my baby..she makes me smile...

while I debate whether or not I want to blog about an uncomfortable situation that has been goin' on in brandiland..I thought I'd share with you some of the uncomfortable situations I've found my cat in recently...yeah that's the best I can do..my brain is fried!!

her face is smooshed into the handle of the recliner :/ ...how can she breathe?? ..this looks beyond uncomfortable!!

she's not supposed to be up on the shelves..but she wasn't feeling well..so I didn't press the issue..yeah I'm a total pushover - good thing I don't have REAL kids...I'd prolly be one of those parents that get on my nerves..letting their precious angels do whatever the hell they want..heh! --anyway...I wish I could sleep that soundly! ...then again..if that were me..I'd prolly fall and break my ass!!

ok well I just wanted to let y'all know I'm still kickin' over here..I'm just feeling a little discombobulated...hopefully I'll get my head together and be back to my normal self in a day or two :)

pinterest...

so in the comments of my last post Jocelyn asked (rhetorically, I'm sure) where I find these things...and in the case of the tampon crafts (haha that sounds like some kinda strange Nancy Drew mystery!) ...the answer is PINTEREST!

if you live under a rock (like me!) you may ask..what the hell is pinterest? well...according to wikipedia "pinterest is a vision board-styled social photo sharing website where users can create and manage theme-based image collections"

they make it sound so boring and technical...according to ME it's MUCH much cooler than that!! ...since the photos link back to web sites (for example someone had 'pinned' the tampon ghost onto their 'halloween' board...I clicked on it and it brought me to the tampon craft web site...get it?) ...basically it's a fancy social 'bookmark' or 'favorites' system...where people from all over the world collect and SHARE all the nifty crap they find online

in other words it's TOTAL FUCKING AWESOMENESS!!

basically you create 'boards' onto which you 'pin' (or 're-pin') various items...the boards are categorized so that other people with similar interests can find stuff they might like...for example if you search for halloween costume ideas, you'll find oodles of pictures of different halloween costume ideas that various people have pinned..you can re-pin the ones you like to one of your own boards so that you can remember to check them out in the the future (chances are the pic has a link attached to a web site that will tell you how to make that costume..or where to buy it)

you can also 'follow' people or individual boards if they tend to pin things that are of interest to you...this way you can see when they pin something new...

needless to say..I'm slightly addicted...
it's a GREAT place to find cheap & easy DIY projects..like

THIS AWESOME WRAP

or these:

punched paper wrapped glass vases used as candle holders!! ...BRILLIANT/BEAUTIFUL!! ♥ 

and home improvement ideas..like this...when I saw this my mouth hung open for at least 5 minutes!! ...whenever I get to build a dream house..I WANT THESE!!

trash/recycling chutes that go directly to the garage!!

no more messy garbage cluttering your kitchen and stinkin' up your house...oh yeah..that's for me!!

 

or this fabulous storage idea!!

kinda makes me wish I didn't have cathedral ceilings!!

if you're hungry there are TONS of amazing recipe ideas...for example:

  bacon wrapped pretzels with brown sugar cayenne glaze 

WTF...OMFG and whatever other abbreviated obscenities you can think of...dat shit looks GOOD!!

you can even learn how to make:

HOMEMADE OREOS!!

 

if you're feeling nostalgic..take a trip down memory lane with other people who grew up in your era... (in MY case the 70's & 80's)

 

I've gotten many warm fuzzy reminders of growing up with items like:

 

candy cigarettes...back when they were still allowed to be called cigarettes!!

 

and who could forget THESE hideous things we all HAD to have...

 

 I think Dr. Scholl had an ulterior motive...just sayin'

 

anyway...you get the idea..it's lots of fun and a great way to procrastinate while simultaneously finding ideas for projects you can procrastinate on in the future!! :)

to kick-start your own addiction...click HERE

and if you want..you can follow me... HERE

what'll they think of next?

did you ever look at that giant bargain box of tampons at the bulk store and wonder...will I have enough time to use all those suckers before menopause hits?

well wonder no more...it seems tampons are much more versatile than the manufacturers have led us to believe...oh yes! ..apparently they're useful for all sorts of handicrafts...

halloween is right around the corner..get in the spirit with some of these adorable little ghosts!! ...get creative..maybe you could hang one from your rear view mirror..or how 'bout a pair of earrings?? now THAT'S style!!

                       
or maybe you're looking for something a little more challenging...try this festive thanksgiving turkey? talk about an interesting centerpiece...a real conversation starter!! ...and if any of your guests get a little tipsy and knock over their drink..why he's absorbent too ;)

or perhaps Christmas is more your thing...ya can't go wrong with this lovely nativity scene...after all..nothin' says 'feliz navidad' quite like a tampon baby jesus!!

for more nifty tampon craft ideas...click HERE

recipes...

ok so I promised JESSICA (check her out..she's cool...although she seems to like me an awful lot..so she MIGHT have a screw loose hahaha) and a bunch of other people that I would hurry up and get my recipes on here...so hurry I did

basically it's just a collection of different recipes I've gathered throughout the years from family and friends and who knows where else..I just wanted an easy place to keep stuff that I could access if I was away from home without having to carry an actual recipe box (or cd or some other form of external media storage device thingy) so a lot of the notes and stuff might sound like I'm talking to myself...also because it was originally not meant to be public I didn't site the original sources (if I ever even knew them) ..if you know where any of them came from, let me know so I can give credit where credit is due :)

obviously it's a work in progress and I have MANY more recipes to add...and I'm still workin' on gettin' pics of all the different dishes (hafta cook em all again to get the pics...like I said..this wasn't originally meant to be shared..and I already know what the stuff looks like heh!)

ok so like...click HERE (the link is also in the sidebar for future reference) ...for the most part it's all pretty easy and can be tinkered with to suit your own tastes...there's some slightly fancy stuff but mostly it's all just normal every day food...we be po' (that's ghetto speak for we ain't gots no stinkin' money) ...so I tend to make a lot of stuff that streeeetches..soups, stews, one pot stuff...so sometimes it looks like a lot..I don't really know how to cook for just two people...but that's ok cause leftovers save money!!

living well...

