Rantings of a Creole Princess

The BEST Furniture Polish! :)

What kind of furniture polish do you use?

Question...

Have you ever owned red sheets?

Amazon has "Cooking Light" $5 for a year!

Because MrsTDJ loves her some us!  THANKS CHICA!  Amazon Cooking Light Special

REAL SIMPLE IS ON YOUTUBE!!!!!!!!!

Real Simple

Carpet Cleaning

When was the last time you got your carpet cleaned? 

Who did you use? 

Would you recommend them? 

How much did it cost? 

Was it a special? 

How often do you get your carpet cleaned?

Safeway Sucks Part 2 - The Clean Up.

So...Safeway contacted me this morning after reading my post about how nasty their bathroom was (Safeway Grocery Store Sucks!) and asked me to let them know the store the horrid pictures were from.  I let em know and told them that I'd continue blasting their azzes until they fixed that dang bathroom.

I was out shopping today and decided to stop in and see if they'd taken care of anything around 6:00 pm this evening.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that my complaints were taken VERY seriously.

 

Can you believe they even cleaned that nasty azz  'Wet Floor' sign? 

 

Clean, clean, clean indeed!

 

They cleaned the soap dispenser and took the broken lid off of it.  I'm hoping a new soap dispenser has been ordered and will be installed soon.

 

Can you believe they closed up that hole in the wall????????????  WOW!  I WAS SOOOOOOOO IMPRESSED!

The stain that was on the inside of the stall was still there however and I'm hoping that  they were still in the process of cleaning it when I got there because the stain is pretty gross.  The floor was clean, as were the mirrors. 

I still can't believe that the bathroom was as nasty as it was twice in six weeks to the point where I had to get out my camera and take pictures of it.  I can't imagine a grocery store not thinking that cleanliness in the bathroom was in order.  I guess it's a good thing that they FINALLY cleaned it...but yeah...I'm feeling some kinda way that I had to "bully" them into addressing it. 

That kinda sucks.  Dude...yall deal with FOOD.  Clean bathrooms should be standard.

Keep it up.  My camera and I will be watching.  Seriously.  I can WALK to this Safeway so yeah...I'll be able to keep an eye on the bathroom.

Sincerely,

Monica Mingo

JNY Style Miles - Lloyd Boston

Did we have fun?

What do YOU think?

So...carving and painting pumpkins is a messy job indeed.  Because of...I put a big, black, plastic paint tarp down stretched across some parking spaces.  Then...I put those vinyl tablecloths you get at the dollar store on top of all of those tables and tied them down with balloons from the dollar store too.

This way...all you have to do is roll em up completely and put everything in the garbage can for a quick cleanup cuz TRUST...this is MESSY!

Each table had a pack of baby wipes and a roll of paper towels as well as tins with paintbrushes in them.  I got the tins from the $1 bins at Target and there were 25 paintbrushes in a pack for $4.99 at Michael's.

The big kid's table had the carving tools in a plastic bowl in the center.  (Notice all this plastic and vinyl right?  RIGHT.  T-Monnie KNOWS KIDS.)

All of the snacks were inside and I basically played server to make sure the kids had some outside with them.  The party was just PERFECT.  It wasn't crazy, over the top and exactly what kids who want to have a messy fun time wanted. 

LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT!

The kids had a blast.  I had a blast and the parents had a blast!  Afterwards we all cleaned up together and everyone was long gone and my home clean by 7:30pm. My kinda party!  Oh...and there was face painting!!!!!

I believe we should know who our neighbors are.  Some of my neighbors have lived here over 7 years and never even KNEW a lot of the people they met today.  It was just LOVELY and I was really glad that I was able to make that connection for them.  The funny thing was they all knew me.  ROFL!  "Oh yeah...we know Monica!"  Why?  Because Monica makes it a POINT to get to know who her neighbors are.  Grownups, children...et al.  Ain't nuttin wrong with knowing who you live next to and to consider them "friend."

I promise!

Halloween Party Planning!

