteed the onion with the butter/olive oil combination (or just butter).

While the onion is cooked until it becomes transparent, chop potatoes and beets, it doesn't matter how small you get the potatoes and beets as this will all go into the blender after they cook.

While the onion is cooked until it becomes transparent, chop potatoes and beets, it doesn't matter how small you get the potatoes and beets as this will all go into the blender after they cook. Add potatoes, beets, water, broth. Cook for 25 minutes.

Let mixture cool, put entire mixture into blender. Blend mixture until smooth. Add mixture back into pot. Add flour, milk, salt and pepper. Cook until boiling. Serve in bowl with chopped parsley and salted crackers! I added crunched tortilla chips to mine, and Martin just had parsley, so you can see both photos with chips and without! It was delish, and most of all so easy!! and totally healthy!!!

Hope you have a fabulous week!!

Innova Pet Food Giveaway!

2011-07-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

We have two adorable puppies! They can be a handful but are so loveable and cuddly and Corbin is even getting really good at letting me know when he has to go out instead of going inside the house! which is such a relief! Lealu is 3 years old and Corbin is about 14 months old. When we feed them we always make sure to give them dog food that lists actual whole foods as the first few ingredients and we look to limit preservatives used in the dog food. We've been feed them holistic brand dog food, which always has chicken or lamb or duck and other whole food ingredients as the first few. We thought we were feeding them the best, but when I was contacted by Innova dog food to try their brand, I admit, I wasn't sure. They sent us a coupon for a free bag of Innova dog food and I went to searching online for their ingredients and for reviews. I was surprised to see as soon as I searched the name, Innova and other organic dog food brands popped up. I searched reviews, good reviews. I searched ingredients, and, well you can see for yourself, here's the list in order of most used ingredients to least:

turkey, chicken, chicken meal, barley, brown rice, potatoes, rice, chicken fat, flaxseed, herring, natural flavors, apples, carrots, pumpkin, eggs, sunflower oil, sea salt, potassium chloride, herring oil, cottage cheese, alfalfa sprouts, direct fed microbials, lecithin, rosemary extract and vitamins and minerals.

Quite a list! Definetly dog food that I feel good about feeding to Corbin and Lealu.

Some other information about Innova dog food ingredients:

- Made with healthful ingredients from all five food groups
- Includes nutrients from fresh fruits and vegetables
- Preserved with Vitamin E
- Contains a source of live naturally-occurring microorganisms normally found in a healthy digestive tract
- Rich in important fatty acids

And some other really good news!?

Innova has offered you a giveaway of a 6.6 bag of dog or cat food! All you have to do is leave a comment and let me know what kind of food you feed your pet!! Winner will be chosen using random.org.

Giveaway will end Friday July 29th!

Weekend Road trip!

2011-07-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my awesome amazing sister drove for 6 hours to come over so that she could the next morning wake up at 5am to drive with my another 6 hours to road trip to our friend Danielle's wedding! It was a beautiful day so that worked in our favor. On the ride we made sure to bring plenty of snacks. We ended up stopping twice for gas, made pit stops then and so we made it their in about 6 hours. Its amazing how fast people drive and how easy it is to drive 80 mph after you've been driving for a long time! It was a great ride with lots of chats and music. When we arrived, we checked into the hotel right away.

We got showers, got dressed and met up with our good friends Laura and Dave who we went to the church with!

Her colors were a gorgeous blue that almost matched the sky that day! sorry some came out alittle dark!

And soon the gorgeous bride walked down the isle with her Dad:)

Her dad gave the sweetest speech at her wedding, talking about how when she was little he'd sing a song from Kermit the frog to her, and it was so well planned, the dj started playing it! It went perfectly:)
and here they are man and wife!!

their gorgeous cake! I mean who amazing does this cake look!!??

Danielle had mentioned her centerpieces and how she was doing them, but I couldn't really picture how pretty and elegant everything would look! Like fairytaleish (is thats a word)!

here they are cutting their cake:)

and again under the chandelier with that gorgeous cake!

Stef and I at the reception, I think this was before we had some wine in us and before the crazy dancing started! :)

Danielle and Kevin's first dance. Just beautiful. Look how happy she looks:) Their song is Rascal Flatts "My Wish"

Dave, Laura's husband, making funny faces with Molly the flower girl!

Me and my very good best friend Shan!

This was awesome...Dave and the bride's brother Chris did a dance off to that song "My name is Humpy"! I wish wish wish I had gotten this on video but I was too late. I do have a few pictures for you!

If I could give this wedding one word it would be "princesslike" because Danielle looked like such a princess and everything like a fairytale:) such a beautiful wedding and wonderful people that I'm so grateful to spend time with!!

Frugal Friday - road trip essentials

2011-07-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

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Tomorrow morning my sister and I will be road tripping up to Buffalo NY for one of my dearest friends weddings! I'm so excited as I'll be able to see some wonderful girlfriends who I haven't seen in awhile! It is about a 6 and a half hour drive, so we'll be leaving at 5am to make it to the hotel early in time to make it to the ceremony at 2pm!

Bring a travel mug - We're waking at 5am so I figure we can have coffee here and breakfast, and then we'll get our travel mugs ready (mine with tea and hers with coffee) to start our trip.

Bring a water Siggy bottle or just a water bottle. Saving on water and on stopping every hour or so will help to save money and time!

A Must for road trips is to pack snacks. Like above, it will help to save money and time. I figure a snack for every hour, so we have all natural fruit rollups, peaches, apples, granola bars and chips.

Mapping out your destination. Using mapquest, or if you have a magellin can help to save on gas and time!

Packing the car the night before will save time, and remember to pack all essentials so there is no need to buy extras like toothpaste, toothbrush, makeup etc.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Wish us luck on our drive!

Funny puppies:) - Wordless

2011-07-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

lol already spooning:) I tried to take the photo without waking them up but Lealu is too quick! :)

Weekend, with a great party

2011-07-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had my Dads birthday dinner at my Aunts. It was wonderful to see everyone. I wish we could've had it here but with the house not finished yet, (the bathroom would be described as horrid to some people lol, I call it roughing it), we have to wait until next year to have a party like that. We do that confirmation that the house work will start the first week of August...I can't wait! So at my Dads party, we watched a little Hawaii movie that I made with our new imovie thingy on the computer (I'll post here soon, I can't wait to make one of the upcoming wedding I'm going to this weekend!) and we talked and played quates and sang. It was great fun. We got my dad yoga classes, he's been practicing and has been interested so hopefully he'll start the classes soon! I should probably give him classes too! At the party a few of us played the game that I reveiwed here called Loaded Questions. I don't like playing board games too much, but this one is so awesome because it really got us talking about things we wouldn't normally talk about. For example, one question was "What do you feel that you've done in your life that went unnoticed?" My cousin wrote "picking up trash outside", my Grandmom put "having children" (she raised three, which I can't even imagine the hard work that went into that) and my aunt put "throwing a good party" (which can be very difficult and I would love to learn from her how she does it so well!). I never knew this before!! Another question was at the end of your life, if you had to call it a movie title what would it be? One person put "Happy Life", another question was "What movie makes you cry every time?" I put "A River Runs Through It" cause ugh thats the worst, the tears just keep coming and coming and coming. My little cousin put "Harry Potter". These are the kids of things that we got to talking about from this game!! Cool right!? I know I'm going to bring this game to the next party for sure!

Frugal Friday - Cooking garlic scapes!

2011-07-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Garlic Scapes. Sounds weird. Sounds like something that wouldn't be edible. Who would've thought garlic scapes are so delicious!! We joined a CSA Community supported agriculture food co-op for the year with a farm by us called Rogowski Farms. Its a beautiful farm and a great part of joining is that we get to go to the farm any time we want and pick any herbs or flowers for free! And every Sunday we get to pick up a bundle of different veggies. Last weekend we were given garlic scapes in our bundle. I had no idea what they were so I asked the girl, she said they are the tiny stems that grow from the garlic bulb. Its kind of interesting, because it looks like a flower is about to grow on the end. First, once you get your garlic scape, rinse in warm water. Then cut the scape into small green bean style pieces (you can cut them any way you'd like but I like them this way!) Then saute them in olive oil, and alittle balsamic vinegar. Or, for breakfast I sauteed them with one of Martin's favorite's, (just because it was a holiday!) black pudding. First I just want to say, I don't eat this stuff. Its basically a sausage with meat and blood, but he loves it so I cooked it up with some scapes and some eggs. The scapes actually tasted really good cooked with the meat. Scapes like garlic are really good for you too and inexpensive! If you come across them, don't be afraid to give them a try! they are yum!

Happy Friday to you!

Corbin's first time on a boat

2011-07-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

Martin was sick yesterday and with his job gets a two day off of work sick policy thingy, so today he was feeling better! Which is great because he was able to run around with the puppies:) We took a kayak trip out on the calm water (last Monday on the 4th I got horribly sea sick with all the fast boats and the waves on the kayak!) and then when we came back he took Corbin out to a little island for a swim on our little row boat! He said he swam and was alittle scared so started to swim away from the island! Martin almost had to take the boat to go after him but he managed to call him back over. He was pooped when he got back and we got to just relax:) It was wonderful! Corbin is usually running around and barking and nipping at poor Lealu, but now he's just calm:) I love it when he runs around and then is so tired he passes out!

July 4 2011 - Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a great Fourth! We laid low and over the weekend we left the puppies at home for a few hours and found this adorable little chocolate/cafe shop in a town close by called Warwick NY. They have cute little delicate chocolates, chai lattes (my favorite!) and even gellato and sorbet from Italy! I've never had sorbet or gellato from Italy or in Italy when my sister and I visited almost 10 years ago. It is delicious! and the gellato is a bit more creamy than regular ice cream. Its a sweet romantic little town. There's nothing like having some alone time, we love our puppies but its nice to have that every once in awhile! Then yesterday we went kayaking in the lake and trust me on this, don't go kayaking when there are 5 gazillion fast speed motor boats on the lake with you. They were going by so fast and the waves were going up and down and I had the worst sea sickness ever. Feeling much better now after some acupuncture, but I'll make sure to go on a day that isn't a holiday up here! While we were kayaking we did see a scared snake in the water. Martin actually spotted it first. After a fast jet ski went by, all you saw was this little head peeking up out of the water and scurrying to the rocks leading to the land nearby. Freaked me out but he said they were snakes that didn't bite, so that makes me feel alittle better! We kayaked all the way out to the middle of the lake and people were there with their pontoon boats and swimming. Makes me think of summers that my sister and I used to spend in LBI at the beach! I love the lake and its nice to know there aren't sharks that you have to worry about, but there's something amazing and healing about the ocean's salt water. Hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

Frugal Friday - Pet Meds- where to buy from?

