Tape measuring tricks

Snow White in domino

Microwave Man

I always read about eating almonds and their health benefits but did you know the other nuts can be just as healthy in their own way??

Pistachios – reduce the risk of heart disease, promotes eye health, provide fiber

Cashews – has the “good” fat, great for people with diabetes, high antioxidant content, good source of magnesium, prevents gall stones

Walnuts – rich in fiber and antioxidants, helps to lower LDL cholesterol

Pecans – helps to prevent breast and prostate cancer, lose weight, high in protein

I started getting into eating nuts again after reading a recommendation for Trader Joe’s Just A Handful of Almonds from notMartha. I’ve taken to keeping a bag of these in my purse at all times for when I have the munchies! Wish they made them for all of the other nuts too but I guess I can always make my own snack bags :)

Here are some cool salt and pepper shakers i found while shopping for my own home

Balance salt and pepper shaker – these are so elegant looking!

mustache salt and pepper shaker – ahhh, my love for all things mustache

Lola Goldstein salt and pepper shakers – sooo cute! too bad they are not for sale anymore :(

Cloud salt shaker – it’s raining salt and pepper hehe

There is so much to learn and do when owning a home. I’m always reading up on ways to save money as well. Here are some handy tips I thought I would share:

5 ways to save water, energy, money and the world in one afternoon – more reason to start using that dishwasher!

How to clean a window with newspaper – a great way to reuse

How to sharpen dull knives, scissors, and can openers

How to clean a baked on mess the easy way – never heard of this trick

How to clean stainless steel smudges – great for a bunch of our appliances

Best way to clean a sponge – boil for 5 minutes

How to get rid of mold in front load washers – front load washers are all the rage now, unfortunately they can easily get moldy

The world’s best hikes – Now that the weather is starting to warm up again, I want to start hiking again! These are too advanced for me but it’s something to work towards.
1938 Dating Guide For Single Women – this is pretty funny…i wonder what people will think are ridiculous about us 70 years from now
Man in box – a man is locked inside a steel box and you have 30 days to find him to win 30000Euros in cash. The inside of the box is livestreamed for 24 hrs a day.
ShadyURL – shorten your URL by making it suspicious and frightening
Top 10 mysterious people – uhh is the green children of woolpit for real???
Red wine and chocolate are cancer killers – and also blueberries, garlic, soy, and teas

A amazing picture of an ant carrying 100 times its weight that won a science photography competition.

This article is so useful to bookmark! It describes the correct way to launder 18 different fabrics. The ones i found most useful to know:

3. Cashmere
Even if cashmere doesn’t get dirty or smell of sweat easily, it should still be washed after three wearings. Cashmere is very delicate and the less often it’s washed, the longer it lasts. Wash in cold water in a special underwear bag or pillowcase using wool-washing products. To hand wash, use a wool product or diluted shampoo. Wash and rinse cashmere quickly in cold water until it runs clear. Rather than twist, roll cashmere in a towel and then dry flat. Use a very-hot iron n the underside of the garment.

4. Cotton
Cotton can withstand high temperatures and any good detergent will do. Use chlorine bleach only on whites ad color-safe bleach on dyed cottons. Cotton wrinkles easily and may require frequent pressing with a hot iron.

5. Denim
Cool machine wash 40 degree. Press while damp with a hot iron.

6. Fleece
Machine wash warm and remove quickly to avoid matting. Hang to dry; do not use dryer.

7. Linen
Any stains should be treated prior to washing. Some linen is washable, while others are dry clean only. Be sure to check the label. Washable household linen, handkerchiefs and apparel can be washed easily and become softer with use. White linens should be dried in the sun to keep their whiteness. Linen fabrics may need frequent pressing, unless treated for crease resistance.