In Monnie-land today has been a FABULOUS day!  I really would have made a video had I not sounded and looked soooooooo awful but since I didn't...ya just hafta take my word for it!  LOL!

First things first...pumpkins!  WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I went to the orchard/pumpkin patch to get pumpkins!!!!!  Why?  Because I know some parents are going to forget to bring a pumpin and I'm not trying to have anyone left out!

 

So many choices!  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!  LOVED THIS MUCHO!!!!! But I knew I wasn't going to pick this big azz pumpkin for sure.  ROFL!

 

That sucker was big as me!  Um...no.

So then I ran around and did a bunch of other shopping and headed home because my neighbor was helping me put together the BOO bags!

 

While we were putting together the BOO bags we put the kids who kept asking could they help to work cleaning the pumpkins!

 

 

 

They did a good job but I made them do it again just so they could stop asking me could they help with other preparations!  LOL!  Evil huh?  I know.

 

There are BOO bags for little kids and "cooler" bags for the 14 and overs.  LOL!  I figure they are going to show up because they keep asking all nonchalant if they are invited.  ROFL!

I went down to my basement entertainment pantry and started pulling stuff for the party.  All orange stuff, of course.  Base colors are white and silver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaru and Lucy don't know yet that they are going to be gated.  Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh...don't tell them.  Parents are welcome inside because the grown up table will be inside and the kiddie table will be outside.  NO.KIDS.IN.MS.MONICA'S HOUSE!  LOL!

 

E has been briefed on his duties as a host and his mom is doing the BOMB swamp juice for the kiddies!  T-Monnie is making Bloody Eye Sangrias so YEAH BOY!  It's going to be BIG.POPPING at 13700 for Halloween!

I'm going to pick up the cupcakes tomorrow and I have a few more things on my list that I didn't get today:

Tealights

Apples

Juice Boxes

1/2 pint water bottles

Cookies

Black taper candles

I'm VERY excited!  We'll have painted mini pumpkins as well as carved big pumpkins.  Should be FABULOUS!

GO ME!

What say you?  Whatcha think so far?

Halloween Party Countdown!!!!!

E's pumpkin carving Halloween party is tomorrow and I'm spending the day today getting the last of the things I need to make it a super-dooper BASH!

My schedule for today:

1.  Shopping (tealights, pumpkins, more poster paint and brushes, more carving tools, apples, caramel, sticks to make caramel apple slices...etc.)

2.  Making treat bags

3.  Baking cakes

4.  Choosing serving ware from my pantry

5.  Reminding kids to NOT knock on Ms. Monica's door today to ask to help or she will cancel the party, tear down the decorations and pass out pencils and erasers for Halloween.

That is all.

I've already created the music playlist and I have printed out several carving patterns for the kids to use.  I'm sure it's going to be pure chaos...but hey...it's HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!

If I didn't look and sound so horrid...I'd make a video.

Are YOU going to a Halloween party?????

Safeway Grocery Store Sucks!

From the outside looking in my neighborhood Safeway is really, really nice.  It's one of those gourmet ones that was recently remodeled.  Inside it's nice.  Wood looking floors, nice bins, nice signage, Starbucks with a nice lounging area, etc.

About 6 weeks ago I popped into Safeway to get a few things after being stuck in traffic on my way home.  I had to use the restroom in the worst way so I popped in and found myself SERIOUSLY gagging at how nasty the bathroom was.

I was even MORE disgusted when I went to hit the soap dispenser for soap and saw that it was open and that there was a long, gross hair inside of it.  Um...EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

I'm familiar with management at my Safeway so I walked over to Customer Service and complained about how horrid the bathroom was.  My face was ALL screwed up because seriously...I couldn't BELIEVE the bathroom of a grocery store would be so nasty.  I mean dude...THE PEOPLE WHO WORK WITH THE FOOD IN THE GROCERY STORE USE THAT BATHROOM!

JUST...EW!

The manager I spoke to stated they would take care of it. 

I bought fewer things than I would have because I kept thinking of their employees using that bathroom and stocking the shelves.

