I ADORE Adele's "Someone Like You"

Just this morning, I was reading Big Mama and she recommended this video of Adele singing "Someone Like You" at the VMAs, so I clicked over and was Ah-Mazed. Seriously. The talent! The poise! To belt that out just standing there. {And she's a kid, like 22 years old, wher does she find that composure?!}

So then the video froze so I went to youtube and listened over and over, seriously this is how I spent a chunk of my day (on and off, because of the whole parenting thing). Must buy her album. Or at least download that and "Rolling in the Deep" on iTunes.

I feel like I was a little late to the Adele party. I'd heard "Rolling in the Deep" many times (and loved it) before Jill at Diaper Diaries clued me in that she's a young (white) British woman. And it took Big Mama today to turn me onto this song. I am now officially an Adele fan(atic).

I have no words, just thought I'd share. Enjoy:

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Adele

I Love Cheap Books

My new favorite thing is buying books at Goodwill.

Here's the backstory: my local Borders store went out of business due to the whole bankruptcy thing. That makes me sad for so many reasons. But my favorite thing to do at Borders was buy cheap books. Usually all I would do there was browse the bargain aisles and the dollar bins. After finishing one of my $1 Borders finds recently {see my review here}, I wondered where I could get my next cheap book fix.

Obviously, the library has FREE books. I like the library, really I do. I just got the latest Maeve Binchy novel, Minding Frankie, from the library. Loved it! But there's the whole due date thing. I can renew online even, but you can't renew a book that has a hold on it. And returning books is a pain. And I just love owning books. It's an obsession really.

So with vacation coming up (this was about a month ago), I thought I'd try Goodwill. I've shopped Goodwill before but never really spent any time in their book section. I couldn't believe I found a book I'd been thinking of getting from the library: My Sister's Keeper. It was $2.99, which I thought was a lot for a used paperback, but while I was browsing, a voice over the loudspeaker informed me that all green price stickers were half off that day. I looked at the book in my hands and it had a green sticker. Thus it was a mere $1.49 and I was sold. At the time I also saw 2 Maeve Binchy paperbacks ($1.49 each) but I passed them up--I was being super frugal that day.

Having finished My Sister's Keeper, I decided to head back to Goodwill and try for the Maeve Binchy's. Alas, they were gone. {Lesson learned, strike while the iron is hot!} But while I was browsing, I found and could not pass up 3 classics: The Hobbit, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Count of Monte Cristo. {Bonus: The Count became a Father's Day gift for Hubby.} Each book was $1.49. LOVE.

So there you have it, my new obsession, buying books at Goodwill. I know that it is more expensive than garage sales* (but without driving all over town) and of course the library (but without due dates), but it Works For Me.

This post will be linked to Works For Me Wednesday and Things I Love Thursday. For obvious reasons.

Where do you go to find cheap books?

*I rarely shop garage sales for two reasons. 1) IBS. Shopping in people's yards and garages doesn't provide me with quick access to restrooms. 2) I rarely carry cash. Recently though, a house on my street had a sale. It was super close to my own bathroom and it was a rare occasion when I had cash. So I wandered over and took a look around. Paperbacks for 25 cents and hardcovers for a dollar. I bought 13 books! Which doesn't help my clutter problem. Maybe it's best I stick with Goodwill. ;-)

These are NOT affiliate links.

TILT--my new bag (a review)

Today I'm reviewing my new diaper bag. I bought it with my own money, this is just to share What I Love and hopefully it's helpful to others looking for a new bag. All opinions are my own.

About a year ago, I started looking for a new everyday bag. At the time, T was about a year old and I'd been carrying a backpack since she was born (easier when lugging the infant carrier) and I was ready to graduate. I went looking for a messenger style bag, it needed a long strap and bottle pockets on the sides. We're in Phoenix and I constantly carry water for me and the kids. My initial search (online and in stores) found nothing but I found a free diaper bag in my closet I'd gotten from a formula company while pregnant. It was ugly but fit the bill. This is what I've been carrying for the last year:

A bad picture but you can see it is big and plain (and you can see the bottle of water peaking out of the side pocket). I follow a few daily deal sites on facebook and would check them out whenever they had bags. The other day, I scored on babysteals.com. I got this JP Lizzy strawberry Clara bag ($68 on Amazon, not an affiliate link) for $20 plus $7 shipping. What sold me (besides the awesome price)? Interior bottle pockets! Here's a picture of my bag--notice the water bottle on one side and (harder to see) a thermos on the other?: So I get to carry my water and not look quite so frumpy. Here's me in my lounge clothes modeling the bag. It still isn't small, but it's definitely an improvement!