18. Wool
Wool is very delicate and shouldn’t be boiled or washed with chlorine-based products. Dry cleaning or hand-washing is best, but you can machine-wash wool mixes. Always check the laundry label and set your machine to a short non-spin program. Hand-wash wool at a maximum temperature of 30° using special wool washing products and without soaking. Gently scrub and rinse in lukewarm water, gently squeezing the water out and rinsing in cold water. Dry flat on a clean towel. Always steam when pressing wool. Use the wool setting. Avoid pressing wool totally dry. When possible, press on the reverse side of the fabric. When necessary to press on the right side, use a press cloth to avoid a shine. Lower and lift the iron, don’t slide it back and forth. Prevent imprinting inside detail by placing a piece of brown paper or tissue paper under folds, seams or darts. Rest wool garments 24 hours between wearing. Hang on a shaped or padded hangers leaving lots of space between other garments to shed any wrinkles and return to the garments original shape.

This article from The New York Times is probably the best I’ve read about booking tickets online. To summarize, here are the steps for ensuring you find the best prices no matter where you are flying:

1. First check kayak (my personal favorite as well)
2. Next check ita software
3. Cfares – this website costs an annual fee of $50 but they offer rebates on every flight you booked so it might be worth it if you fly a lot or find a competitive price
4. Lastly, go direct to the airline you are planning to book with.

If you have some time, you might want to check farecast.com or yapta.com to see if these websites might predict the price going down anytime soon.

For international flights, he pretty much follows the same process but also checks a website called vayama

And don’t forget to fly tuesdays or wednesday when tickets are usually the cheapest.

Read the whole article here.

I mostly use twitter to follow all of the celebrities so I found this new blog quite amusing: Museum of Modern Celebrity Tweets

A new tweet from a celebrity is illustrated every Tuesday and it can be pretty funny!

Some of my favorite celebrity tweeters:

Tila Tequila – this girl is psycho but she had the most friends ever on MySpace for a reason. She is completely delusional and a total drama queen. Reading her twitter is better than any soap! But be prepared to be bombarded with tweets if you follow her….she twitters about EVERYTHING.

Paris Hilton – she seems so sweet and pretty much has the best life ever. all she does is watch movies, shop and party all day long

Rain Wilson – he is just as funny on twitter as he is on the office!

Spencer Pratt, Heidi, Lo (ok pretty much everyone from the hills) – I’m sorry…but i still watch this show and love (to hate) all the characters!

Rivers Cuomo – lead singer of weezer (my favorite band from hs). his tweets are always so random!

John Mayer – total douchebag but fun to read his tweets. too bad he stopped tweeting after those comments he made from that magazine interview!

Speaking of twitter, did you hear they are making a tv show based on the uber famous “**** my dad says” twitter? And guess who is playing the dad! William Shatner!

Is it a sign you are growing old when you become interested in gardening? With our new big backyard, I’ve become very interested in planting some fruit trees. We visited the gardening sections of a few stores this weekend and I was going ga-ga over all of the different things I could be growing!!! (not just fruits but veggies, herbs, and beautiful flowers) BUT since I’ve never really had ANY experience with gardening, I thought I should probably start with something simple and easy first. I have always had terrariums and succulents in the back of my head because I think they are pretty awesome looking and turns out they are SUPER easy to maintain. Because most of them are in an enclosed container, you don’t even have to water them that often! Check out these beautiful terrariums that have been inspiring me:

Does this last jar look familiar?

It’s the raffle jar from my wedding!! (courtesy of Ikea)

Not as fancy as some of those beautifully shaped jars above but it will do for my first one. Or I have a clear lamp base that I am thinking I might use as well but maybe for my next one. I am thinking I will throw in some blue pebbles/stones so that it will go with our blue/brown themed living room too. I can’t wait!!

A short rundown on how to build your own terrarium. First you will need:
1. a jar or other clear container
2. some plants (I saw some super cute small plants/succulents at Target and so cheap!)
3. rocks, charcoal, dirt (all can be found at your local gardening store)
4. optional: decorative pieces including moss, shells, etc.

Now layer them in this order in your jar: rocks, charcoal, soil, and finally plants. Then you can top it with your decorative pieces. Done!

75 youtube artists come together to sing We Are The World.

Much better than the new cover don’t you think??