2011-07-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

We have two puppies now who we love and want to make sure they are taken care of. They are so sweet and just good beings. A must for dogs around where we live is frontline (flee and tick control) and heartworm protection. There are a billion options of where to buy these pet medications and of what to buy. You have the Vet, petmeds.com, petcarerx, and one that I've just discovered that I want to tell you about, petcarechoice.com. Pet Care Choice is a company that specializes in discount pet medications. They have heartguards, frontlines and many others, and at great discount prices. The first time I took Corbin to the Vet, they gave me a sample of a heartworm preventer called Intercepter. When I first found that I would be able to purchase heartworm preventative and frontline online, we bought a small supply and I gave the Vet a call, just to check to see how much they would charge for heartworm to be able to compare prices. She said that for the year it would cost 85$ for heartworm preventative. I mentioned that online heartworm is sold for less and I asked her what she thought about that. She said that to buy any heartworm preventative online, you need a prescription. So I thought, thats weird because I just bought a supply without a prescription. Now normally, okay if you're buying something black market or without a manufacturer listed or something like that, I'd suggest staying away since there wouldn't be anyone that would be responsible for the product. But these products are brand name and Pet Care Choice has medications for horses, cats and dogs. I asked her about sending a prescription, and she responds, "We used to do that, but after awhile we were spending all day at the fax machine so we don't do that anymore". What I wanted to say was "oh, so you mean you had to wheel yourself to the fax machine, press some buttons and hit send?" but what I actually said was "I'm sorry, can you say that again?" and she said it again, exactly like before, like it was a line to give inquiring customers of why we can't buy at another cheaper pet med store rather than the Vet office. So I just said as nicely as possibly, we'll just go with buying ours online, thanks. We bought our heartworm protection online and for much less than 85$ a year. We ended up spending 50$ on each dog for the year on heartworm, so thats 100$ for the year, and 75$ on each dog for the year on frontline, so thats 150$ a year, which totals 250$ for both dogs for the year! and we saved 60$ just from the markup at the Vets. Not bad! So we get to save some money and also get to go to sleep at night knowing we're taking care of these adorable puppies!

Happy Frugal Friday, hope you have a wonderful July 4th weekend!!

Wordless! I painted the kitchen!

2011-06-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

So I got to thinking, even though we can't have the house raised right now, like I want, I can still do little improvements around the house that make it look prettier...so I painted the kitchen! Its a small area so I just picked up a small can of primer and of Manchester red semi-gloss paint from Sears. Here are pics of how it came out! And a few of the me and puppies:)

here is the kitchen before the paint (and cleaner before we moved in!)-

and here it is afterwards-

Corbin and Lealu outside:) Corbin is a little trouble maker! but we love him all the same:)

Happy Week to you!!!

Frugal Friday - Cable TV or Internet TV?

2011-06-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Frugal Friday! Since we've moved, we haven't had cable. Thats right, no cable, no channels 1-7, no channel 12, nada. In the beginning it was alittle scary, I'd turn on our tv and expect to watch of my shows like Greys Anatomy or Fringe, and to no avail. Rabbit ears don't work, and we've decided to wait until the house is raised to get cable...so its just me...and the mountain...and the puppies while Martins at work. And I have to say, its kind of funny but I've really become used it! We have internet tv, so we have Netflix movies and specific episodes we can search online and watch, which is only 7.99 a month for netflix and free for wireless internet, but its not like when I would come home from work and Martin and I would just sit and watch whatever was on at the time. Now we consciously make the decision to look up something to watch. I remember when I was younger and I dated a boy who's family didn't have cable, and they just watched movies and I always thought, how in the world do they do it!? This is like the stone ages! And now I'm actually liking it, and we're thinking about never going back to cable!

Why free Internet TV is better than paying for Cable

- You watch what you want. Its become more of a specific action, like lets watch a movie together, or lets watch the Dog Whisperer episodes, and less like our conversation.

- No tv on allows you to think of doing other things. Yesterday while I was watching the pups, we came inside after a run around for awhile in the yard. I intended to put a movie on, but instead just sat with the puppies and read a book. When I got up to wash the dishes I put alittle Jack Johnson music on and sang with it while the puppies slowly closed their eyes. Except for an episode of Dog Whisperer, I didn't put the tv on all day! Without cable tv I feel like I have more time to think of things to do, like instead of just sitting and watching the tv, it gives me the space to decide what I'd like to do.

- Internet TV is cheaper than cable.. Lots of shows are available on their channels websites for free, and most of the time without commercials which is nice! And Netflix movies are unlimited for only 7.99 a month compared to cable which can run 50$ and upwards.

- Quiet time. I feel a sense of quiet inside myself, from not keeping the tv on, its helped even with Yoga. Its easier to get into a meditative state without listening to tv during the day.

- More options with movies. Having Netflix allows us to choose between watching new movies or older movies. We've watched some great old classics that I haven't seen in awhile, like Labyrinth!

- Most channels and shows are online now! News stations and channels are making shows available online. When I found Greys Anatomy I literally jumped for joy!

Do you have cable? Would you ever switch to Internet TV only?

Wordless Wednesday - puppy lovin!

2011-06-22T05:25:00.000-07:00

When we rescued Corbin we got a big folder full of all of his information, when he was born, what kind of shots he's already had, what kind he still needs and the dates he needs them. He was born on 4/7/11 (a high energy Aries! which goes great with Gemini (Lealu!) :)) and he's due for his last shot today, so I'm taking him over to the new Vet in the area for that and to get heartworm tested. He is 11 weeks so next week he will be able to start Frontline, which will help when we got to dog parks and running around the park with ticks and fleas. Lealu will start with this Vet as well as soon as she needs to go for her next Rabies shot and she will need to get tested for heartworm again and have to take the heartworm preventative pill. She's taken the test in Brooklyn and the Vet there said there wasn't a need for heartworm vaccine in the city, unless we were going upstate, so I'll set up an appt for that next week. All these doggie appointments! :)

Puppy lessons

2011-06-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Good news is, the puppies are doing well. They are so adorable, and spooning! Martin has been home during the day and working nights, which has allowed for lots of playtime. Corbin has a huge amount of energy and is just such alittle cutie:) Its amazing how having alittle puppy has allowed us to work together more, great practice! Before we got Corbin I was nervous about how we would raise 2 puppies. Lealu likes it when we sit with her when she eats and when we give lots of attention to her, but she has been really great with Corbin. When Martin is home, he sits with one dog and I sit with the other while they eat, and when he's not here, I usually sit with the new puppy and Lealu will still eat her food. I think Corbin is a really wonderful addition to our family! Not only is him being here teaching Lealu about eating on her own, but also how to share attention.

The house raising is going to take longer than we expected. The builder came by this past weekend with the mason and they gave us a start date of early August, the mason said he was really busy until then. I said how important it was to have the house done by the time school starts in September, and well, maybe I begged alittle to make the start date earlier, and as they were leaving, he told Martin late July. So its bit earlier, and hopefully will only take the 2 weeks the builder said it would, and we will be able to get most of the stuff done with carpets etc before September. One thing I've realized is that everything takes longer than expected, which might not always be a bad thing but can be frustrating! I have to remember that everything happens in its own time, the way God and the universe intend it. Thank God for yoga, thats all I gotta say!

frugal tip friday - a little green ball of magic

2011-06-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Frugal tip Friday! I wish I could've blogged earlier but I had an unexpected yoga class this morning and I underestimated how much time being with the new puppy and Lealu. New puppies are a big handful! I'm looking forward to when all this training will show in him. I did teach him to sit and to lay down for sure, like he knows that hands down so thats good! The yoga class was great, I was excited to see about half the class elderly women, which is very cool because they are getting the benefits of yoga! I swear I don't know how Moms raise children and puppies, and take care of a household, and a husband and go to work, I'm in awe!

Today I want to tell you about an amazing invention that can save you money and help you healthwise. The two don't always go together, so this is just awesome. Its had some skeptisism but I've used it for about 5 washes and its worked great so far. Its called the green wash ball. And its alittle ball with magnetic balls in that washes your clothes and can take the place of laundry detergent! I know that sounds crazy lol. Magnetic balls that clean your clothes?? Apparently the magnetic balls emit OH ions and O2 ions, which are hydroxides and dioxides. The different ions break down organizing matters, deodorize materials and sterilize. I got my green wash ball after a friend recommended it who was very much into living organically. I've been using it for about 4 weeks now and not only is it green, and saves us $, it also saves space! Living out of bags and trunks right now until we get our house raised (which is scheduled to happen in the few weeks!) its wonderful to keep the green wash ball in the laundry basket and just bring the whole detachable laundry bag to the laundry mat. Its a great frugal alternative to laundry detergent and I definetly recommend it! You can buy them on amazon and see their list of reviews from others there.

Happy Weekend to you!!

ps - I was not given payment in anyway for this review, just wanted to share this awesome frugal find!

Wordless - well sort of!

2011-06-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Wordless day! I had a wonderful day working on the house with my Dad. He came up and we finished one side of the top of the house siding/boxing in the gutter area! I don't know what else its called lol but thats what we did! There is probably some other professional name for it:) He knows so much and so many little tips its amazing I swear, sometimes I think he should write a book about how to fix things around the house and on the house, I would buy it! and really use it!! I really don't know what I'd do without my Dad, he is always there and helps with everything and is such a cool Dad. We worked on the house and had some hoagies (aka big sandwiches), Martin calls them heros, he met the new puppy and I was his assistant for the day:) Other than yelling at spiders to not come near me while I was on the ladder up against the house, (I wouldn't want to wiggle and fall!) we had alot of fun! and its going to look really nice now having that done when we raise the house in a few weeks! We're meeting with the builder this weekend to have a final walk through and to get a final start date. The next few weeks are going to be very interesting, I hope we don't have to sleep in the car while they're raising it (I don't think we will, they said we could still live inside, who knows though) but if we have to, then we have to I guess and we will survive. Here are some pics of my Dad working on the house and pics of the new puppy with Lealu!

ps Its really funny when Corbin meets someone he's so friendly and jumps to them, and Lealu gets alittle jealous! I think she wants to be petted and given attention but she's just scared, I think Corbin is going to help her to be less scared so that will be good!

No Dishwasher! & new rescue puppy!