JUST...EWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day before yesterday I went to Safeway after being in traffic again and had to, once again, use the bathroom.  I walked in remembering my experience 6 weeks ago and I was visibly SHOCKED that the bathroom was nasty AGAIN!  I got sooooooo pissed and disgusted and, since I had my camera in my purse and I was in the bathroom alone I pulled my camera out and took pictures:

Question...

Do you have window treatments? in the room you spend the most time in at your home?  How long are they? Valance?  Windowsill height?  Between windowsill and the floor?  At the floor?

Where'd you get them?

Question...

What's the last thing you painted at your house?

Extended Warranty

We're the type of household that buys the warranty on all electronics and lately...I've been wondering if it's really worth it.

For my new HA-CHI-TA-CHI 3000 the warranty was $179.99.  Because I'm well known as being clumsy...we got the warranty. On my old camera we have it.  On my 3CCD video camera we have it.  On our phones, iPods, laptops, our televisions, appliances, you name it...we got the warranty.

As you can tell...turns out this is a sizeable amount of money to say the least.

On Robby's big tv we got the three year warranty.  It's now 6 years old and we haven't had a problem with it. 

And the warranty has expired.

Kinda makes you wonder...are warranties necessary?  Hell...I just read the warranty for my camera and it CLEARLY states it doesn't cover me dropping it and yet...that's the reason we got the warranty.  Cuz I'm clumsy.

Do YOU buy the additional warranty?  Why?  Why not?

Empty Houses

Are there any empty houses or houses for sale in your neighborhood?  How long have they been this way?

Question...

If your NEXT home was going to be your LAST home...how many bedrooms would you want it to have?

Every.single.time I look at my flower beds I wanna CUT ST...

Don't worry...that tape is coming off the tree.  ST was helping me get started with my Halloween decorating.  Since he couldn't damage anything...I let him wrap it around the tree.

Yall see my flower beds?

*sigh*

I'm going to have to do something with it.  No way I'm going to be able to last till Spring.

Question...

Where did you purchase the last piece of furniture that you bought?  Did you get a good deal?  Would you recommend the place to someone else?

It's Sunday People!

It's still rainy here so The Robinator didn't get to go golf this morning.  YIPPEE!  We took a bubble bath and caught up talking about IVF and whatnot.  I'm laughing because he's sooooooooo proud of his pic with Mr. George Clinton himself.  He wanted know why I didn't post his pic of him and Kool Moe Dee.  Says it should be the featured post of the week.  *sigh*  Dude says it will generate millions of hits traffic wise.  You know...cuz he's SUCH a ce-WEB-rity in his head.  LOL!

My husband is funny.

I caught up with ST after that and he told me about his day yesterday when he struck out to the city solo in the rain.

*BLINK*  Cuz you KNOW I wasn't going to the city to walk around in the rain right?  Um...no.

Then...I decided to bathe Jaru and Lucy.  

Bathing Jaru is cool because the dog is serious about cleanliness.  But that dang Lucy?  You'd swear I was dipping her into a boiling vat of battery acid with a million piranhas in it.  Sheesh.  You'd think she'd be better by now hell.

Imma fight her.

It's really cute because whenever she's in distress Jaru gets nose to nose with her to calm her down.  Those two are pretty dang awesome man. 

I love my dogs.

Robby is currently whipping up some waffles.  He has asked me fifty-lleven times about different oils we have in the house.  I'm in a snippy mood so Imma just stop answering.  Just use some damn oil man.

I'm sure you've noticed the soft dusting of waffle mix on the counter tops correct?  Correct.  Lucy is KILLING me softly with her expectations of something falling on the floor.  ROFL!

I have some beans soaking for dinner and can't WAIT!  This is the first pot of beans I've done this year I believe.

Those towels are my inspiration for my Thanksgiving table this year.  I saw them and thought...hmmmmmm...me likey.  So I bought them and will be coordinating my table using these colors this year.  I think.  Yall know I have a penchant for changing my mind and yall know why.