I made french toast for breakfast yesterday...we have this GREAT place near our house that grows the grains..then mills them to make the flour for their breads...I used their brioche..which I believe is french for 'fucking awesome'!!

we picked up the bread on Saturday as an afterthought while we were there treating ourselves to a couple of their super delicious burgers...

this place seriously ROCKS!! everything they use is either from their own farm or other LOCAL farms..the beef is AMAZING grass fed awesomeness..the bun is again fresh baked using flour made from grains they milled themselves..the cheese is also from a local farm..this particular one is a beer tilsit (which in case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure is german for 'fucking awesome') the greens (which you can tell were JUST picked!) come with this great apple cider vinaigrette..which of course they also make from scratch...they gave me the recipe a while back and I made it myself..it was super easy..when I figure out what I did with the recipe I'll post it :)

ideally we try not to eat anything from a factory or that was created in a lab (don't get me wrong..I have my guilty pleasures...but that's a post for another day :) ..for the most part I try to cook what we eat..so I know what the heck we're getting...but sometimes it's nice to go out and let someone else do the cooking (and the cleaning up!) it's so nice to have a place like this so close to where we live..where we can go and get a meal (or components for a meal) and KNOW that what we're eating is not just delicious..but actually GOOD for us!!

after all you ARE what you eat!!

this type of food is not only good for our bodies..it's good for SOCIETY as a whole...it's important to know where your food is coming from and what it's made of...people are aging faster and getting more and more unhealthy at alarmingly younger ages than ever before because somewhere along the way we've lost touch with what's important...

we're all in such a hurry to get to the next thing on our endless 'to-do' lists we've come to think it's ok to load our bellies with whatever greasy, salty, sugary (albeit sometimes yummy) GARBAGE we can quick grab and shove down our throats on the way to whatever is next on our overloaded schedules

advertising and the government don't help with their lies and misinformation about what is healthy..but that too is a post for another day!

for now my point is this...we need to SLOW DOWN...take the time to think about WHAT we eat and WHERE it comes from...if we want to LIVE well..we need to EAT well..and I don't know about YOU but I want to live well!! 

I know I'm extremely fortunate to live where I do and have so many great restaurants, bakeries etc. for my lazy days..and resources for amazing ingredients at my fingertips for the times when eating out isn't an option...and I know this stuff is not so readily available to everyone, everywhere...

but that being said..I KNOW if people took the time to look around they'd find all sorts of awesome stuff like this right in THEIR own back yards!!

if you'd like to read more about SUSTAINABLE agriculture..and why it's SO important if we want the human race to continue to exist (not just exist but THRIVE) ...click HERE

if you'd like to know where you can get your taste buds on some local, sustainable eats in your neck of the woods..click HERE

we interrupt this blog..to bring you a very important message...

wow..I'm not gettin' off to a very good start here...

actually I had started a post yesterday morning and life jumped in and distracted me..then..as I usually do while I buzz around bangin' out my daily chores..I had the tv on...bein' Tuesday naturally I checked netflix for new releases...it was a cold dreary october morning and as you all know...I ♥ horror movies..what better sort of day for a good scream, right?

so I clicked right into what's new in horror...let me just clarify..when I say I ♥ horror movies...I mean zombies, vampires, ghosts...or things like Friday the 13th, Halloween, a Nightmare on Elm Street...ya know..shit that ain't real!!

so I don't know how it happened but somehow I landed on a movie that left me feeling so..ICKY that it just kinda threw me off

did you ever see something so disturbing that it left you wanting to just dive head first into a pool full of sunshine and rainbows and float there forever forgetting about what a horrible, ugly place the world can be??

that is what this movie did...there was a scene in it that actually left me with the shakes!!

I don't know if it was the mood I was in..if the movie was just made well or what...I usually I consider myself pretty desensitized (to movies anyway) ...but this one touched a nerve

actually I wrote a whole post about it yesterday but then decided against posting it because I didn't want to look back at this and be reminded of that icky feeling...plus I don't want this blog to be about yucky stuff or things that make us uncomfortable...

but on second thought...it occurred to me that sometimes we have to talk about the ugly things...because some things are just TOO important to ignore..and this movie had an important message that I actually am kinda passionate about...which is basically that children need to FEEL loved...they need to know how valued they are...so that they don't feel the need to seek attention and false love from people who will use them...especially in today's world..the internet is a SCARY place!!

I'm being intentionally vague about this movie (title, details etc.) because I don't want keywords attracting the wrong sort of attention...but if you're curious as to what the heck I'm talking about...click HERE

I don't want to live in a world where movies like this are considered entertainment...but we DO..and that makes it all the more scary!! if you are actually entertained by this subject matter than I suggest you seek immediate psychological counseling!!

that being said...I do believe this sort of movie does have a purpose..as an educational tool - kinda like the old after school specials...as much as we want to shelter them..kids need to know that these things DO happen...they happen every single minute of every single day!! ...and WE need to be reminded..that even though life is hectic and we have things to do and bills to pay...that the children in our lives are counting on US to nurture them and their self worth...to assure them that they are LOVED and are WORTHY of REAL love and RESPECT from themselves and from others...

there is NOTHING more important!!