I love my new bag!!! It feels much smaller and certainly it's much prettier. I feel a lot more put-together carrying it (and I love that my water bottles are hidden, such a nice touch!).

I was worried that it might be too small for all my stuff. Typically, I'm like that Midol commercial where the woman dumps the contents of her purse out on the restaurant table and says "I'm a pharmacy." Yes, I pride myself on having saved many a period-stricken friend with my supply of feminine hygiene products and pain relievers. Meanwhile, being a mom added first aid stuff, an umbrella etc. Anyway, turns out this bag can only {barely} fit my necessities (those bottles take up a lot of space!). In the center are my wallet, phone, and bottle of Imodium. In one interior pocket I have my planner and a pencil. In the other pocket, I have one diaper, some diaper wipes, Wet Ones, toilet paper (I use a lot of public restrooms--gotta be prepared!), and fruit snacks. Anything else, I leave in my car so first aid, umbrella and extra supplies are never far away.

My only complaints.... I don't love the strap. The two lengths of the straps separate as well as twist. Annoying. I'm planning to solve this with some sort of cute strap cover, probably from etsy and in a cute pattern to jazz it up. We'll see. The strap also adjusts too easily, like it doesn't stay put at the length I choose. Also annoying and probably not solved by a cover.

In addition, the "magnetic closure" on the flap, isn't very magnetic. I can feel that there are magnets under the fabric, but otherwise I wouldn't know they were there--the flap just falls, it doesn't "stick" to the bag. A minor problem, gravity works okay, but I would've liked the extra security of magnetism to keep the flap in line. Again, not a big deal.

There you have it, my wonderful new everyday bag, helping me look a little less frumpy. For more Things that are Loved, head to the Diaper Diaries.

Giant Shamrock Cookie

I love St. Patrick's Day. I am 1/8 Irish, Hubby is 1/8 Irish, so our kids are 1/8 Irish. Which doesn't sound like a lot but it's my biggest portion since I'm otherwise a European mutt. Last year I kind of dropped the ball on St. Pat's Day and nearly didn't have a dessert--so here's what I came up with {super easy} at the last minute: a giant shamrock cookie.

I've made giant frosted sugar cookies before--love them--but this was my first time trying a shape (other than, you know, round). I've used both refrigerated Pillsbury dough and sugar cookie mix; this year I'll be using this recipe so it's wheat-free.

I covered a round pizza pan in foil and sprayed it with Pam. I divided the dough into 4 blobs, the first three I shaped into hearts for the leaves and the 4th blob made the stem. This is what it looked like going into the oven. {Bake according to dough directions, though it might take extra long to cook 'cuz it's huge--keep an eye on it.} Depending what dough you use, it will probably expand like mine did. Not quite what I was going for:

No worries, I just trimmed it up with a knife. I frosted it with a can of frosting tinted green with food coloring. Voila:

Super easy, super yummy St. Patrick's Day dessert.

This post will be linked to Tip Me Tuesday, This Week's Cravings {thanks so much for the invite, Tina}, Works for me Wednesday, and Things I Love Thursday. Yummmm!

What's Working for me right now (Top Ten)

So my parents lived with us for most of November. They've now moved into their own house (thank goodness!) but I lost what should've been a big month of holiday planning and progress. So I'm a bit behind. Meanwhile, my daughter is the definition of the Terrible Twos. And L has been out of whack since the grandparents arrived--super sensitive and prone to tantrums (come on, you're 5, get over it!). I'm working on a new mantra of "just love them." Obviously not in the only love them sense, because I still have to feed, clothe and discipline them, but basically love them. So when I can, instead of leaving the room when they throw a fit (and who can blame me?), I try to stay and comfort/distract the wailing child or whatever. Sometimes it works, sometimes the fit continues and I leave. It's a work in progress, I'll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, here's what has been working for me lately in top-ten-catch-you-up-and-link-to-Amanda-Kristen-and-Jill fashion:

1. Scotch paper cutter. I've coveted these for years but always found them too expensive/overpriced to indulge in this luxury. This year, when I saw it on sale for $3, I bit the bullet. Oh my goodness, spend the money, it is worth it for the savings in time and frustration! {Then the next day Target dropped the price to $2.50 and there's was a $1 off coupon in the paper. Anyway.}

2. Kmart. I've been meaning to write a pro-Kmart post for a while now. They are saving me big bucks on T's clothes (regular everyday price of $3.50 per piece (including jeans!) and sales on 2-piece sets as low as $6, wahoo), but I generally want to give them a shout out for sending their ads in the mail, which helps me catch a bargain. This week, you must go there and buy super soft fluffy pajama sets for $10.99. I bought a set yesterday for my sister (who asked for soft pjs on her wish list) and went back today to get a set for myself and for my BFF whose birthday is at the end of the month. So soft and super cheap!!!

3. Gifts that give more. A bunch of blogs have been highlighting charitable giving this time of year, like Amanda's post about giving a goat etc. Sadly, those are mostly out of my price range (my budget is $15 per gift outside my hubby and kids). But here's what I've managed to do this year: I bought my aunt a pair of earrings ($11, I think) from the Mercy House shop, that funds a new maternity house in Kenya. I bought my mom stationery ($12.95) and my grandma a necklace ($6) through the Hunger Site store (my purchase funded 75 cups of food). And I found a website called Orphans Hope that let me buy a winter jacket ($10) for an orphan in Ukraine on behalf of my sister.

4. Roku. This is a box that somehow hooks up to our internet and lets us stream Netflix instantly to our TV. Every night, Hubby and I watch (part of) a movie or an episode of Intervention after the kids go to bed. Love it! I should also mention that Care Bears To The Rescue has come to my rescue more than once during the daytime (I will not mention, however, that my 2-year-old will grunt for the Roku and point to the show she wants to watch, ahem).

5. Walmart for photo cards. I got an email about a great deal from a website I'd never heard of to get 60 photo cards for $4.90 shipped. Awesome, I thought. Till I went to the website and I tried to make a card and I just couldn't get it figured out (theoretically, you could add as many pictures to a blank card as you wanted, but I could not size the various pictures (I wanted to use 3) so they would fit). So I gave up on the great offer and headed to walmart.com which I've used the last 2 years for cards. I picked a card that was made for 3 pictures, plopped in my photos and within minutes, I'd ordered our cards. 36 cents per card, not bad. {No shipping, I'll pick them up in-store.}

6. Elfing Around. My apologies, I should have done a big post about this last month, so you all could buy an elf in time. Alas. Anyway, it's a website that sells you not just an elf but an experience. I won an elf for L last year in a giveaway and he loved it so much that this year I bought T an elf of her own plus the Year 2 package. So they send you the elf, plus 12 nights of mischief that the elves get into--you stage the elves and in the morning your kids are blown away by all the fun stuff the elf did overnight. Kind of like Elf on the Shelf, but it's so wonderful because the activities, and sometimes even the props, are provided. Awesome! We love our elves. L even brought his elf to speech yesterday and explained to his teacher that "he's not really mine, he belongs to Santa at the North Pole." Precious!!! {Of course, it's kind of a pain to stage elves every night, but most nights it takes 5 minutes or less.}

7. Nesquik. Okay, this is kind of a long story so here are the main bullets--L drinks this nasty formula called Neocate. For 5 years he drank it from baby bottles, then around Halloween he finally switched to cups, but then his volume dropped--he can't/won't drink as much of this foul beverage from a cup--and he needs all the calories. So we started adding Nesquik powder to turn it into chocolate "milk" and his volume has gone back up. It's not a permanent solution (his GI and nutritionist are worried about cross-contamination from the processing plant), but for now, I'm thankful for Nesquik.

8. Sharing bargains. My BFF and I have various websites and blogs we read/subscribe to for bargains, coupons, deals and when we come upon a deal we think the other could benefit from, we call or email to spread the word. This has helped me find some great deals and I hope she would say the same.