Cuz I do what I want.

And you should too.  LOL!

Are you having a good Sunday so far?  Any cleaning going on?  Football?  What are you cooking for dinner today?

Holla atcha girl.

Is it bad that I studied the table decor harder than I studied the people?

Must-haves

What's on your must-have list for your NEXT house?

Question...

Would you buy a home that didn't have a tub in the master bedroom?

Either / Or

Tylex?

OR

Scrubbing Bubbles????

Question...

Did you make your bed this morning?

RE-POST: Party Like a Rockstar!

If it's one thing I'm known for is that I can throw the HELL outta a party!  And nope...I ain't shamed to admit it.  I am, after all, my mother's daughter.

Down in my basement pantry I have everything I need to throw a FABULOUS party.  I've been collecting things for years.  Robby always thought it was odd that I'd buy something and it went straight downstairs.  See...he's a man...and men never understand.  He understands now and has even taken to adding to my collection himself.  This is my new favorite thing he's given me.  He found it at a DELIGHTFUL shop in Tyson's Galleria at a place called Kindred Spirits.  It's a cheeseboard and knife with DRAGONFLYS!!!!!  Even though he gave me a bunch of FABULOUSNESS for my b-day...the fact that he went to find this truly made me feel extra loved.  LOL!

I have cheap stuff to super dooper expensive stuff and I work with them together.  I'll have $80 plates set up with a $2 dish I found at TJ Max all up and through.  Ya just gotta know what compliments what.

Entertaining Bowl! - $7.99

On Sunday I was over by a HomeGoods I like and saw this bowl for only $7.99.  I bought it and will be adding it to my pantry post haste.  Yup...this will be a WONDERFUL addition to my Thanksgiving table! 

Where do YOU find pieces to outfit YOUR table? 

Do you buy them throughout the year or do you add pieces as you need them?

Household Mess

I'm convinced that I just made the biggest household mess I have ever made in the history of my making messes.  Yall know I'm CLUMB-ZEY right?

Right.

*sigh*

What is the biggest household mess you have ever had to clean up?

(Note I ain't say nuttin bout cleaning it up and am about to get my keys and get the hell out of here and go write outside by the library.)

Toothpaste

When you need toothpaste...do you buy a certain brand or do you get whatever is on sale or what you have a coupon for?

Does toothpaste loyalty really exist?

HotNESS or HotMESS? (SM)

What say you for costume jewelry storage? 2-Level T-Bar

Front Door Crap

On Saturday morning after the gym...I went to buy some super dooper cleaning crap to clean the concrete in front of our front door since sweeping and rinsing with the hose wasn't doing the job anymore.  So I used this stuff along with the deck brush yesterday and it wasn't getting any cleaner.  In fact...to my surprise...large pieces of the damn top layer of the concrete started coming off.

Turns out...the previous owner of our home had PAINTED the damn surface of the landing and THAT'S why it looked like crap.  The paint was porous and really held on tight to grime. 

I kept scrubbing trying to get it all off...but no dice.  In some areas it just was NOT moving.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

And it looked even worse.

Solution?

Now I gotta paint this ish.

So I went back to Home Depot to get concrete paint.  They only had it by the gallon and all I needed was a quart.  I went over to Walmart to buy it there and those flim-flams only had it by the gallon too.

So I bought some and painted the damn landing and now I hate it cuz now it looks TOO new.

Grrrrrrrrrr...

In fact...I hate it.

I don't wanna paint all the steps cuz that is gonna look fonky to me.

Now yall know why I'm in a foul azz mood.  (That and taking birth control pills makes me constipated.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...)

That is all.

Have you ever painted concrete?  What did YOU think of the end result?

Should I paint all of em? 

(Why me Lord...why me?)

Mondays at 13700

Mondays are pretty important days around 13700.  The beginning of the week always seems to need a bit of adjusting for us. 

For starters...it's usually my day "off."  What that means is that I usually do NOTHING.  No working out.  No laundry, no picking up.  NOTHING.

