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Friday’s Fresh Five! (3/29/13)

Posted in About me, Creativity, Environment and Ecology, In The Kitchen, inspiration, Photography, Recipes, Recycling, Style and fashion, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Road Blur

Photo by Linnell Chang

The road goes on for miles. Bright jagged streaks of light float over it and define its path. On and on it goes, passing one fence post after another, until finally, in a fiery explosion of color, it converges with the setting sun and the heavy night sky. Taken with my cell phone from a moving car, this photo is certainly not an example of my finest work, yet there’s something about it that captivates me. Perhaps its painting-like qualities, the broad brushstrokes of color and the soft fog-like illumination, draw me in. Or perhaps, the metaphoric symbol of the road, with its encouraging guiding light, carries me forward, on and on.

#1 – The Colors of Spring
Spring 2013 Colors Pretty spring colors are not just outside in the garden. They could be in your closet, too. I haven’t included a style or fashion post in a long time, so I thought some of you might appreciate this feature from Stylelist: Pantone Fashion Color Report Spring 2013. How many of these colors do you have in your spring wardrobe?

#2 – Reusing Mascara Brushes
Don’t throw away your used mascara brushes. Possessing an easy-to-hold handle and a small brush, mascara wands make the perfect tool for small jobs inside and outside of the home. Throw away the portion carrying the mascara and wash and dry the brush-handle part thoroughly. Here are a few ideas on how to reuse them that I found circulating on the internet, plus a few of my own ideas. If you can think of more ways to reuse mascara wands, send them to me. I’m always looking for new ways to reuse things!

Ways to Reuse Mascara Wands:

Separate clumpy eyelashes
Brush eyebrows
Exfoliate lips

Clean hummingbird feeders (the brushes need to be really clean for this use)
Clean jewelry
Clean heating and cooling vents (home and car)
Clean fingernails
Clean lint from hairdryer
Clean your computer keyboard
Clean out drilled holes

Unclog sink drains
Unclog soap or lotion dispensers
Paint with them
Get the last drop of paint out of a bottle/tube

#3 – Ice Castles
Harbin Ice Sculptures The Harbin Snow and Ice Festival is the largest ice festival on earth. After looking at these photos of the incredible ice sculptures, you’ll want to visit them in person. Add this festival to your bucket list!

#4 – Recipe Maker
From Fine Cooking comes this fun tool called Recipe Maker. The top of the website page states, “Our interactive tool guides your kitchen improvisation: You choose the specific ingredients and flavors; we provide you with the amounts and instructions.” I clicked on “Versatile and Variable Fritatta,” dragged virtual ingredients into a bowl step-by-step, and ended up with a delicious recipe that utilizes ingredients that I have in my refrigerator.

#5 – Love
“Remember that people are the least lovable when they are most in need of love.”
Sharon Randall

Enjoy your weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (6/8/12)

Posted in About me, Art and Crafts, Creativity, Entertainment, Environment and Ecology, Gift Ideas, inspiration, Photography, Recycling, Style and fashion, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »


Friends. They make our world infinitely better. Like a favorite pair of jeans, they are comfortable and without pretense. They are the twin sails of support as we steer through rough seas. They blanket us with gentle security, like the warm fuzzy blankets of our childhood. They listen, but need no answers. They bring laughter to our hearts and add sparkle to our eyes. They embellish our souls. Friends need no rewards or thanks and without them we are not whole.

#1 – Size Is Relative
A friend sent me this link to a wondrous lesson on perspective, The Scale of the Universe 2. Whether this perspective is 100% accurate or not, is not as important as the contemplation of the big picture of life.

#2 – It’s In The Jar

Source: Good Housekeeping

Ask your friends to start saving jars for you! There are so many ways to re-purpose glass jars. Serving drinks and food in them are very popular trends, but there are also many ways jars can be used to decorate your home and garden. Check out these links for creative ways to use glass jars:

DIY 101 Ways to Upcycle Glass Jars and Bottles
50 Ways to Re-Purpose and Reuse Glass Jars
20 Brilliant Things To Make In A Jar
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Repeat – Mason Jars
10 great Ways to Use Empty Glass Jars and Bottles

#3 – Easy Shopping

Most of the time I’m dressed in old jeans, a tee-shirt, and depending on the time of the year, either a pair of flip flops or Uggs. When I need to dress up, I always look to my friends for advice. Knowing that I’m frantically struggling to pull together a mother-of-the-groom outfit, one of my friends shared this shopping link with me. ShopStyle is like a personal shopper shopping the grandest and largest store in the world for you. It’s been said, “ShopStyle combines fashion, social networking, and shopping, providing readers with the tools to interpret style trends so they can create, share, and shop personalized looks.” Prices for items run from “Not too bad” to “Oh my!”

#4 – Friendly Photos

This series of photos about The True Meaning of Friendship was too cute and poignant to pass up! Enjoy!