2011-06-13T05:20:00.000-07:00

In our new place (well its not really new, but new to us living here permanently!) we don't have a dishwasher. We used to have one. I forgot how much work it was to wash all the dishes and not use a dishwasher! Not to mention how hard it is on my hands...or how hard it was! until I got these awesome cutie hot pink dish gloves!! Love these! They actually make washing the dishes more fun because I get to put these on!

We also adopted a new rescue puppy! He is adorable and only about 10 weeks and his name is Corbin! Lealu is doing great with him except for a little jealousy with sticks but were working on that:)

Love him! Will post pics soon! Right now have to put him out before he pees on everything. Well at least I'll get to put on my pink gloves lol.

Frugal tip Friday - Fathers Day what to get!

2011-06-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

Fathers Day is coming up. We are thinking about having my Dad and Martin's dad over for Sunday and taking them out to lunch. Dads are so wonderful, they know how to fix everything, they know what to say in a scary situation, they always have batteries...but one thing that I've noticed is that we might not have time or the moment just hasn't come up to talk about the little funny things about them that I'd love to know, stuff that might come up more talking to my Mom.

Questions like:

What is the one thing you are never shy about?

If somebody told you to start driving, where would you end up?

If you were a wizard, how would you exploit your powers?

What healthy habit are you glad you have?

And those are just a few that the game "Loaded Questions" asks! Its the perfect game to play to learn about others and to have fun with! All types of questions are asked and by playing the game and can be answered in a fun way so that no one feels pressured with questions but that you get to learn all these great things about the people you love! Its the perfect Fathers Day game to play or game to play with family and friends.

Loaded Questions is for ages from teen-adult and can have between 4-6 players. And its so easy to play! You have a board, and each person puts their piece on the start line. Each person gets a pencil and an answer sheet and writes their name on top. The shortest person starts first, they roll the die and a number is shown. Roller picks up a card with lots of fun questions like above corresponding to the category their die has landed on, asks them aloud and all players write down their personal answers to the question. All answers are read aloud by the previous roller, while the current roller has to guess who wrote each answer! After answering, the reader reveals how many questions the roller got right, and the roller moves forward that many spaces on the board. This is the best part, to WIN, you must land on the WIN spot but also answer three players answers correctly! So by the end of the game, in order to win, you must really know alot about other players! How fun is that?

The game is available at one of my favorite places to shop, Target! For only 24.99! or at a few other stores that can be found on their website www.loadedquestions.com. I definetly recommend checking out this game, its lots of fun, you get to learn about others and share your own answers and its inexpensive!

Happy Frugal tip Friday! and Happy Weekend to you!!

disclaimer -I was given a game to review for this post, but was not monetarily compensated.

random thursday thoughts:)

2011-06-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

Today, well I don't really have anything special to do. I have a yoga class that I'm teaching tonight, but thats it. I can do anything I want, anything at all and its funny, I keep making lists of things. Finish reading my book, Chronicles of Tao, finish a crocheting a scarf for a woman (she's buying it and doesn't need it until Christmas thank God), put away dock stain that I used to stain the dock yesterday, water the plants, go to the store and buy water, vacuum, put garbage out. All these things to do lol (sarcastically). I remember a month ago, I would have laughed if someone had given me this list. I would think "I could do that in an hour when I got home from work". I guess thats part of how things have changed for me. I'm looking at "could" in a different way. I "could" do anything, I could go the store, I could go for a run, I could go for a drive, and there are also few shoulds for me right now. No one including myself telling myself, saying, you should do this, or should do that. This time now makes me think of when I was younger and there was so much time to do what I wanted and so many possibilities for the future. So I guess that leaves me...well...here.

The neighbor gave me flowers this morning, he is such a nice person!! I think I'll give him and his wife one of our handmade soaps:)

I've seen so many big spiders outside!! I think I'm getting used to them.

Wordless - 4 leaf hearts!

2011-06-08T03:49:00.000-07:00

I never realized that clovers looked like three hearts! or in this case, 4 hearts! While sitting outside I was looking through our pots and noticed this one clover. I think when we went to Ireland around 3 years ago I got these clover seeds and just threw them in there thinking something should grow at some point, lol.

Hope you have a lucky Wednesday! :)

Some Ramblings

2011-06-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

Since we've moved up here, (up here, I mean north of NYC, and oddly, up on top of a mountain) I've been feeling like I need some kind of connection (just imagine the couple in Funny Farm, only I'm Chevy Chase without the book advance and without a finished bathrom:)) We haven't had cable, and aren't planning on getting it until we raise the house which would be 2 months, my computer is so old that when I bring it outside to type in the sun, I've found it loses battery at about 20 minutes (which is time about to check email and thats it) and I'm not working, except teaching 1 hour classes until school starts in September. Don't get me wrong, I love it up here, I love the sunny days, the meditation time, the relaxing time with Lealu on the dock, its beautiful, but much like our bathroom, I feel like I have no walls of structure in my life and I guess I'm not used to the freedom. Living in a very structured city, with a very strucured schedule, and then coming out here is definetly an adjustment. There are times when I just don't know what to do with myself, and I'm guessing this is good because I eventually find things that enjoy doing, that I've sort of forgotten about. I remember during yoga school, I felt very devoted, connected and just focused. I've been going to yoga every day to reconnect my mind with my body and to connect with others. Its helped so much and I'm so thankful for yoga in my life. I've already met some beautiful people:) I think there is a reason for everything and I'm sure there is a reason for this quiet time in my life right now, maybe its like a detox from running around so much? Maybe its a time for me to devote myself to yoga and learning to teach more? Maybe its a calm before school starts, I don't know but its funny that have to constantly remind myself to enjoy it! On another note, I've invested in a netbook, so that I can blog/email/write whenever and wherever, and I don't have to worry about the charge going so fast! I figure its an investment in school as well as blogging. Lealu's doing well and adjusting, she loves laying in the grass and wading in the lake by the dock.

Got any ideas for colors in the bathroom?

Frugal tip friday - Steals and Deals...Early

2011-06-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

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Happy Friday and Happy Frugal tip Friday! :) I'm so excited for the weekend! Are you doing anything fun? This past week my sister came to visit for a couple of days. It was so great to see her and have some good girly time! One of things we like to do is go shopping, even if it only turns out to be looking more than shopping. There is a humongous Target about 20 minutes from us complete with Starbucks inside! So we headed over and treated ourselves to Starbucks and made our way around the mall of a store. They have everything, they have groceries (even organic!), they have home stuff, clothes, shoes, entertainment products, I mean everything! Well I'm not sure if its this time of year or if its all the time (I'll keep you posted) but they have AMAZING clearance racks. I mean gorgeous dresses, tops, short! I found a really cute button down striped top for my interview with my new Acupuncture School today for, guess how much? You'd probably guess 10$ right? Thats a pretty good deal for a top thats on sale. But nope, this shirt was marked down to 4.95$!!! So I got it. I also got a shirt for my Mom for Christmas (I know its early but I couldn't pass up a deal like this!) and I got my sister a gorgeous black cocktail dress for 10$! She tried it on, it looked so pretty and like it costed way more than 10$! Too bad she was with me and knew how much it was really lol. I'm saving it for her birthday. I think its so important to grab sales when you can, especially great ones like these. Shopping early for holidays and birthdays when there are sales going on can save you so much $!!!

Do you shop early for birthdays and holidays? Or do you like to go right before and look for steals?

ps if you are close to a Target, it might be worthwhile to check out their clearance racks!

Frugal tip Friday: your weeds might be good for you!

2011-05-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

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Nope I'm not talking about the show Weeds on showtime (which is conveniently available on Netflix if your interested in it, its become our show to watch together since we have to wait til the house is raised before we can get cable, hopefully Greys Anatomy will come onto Netflix soon)... I'm talking about those pesky weeds in your garden and in your yard! No matter how big or small, how much you cut the grass, or how much you pull them out, they always seem to come back somewhere...weeds can be annoying when trying to grow a garden but they can also become a part of your garden! :) The weeds that I'm talking about especially are dandelions. Dandelion leaves are surprisingly super nutritious and are even sold at the grocery store! I was shocked to see a bunch on sale while I was walking around the other day. So what to do with a bunch of dandelion weeds that cost nothing and just spring up randomly in the yard? I tried to think...and when I couldn't figure it out, well I googled:) and found out there are a bunch of ways to eat them! In a salad, sauteed with greens or stir fried in greens. I decided to stir fry them with cabbage and collards, with alittle soy sauce, some olive oil, salt, pepper and some onion. And Yum! they came out as part of the dish, I couldn't really seperate which were the dandelions and which the collards afterwards, but I knew they were in there! When you pick your dandelion leaves, just makes sure to wash them well, as dirt can easily accumulate. People even use the dandelion flowers to make wine! I'll stick with the leaves for now, but cool, right!?

Here is what the experts say at self.com "This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron, Potassium and Manganese." Contained in one raw serving is also 112% of total vitamin A, 32% of vitamin C, 10% of calcium, and 9% of Iron! Try them, their delish!

Enjoy your weekend and as always, I hope you create your own frugal Friday!

Are you a frugalista? Do you have a frugal tip Friday that you'd like to share on Simple Frugalista? Want to share how you save? I would love to hear from you and have your tip or story as a guest post! Please email me at simplefrugalista@yahoo.com.

Also check out the Saturday Stalk blog hop!

Wordless Wednesday - out and about!

2011-05-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

grape vine growing up a little tree - who am I to stop them? :)

beans sprouting!

puppy lealu

she doesn't know what they are lol.

Normality Restored & New Fave

2011-05-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

Normality has been restored here, meaning the picture and the navigation bar is finally finished! It took awhile since I've been working on it using my 10 year old dell laptop from when I graduated college (think I need a new one???) and a wonderful new blog friend from over at bloggerboutique.com came through with my navigation bar (which I realize now with blog designing I am totally crap at lol).

I meditated this morning and felt my shoulders drop. Love that!