It's also a no-meat day for us.  From breakfast on...no meat.  Only veggies, grains, nuts and fruits. 

To wind it all down...it's our go-to-bed-early night.  Yup.  Like VERY early.  We eat our light dinner, talk, watch Olbermann and bed time for Bonzos.

Mondays at 13700 are for rejuvenating.  

Do YOU have a rejuvenating day scheduled for you or YOUR household?

Basic Bookcase for the Needy

A couple of weeks ago I got tired of tripping over the two stacks of books next to the overflowing bookcase outside of our office.  I shared with Robby that we needed to get a new bookcase.  Dude looked at me and said..."Um...then get one."

Duh.

(Have I told yall how much I hate him sometimes?  ROFL!)

So I'd been thinking of going to Pottery Barn and getting a new bookcase.  You know...something that will last.  Cuz...um...erra...bookcases get a lot of wear and tear right?

*CRICKETS*

So I looked at Pottery Barn.  Found nothing.

Went to Restoration Hardware.  Saw this:  Palladian Tower / Bookcase

Checked out Crate and Barrel.  Saw this:  Windham Bookcase

And was SERIOUSLY considering going pick up the Windham this week even though I was MUY annoyed we'd have to put it together but hey...it was cheep and I needed a new bookcase.

Yesterday I did something I hardly ever do anymore.  I checked the sales papers in the Sunday newspaper and saw this:  5 Shelf Bookcase Espresso

I grabbed the husband unit by the collar and rolled out to Target so he could load it up in the truck for me.  GO ME!

I felt AWESOME thinking I'd saved us $200.  Robby was skeptical and looked at me oddly cuz he knows I'm not usually one for Target furniture.  I explained to him that it was JUST a bookcase and it seemed just as good as the one at Crate and Barrel for way cheaper. 

Today...I took it out of the box and took it upstairs piece by piece and put it together.  Surprisingly...it was very simple to put together.  It's pretty sturdy and I have a whole lot of extra room to play with.  I moved the smaller bookcase into our bedroom (not sure if it will live there forever) and put away the stacks of books.  GO ME!

The bookcase looks good.  I elected to not put the back on it because I like the color of the wall behind it and since I decided to put it at the top of the stairs I didn't want it to be this big dark space.  It's hard getting a good picture of it since my cameras sucks unless the picture is taken outside (yeah...figured this out...ROFL!) and I'm standing on the stairs below it looking up. 

N E WAY...me likey it.  Now...we just gotta get rid of all the crap that is was packaged in.  Grrrrrrrr.

Have YOU ever bought a piece of furniture from Target?  Would you?  Even something like a bookcase that doesn't get "touched" much?

Question...

Have you ever changed the toilet seats in your home?  Where did you buy the seats?

Martha Stewart University

Martha Stewart has finally lost her gotdamn mind.  Martha Stewart University

How to make a Mother's Day flower arrangement for about $12!

How to clean your coffee pot?

I clean out our coffee pot with plain old vinegar.  Take all the pieces out that can be taken out and clean them...put them back.  Then...put about a quarter cup (you can add more according to how dirty your pot is) of vinegar in the coffee maker and then fill the rest of it up with water.  Next...let it run.  Pour out the water and then let it run without vinegar.  Open up all the thingys that open and let it air dry.

Your pot is clean and you're good to go.

How do you clean YOUR pot?  How often do you do it?

Handy

Who does the fix it stuff in your home?  Are you handy?

Tablecloths

How often do you dress your table with a tablecloth?

Ceiling Fan Direction

Ceiling Fan Spinning Counter-Clockwise: Makes a room cooler by blowing the air downward. When the fan is spinning in a counter-clockwise direction you should feel a cool breeze coming down and around the room.

Ceiling Fan Spinning Clockwise: Makes a room warmer by creating subtle updraft which pushes the warm air near the ceiling down along the walls and into the room. When the fan in spinning in a clockwise direction you should not feel as much of a breeze.

Question..