#5 – Four For Friends
“I think if I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don’t walk away, don’t be distracted, don’t be too busy or tired, don’t take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”
Jon Katz

“How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it. How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it. How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live ’em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em.”
Shel Silverstein

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
Anaïs Nin

“I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.”
Robert Brault

Have a great weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five (12/4/09)

Posted in Art and Crafts, Creativity, Gift Ideas, In The Kitchen, Recipes, Style and fashion, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2009| 1 Comment »

Hope you had an enjoyable Turkey Day and gave many thanks for all of the blessings in your lives.

#1 – Decorating With . . .
Dried apple slices and cinnamon sticks add a homey and fragrant touch to holiday wreaths, garlands, and potpourri, but how about decorating presents with them? Use brown postal wrapping paper (or reuse plain sides of grocery bags) or brown lunch bags to hold your gifts. Tie off packages with any coarse natural fiber twine such as raffia, jute or hemp, and add the finishing touches of dried apple slices and cinnamon sticks.

Here’s a recipe for dried apple slices from the Gooseberry Patch – Coming Home for Christmas Cookbook:
8-10 apples
lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
6 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons arrow root powder

Soak apples in juice for five minutes, then pat dry. Place remaining ingredients in a large plastic storage bag. Add apple slices and shake to coat. Dry apples in a 150 to 200 degree oven for 6 hours. Remove from oven and lay on wax paper and turn daily until dry.

Fresh apples can be used as decorations too:
*Fill large bowls, vases, or hurricane lamps with apples. One vase could contain only red apples, another only green apples or you could have several containers with red and green mixed together. Fresh greens and berries can be tucked in for a festive look.
*Hollowed-out apples can be used to hold dips and spreads or hold votive candles.
* Apples can be added to floral arrangements or wreaths by wiring them or by staking them.

#2 – Meat Tip From Bob the Market Man
Always scrape or rinse and pat dry any cut of meat that has gone through the meat saw. This includes pork chops, T-bone steaks, porterhouse steaks, and chuck steaks. Scraping, rinsing, or wiping removes any bone dust or fragments that may have adhered to the raw meat.

#3 – Aretha Franklin Sings “Chain, Chain, Chain . . . “
The trend now is to wear multiple chains or necklaces. Layer short and long necklaces together or combine a few longer necklaces for a stylish look. The multiple chain look can be worn with casual attire, such as jeans and a simple blouse, or depending on the design and quality of the necklaces with dressier attire. Bottom line – don’t pile on so many that you’ll fall over!

#4 – Dental Floss Is Not Just for Teeth!
I always keep a container of dental floss in my kitchen drawer. It has a myriad of uses. Because it is thin, yet strong, I use it to truss chicken or turkey. Waxed floss works great for cutting out different types of dough, such as dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, or refrigerator cookies. Refrigerate dough to make it firm, place floss underneath the roll of dough, and cross the left side to the right and the right to the left. Pull floss tightly to cut evenly through dough. This crisscross technique can also be used to cut soft cheese or to loosen stubborn baked cookies or biscuits off baking sheets. Hang pictures with it instead of wire, which can scrape wall paint. Dental floss can come to the rescue many times over when you travel. Use it for quick fixes for broken zipper pulls, luggage tags, bracelets and necklaces, and shoe laces. Sew a button back on with floss, but be sure to pack a needle with a large eye in your travel gear. This holiday season string your cranberries, popcorn, or gumdrops on dental floss. Mint dental floss works great to tie fresh or artificial greens together!

#5 – Thought for Today
For today and its blessings, I owe the world an attitude of gratitude.
Clarence E. Hodges

Time to start your Christmas shopping – only three weeks left!

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Friday’s Fresh Five (11/13/09)

Posted in In The Kitchen, inspiration, Records, Style and fashion, tagged , , , , , , , on November 13, 2009| 3 Comments »

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#1 – Shop for Less
Shopping in Asian markets is an experience for me. It’s amazing how much cheaper fruits, vegetables, bulk spices, and even meats are in these stores, not to mention the variety of goods available. For example, the Asian market I frequent sells medium-sized frozen prawns by the scoopful for $3.99 a pound everyday! One aisle I am always drawn to houses the home goods. Pots, dish drainers, colanders, cleavers, and more can be had for very reasonable prices. I’ve stocked a few college apartment kitchens with items found here. Dishware can be purchased by the piece, so any size set can easily be put together. Colorful Chinese and Japanese bowls of all sizes and designs appeal to thrifty, yet stylish shoppers.

#2 – Keep It or Toss It
If you need to know how long to safely keep meat, vegetables, and fruit or what the shelf life of herbs and spices are, visit this website. Type in the item in question and search. It also has answers to food safety questions such as, “Are eggs still safe after the expiration date?” Go to www.stilltasty.com.