Today is my first day without my old job, the job that I've had since I graduated college (minus 7 months when I tried law school) and I decided to start it with a big warm cup of tea, puppy lealu snuggling beside me and a blog write, what better way to start the day right? A day with unknown possibilities and no plans. I was thinking I'd go to a yoga class and definetly take lealu to the puppy park. I'm also watching my new favorite movie. Whenever I'm going through some kind of change in life, I usually become addicted to a movie that either displays on screen feelings I'm having or just makes me feel happy to watch. In college it was Reality Bites, when I was younger it was Christmas Vacation, now its Eat Pray Love. When I first watched this movie when it first came out, I didn't like it. Something about it, maybe it was the main characters eventual disdain for work, maybe in the film I felt she was spending too much time on things like feelings, but since we've moved this is my favorite movie and I feel just the opposite. I love how the things going on in your life can effect your perspective on a film, so the film in a way can tell you about yourself! I watch it whenever I can (and without cable at least until the house is raised) its my go to movie! I now love how she takes so much courage to find herself, I love how she learns how to make new friends, I love how she learns how to feel, I love how there is more of an emphasis on being than doing. Its a great movie and I definetly recommend it:)

I taught my first yoga class here last week, it was wonderful. It was at a studio where I felt an instant connection with the woman who owned the studio, she even asked me to lock up afterwards. Don't you love when that happens? When you meet someone and there is this funny connection where you just feel like they are a good friend already? It was very cool:) I hope to be taking more classes and giving more there too!

Hope you have a wonderful day today!!

Nikki

2011-05-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome! This is a blog that I started in the beginning to keep in touch with friends and make new friends, grew into a place where I blog ideas on how me, my husband and our puppy Lealu live simply and frugally in a big city, and has evolved into the place where I'm looking forward to writing about our new journey living in the country, with all its greenery and bugs, the air is fresh and clean here! We are doing lots of work on our place, the work we've done so far can be found here - http://www.countrylakehouse.blogspot.com/ and I look forward to finding new ways to live and fix things frugally here in the country! Its a place to share ideas with you, and hopefully you with me! Here I write about how to DIY instead of purchasing, how we survive on a small budget, simple ways to save money and everyday frugal living here while still being able to afford a little luxary now and then! While you're here, stop by and check out my Frugal Tip Fridays!

If you like homemade soap http://www.oliveyourbeeswax.blogspot.com/
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!

Nikki

New Blog!! www.simplefrugalista.com

2011-05-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

I'm alittle new at this changing over from one blog to the other and I think I may have made a boo boo! I just purchased my new blog and I think I may not have done the click to forward friends from my old blog to my new, so in case you are stopping by, by chance, my new blog is http://www.simplefrugalista.com/. It should be ready in 3 days Google says:) In case you haven't read the past few posts, Martin and I have moved and I will be happily continueing my frugalness from the city to the country! Frugal tip fridays will stay on as well. Thank you for being a friend blog after blog!! :) I'm hoping this new blog will be just as active as Simple Living in a Big City was, and will include so many more ways to be frugal as I explore my own simple ways to save day to day and share them here!

Frugal Tip Friday - Dining Out Without Demolishing Your Budget - guest blogger!

2011-05-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I'm Nikki and if you haven't been before, most chances you haven't as this is my new blog venture! My husband and I have just moved from the big city to the little country and, after learning many different ways of saving in the big city and self publishing a book "Simple Living on the cheap in NYC" which is available on amazon, I'm looking forward to learning new ways to save in the little country! While the move is happening, literally and virtually (virtually from simplelivinginabigcity.com to simplefrugalista.com) we have a wonderful guest blogger Mariana here to talk with us about how to save while dining out! And I don't know about you but I definetly need these tips, and I could've used them many times already! :) Hope to see you soon! -Nikki

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5 Tips for Dining Out Without Demolishing Your Budget!

Dining out is always looked down upon by the frugal among us, because everyone thinks it's a huge drain on your finances. Of course, it's partly true, but there are many things you can do to ensure that your tab or bill doesn't make your eyeballs bulge out of their sockets. Here are a few tips so that you dine out without dishing out your whole paycheck.

1. Do your research!

This is true of nearly anything that you spend your money on. Be sure to thoroughly research the restaurant where you wish to dine before heading out the door. Use type of food as your starting point, then use price as your next consideration. There are tons of books and local publications out there to guide you in your dining adventures, and there's also the remarkably helpful power of the Internet, which features local review sites like Yelp and City Search.

2. Skip the drinks (or bring your own).

Drinks are so expensive, and they don't have any caloric value. On the other hand, water is always free. So either go with water if you want to drink something with your meal, or if you do want an adult beverage, try going out to restaurants that are BYOB. They usually charge a small corking fee, but it's negligible compared to what you'll likely be spending on even the house wine.

3. Don't let your eyes speak for your appetite.

Many times we will come into a restaurant so hungry that we overestimate how large our appetite actually is. Many restaurants, especially in America, and especially in the southern states, have portion sizes that are much too big for the average person. Consider splitting a meal with a friend, or if not, always take home leftovers to get a second meal for the price of one.

4. Go with friends who can and will pay their own bill.

Of course, going out on romantic dates is nice, but if you are expected to pay every time, you will rack up quite a bit of expenses. So go Dutch on dates occasionally, limit the fancy restaurants once you've gotten past the point of needing to try to impress your partner. Instead, go out to restaurants when the understanding is everyone pays their own way.

5. Don't drink too much.

This one may be a bit of no-brainer, but it's worth mentioning since I see so many people who don't follow this guideline to cheap dining. Drinking stimulates the appetite and makes you want to buy more drinks, so if you're out and about wanting to have a good time, try to limit your consumption. It's always a good idea safety-wise anyway.

By-line:

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.

Fun Adventures - our week so far in the new place!

2011-05-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is the first week getting used to living in the country. I have to say its wonderful to wake up on the morning to birds chirping, green grass and a beautiful serene lake. This morning was my first time meditating on the dock overlooking the lake and it felt great to feel my shoulders relax down and my breath deepen, especially in the morning! Its amazing how many people commute into the city, the bus is always buzzing with people and the bus depot in the city racing with people running to work. The bus depot really pleasantly surprised me. It was seriously like an airport with all its shops and restaurants. I've never had to ride on the bus from there and now I'll make sure, if I have to go another time, that I take the bus! I do miss our puppy Lealu. While I'm working for the next 2 weeks, she's staying with my wonderful in-laws who I am so grateful for! See Lealu is a rescue and she can be fearful of new people and it would be very difficult to leave her for the 9 hours I'm away at work, or in a doggy day care. I can't wait to pick her up in 2 weeks! Actually its a week and a half! I'm also excited to tell you that I submitted my application for the acupuncture school in NJ, if I get in, I'll only have 1 year and a half left of school!! While the next 2 weeks are going to be hectic with me commuting into work by bus, its nothing compared to what its going to be like when they start working on the house soon! They will be raising it up so the only way up will be by ladder...and lealu can't climb a ladder! I may be sleeping with her outside in a tent...or the back of the car! On second thought with all the bugs, I'd rather be in the car! Fun adventures:)

Frugal tip Friday - for your plane ride! & Some Exciting News!

2011-05-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

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Happy Friday! I'm not sure if you read the last few posts, but we just got back from a fun family vacation with my sister and her husband. It was a great time and we went on lots of adventures and did a tons of exploring! Which means we saved alot of $! Hiking and walking places definetly saves on those ridiculous gas prices and on paying for kayaks (to see whole story you can go to blog post). One way we were determined to save was spending money on food. We did go out to eat a few times, we have to splurge every once in a while! The food was delicious. We also went grocery shopping and made dinner at home. We bought some grass-fed Hawaiian steak and the guys bbqed, I don't eat steak too often so this was a yummy treat! My brother in law also taught me how to roast cabbage, I had only learned how to cook cabbage with sauce, in a stuffed cabbage recipe, so now I'm determined to cook it up more often! One our 10 hour flight out we were tired and sleepy and just ready for vacation! As we boarded we noticed that lots of other people had food containers with them, pizza boxes, sandwiches etc. I thought - Wow these people must be hungry! It turns out they were just really really smart. We didn't even question that on a 10 hour flight from 1p-11p we wouldn't be given any of those crappy but at least its food (like picture above) meals on the plane, except ones that we would have to buy. We were determined to make it through the whole flight without buying anything when we found this out, I had had a chai before boarding and Martin had a coffee, and I had packed 2 apples from home in my bag. We scarfed down the apples and after 7 hours, we were beat. We ordered a super snack pack and a turkey sandwich. Guess how much that came out to? 16$ Yup! 16$ for a crappy turkey sandwich and packs of peanuts, preztals and crackers. On our flight home we made sure to pack plenty of sandwiches, snacks and water. Remember next time you fly, buy food for your flight before!

Annnnd Martin and I got some great news yesterday - got a transfer for his job! Which means we are moving!!! to the country!!! to the lakehouse!!! Which is great timing because we're doing some major work on the house, so we will have a bit more room soon. I'll be transferring to an acupuncture school in NJ and maybe I'll be able to teach yoga somewhere around there! I don't know how this blog will evolve but over the next 2 weeks some big changes will be happening and I'll make sure to keep you posted. I'm sad to be leaving the city in some ways, there are things - like the fast moving energy and friends I will definetly miss, but there are things that I am definetly looking forward to being out of the city - things like not having to worry about riding the subway with all these new threats on the morning news I hear happening, smelling cleaner air, having more space, not having to smell weird things on the train and wonder what it is, having a slower paced lifestyle for me and Martin and being able to have a garden! I'm really excited to be able to plant veggies and more herbs this year!!

Happy Friday to you!!

"Something Borrowed" a Movie Review

2011-05-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last night I got the see a screening of the movie "Something Borrowed" directed by Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door, The Animal) and starred a love triangle with Rachel played by Ginnifer Goodwin (He's Just Not That Into You, Big Love), her best friend Darcy played by Kate Hudson (need I say more? love her!), and the hearthrob Dex, played by newcomer Colin Egglesfield. First I just want to say, this isn't your typical love story. This story is based on books written by Emily Giffin who wrote "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue", and who makes a great cameo appearence on a park bench reading the sequel, and hopefully the next movie, "Something Blue". Like I said, not your typical love story. Remember how girl gets boy, loses boy and gets boy back at the end and everything is right with the world? Change that up and add in another girl but make a 360 degree spin! I won't tell you the ending but I have to say that at times I was questioning what I would do in both of the girls situations. "Something Borrowed" begins with Rachel's 30th birthday party where we learn about her history with Dex and his engagement to her best friend, the attention grabber Darcy. Even before the title shows, something totally immoral happens and grabs at my heartstrings. Right away I decide who I like and who I don't, and what should happen. A half hour deeper into the film, and I'm tangled in the grayness of these characters' relationships. The movie asks the difficult question, would you let an earth changing, soul-feels-right kinda love go...again(you'll see why I say again when you watch the movie), or would you push for a love that was with your best friend's fiance? I know it sounds horrible, the love story was THAT good and the performances THAT believeable.

