We have one of these at our front door and Baaaaaaaaaaaaby...don't scoff at the price cuz they are WORTH.THE.MONEY! I just picked mine up to shake salt off it and it was super heavy loaded down with water from melted snow. Underneath it however? DRY.AS.A.BONE!
Dude...you NEED this in your life.
Hell...I need a bigger one to take up more space like this one in the pic. Ours isn't this big.
But it WILL BE. Soon!
Dear photography people: Please give me tips on the settings for a good picture of the tree with the lights on. Thank you in advance. :)
Can yall tell I'm flipping through all of the catalogs I got in the mail this weekend? ROFL! Enter this LOVERLY setup! See...if I was going to send Ted and his bride a Christmas gift...this is what I'd send them. Granite Cheese Board and Cheese Tools for soft cheeses. *sigh*
OR...
I'd SAY I was buying them for Ted so Robby didn't fuss at me for buying yet ANOTHER cheese board and then I'd conveniently FORGET to send it to them! :) GENIUS I KNOW! GENIUS! GO ME!
Do YOU have a nice cheese board and cheese knives? If not...why not?
Bedroom clean? Check.
Dressed in comfy yet cute clothes and shoes? Check.
Lips Aquaphor'd up? Check.
Cuticles extra moisturized? Check.
Fridge clean? Check.
Freezer clean? Check.
Oven clean? Check.
Sink disinfected? Check.
Counters disinfected? Check.
"The Color Purple" playing in the background? Check.
Seasonings cut up? Check.
Baking Done? Bout to be.
Ice maker clean? Bout to be.
Serving pieces chosen? Bout to be.
ETC. ETC. ETC.
As you can see I'm busy, busy, busy. I know most of you are out and about bout to get your travel on and I hope yall get to your destinations safe and without incident. It dawned on me that I've never done a video about Thanksgiving so I'm going to do that for a reference for next year. LOL!
What are YOU doing today? Anyone working?
I usually take my Wüsthof knives to a hardware store to have them sharpened but ran out of time this week. When I was in Williams-Sonoma recently to pick up my Turkey Brine I saw this Wüsthof Edge of Counter Sharpener and bought it since it was only $9.95. I'm from the South where my father would take the knives out back with a sharpening stone and some oil that was in a thin red and white can to sharpen. Robby and I just ain't that person. LOL! Good thing we don't have to be! I used this tonight and IT WORKED SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you don't get yourself anything this year for Christmas...get this. You'll be grateful it's in your home! My knives are as sharp as I remember them being after the pros sharpen them! IT'S MY NEW.FAVORITE.THING (Next to my Wii and Wii Fit Plus of course! ROFL!) GO ME! AND GO YOU TOO!
Hi guys! I'm so excited about Thanksgiving this year! I know the food is pretty much the same but I love these dishes so since I only get to do this big Turkey Day feast once a year!
Please arrive by 4:30 at the latest. Of course you are welcome to come as early as you want to because the games will be on, the grazing table will be stocked and the wine will be ready! LOL! Wear your comfy clothes and socks and PLOP down and enjoy! That's how we get down at 13700!Turkey
Creole Cornbread Dressing
Stuffed Peppers
Green Bean Casserole
Kale
Sweet Potato Casserole
Crawfish Macaroni and Cheese
Cranberry Sauce
Mixed Green Salad (The Robinator: Um...why taint the good stuff you only let me eat once a year? ROFL!)
Southern Comfort Cake
Sweet Potato Pie
Mini Fruit Tarts
We are soooooooooo very excited to share this holiday with you and look forward to lots of good eating, laughter, grins and smiles for miles!
Love,
Monnie, Robby, ST, Jaru & Lucy
P.S. If you haven't let me know you don't have any place to be and you've decided you want to be with us...Imma need you to let me know by tomorrow night so I may make your place card. NO ONE should be alone for the holidays if you're in the DMV and "know" us. Seriously. We mean it. Come eat and enjoy. We TRULY believe in the more the merrier!
Well...I finally figured out what I felt was missing. The color black. Black is such a lovely grounding color that can tie everything down pretty solid and I knew I wanted something patterned for the tablecloth. This tablecloth is from the Badgley Mischka line. Found it at HomeGoods for $14.99. GO ME!
So I have to decide on something major. I need to figure out which of the three place settings I'm going to use and which napkins. I like the black, of course, but I totally like the rust color one too.
Let me know in the comments which of each do you like the most pretty please with sugar on top! (This kinda stuff makes me soooooooooooooooo happy! LOL!)
Okay...so I changed some stuff up. Look at it and tell me what you think. I scattered some diamoniques on the beveled mirror runner and, as always...I can't decide on place settings. I always try and incorporate something new by way of salad plate but I always end up using our china it seems and I'm trying to change that up.
Oh...and I added a tablecloth and decided against the 4 candle candelabra.
I think.
I'm still playing with it. Haven't even decided on the napkin color or if I'm going to use a napkin ring.
Yall know I love Thanksgiving right? RIGHT!
Tomorrow I'm cleaning out the pantry and the fridge. We're eating all the food out the freezer and fridge so I have room for my food shopping. I've already bought all of the stuff that is hard to find and am picking up the rest on Monday. Picking up the organic turkey on Wednesday and putting it straight in the brine Wednesday night.
KNC Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning just left our home. They cleaned all the carpets, area rugs and upholstered furniture.
They did a DAMN good job.
I saw one young man get down on his hands and knees with a brush during the pre-treatment part and worked it the hell out!
I found them through that lil magazine flyer thingy that comes to your home with coupons in it. They did such a good job that I told them I'd tell yall about them. When you call them...tell them Monica Mingo sent you and that I threatened to STILL fight them. LOL! It will get you a 10% discount. LOL!
Kevin Simmons 410.599.7729
It's causing me problems. I can't wrap my brain around it right now..but I'm not feeling it thus far.
This is the first layer because these are the things that are going to build the color scheme of the table. The full table will be built with all the place settings, linens, etc.
I'll go out again tomorrow before Oprah to see if I may find the something I'm missing.
Whatchu think?
Because MrsTDJ loves her some us! THANKS CHICA! Amazon Cooking Light Special
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 MingoWhat 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!
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.
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?
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?????
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:
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?
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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?
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 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?
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?
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