9. Bribing for diaper changes. I'm reluctant to even mention this because you know in a couple days it won't work anymore, but for now the way I've started dealing with T's refusal to let me change her diapers, is to give her a pretzel stick. That (so far) is usually enough distraction to let me lay her down and change her pants. Hallelujah, fewer tantrums.

10. Priority mail flat rate boxes. This is how I do out-of-town Christmas gifts. If it fits, it ships. No guessing/wondering about prices plus easy checkout at the post office during this hectic time of year. Last December, I stood in a long postal line, then at my turn I start unloading my bag and tell the guy I have all flat rate--one large, 2 mediums and 2 envelopes (or whatever it was)--he was able to calculate what I owed as I was putting the stuff on the counter. He said it was the easiest transaction (for that many packages) he'd had all day. Heehee. Oh and this year the post office sent me a postcard asking if I wanted them to drop off some flat rate boxes. Yes please! I sent the postcard back in and the other day a pile of boxes showed up at my door. Even easier! (And free of course.)

Wow, this turned out to be a long post! I wasn't compensated for any of these opinions, they're just stuff I like. No affiliate links either. I'm linking to Oh Amanda's Top Ten Tuesday, We are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday, and Diaper Diaries' Thing I Love Thursday, for obvious reasons. ;-)

What's working for you these days?! And how do you get your kid to cooperate during diaper changes?!

TILT--A Good Deal for a Good Cause

As I mentioned the other day, I have Halloween on my mind. Well, last night I scored a super deal on Halloween stuff that, as a bonus, helps a good cause. {I heard about this deal from That Went Well.}

St. Jude's Children's Hospital has an online gift shop. For whatever reason, Halloween stuff is already on clearance even though the holiday is almost two months away. Sweet! These plush treat bags are marked down from $9 to $5. I ordered the ghost for L (I let him choose) and the pumpkin for T (she wasn't interested in choosing).
Then I browsed around the site some more and found this spooky tree for $5, originally $20!
(After much deliberation, I chose not to buy the set of 6 ornaments for $5.)

And the best part, on top of the bargains, is that the profits from the sale go to the Children's Hospital. So I'm doing good. While shopping. A sale. Seriously, I love the work that St. Jude's does--they take on the toughest cases and all free of charge for the families. {According to wikipedia, "families never pay for treatments that are not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay."} In these tough economic times, I'm not as generous to charities as I should be, so I jumped at the chance to help St. Jude's while doing some Halloween shopping. Go check out their gift shop, they also have sales going on for Christmas stuff. Hurry, the Halloween stuff is going fast (sadly, the $5 costumes are already gone).

A good deal for a good cause, that's what I'm loving this Thursday. For more thing-loving-fun, head to the Diaper Diaries!

TILT--Wired Magazine

I am a crazy mad-blogging woman today--3 posts in one day--this has to be some sort of record. But it's Thursday, which means it's time to TILT!Today's thing-I-love is really more like a thing-I-like-more-than-I-ever-thought-I-would. (Say that 10 times fast.) It's Wired magazine. Isn't that crazy? I am so not a techie!

Okay, a few months ago, hubby bought me (us) a GPS system from Amazon and it came with a free one-year subscription to Wired magazine. Turns out, there's a lot of neat stuff in this magazine. I am currently reading this article about Alcoholics Anonymous. Apparently the 12 step program Bill W. came up with 75 years ago works really well with brain chemistry to be a winning strategy for beating addiction. Fascinating! Also in this issue, I've read this and this and this, none of which really have anything to do with gadgets. (Looking around for the links in this post I've also discovered the website is pretty cool--you can read all this stuff without a scubscription!)

These days, I 'm enjoying Wired more than my parenting mags. Go figure! For more things people love, visit Jill at the Diaper Diaries. Thanks!

TILT--my little camcorder

Sorry for the lack of posting, it's been an insane week of illness and appointments, but now we're almost done with the tough parts of the week and I'm here to join The Diaper Diaries for Things I Love Thursday. I love my Mother's Day gift from my husband: this gadget he found at Big Lots:Now, we already have a nice camcorder that we bought when L was born and we've used it on vacation and on Christmas mornings and it's supposed to make lovely DVDs. But we don't make DVDs, we do nothing with the little "miniDVs" or whatever--ah, someday! So Hubby bought me this little camcorder (for cheap--less than $50, plus he got a discount by getting a rewards card) because (drumroll please) it makes it super easy to upload to facebook, youtube, blog, email etc. Tada!