The hilarious comedic John Krasinski plays Ethan, the sweet long time family friend of both Rachel and Darcy, who had me cracking up laughing out loud in the theater. His voice of reason throughout the whole ordeal allowed me to sit back and not yell things like "Thats horrible!", "How could she!?", "How could he!?" at the big screen. Ultimately this film is less of a look at the affairs people have and more of a look into Rachel and her inability to truly live her life and take what she wants from it instead of always giving up before the fight for what she wants and being upset afterwards.

Great film, one of the best chick flicks I've seen!!

Wordless - a flower for u and wallpaper leaves!

2011-05-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

I feel like the leaves surrounding the tree below looks like wallpaper, right?

Alittle Simple Living in...Hawaii! :)

2011-05-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

We're back from our trip and I have to say it was so nice to go on vacation and spend time with family while we were gone too. My sister and her husband, and Martin and I all met at Honolulu airport after a long 10 hour flight across the country and the ocean. Now that I look back on it, and for next time we (hopefully there is a next time!) go, it is probably cheaper to take a flight from NY to LA, and then another from LA straight to the Big Island instead of traveling one long flight to Honlulu and then jumping on a very short inter island flight to Kona, on the Big Island. If you are traveling to Big Island, definetly try to do this, its the same amount of stops, but costs less as you are only paying for 1 flight (in total with one stop) instead of another inter island flight on top of the regular flight. Flights have gotten so expensive, but I'll make sure to go into that more on this weeks Frugal Tip Friday! Our first agenda, once we got there, go for some drinks! So we went to the hotels over priced bar, we were so sleepy and jet lagged I think we were too out of it to think frugally, well I certianly was, and got some pina coladas to start the vacation off! We met this wonderful girl who is a single mom and aspiring author living on the Big Island. It was so great to meet her and talk with her about blogging and how great it is to help start you writing, she may be starting her own blog soon hopefully! If she's reading this, please write and we can talk more! After way too many pina coladas, we went back to the room and passed out. Hawaii is 6 hours behind us, so staying up late was okay but then, afterwards not so good when trying to walk and hike! The first day we stayed at the hotel lagoon, which was relaxing and very cool to see the different fish swim. We even saw some turtles swimming! The next day we went to Hilo, which is on the eastern side of the island, Kona where we were staying was on the west side. It was interesting because on our way over there we stopped at the island's acupuncture school. Great to meet a new person there and interesting. She let us know that on the East side of the island, where the volcano is always flowing, there is a constant state of energy that can be erratic coming up from Pele the volcano goddess there, this can stir people in some weird ways. We were alittle nervous going over, but it seemed alright, until (and maybe this was the lack of sleep) my sister and I started laughing histerically and deliriously as the guys were trying to finding there way around Hilo! We went out to eat at a little place called Coqui where we had our first experience with a noodle soup called Pho. It was yummy! There were noodles, sprouts, veggies and lots of herbs, not to mention that the prices were very reasonable compared to other places on the island.

After that crazy day of driving and exploring in Hilo, we stopped at a place called Akaka Falls and Kahuna Falls on our way back. It was a beautiful drive up to the falls, with a fruit cart left out on a farm asking for buyers to leave the money and take what they wanted! We bought a pinneapple, some avocados that tasted like butter and some mangos. The falls were beautiful and only costed 1$ each person to go up.

The next day we went to one of my favorite places, the Green Sand Beach at the south point of the island. There were surprisingly very few people there, one guy sat on a rock in the shade playing his flute the whole time, it was beautiful and felt so euphoric with the flute playing to the dancing waves! The hike is a big one, 5 miles in total, and we all brought water and had our sneakers and sunblock on. The little trek down the rocks onto the beach isn't for everyone. You have to make sure you go slow and climb down one step at a time, but when you get down there to the water...its just heaven. The water is bluer than the sky with a tinge of green and so warm. Well worth it!! I definetly recommend it, and it is free if you hike it! There were guys with cars at the beginning asking people if they wanted rides for cash, but we decided to save our $ and go for it.

(first pic is a cliff on the way to green sand beach where locals fish)

The next day we went to one of Travelers Magazine's most beautiful beaches called Hapuna Beach and I can totally see why it was rated this, it was not a very long beach for walking, but was gorgeous and encircled by lava rocks on both sides, with nothing under our feet but the soft white ground sand, not a shell, not a stone, not a crab. The water might as well have been bath water it was so warm! My sister who isn't so much of a water person even went in and swam! I haven't swam really in the ocean in awhile like this, where you could body surf, you could float, you could dive into the waves or you could jump ontop of the waves. So much fun! I don't have pics of this beach yet, my sister has those, but I'll post as soon as I do. The best part of this beach...ITS FREE!!! No charge to get in, no charge to park, no charge!

A little place that we found by chance called Laupohoe Harbor, no swimming but really pretty and free to stop in at!

For one of our last adventures, we went to a place called Kealekekuhua Bay, where there are supposed to be lots of wild dolphins! Here you can rent a kayak for 50$ for two and kayak across the Bay to Captain Cook's monument and what used to be the Queens Bath, where there is amazing snorkling. The waves looked alittle too strong for my sister so we decided to hike down. Well, half way down she said she would rather go and kayak lol. This was a rough hike, much rougher than we thought it would be. In the book where I learned about things to do on the Big Island, it says that this spot is kept hard to get too to keep away casual visitors. Well did it ever! It took 4 miles total, 2 miles there and 2 miles back, hiking literally down a mountain, and my poor sister only had flip flops on! We had to go super slow and finally made it down luckily without any broken ankles, thank God! We hiked through sloping lava rock, dirt, high grass (made me comfortable with bugs at least!) and finally made it to the Queens Bath. My sisters husband John went in first to snorkle, then Martin then me. I pleaded with my sister to come in (as you ca see in the pic below) but to no success. It was the most beautiful I've ever seen down in that water. Different shades of pastel coral, rainbow fish swimming in schools, bright yellow fish eating the coral, black fish with glowing purple tails, I felt like I was in a storybook of every underwater book I've ever read! It was well worth the hike. I only wish we had flippers so we could go out further! The hike back up was no joke, we were huffing and puffing and the bugs starting to come out. On the big island there are wild boar, we got alittle nervous as we saw holes in the high grasses to the left and right of us. John even made some kind of loud noise to scare one off if they were around. We got back up at about 3:30pm and on our way up we saw a family of four, 2 parents and 2 little kids, all in flip flops hiking down. They asked us about it, both Martin and I warned them, about the steep hike and the flip flops but they kept on. I hope they were okay!! I wouldn't want to be hiking down there as it was starting to get dark!

One restaurant we went to was really awesome. It was very low key and in Honokohau Harbor. It is this beautiful laid back Harbor off of Highway 19 with picnic tables and awesome fish. A local spot with really amaaaa--zzzzing fish. We had the fish of the day which was swordfish. I don't usually eat swordfish because its so tough, but this melted in my mouth and was so tender and flaky, it fell off my fork. It was delicious and marinated in a tomato salsa. I will never be able to eat swordfish or fish again without comparing it to this. And the prices weren't bad either, it came to 16$ for the special, which includes 2 veggies.

On Friday we waved and gave hugs bye to Stef and John as they left earlier than us on their flight home. To be honest I almost felt like we were staying for good! That night we went on a nice romantic dinner at the hotel and said goodbye to our vacation.

It was a great one:) If you ever head over to the Big Island Hawaii, definetly check some of these places out. They are inexpensive and so much fun!

Aloha from Hawaii!

2011-04-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

Aloha!

We've been going places around the island and seeing and seeing so many new things! Its been a weonderful adventure so far. So far we've gone to the local lagoon, hiked 5 miles to the green sand beach, (I took so many pictures and will post next week), we went to Hapuna Beach which is rated one of the best beaches in the country by Travelers Magazine and is free to go in and has free parking, went to the Natural Energy labs where there was supposed to be snorkling but it was low tide, and we went to some great inexpensive restaurants around! One where I had this soup style food called Pho, which I loved and want to make at home now and was inexpensive. It seemed simple to make too, just lots of veggies, noodles and either fish, chicken or steak. Yum! Tonite we're going to a place called Huggo's in Kona for great seafood and tomorrow can't wait to go to Kealakukula Bay for snorkling, apparently or so I've read we have to kayak out to the site and there are dolphins around! and the best part, its free! Will write more on Friday, aloha!

Frugal tip Friday - packing cheap to fly

2011-04-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

Checking a bag today can cost 25$ per bag per flight, add an interisland flight to that and we will be paying 100$ to bring one checked bag with us! Before these charges were put into place, I would bring one checked bag and Martin would bring one checked bag. Now, we are consolidating and saving, and we'll be squishing our clothes, shoes etc into one checked bag, with carry on's. We're going on vacation for a week and that means clothes for the beach, dressy clothes for going out, workout clothes for hiking, and lounge clothes for walking around...which also means, flip flops, heels and a pair of sneakers for the hike! (minus the heels for Martin lol). I figured out a way to fit all this into one bag...and two carry on's:) Rolling clothes! Every shirt, bathing suit, shorts, dress will be rolled and everything actually fit! With some room to spare! (barely any...but at least the suitcase isn't busting out at the seems lol). Here is how our suitcase came out- not too bad right? We just might need an iron when we get there!

And you better believe I'm packing ear wigs for the both of us! The airline was charging 3$ per set last time!

Hawaii here we come!

ps I find out whether I passed my comps while I'm over there...I'll let you know what happens!! :) Check back next week to read about whatever crazy (and as always inexpensive) adventure we go on! (I'm so excited to tell you too that we're going on vacation with my sister and her husband so the posts will include those two characters too!! )

Aloha and Happy Frugal Tip Friday!

An almost Wordless Wednesday & a big thanks!

2011-04-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

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First, I just want to say THANK YOU so much for all of your well wishes with my testing at school! It means so much to me. The tests went well and I find out soon whether I passed or not, crossing my fingers!

There are always so many changes going on in life I feel like. Sometimes I think "Just wait, things will stop changing and then I'll be able to do that" (that being whatever it is I want to do that I'm waiting to do until life stops, well, changing, and only as I write that do I see how ridiculous that sounds! lol). Its so funny because just when things seem to be slowing down, another change happens, changing schools, jobs, homes etc and I'm starting to feel like the only way to do anything is to just accept that there will always be so many changes going on and to find the stillness within myself. I always seem to forget that...yoga and meditation have been such a great reminder, but it seems when there is so much going, thats when I'm reminded the most of the idea of change and how it is continuous. Do you ever feel like this? What changes have been going on with you lately? What changes are happening with me you're probably wondering? A few that I'm excited for and at the same time nervous about and as soon as they happen, I'll be sure to mention them here! (but there is a good possibility it has something to do with where we're living!)

