Good Idea #34: Grilled Peaches

If you've never grilled a peach before, you have to try it.  Grilled peaches are just the simplest and most delicious summer treat.  The process is as easy as you could hope.  Just halve your peaches, remove the pit and throw them on a warm grill or grill pan.  It's best to choose peaches that are nice and firm because they will become softer as they warm.  If they start to get too soft on one side just flip them over for a bit so that they cook through on the other side.  This time I tried brushing them with a little olive oil and sprinkling them with some black pepper.  I'm curious to try other spices in the future.  Maybe some ground basil or thyme or a little cayenne pepper.  A different spice on every peach!  Grilled peaches make for a great appetizer, side dish or dessert.  The possibilities are endless!

Good Idea #33: Barn Weddings

Last night we had the pleasure of attending the wedding of our good friend Misha to her partner Tracey.  They were lucky to have beautiful weather for Oregon in mid-May and the ceremony was outdoors among the trees between two lovely old barns.  The ceremony was held inside one of the barns which was lit up by candles, strings of lights and warmed by a wood-burning stove.  Husband and I have a softspot in our hearts for barn weddings because we had one, too.  Ours was in New Hampshire in September, 2009 in sunny but slightly cooler weather.  The ceremony was outdoors overlooking a lake and the reception was held in a lovely old barn on the grounds of a historical Shaker village.

I think a barn is one of the easiest way to have a simple, tasteful, and beautiful wedding.  It doesn't detract from the fancy atmosphere that you want a wedding to have and it provides a warm and lovely setting for both ceremony and reception.  Most importantly, a barn provides interest in itself and requires very little decoration.  A few strings of lights, some candles, or some paper lanterns are all you need.  I wanted to share some photos of both our wedding and the wedding we attended last night.  Congratulations to Misha & Tracey!

Click Here to see all the photos!

Good Idea #32: Mini Photobooks for Under $3

Nate Berkus never fails me, but this time he managed to omit a key piece of information.  When he suggested on The Nate Show yesterday morning that these mini photo books from MyPublisher would be a great mother's day gift, he neglected to mention that they are only $2.49!  Not only that but because these are a new product for a limited time they have free shipping included and new customers you get a second copy of their book for free!  These books would not only make a great mother's day gift, but at that price they would also make great party favors, wedding favors, and so on.  If these had been around (and I had known about them) when I got married I would have made little books for each member of the wedding party with pictures of my husband and I with each of them.  Wouldn't that have been a great gift?  I definitely plan on keeping this little product in my bag of tricks for future gifting needs.  Such a good idea!

Good Idea #31: Clean and Freshen

Last time I vacuumed I made a few little mistakes.  First, I vacuumed over an area in the kitchen that was wet.  Then, I vacuumed up some dirty kitty litter that had spread out of the litter box.  Then I left the wet sticky mess sit in the vacuum canister for over a week.  Today I broke out the vacuum again, and as I really should have expected, the air filtering out of the vacuum reeked of week-old litter box.  Gross.  But, I've actually been meaning to clean our vacuum, so this was the perfect motivation. 

We leave our vacuum out most of the time, partially as a reminder to use it and partially because of limited storage.  So when the vacuum becomes covered in dust, it doesn't look so great in the middle of our living room.  I did the obvious, wiped down the whole outside of the vacuum and all the attachments, then I tackled the filter canister.  First of all there was cat litter and dust caked in the bottom... let that situation sink in... so I gave that all a good wash.  For the filter, I used another hand-held vacuum to suck out as much dust as I could from between the folds and then wiped it all down with a damp paper towel.  This is when I had a completely spontaneous but brilliant idea.  I pulled out my trusty bottle of Febreeze fabric freshener and doused the whole filter in the stuff.  I'll have to let the whole thing dry out before I give it a try, of course, but I'm anticipating that the next time I vacuum the whole apartment will have a very lovely smell of Febreeze rather than of stinky cat litter.

Good Idea #30: Real Simple Couponing

As I've mentioned, husband and I are saving up to buy a house in the very near future.  One of the ways we're saving is by taking some time out to clip coupons for our everyday shopping.  If you use coupons, however, you may be able to sympathize with how frustrating I find it.  How do you walk through the grocery store, push the cart, juggle all those little scraps of paper, keep track of your shopping list and have any idea whether you're actually getting a good deal on something all at the same time.  Here are a couple of tips that work for me:

The first is a little on the OCD side, but it is really helpful for me.  You know when stores put things on terrible sales just to trick you into buying them?  Or they raise the price then put the item on sale for the same price it was last week?  Or when you buy a certain brand just because you have a coupon for it and it turns out another brand would still have been cheaper?  I have a really bad memory for numbers and I can never remember what I paid for tomatoes last time I bought them so I keep track of the prices I pay for the items I buy on a regular basis.  After each time I go shopping I come home and record how much I spent on cereal, soup, vegetables, pasta sauce, etc in a simple excel spreadsheet.  I also record where I bought it, what brand it was, whether it was on sale and whether I used a coupon.  I take this list with me when I go shopping and if I'm wondering if that sale on bagels is really any good I can look back at what I've spent on them in the past.  Maybe I will realize that $.10 off really isn't all that special or that bagels are that price at another store even when they're not on sale and I'll wait until another week to buy them.  Or I might realize that this is the best price I've ever found bagels for so I might buy several bags and put them in the freezer to save for the future.  Taking a few extra minutes to do this each time I go shopping has definitely saved us a good handful of change and relieves a lot of shopping anxiety for me.

Speaking of shopping anxiety, how are you supposed to keep track of all those coupons?  And even if you know what coupons you have, how do you juggle them with your shopping list and the calculator you're using to check the unit price of everything you buy (OCD, I know)?  Then you put your coupons down in the cart and they slip right through the slots and end up all over the grocery store floor.  Sometimes I think I will pay the money I'm saving with coupons just to not have to deal with this mess.  Then I found this little item:

This coupon wallet (I have the green one) from Real Simple is a brilliant little lifesaver.  It is cute and well-made and small enough to keep in your purse or in the glove box in the car.  It has file pockets for your coupons with changeable labels and it has pockets for your lists or store loyalty cards and even a place for your pen.  Best of all, the strap folds back and it will attach right to your cart - so no more juggling!  One tip:  don't try to attach it to the handle of the shopping cart like the picture on the tag indicates, it doesn't work.  However, it attaches beautifully to the child seat.  Brilliant!

Happy Shopping!