I am not at all tech-savvy, but Hubby said it would be easy and he was right. After taking a quick video of the kids, I plugged the camera into my computer with the USB cable, it prompted me to install the software (no disc required) and within minutes my video was on facebook. A few days later I loaded a video onto my family blog. Amazing! (I should mention that hubby went to Best Buy and got some kind of SD card to give it more memory--the camcorder came with about 2 minutes of recording time, with the card we now have several hours.)

So we'll keep the bigger camcorder for vacations etc. (and one day turn them into beautiful DVD keepsakes), but this little guy is for everyday grab-the-camera moments to share with friends and family around the country, nearly instantly. Very cool.

That's my newest love, for more check out The Diaper Diaries. What are you loving today?

TILT--Pepper Grinder for the Clumsy

I know it's almost Friday, but better late than never, right? I'm linking up to the Diaper Diaries for Things I Love Thursday. A few years ago, my husband and I discovered the joy of cooking with fresh ground pepper. Have you made the same discovery? I don't know why but I think it makes a difference, maybe not, whatever, the point is that once we made this discovery, we bought a pepper grinder, and then another, and then another. Why, you ask? What was wrong with these grinders? Nothing, I just kept dropping them into raw meat. Not good! We went through several grinders because while I was seasoning the raw meat with the pepper, I clumsily lost hold of the grinder and hello e-coli! I attempted to clean one of these contaminated grinders and ended up getting soap in the area where the peppercorns reside--and couldn't rinse or dry it. So they went in the garbage. I apologize environmentalists, I did the best I could. That is why I love....

It's a disposable pepper grinder. Tada! Use it till the pepper is gone (or you drop it in e-coli) and then get a new one. Again, this is not sounding like a good post for Earth Day, sorry. This way, we get to enjoy fresh ground pepper, but if it falls into raw meat, I haven't lost much pepper or much money. We've been enjoying this product for a few years now and I think it's a genius invention. So for any other clumsy chefs out there, give it a try.

Now I must share a funny story. My husband went grocery shopping a couple weeks ago and "pepper grinder" was on the list. As I was putting the groceries away, I noticed this:

You probably can't tell from the picture, but it's about 3 times the size as the little grinder I just praised. So immediately I think "that's dumb, what if I drop it into meat," but I wasn't going to say anything. Then my husband points it out to me all proud, look what I found. So I'm like, "that's neat, honey, I just hope I don't drop it in ground beef," and he laughed and said, "that's right, you do have a tendency to do that." See, I am not making this up! Anyway, so far the larger grinder has stayed safely out of the skillet. Knock on wood!

That's what I'm loving this week. What do you love? To see what others are loving and to link up yourself, check out the Diaper Diaries.

TILT--Slow Cooker Liners

What am I loving this week? Well, the Ultimate Blog Party, of course! I'm totally enjoying hopping from blog to blog and meeting new people. So much fun! If you haven't read my party post yet, check that out here.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, I love Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. Simple concept--put one of these bags in your crockpot, pile in your ingredients, cook it, eat it, and when you're done, just pull out the liner and you have a clean crockpot. Tada!You might ask yourself, why not just clean your crockpot like a normal person? Well, I'm not normal, I am lazy. So before the liners, I typically let the leftover goop in my crockpot dry on and it was a pain to clean up. Also, my crockpot is one piece, there is no inner bowl to lift out and clean. If I have to scrub my crockpot, the whole thing has to go in my sink--cord, plug and all. Honestly, that kind of freaks me out.

With the liners, I scoop/dump out the leftovers and take out the liner. It's never perfectly clean, (from all the condensation and probably some leakage or splashing as we served ourselves), but it's easy to wipe down and I don't have to put the whole shebang into my sink. That just makes things a teeny bit easier, and in my world, it's all about what's easy.

If you want to go find yourself some slow cooker liners, they are in the aisle with the ziploc bags and such. A box of 4 is around $3. (So it's kind of a luxury, but for me, it's worth it.) I don't knwo why but my Safeway doesn't carry them, however my Walmart and Target do.