Is it really irrational for me to expect that since only two people live in this house...we can stick to only using TWO of the FOUR bathrooms thereby not dirtying up FOUR DAMN BATHROOMS?  IS THAT REALLY AN IRRATIONAL REQUEST?  DOES THAT SEEM TO BE AN ODD REQUEST IN ANY WAY?  WOULD I BE CONVICTED BY A JURY OF MY PEERS FOR BUSTING SOMEONE (I AIN'T SAYING NO NAMES) UPSIDE THE HEAD FOR USING CLEAN BATHROOMS ALL WILLY NILLY JUST CUZ HIS AZZ IS NEXT TO IT?

DUDE...REALLY?

Secrets of a Hostess

...or just common azz sense.

There is a certain heirarchy of things you need to keep in mind when you're entertaining in your home.  There is also the definite rule that no matter how organized you are something things just take time and are going to get done right up until your guests are seated.  Certain meats are best served hot.  Certain salads are best with freshly cut veggies.  Bread?  WARM IS ALWAYS BETTER!

Because of this ya gotta keep ya pimp hand strong.

SIP:  Now you know that didn't even fit.  Da hell pimping got to do with this?
Me:  Well entertaining is a lot like pimping.  Ya gotta be in control.
SIP:  Only your azz would make a connection that SEEMINGLY fits.  You need counseling.
Me:  I got you...that's bastante.
SIP:  Bastante?  Da hell?
Me:  Enough.  Bastante means enough.
SIP:  Then why in the hell didn't you just say enough?
Me:  Say bruh...it's been a long time since I've duct taped your azz to the ceiling.
SIP:  True, true.  And I've appreciated living violence free.
Me:  Thank you for noticing.  I gets no appreciation around these parts.

N E WAY!

Why I hurt...

I fixed those dang flower beds today.  They were full of dead leaves and crap from the winter and I was finally going to get rid of the last of the juniper.  I'd promised my neighbor I'd help her out too so even though it was a gorgeous day...I was stuck doing manual labor.  Yup.

After we got Mel on the road The Robinator dug up the juniper for me and then straight rolled outta here and got him 18 in on the golf course.

This is what they looked like when I started:

Isn't that AWFUL????????  JUST.TRAGIC!

So I got to getting:

Davice stopped by looking all fly as I was all SUPER grunged up:

After she left, I pulled out all the debris and then hit my favorite nursery, Meadow Farms:

I picked up a few things:

">Dude...I was sooooooooooooo dirty in my camo gear:

I got loaded up and rolled back to 13700:

Sissy decided she wanted to come play in the dirt too:

The beds are cleaned out and ready for some serious PLANTING!  I'll do planting on Thursday for sure.

We finished by 8:00 and struggled to watch another episode of "The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency."  We even had wine...didn't help.  That show is just too um...erra...slow ya know?

I am soooooooooooooooooo tired!

What did YOU do today?

Paint

Are you happy with the color of the walls in the room you spend most of your time in within your home?  If you're thinking about painting it...what color? 

Why haven't  you painted it?

Morning Household Chores

What morning household chores do you find yourself doing before you leave your home?

Fresh Flowers

When was the last time you bought fresh flowers?  What kind were they?  What color?  What room did you put them in?  What kinda vase did you put them in?

Clean House

How long does it take you to clean your home?  What's the biggest job?

Dyson Zorb Carpet Maintance Powder

Dude...we had a stain that we didn't know WHERE in the heck it came from.  We'd tried EVERYTHING on that dang stain scrubbing something SERIOUS and using all kinds of grocery store products.

I sprinkled Dyson Zorb on  the stain, ground it into the carpet, let it set for 30 minutes and then vacuumed it up.

STAIN.WAS.GONE! 

I.A.BLOWN.AWAY!

WOW!

Everday Dishes

Do your everyday dishes have designs on them?

If...

If someone walked into your home while you were not there right now...would they think you were neat, messy or your home was simply lived in? 

Make the Bed?

Did you make your bed this morning?