In the mean time, from saving change in our big change jug, we now have $500 for spending on vacation next week!!!! I'm telling you, it pays to save change!!

Frugal tip Fridays will be all about saving while travelling and Cheap fun things to do on a vacation to the Big Island, Hawaii! We've been there before and I've posted (you can see under Actual Travelling) but these adventures will be new! I'll also be posting from Hawaii! Can't wait to be here

again soon and to share with you guys from there!!

Happy (well barely) Wordless Wednesday to you!

Frugal Tip friday - for your anxious tummy!

2011-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have been so thankful to have the today and yesterday off from work so that I can focus and do my best on my Comprehensive Exams for Acupuncture school! I feel good about the tests so far and I have a few more today and afterwards, I hope to celebrate with Martin and drinks! :) With tests and finals happening, my stomach has been a bit sour lately, it just has been feeling nervous and not so put together. A wonderful friend let me know about Ginger tea, but not just the ginger tea that can buy at the grocery store for 5$ a box, but real ginger tea. And I decided to look into it. Did you know this about Ginger?

"Ginger is used in Asian medicine to treat stomach aches, nausea, and diarrhea.

Many digestive, antinausea, and cold and flu dietary supplements sold in the United States contain ginger extract as an ingredient.

Ginger is used to alleviate postsurgery nausea as well as nausea caused by motion, chemotherapy, and pregnancy.

Ginger has been used for rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and joint and muscle pain." (NCCAM)

So I decided to make a tea with fresh ginger! If you have an anxious stomach, this could really help! It has definetly helped my nervous stomach this past week!

All you have to do is slice 1/2 inch piece of ginger from a piece of ginger root (most grocery stores or farmers markets sell these). Place piece of ginger into a hot cup of water. You can use as much honey as you'd like to sweeten, I like alot to balance out the spicyness of the ginger, so I used 2 tablespoons. Not only does making ginger tea from real ginger save money, but its also delicious! Enjoy! And watch your anxious gurgling stomach fade away!!

Happy Friday tip Friday!

April Showers bring May Flowers - Free Seeds!

2011-04-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

I had to share this with you! In hopes of wonderful warm springtime blooming, some free seeds! All you have to do is sign up for their newsletter! This comes from D over at Danielle's Meandering Thoughts! Thanks D for this!

"Tomato Heirlooms offers the best in organically grown heirloom tomato plants ready to pot or plant in your garden. Their plants are all grown in the legendary Coachella Valley California sunshine. They are grown organically, using no chemicals or commercial fertilizers.

Sign up for the newsletter from Tomato Heirlooms to receive a free Basil Seed Pack. This variety package includes 3 garden size packets: one each of Classic Genovese, Dark Purple Opal, and Lemon Basil."

You can't beat free seeds for Springtime!

Frugal Friday - some linkage!

2011-04-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

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Since I'm working on kicking butt with school finals right now, I didn't have a chance to write up the frugal tip friday that I wanted to for today, so it will have to be postponed until next week! I did take my Biochem final last night and it went well, just have one more left tonight which I'm not too worried about, and comps next week but well next week is another week, all I know is that I'm having me a big, well huge, let me just be honest with you, glass of Merlot when I get home tonight!!

In the meantime I thought I'd share this amazing email I received from Oprah.com Money News. Its awesome and gives so much great information about how to save money, why its important and great ways for you to save!!

One great article - http://www.oprah.com/money/Michelle-Singletarys-Short-and-Long-Term-Money-Advice_1

and another - http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Seven-Baby-Steps-to-Get-Out-of-Debt_2

and one more! - http://www.oprah.com/money/Suze-Answers-Your-Top-Questions

Happy Friday!!! Hope you all have a wonder-filled weekend:)

Wordless - a Reminder to Self

2011-04-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

During Finals week this week, an achey belly and comps week next week I just have to remember to

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and imagine myself here

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or maybe lying in the sun here

and know that everything I need to know is already inside me

so I'll just

until we get to go here

Frugal tip Friday - a date night or family night maybe?

2011-04-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

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I want to tell you about a place where you can go in the city to watch any number of films, where you can be amongst artists and filmmakers, where you can watch films that don't reach the theatres, where you can get all fancied up or go casual, and maybe even mingle with celebrities! I'm talking about the Tribeca Film Festival! Thats right the Tribeca Film Festival is coming soon, and begins April 20th and ends May 1st. There are many new independent films and many new more mainstream films, that include Q & A talks afterwards with the director and actors and this year, even a free Family Festival! To check out their site, you will want to go to the Tribeca Film Festival site. Some of the films that will be playing are "Revenge of the Electric Car" (I'm so excited to see this one!!!), "A Beautiful Mind" with a talk afterwards with director Ron Howard, and many others! Each film is 16$ per ticket for the film, and only 8$ for matinee (begin before 6pm) and late night films (begin at 11pm)! Thats not bad considering going to movies can 22$! and you're going to the Tribeca Film Festival! The Tribeca Talks are 25$ each.

Possibly the best part of Tribeca this year is the free events that they are holding! April 21st "Fame" is showing for free at 6pm, and on Saturday April 23rd, "The Muppets Take Manhattan" will be showing for FREE!! There will also be a very cool FREE Family Festival on Saturday April 30th from 10-6p at Greenwich, north of Chambers Street. There will be restaurants, merchants, storytelling, free screening and Broadway performances! How fun is that??!!

To get more details just click on the link about for the Tribeca Film Festival site and enjoy all the free events they have to offer!!!

Happy Frugal tip Friday!

Happy Spring!!! A Wordless Wednesday:)

2011-03-30T11:08:00.001-07:00

Frugal tip Friday - for your notebooks and classes!

2011-03-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Classes are coming to a close in a few weeks and I'm so excited for this semester to be over. I've learned alot and enjoyed learning, maybe its because I'm not used to taking so many classes, maybe its because I'm taking my first year comprehensive exams (finally), but I've been studying and studying for these upcoming important tests. Part of studying means going back to old binders and notebooks and looking through, while at the same time preparing for next semester (which starts May 1st!) its a vigorous and wonderful program that I am grateful to be able to call one of my passions. Vigorous and wonderful and...expensive! Graduate classes can run, well I won't go into specifics, but alot so I save money wherever I can with school. For example, I get books at half.com, or used on amazon, or I just go to Barnes and Nobles (something I'm experienced with from undergrand) grab a chai and take notes while reading the book there. One big part of the upcoming comprehensive test are Acupuncture Points, their locations and their functions. I have a great big binder full of notes and handouts from Points 1, 2 and 3 classes. It looks like this:

and its pretty full! I don't want to spend any more $ on binders. Thats it, this is what I have to work with. So...I decided to use my handy binder clips, take out the paperwork and make a pack bound by the clips. It works great! And the best part about this is that I can save the bound papers for studying and for future and I'll know whats in the paper pack and that everything is staying organized while I continue to reuse my binder for next semesters Points 4 Class! Here is how it came out after the papers were taken out and bound with binder clips.

How cool is that!? Recycling your binder can save a ton of money at the end of each semester or school year. Even if you store the paper packs in a box, because of the binder clips there is no worry of the papers getting all crumbled and messy because they are bound and also in between dividers.

Happy Frugal Tip Friday!!

I'm big into Zen, trying to find it, working on keeping it and meditating with it. There is an interesting article if you are interested in Zen habits for reducing clutter! There are 25 and they even link to other great blogs that can help.

ps- I was not given any product to review or monetary payment for above Zen blog with links, just wanted to share!

Hope you have a great weekend!!!

Weekend and winner of Milk giveaway

2011-03-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a great weekend! Martin and I had our annual visit to the Bronx Zoo to celebrate Spring coming! Its such a great time there if you get a chance to go. There were lots of tourists and kids from different clubs visiting. We saw a polar bear, lots of monkeys, and caught a glimpse of the gorillas. We even saw some lions! It looked like all the animals were staying on top of their sunny hills away from the windows and the fence, so a few were more difficult to see. One way to save $ going the zoo is to bring your own lunch and water! We did that and the entrance fee was well worth it! On Wednesdays the Bronx Zoo is even free to enter! Another way to save, that I'm thinking about doing in the fall, is to purchase a membership with the Wildlife Conservation Society. Its a great organization that contributes to wildlife and allows you to purchase a membership. The 129$ family year long membership for 2 adults and as many children under 18 as you'd like, includes parking passes, free entrance to the NY Aquarium in Coney Island (which I absolutely love!), free entrance to the Bronx Zoo, 16 free attraction tickets and Wildlife Conservation Society tshirts! Not bad right? A year long worth of fun stuff to do! Either way the Bronx Zoo is definetly worth a visit if you get a chance!

And the winner of the Pour One More Milk giveaway is Comment # 2 Pam! If the winner doesn't respond within 48 hours, I will pick another winner using random.org.

Congratulations Pam!! I'll send you an email shortly!

Frugal Tip Friday - guest blogger talks how to be frugal with technology!

2011-03-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

Today I'm so excited to have Lauren here with us to talk about how to spend less and get more with technology! Not only because I'm not very techno-savvy but also because she is such an amazing writer and has such a great scoop on this! Not to mention she blogs about online colleges! Thanks Lauren for stopping by and giving us these great tips!
Hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Frugal tip Friday! - Nikki

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How to Spend Less and Get More with Technology

Technology is a big factor in our modern day to day life. There are entire magazines and websites devoted to discussing technology, and most people love to be up-to-date with the latest tech products whenever possible. However, technology is also expensive and it can be disheartening to needlessly spend more than you needed to for a product or find out that maintaining your technology costs much more than the initial purchase. Luckily, there are ways that you can easily spend less and get more with technology.

Computers

One of the biggest technological purchases most households make is a computer or laptop. When it comes time for you to make your next computer purchase, do not simply shell out top dollar for the latest MacBook or Sony Vaio. Instead, take into account exactly what you will need your computer to do.

First, think about how important mobility is for your new computer. Laptops typically come with fewer technological benefits than desktop computers and cost more as well. If you will only be using your computer at home in the office, then consider purchasing a desktop computer. You can get twice the amount of speed and space on your desktop than you would on a laptop for the same price.

If portability is an important factor, conduct extensive research into each laptop model you are considering. Determine what you will mostly be using your laptop for, and look for suitable laptops accordingly. Remember that a name brand does not necessarily mean that the product is better, but also look out for too-good-to-be-true prices because these products could have a short shelf life. In addition, once you have picked a model you like, find out if any electronics stores around you are having deals and specials. Most stores will have special promotional prices around major holidays, which can be a good time to pick up a new computer for a good price.