For more things people love, check out The Diaper Diaries. What are you loving this week?

TILT-- Mega Bloks

Today's "thing I love" is pretty basic--Mega Bloks, specifically the toddler size blocks. We had a handful of them when L was little but now that T is a toddler I knew I wanted to build our collection. You can usually find a set of 80 for around $20, but I found a bag of 100 at Ross for $13 (woohoo!) and gave them to T for Christmas. Since then, both kids have been enjoying them. Here they are working on a tall tower: I love that this is something we can all play together. I'll bring in the bag and dump out all the blocks and we'll work together or separately but everyone has a great time. Yesterday I dumped out the bag for the kids, started a load of laundry and then joined in. L didn't want to build but wanted to play "Open Season" (like the movie) but his favorite scene is when the dam breaks--so we built and broke a dam over and over while T did her own building thing. Another time, L played the 3 Little Pigs with the blocks, building the straw, stick and brick houses and blowing them down etc. Obviously at 18 months T is a little more random, but of course building is great for her fine motor skills. A toy both my kids can enjoy together--Love It!

For more things people love check out the Diaper Diaries.

What toys do your kids play with together?

TILT--Stuff for $1

Today I'm sharing a bunch of little things for Things I Love Thursday hosted by the Diaper Diaries. Each of these things cost me a single dollar yet has made my life easier.

First (top left), I got that little timer at Dollar Tree. Traditionally I've used the timer feature on my microwave, but at some point it became apparent that I needed an additional timer (e.g. timing the rice while cooking something else in the microwave). Now I use my portable little timer all the time whether it's to limit the time I spend on the internet or giving myself 15 minutes to clean/declutter. Very handy.

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Next to that (top right) is a nifty dry-erase weekly calendar I got at Target's dollar area about a year ago (during gardening season). At the time I had been using this printable from

Organized Home. She has tons of great printables, check it out! It worked great, but I was going through a lot of paper, so when I saw this I had to have it. I love it! Every week (I mean to do it on Sunday, but it's usually Monday) I put recurring events (school and speech) on their correct days, then I look at my main calendar and add any additional events or reminders. If I've planned meals for the week (and hopefully I have) that day's meal is listed as well. Just basic, easy for me to see and not get ahead of myself, just one week at a time.

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Below that (bottom right) is a butterfly net my son chose from the dollar area of Target one day while we were shopping (again around gardening season). It entertained him all while shopping and for hours of play since then. The bonus that I've found is I use it all the time to grab things that are out of reach, such as toys stuck under the couch or pacifiers under T's crib. You can't see from the picture but it has a nice long handle so it's been really handy. Love it!

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Finally (bottom left) I'm sure you'll recognize one of those knee pads for gardening (again from the dollar area of Target). This I use for my knees while giving my kids baths. Works great, but as you can see, I've worn dents into it over the course of the year and just bought a new one from Dollar Tree to replace it. A dollar per year seems like a reasonable cost to spare my knees.

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So that's what I'm loving this week--$1 home helpers. Check out what others love at Diaper Diaries. What $1 finds help you around the house?

PS Sorry for all the dashes between paragraphs, sometimes blogger doesn't recognize my paragraphs. Argh. Anyone know how to fix that?!

TILT-- Haagen Dazs "Caramel Cone"

I'm a little late to the party this evening but here's a quick post about a new love of mine. (My apologies to Diaper Diaries and anyone else eliminating sweets this Lenten season.) It's the "Caramel Cone" flavor from Haagen-Dazs.My husband and I stumbled on this flavor a few months ago when Haagen-Dazs was on sale (2 for $5) at our grocery (the only time we buy fancy ice cream instead of our usual generic ice cream sandwiches). We quickly agreed it's our favorite flavor. It was on sale again this week and we are once again enjoying our pints. Here's the description from their website:

"this creamy blend of caramel ice cream with rich caramel swirls balances the sweet crunch of chocolate-covered cone pieces for a harmony of caramel, chocolate and crunch in every bite"

The caramel base is super delicious, and I won't lie, I love ice creams with chunks in them for me to dig for and devour. These chocolate-coated waffle cone pieces are yumm-o. 'Nuff said, go try it for yourself.

For more things people love, visit Diaper Diaries. Thanks for visiting! What's you favorite ice cream flavor?