#3 – Pumpkin Pie Spice
If during this holiday baking season you realize you forgot to buy pumpkin pie spice at the store, don’t worry. Just mix together 1/4 cup ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons ground ginger, 1 tablespoon ground cloves, and 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg and you’re ready to bake! Combine the ingredients until thoroughly blended. Store in an airtight container.

#4 – Style Tip for Men
Ladies, help your man out by helping him select the right accessories. Here’s a lesson in belt selection. Belts worn with his jeans should not be the same ones he wears with his suits and obviously belts worn with his suits should not be worn with his jeans. Jean belts should be made of a more casual looking leather or of fabric. Suit belts should be made from more refined and polished leather.

#5 – A Quote from Albert Schweitzer
Do something for somebody everyday for which you do not get paid.

My hope is that someone out there in the infinite internet universe is reading and enjoying my blog! Have a good weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five (10/16/09)

Posted in Helping Others, Recycling, Style and fashion, tagged , , , , , , on October 16, 2009| 2 Comments »

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The winds and rain blew through midweek. It’s foggy outside right now, but still looking to be a beautiful weekend. Here’s this week’s edition of Friday’s Fresh Five.

# 1 – A Market Tip From Bob (my dad, a former supermarket owner)
Eggplants come in a variety of colors such as ivory, white, lavender, variegated lavender, dark purple, pale green, and even bright orange. It’s the end of the season for locally grown eggplants, but they’ll still be available year-round in the markets. Select eggplants that have smooth and shiny skins. Look for ones that are firm and heavy in weight with no wrinkles. Also, choose eggplants with an even color all the way to the stem. There should be no green. This reflects the maturity or ripeness of this vegetable.

#2 – A Quote from Mother Teresa
In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.

# 3 – A Good Deed
From now on, how about putting a few extra nonperishable items in your shopping cart each time you go grocery shopping? When you get home put these extra items into designated grocery bags. After you’ve filled a few bags, take them over to a local food bank or donate them to an organization collecting items for a food drive. In these sad economic times, there are more families than ever in need of this food.

# 4 – A Recycling Tip
Reuse those baby wipe pop-up-type containers (cylindrical with a hole at the top) to dispense skeins of yarn, balls of string, or spools of ribbon. The containers will prevent the yarn, string, or ribbon from becoming tangled. Wash the containers out first, especially if you are using ones that held household disinfectant wipes.

# 5 – A Style Tip
When putting together an outfit, many women have the notion that different patterns can’t be mixed. This is basically incorrect, depending on the exact patterns. Taking a fashion cue from men, who often wear pinstriped suits with checkered shirts and geometric patterned ties all in one outfit, women should feel they can mix it up, too. Style experts Clinton Kelly and Stacy London say, “It’s fine to mix patterns as long as they aren’t all competing for attention.” Their example is illustrated by a woman wearing a small print black polka-dot silk blouse, charcoal gray glen plaid trousers and a light-colored argyle sweater vest. Clearly only the boldest pattern can be in the driver’s seat and the others have to take a back seat!

This weekend I may be making a Mr. Potato Head costume for my 25-year-old son. What are your plans for the weekend?

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Friday’s Fresh Five (10/9/09)

Posted in Helping Others, Style and fashion, tagged , , , , , , on October 8, 2009| 2 Comments »

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Another week has gone by and it’s time for another Friday’s Fresh Five!

#1 A Worthwhile Quote:
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. – Marcus Aurelius, 121-180, Roman Emperor and Philosopher

#2 A Market Tip from Bob (my dad)
Although oranges are available in the supermarkets year-round, their peak season is actually October through late March. When selecting oranges, look for thin, smooth-skinned ones versus thick and deeply-pitted ones. Always select firm and heavy oranges. Weight is usually indicative of the amount of juice in a citrus.

#3 An Economical and Environmental Tip:
Buy a foaming soap dispenser. These dispensers require very little soap product, thus saving you money, as well as, saving landfills from additional plastic garbage. I purchased my foam pumps from Solutions.com but any Bath & Body Works Gentle Foaming Hand Soap pump can be refilled with liquid soap and water. Three tablespoons of liquid soap topped off with as much water as needed to fill the container and you’re set for at least a month. You’ll be amazed at how infrequently you have to refill these pumps!

#4 A Style Tip:
Accessories tell your story. I don’t remember where I heard this, but I like it. Whether it’s the red handbag slung over your shoulder or the way you tie your silk scarf, an accessory is an additional opportunity to express yourself. What’s your story?

#5 Do a Good Thing
Give credit where it is due. As you go about your daily activities and you come across someone who has been particularly nice or extraordinarily helpful to you, thank them or better yet tell his/her supervisor. It’s seems so easy to complain, but so difficult to give a deserved pat on the back.

Enjoy your weekend!

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