Cell Phones

It seems new cell phone models are released every month, and it can be difficult (and expensive!) to keep up with them all. When it comes time for you to purchase a new cell phone, consider choosing a phone that is discounted with a service plan. Most cell phone service providers significantly discount the price of new phones if they are purchased with a service contract, typically for one or two years. This means that you can purchase a new phone for hundreds of dollars less if you also sign up for a service contract. As you will likely need a service contract to use your phone anyway, this is a great way to save money on new technology.

Another good method to get the most bang for your buck is to wait a few months after a new phone has been released before purchasing it. Older phones significantly decrease in price as newer models replace them. Remember that most months or year-old phone models still have some of the latest technology and features, so you will still have an up-to-date phone. Even better yet, you will have bought it for much less than those who purchased their phones within weeks of its release. Also, keep in mind that most smart phones require a data plan, so take that additional cost into consideration when you are phone shopping.
Maintenance

When it comes to making sure your dollars go far in your technology purchases, be avid about maintaining your electronics so that they will last you a long time. Keep an updated anti-virus and anti-spyware program on your computer. Though there are several reliable brands you can buy, there are also great programs that you can download for free to keep your computer protected and these programs are legal, too!

For your phone, keep it in a case if possible so that it is more protected from bumps and falls. Avoid dropping it or exposing it to humidity or extreme heat, as this can degrade the intricate computer technology inside your phone. With some precaution, you can truly spend less and get more with technology.

Lauren Bailey is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about online colleges. Questions and comments can be sent to: blauren99 @gmail.com.

Wordless Wednesday - sending out peace and love to Japan

2011-03-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

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Milk - Pour One More - A Giveaway!

2011-03-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

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I love milk, especially organic milk. Milk comes in many varieties based on what you are looking for. There's skim milk, low fat milk and whole milk. There's raw milk (unhomogenized/unpasturized), regular milk, organic milk, organic grassfed milk and/or unhomogenized milk. So many options for this delicious treat! Milk is used to make ice cream, cream, butter, frozen yogurt, and so many other tasty treats. No wonder its enjoyed by so many people! Luckily milk also has a huge amount of vitamins and nutrients. According to a study at WhyMilk.com titled What Americans Are Missing, 9 out of 10 Americans are missing key nutrients in their diets, three of them noted in the study, calcium, Vitamin D, potassium and fiber. Fiber is mostly from fruits and veggies, but the others we can get a huge dose of from milk! Its a great study and I definetly recommend taking a look at it!

I'm so excited because the Pour One More milk campaign is offering a wonderful giveaway to a reader of Simple Living in a Big City! All you have to do is leave a comment and let me know your favorite way of drinking milk, whether as hot chocolate, chocolate milk (can you tell I like chocolate? lol), ice cream, in macaroni and cheese, in a Chai Latte (you know thats my favorite!) however you like to drink it just let me know! One commenter chosen at random using random.org will win the following:

- 3 reusable latte sleeves
- 3 cereal bowls
- 3 insulated to go cups with lid and straw (love these! they are great especially with made at home smoothies!)
- and the big one! 1 coupon booklet for a years worth of FREE MILK!

I was given the chance to try out some of these products and I took a photo for you to see what you'll be getting:

And one of the best parts of the giveaway is that the plastic cups are:

LOVE BPA FREE!

The giveaway ends 9am on Monday March 21st. I hope you had a great weekend and thanks for entering! and thanks so much to the Pour one more milk campaign for choosing Simple Living to spread the word about Milk!

Frugal tip Friday - make your own hummus!

2011-03-11T08:49:00.000-08:00

I love hummus! I eat it all the time. Last night I decided to make it myself and save some money, and whats better than a simple recipe for Frugal tip Friday!? Hummus can cost between 4$ and 6$ for containers the size that I'm going to make today. Our hummus costs less in total because we can save ingredients like olive oil and tahini and use it in other recipes later!

You will need:

1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini (ground sesame seeds)
1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans)
2 cloves garlic
a dash of salt
(optional) - any spices you like, I used some parsley and some cayenne pepper!

First, take all ingredients and put into blender. You can either do this, or leave out olive oil. You'll see what we do with that afterwards.

Blend! Make sure the blender is on high speed, unless you want chunky hummus! After this, spoon out the hummus you made into a dish.

Finally, sprinkle your extras on top! I sprinkled my cayenne and parsley on top over the top. If you didn't use your olive oil in the blender, you can make a hole in the hummus and pour 2 tablespoons into the divet to add alittle extra flavor! Enjoy for up to a week (just to be safe) in the fridge!

Happy Frugal tip Friday! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Wordless - how you know its Spring in the City!

2011-03-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

by the chalkman drawing again!!!

Frugal tip Friday - for your Mouthwash!

2011-03-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

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This past week one of my favorite shops Westerly Natural Food Market has been closed due to electrical issues. You know those places that you go to that become sort of staple in your life? The ones that always have what you need and usually great discounts? This is that store to me! The first time I walked up to it on Tuesday and saw the gates down and the sign saying electrical outage, I was just stunned, lol I just stood there like "What? Really? How can it be closed right now?" I hate to think of what will happen if a 2012 scenario (2012 like the movie, not what will most likely actually happen) happened! One of the items that I was looking forward to getting was our mouthwash that we use everyday. Its not like any other mouthwash, its not like a Listerine or even a Tom's of Maine, this stuff is super awesome. Its called Perio-Wash, and my sister has been using it for awhile too now and her dentist actually commented that her teeth were looking really good compared to before when she wasn't using it! And the mouthwash is made of glycerin, filtered water, many essential oils, like rosemary, tea tree, cinnamon among others. I did the only logical idea that came to mind, I went to Whole Foods to find it. And guess what? they were out! I confusingly asked the man putting away vitamins and he went to check, yup none in stock. I was in trouble! This may sound crazy that I was that upset, but since a few years ago, I am a stickler with taking care of my teeth. I felt like I had some gum receding issues awhile back, but since I've been taking care so much, my teeth have been taking care of me back! I brush and mouthwash twice a day, and floss once a day and my teeth and gums feel a hundred times better! I figured I make so many of the other things we use, why not make our own mouthwash? How hard can it be?? I looked on the back of other natural mouthwash bottles and remembered the ingredients. Here's what you need:

a closeable bottle
Baking Soda
filted water
tea tree oil
rosemary essential oil
oil of oregano
cinnamon essential oil
clove essential oil (optional)
aloe scraped off of the leaf from our big aloe plant (optional)
vegetable glycerin.

First take your bottle, I used a bottle that was 16 ounces, and fill 3/4's way full with filtered water. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable glycerin. Add 15 drops of oil of oregano, 15 drops of tea tree oil, 10 drops of cinnamon oil, and 10 drops of rosemary oil. Mix. Add in 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda. Close bottle, and shake until mixed. And you've made your own mouthwash! There is a great website where I found some interesting possible ingredients - http://www.squidoo.com/natural-mouthwash. There is some very interesting info if you have a moment!

We take a swig once in the morning and once at night, and this bottle usually lasts up between a week or two. This mouthwash tastes pretty good too!!! The best thing about this mouthwash is that compared to other all natural mouthwashes at upwards of 10$ per bottle, making your own will save you money because you only have buy these oils and ingredients maybe once every few months. Its amazing how long the oils last since you are only using drops for each bottle.

Happy Frugal Tip Friday!

Wish I was Here Wednesday!

2011-03-02T12:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Wednesday!! I'm participating in Wish I Was Here Wednesday at forme.

where do you wish you were today??? write a blog post or a picture post, click the button below, and link up!!!

Can you say Puppy Please???!!!!

2011-02-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

An adorable cute puppy (well I shouldn't really say puppy, he's really a doggy) is up for adoption by his owner!! Its really a tragic situation. Pets can become a huge part of our lives, family members even and this woman is forced to give up her sweet dog. Here's her story:

"Dear Friends,

I write this letter with a heavy heart, as I am in search of a new
owner for my dog Oliver. As many of you know, I am moving to
Germany on March 18th to join my boyfriend. We had every
intention of Oliver being there with us. He even had a plane
ticket and crate for the trip. Unfortunately though, a DNA test
confirmed he is a American Staffordshire Terrier and Bull
Terrier mix, neither of which are allowed to be brought into the
country. Thus, Oliver is in need of a forever home and perhaps you know
the perfect friend or family member who could provide that for him.
Oliver is a healthy 7 year old young man. While he weighs 89 lbs, he
often thinks he is a lap dog. He is gentle, intelligent, extremely goofy
and has the best personality. He loves to be with people (including
children) and is socially motivated.
He loves searching for treats, performing tricks, making people laugh
and playing tug. He is fearful around other dogs and can become
aggressive; however, he does not lunge, so he is a pleasure to walk
with and he is great on the leash.
Overall he is an amazing dog. I adopted Oliver when he was 6
months old and was told, “all this dog wants to do is please.” It is so
true, and in return he simply wants to be loved and be near you,
whether you are working, walking, making dinner or napping. He
just wants to be part of the pack.

If you or any close friends/family members of yours
would be interested in adopting Oliver please let meknow.