TILT--Glee Soundtracks

The latest things I'm loving are the "Glee" soundtracks. I asked for the CDs for Christmas (volumes 1 and 2), got 'em both and they are my go-to music right now. (Now if only I could get my 4-year-old to let us listen to something other than Christmas music in the car!) In fact, I've just been listening to volume 2 while folding my huge pile of laundry. And now I'm listening to vol. 1 while I type this.

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I love these kids. Lea Michele (Rachel) was born for Broadway (and I believe she's spent time there already); Amber Riley (Mercedes) could give Beyonce a run for the money; Chris Colfer (Kurt) belting the high notes in "Defying Gravity,"* I love you! Some of the songs are old favorties of mine like "Imagine" and "True Colors." Others I'd never heard of the original but I love the Glee version like "Take a Bow" or my new fave "Bust Your Windows." I even like their cover of "Lean of Me"--I have always hated (gasp!) the version that was a hit when I was in junior high (don't strain yourself, I'm 35).

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Confession time: I love to sing and was in choir the bulk of my life (we're talking 7th grade through first year of law school, oh yeah baby, a capella in law school, I was one cool cat) so I totally love choral arrangements, harmony, falsetto--this is my thang.

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Other favorites:

Don't Stop Believin'

Somebody to Love

Keep Holding On

Don't Rain on my Parade

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All this is not to say I love every song, there are several I skip, but these CDs are tiding me over till the show returns in a few months. (April can't come soon enough!)

For more things people love, head over to Diaper Diaries.

TILT--Melamine Plates

A few years ago, I realized I wasn't getting much use out of my various serving trays. I have several, most were wedding gifts, but they were big and I never entertain or if I do, it's just a small group, and never formal (so the really nice silver trays have never been used). So for casual entertaining or just celebrating at home, I love melamine plates. Melamine is just a sturdy plastic, I think it looks nice (more substantial than cheap plastic) and I don't worry about it breaking. It comes in tons of pretty patterns and colors--I can always find them on display at Target for all the different seasons etc. And the dinner plate size is much more useful for me than a big tray, not to mention cheaper--I generally find them for $3 or less. Love that! So here's my collection so far: I bought the black and red ones at the same time, the turquise plate and bowl together (I know this is a post about plates, but I couldn't leave out my matching bowl), and then just the other day I picked up the round one at Target--I couldn't resist the colors. And not pictured is a "cookies for Santa" plate we use on Christmas Eve.

I think I've used the turquise stuff every Easter since I bought them, the colors go well with the spring pastels of the season. I used the round leafy plate the other day to put my birthday cake on. So even though I don't do much entertaining, these plates are nice for family celebrations. And they make me happy. :-)

For more things people love, check out The Diaper Diaries. Thanks for stopping by!

TILT--baking stuff

I was baking brownies the other day and T was in the highchair so I was narrating what I was doing... and I realized that I was using two of my favorite things and this blog post was born.

I've had that metal bowl since college (making it roughly 16 years old, I'm 34) and it's my favorite for baking. It's big, indestructible and works well with my mixer (I have a handheld electric mixer, oh to one day have a Kitchenaid stand mixer). All my other mixing bowls are glass and perfectly fine, but this cheap nostalgic metal one is my go-to bowl for baking.


The other thing I love and use nearly every time I bake is a spoonula. I "discovered" these while watching "30 Minute Meals" with Rachael Ray. The ones I have are Pyrex and came from Target. True to their name, they are a cross between a spoon and a spatula. When I'm baking from a mix (cookie or brownie), I don't even need my mixer, just a spoonula to blend the ingredients and then scrape the bowl. These spoonulas are the best thing I've found for scraping bowls. You can see from my picture how little batter is left in the bowl and I probably could have scraped more but I like to eat the batter. :-) So instead of blending with a spoon and scraping with a rubber spatula, you've only dirtied one utensil. Love it!

I use the spoonulas for all sorts of other things, like stirring gravy on the stove (they are silicone, I believe, and heatproof to a high temp) or I'll use it for cooking when I'm out of regular spatulas. Totally versatile, I highly recommend them.

Makes me want to bake more brownies. For more things people love, check out Diaper Diaries. Thanks!