Thank you,
Heather Metcalfe
(917) 815 - 1483

She taught me how to make a bed

2011-02-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

My Gram taught me many things. She taught me how to be tough, she taught me how to listen but most of all, she taught me how to make a bed. When we were little, my Gram had a large house, well it was really humongous lol, in Shamokin Pennsylvania. Her and my Pop pop had a beautiful detailed garden in the back with a bridge along a lighted pathway. They had horses to the right in a small pasture. After they retired, my Gram had always had a dream of opening a bed and breakfast, so they did just that and eventually turned the humongous Shamokin house into a gorgeous bed and breakfast. When we would go visit, I remember sitting with my sister on the flower colored couch in the glassed in porch and picking through one of the old dusty books she kept on the white built-in-to-the-wall bookshelf. We'd snuggle up and look outside at the garden through the rain droplets on the window panes and all the family issues we were going through at the time at home seemed so far away. She had these funny manaquins that she would arrange in the windows so that when we drove past the house to go home or when we arrived, we'd see this spooky figures in the windows! After a few years, they decided being in another state was just too far away from family, so they decided to move to Cape May NJ. They built a large house with an enveloping porch that held a long row of wooden light gray blue rocking chairs. They again made their garden, only this time added a coy pond, so that every time we came to visit we could go out and watch the fish and their babies swim. There were two extra bedrooms upstairs. My sister and I would share one large bed in one of the rooms with my brother in the other room. Maybe it was because of her experience with the bed and breakfast, maybe she was just great at making others feel at home, but after a long day and usually a long drive to come visit, I would race to the top of the carpeted stairs, stop at look at the old black and white photos, from my great great parents, to my Gram and Pop pops wedding photo, to baby pictures of my elder family members, and then past the quilts in layers hanging on the wooden holder to my left, until I reached the bedroom. Our room had a large bookshelf, with a single wooden chair along the wall that held a stuffed bunny. The wooden bed frame rested below a oval picture of woman who I always thought curiously about. Was she a relative? Was she my great grandmother? Why did she part her hair that way? Why was she smiling? To the right of the bed was an old fashioned bason built into a wooden holder with a mirror attached above and a shelf that held the pitcher below. I'd pull off the top layer of an old fashioned victorian looking comforter to the next layer of a soft blanket usually colored light blue or pink that had a silk 1 inch line the top. I don't know where these blankets have gone, but they were the best and I never see them sold anymore! I'd lift the next layer of smooth sheets and slide my feet down in between them. There would always be two pillows, the top, we'd toss on the floor, and the bottom we'd sink our heads into. Pulling the covers up to my shoulders felt like being tucked in, but not like any other tuck in. It was like being enveloped in a smooth soft peaceful blanket. It was like falling asleep to the most cheesy Christmas movie, knowing that someone would shut off the movie and bring you up to bed. Looking around I notice the plug in candle sticks that she always had in the windows, when they glowed the room felt so whimsical. Like she was lighting the way for us to come back after dreamland, the whole house softly glowing. No Christmas lights, so big outside decorations, just those candles. The warmest place to rest our heads during our parents divorce and after, a comfort during difficult times, a sanctuary safe to fill with dreams. From fresh smooth sheets everyday, to the next fuzzy soft warm layer to an outside layer of flowers and lace perfectly creased under the double layer of pillows exactly tucked under the mattress to the right tightness, to the endless feeling of warmth and love, my Gram knew how to make the perfect bed.

As I've grown, I've learned how to make our own bed, and hopefully, with love and lots of her help from above, I'll be able to make a bed like this one day for my family.

Frugal Tip Friday - a free dose of serotonin :)

2011-02-18T12:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks for stopping by! This weeks Frugal Tip Friday has been cancelled due to my Midterms week!!
There is something I really wanted to tell you about but unfortunately it will have to wait for next week:(

Here is a little funny free (thats the important part!) dose of serotonin for you:)

Happy Friday!!!! Hope you have a great weekend!

the small things

2011-02-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

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In one of my classes we are learning about amino acids and the molecules that make up their compounds. Its very interesting! One of the coolest things I've learned so far is that each amino acid is super important to contributing to a healthy liver and heart and just about everything else in the body! From healthy hair and skin to fighting off depression, amino acids are super important! I was reading an article online for my class that talked about how important the structure of hemoglobin in the blood and that if the structure is changed in any small way, (of course its small we're talking about molecules! lol) it could result in sickness, and in hemoglobin's case, the result is sickle cell anemia. The article continued to read:

"The shape of proteins is critical to their function, and clearly the shape is largely a result of the bonds that form between the side chains of amino acids that make the protein. It can be concluded that a primary purpose of the side chains in amino acids is to give proteins their shape, which dictates their function."

If this is the case and our bodies are so dependant upon proteins to be specifically structured, this makes me wonder...what happens when all the meat we eat is fed genetically modified foods? or when they are injected with growth hormones?

This lesson in class is just really helping me to realize how sensitive our bodies really are and how I need to watch what I put into mine! Its also confirming to me that I need to continue supporting organic grassfed farming and local farmers markets!

Wordless - what I'm looking forward to!

2011-02-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

Although I love the snow and appreciate the season, I am so tired of this-

and this-

oh and this

I will miss this - who wouldn't?

But I am SO ready and looking forward to this!!!!

and this

and this!

Dear Sun, please come soon!!!!

Yours faithfully, Nikki

Frugal tip Friday - a Veggie Egg Wrap!

2011-02-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

Over the weekends we usually go out and treat ourselves to a yummy Veggie Egg Wrap at a local cafe. This week was a special one and since I have class most nights, I decided to make the Veggie Egg Wrap myself! Its super easy, more inexpensive than going out, and is a very tasty treat for breakfast. Our egg wraps cost about 5$ each. I spent about that much on ingredients and we have a bunch of stuff left over!

You will need:

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk (lowfat or whatever you like, but just cannot be rice milk or almond milk, for some reason it doesn't mix with the eggs. If you don't want to use milk, you can leave it out)

1 yellow pepper

1 yellow onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon butter
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

wraps (any kind you like, I used Ezekiel but they were a bit hard)

hot sauce (any kind you like and any degree of hotness! I used an apricot pepper syrup which was good, but after tasting I prefer alittle more spicy)

First, sautee your garlic with the olive oil and butter on medium heat.

Add the 1/2 a chopped onion, with 1 chopped yellow pepper.

While they are sauteeing, on the side crack your 3 eggs into a cup.

Mix so that the yolk and whites are completely mixed together. (You can add milk to the mix here or leave it out, in my experience it seems to make the eggs more fluffy).

Sautee until the onion is transparent.

Pour egg mixture into pan so that the onions, peppers and eggs are cooking together.

Begin to scrape the egg up when you see it becoming more solid.

Leave this on low heat for about 10 minutes but watch it closely, burnt egg tastes horrible! (trust me, I know lol)

Then take 2 of your wraps out and open them on a cutting board or clean counter top.

Take a spoon and spread your hot sauce on the wrap.

Sprinkel cheese on the wrap.
Once the egg mixture is scrambled, take a spatula and place egg mixture on top of cheese in a line going down the center of the wrap.

Next, fold the wrap up from bottom, and in on both sides, and wrap in foil.

I placed these in the fridge for the next morning before work, and I heated them in the oven for 15 minutes.

Its a great thing to get ready quickly before work. They were delish!

Happy Friday & Happy Frugal tip Friday!

30 is the New 20

2011-02-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

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This past week Martin and I both celebrated our birthdays! They are 4 days apart and it is always fun because we get to celebrate eachother together! My birthday was particular because it was my big 30th! I am now officially out of my 20's. I feel like the expression 30 is the new 20 is so true. My Mom starting having children at 20 and so did my Gram. I feel like if I had done that, it would not have been the right decision for me, and I feel like 30 is definetly getting close! By 20 my parents and grandparents were finished with school, and for me, 30 is definetly more like around the time I will be finished (finally!) with school. By 20's my parents and grandparents were married, I waited until I was closer to 30's (27 to be specific!). So I think that expression is definetly true for me! Lets hope its also true for my body! :)

I've read alot lately about what turning 30 means for other people, for some it means that things start going wrong in their bodies (I've read alot of that whew!), for some it means more of a focus on family, everyone is different. And I wanted to write what turning 30 means to me and what I'm saying good bye to in my 20's!

Saying Good bye to:

jumping from school to school
believing that I have to go to school for it to learn it
staying up until after midnight, I can barely stay up until midnight these days!
living with roommates in dorms
blowing money away
student loans
eating a bag of cheetos and not having to worry about what its doing to my body!
(and not seeing it on body the next morning)

What I want to say hello to in my 30's (this gets me excited!):

hopefully finishing acupuncture school and getting licensed
being more dependable with people and life in general
being more relaxed with life, afterall ageing is worse with worry!
Allowing my creative side to shine through, whether that be writing more or blogging more
Speaking up about my opinions in a calm and collected manner, instead of getting all upset when I disagree and not wanting to talk.
Spending more quality time with Martin.
Hopefully starting a family!!!
Spending more time on my spiritual self.
Starting up a meditation routine again the mornings. I really want one of those little meditation tables!
Going hiking more and just being outdoors more.

Thats it I think! Yaye to 30's!

Superbowl, Best Commercials 2011

2011-02-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

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I hope you had a great Superbowl Sunday! I was voting and cheering the Steelers on until the very last second but alas, I had to take off my tiger print (it was the only thing black and gold that I had) pants and my black top in defeat. The commercials were pretty awesome though. My favorites were:

The baby e-trade commercial! Its always cute and funny to see little babies talk.

Snickers - Totally unexpected when Roseanne gets hit by the log, and just because it was unexpected (not because of any ill feelings towards Roseanne) it was hilarious and shocked me!

Eminem - Weird to see him talking about keeping Detroit beautiful with his brand new modern car (what was it a Chrysler? I know it began with a C... the only thing I remember was Eminem! :)) to promote building cars in Detroit.

I cracked up at the Doritos commercial when the guy tries to attract the pug puppy and he runs so fast towards him he knocks down the door onto the car and squishes him! It was hilarious.

Was it just me, or were most of the commercials Doritos, Go Daddy & Chevrolet?

I loved the Black Eyed Peas too!! That was great entertainment and kind of reminded me of the Olympics in China when the people all dressed up in different lights and colors and made designs. I love how the theme was LOVE and how the people were dressed in red and made hearts that swung back and forth!

Did you watch the Superbowl? Did you think Steelers were making a comeback like I did when they get the last touchdown with a 2 pt conversion? Which commercials were your favorite?

Frugal Tip Friday - Baking Soda for your acid stomach

2011-02-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

This Fridays frugal tip Friday is a bit different than any other! Thats because it comes from a teacher of mine. Most of you know that I'm in graduate school for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Part of our program is to take a bunch of bio science classes. One of those classes is Biochemistry, and I'm taking it right now! My teacher is awesome, he is a great spirit and very interested in teaching and having us learn the material. Yesterday as we were going through different compounds, he introduced us to sodium bicardonate/aka Baking Soda. We were going over bases and acids as well and he stated that baking soda is a base. Naturally in the body there are these "buffers" that regulate the body's acidity. When these "buffers" aren't up to their best, your body can become more acid instead of alkaline. This is when it got interesting! My teacher told us that a favorite base that we ingest when we have stomach acid, indigestion or heartburn is actually made up of sodium bicarbonate or Baking Soda! The favorite base is Alka-Seltzer! Our teacher was saying that when you feel heartburn, just take a teaspoon of baking soda (if you can stand the taste) and mix it with water and drink! I thought this was genius so I had to tell you! and its not only genius but a great way to save on alka-seltzer, tums and other ant-acids!

Happy Sciency Frugal Tip Friday !

:) Nikki

Wordless Wednesday - Lealu & Martin walking on water!

2011-02-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

(or ice:)) can you see them all the way out there!?