TILT--matching pajamas

Today I am joining in Things I Love Thursday (my apologies, I can't figure out how to add the button).

I've told you before that I am lazy, so it shouldn't surprise you that I usually throw on a big t-shirt and flannel pants and call it pajamas. I can count on one hand the number of matching PJs I've owned in my adult life. But for my last birthday, Hubby gave me a set of matching pajamas. Now, to the naked eye, they aren't that exciting--a soft cotton, cool blue color with subtle snowflakes on the pants, long sleeves--but here's why I love them. When I stumble bleary-eyed into the bathroom before sunrise after a too-short night and spot myself in the mirror wearing something coordinated, I smile (at least on the inside, moving facial muscles at this time of day requires too much effort) because I look put together, at 7 am. (!) It's just a little extra joy in my life, and who couldn't use some of that? So to all those t-shirt-and-flannel girls out there, I say go get some pajamas that match, I bet you'll be glad you did. As for me, I'm thinking of shopping for a set of summer PJs, so I can keep on matchin' when the weather gets hot.

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Things I Love Thursday--Eurobath Baby Tub

This is what I'm talking about today: http://www.amazon.com/Primo-340W-PRIMO-EuroBath-Pearl/dp/B000056OV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1235007226&sr=1-1

The Eurobath is the best baby tub ever! Okay, so it's the only one I've ever tried but L used it for two-and-a-half years and now T is using it, so I think it has proven itself.

It has two sides. The infant side keeps your baby at a nice angle--perfect for bathing and rinsing and she doesn't slide down. I like to keep a wet towel under baby for extra comfort, warmth and traction, and T stays in place. Don't ever leave baby unattended, but you can let go and soap up your washcloth without baby sliding into the water.

The second side is for kids who can sit up, this was the side L used till he was 2-and-a-half (I know the instructions say 24 months, I also added water beyond the max fill line--whatever, it worked for me). I felt he was safer and less likely to slide around in this than the real bathtub, plus it uses much less water and corrals his bath toys.

There's a little blue drain that I think is really dumb, but maybe you'd find helpful. I, however, just turn the tub over to dump the water. (I suppose I should mention that I use the Eurotub inside our regular tub, you could use it anywhere; when L was a newborn, we bathed him in the tub on top of our kitchen table, I don't remember why.)

Finally, the plastic is extremely easy to clean (very important for this lazy mom). So if you're in the market for a baby tub, or know someone who is, I give the Eurobath two thumbs up. For more things people love, visit http://thediaperdiaries.net/

Things I Love Thursday--Texas Toast in bulk

Once upon a time my husband brought home Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast from Sam's Club and I looked at the big box sceptically and thought, How will we ever eat this much texas toast? But it's genius, I tell you! One box comes with 4 bags of 8 slices each. You make as few or as many slices as you want at one time--throw them on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees, cooking time is 5 minutes. In my house it often happens that when I don't have anything planned for dinner, we end up making pasta, and it's been great to grab some texas toast from the freezer to complete the meal. Even when I do plan ahead, I've often forgotten to add garlic bread to my shopping list or I plan an entree but not the side dishes and texas toast saves the day.

This is what I'm talking about (though not the bulk size): http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/ProductDetail.aspx?catID=761&prdID=112193

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Things I Love Thursday--Shout Color Catcher

Let me begin by saying, I am the world's laziest person. Therefore, I am not the best laundry-sorter. Historically I've divided my clothes and my husbands' into three loads--lights, darks and the occasional red load. Then I had my son and I was NOT interested in dividing his laundry into different colors and I do wash his stuff separately in Dreft (a long story) so I was thrilled to discover Shout Color Catcher. You throw a sheet in the wash and if any dyes run, the sheet "catches" them so they don't redeposit on another item. And it does work!!! I throw all of L's clothes (and now T's too, except for reds) into one load and often the sheet comes out discolored but all the clothes look great. So whites, navy, pink, purple, all in one load. My mom was here helping out after T was born and was shocked I threw everything in together and I showed her my secret weapon, the Color Catcher. As a bonus, the sheet can go through the dryer, so no reason to go fishing for it as you transfer from washer to dryer. Thumbs up.

By the way, you can find it in the laundry aisle, by the Spray 'n' Wash.

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