Rantings of a Creole Princess

Woman Cave

If I had a woman cave, I'd want a beauty shop dryer chair tucked in a corner somewhere that was also a massage pedicure station with a flat surface I could flip up to do my nails on.

I'd also want an awesome movie viewing section and a super comfy reading corner filled with light.

And a state of the art music system.

And lots of book shelves.

And a writing desk facing a window with an Eames desk chair.

And a fireplace.

And a bathroom nearby.

And space enough for Pilates without having to move anything.

And room for all my nail polish on display.

And a Monnie-snack drawer.

And a heavy duty crafting table.  

And a sofa for my friends who come over.

And wine/wine glass storage.  

NO MAN/DOG FARTING ZONE!

What would YOU add or remove?

HotNESS or HotMESS? (SM): Detached Garage

Shingle Style Homes

Recently I found out that the house style I'm most attracted to is the Shingle style house.  Funny...cuz I didn't even know there was a style called the Shingle style.  LOL!  The homes I REALLY like are the Shingle styles with Arts and Crafts style influences.  Yet another style I knew nothing about.

This particular house is my current obsession: 

Robby doesn't like the placement of the garages.  Prior to learning this, I thought my favorite house style was Craftsman.  

What about you?  What is YOUR favorite house style?

How to bring a Peace Lily back to life!

My mother-in-law is pretty awesome.  So awesome that I can't identify AT.ALL with friends or framily who have awful mother-in-laws.

We were doing good right up until my birthday last year.  And then...she tried to get cute.

She sent me a plant when everyone knows I'm the plant killer extraordinaire.  She told me that pretty much anyone can keep a Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) alive and I promise you I've tried my best since them to do so.

I looked at the poor dear today and thought...enough is enough.  Something needs to be done about that damn plant.

So I brought it outside.

And I took it out of the container I keep it in.  Look what I found in the bottom of the container:

Well...apparently they don't like their "feet" wet.  Their feet were totally wet.  And the overwater/underwater process showed:

Icky dusty plant.  So I cut off all the brown edges and pulled out all the brown pieces.

Then I added this BRAND NEW STUFF that's been in the basement for over a year I'm sure.  Womp, womp...

Next I added water until the water ran through completely without putting it back in the ceramic pot and wiped the leaves down with a damp paper towel:

Straight up NINJA'd it:

I'm going to leave it outside overnight and then tomorrow since it's going to be another gorgeous day.  I'll check it for bugs before I bring it back in.  I made sure to add a reminder to my phone to water it and I'll add fertilizer to it when I'm supposed to and see how it does.

You know...in case my mother-in-law decides to visit and whatnot.  LOL!  Don't want her thinking I wasn't taking care of the poor plant.  

Remember...this is just DAY 1.  No telling how long I'll be able to keep this up.  I'll keep yall posted.  LOL!

Do you have any plants in your home that are barely breathing?  Or is it just me?  LOL!

Project Management

What projects do you have planned for your home that you haven't gotten around to yet?  How long has it been?

Cupcake Liner Storage

From the files of things that just make sense.  I saw this online and went to do it immediately.  I was storing my opened packages of cupcake liners in ziploc bags and well, this just made so much more sense!  GO ME!

 

SIP:  It's the little things indeed.

New Appliances

Who makes your appliances?  Did you buy them yourself or were they in your home when you moved in?  What are your TRUSTED brands for appliances?

Best Thing EVER!

I replaced the towel rack in the basement guest bathroom with this and it's turned out to be the BEST.THING.EVER!  

Usually when we have guests who are staying in the basement, it's more than one person so having multiple hooks for multiple towels really makes sense!

I can't believe I never thought of this before! 

Peel-and-stick tiles under sinks!

OH YEAH!  DOING THIS UBER SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like these:

Smart Tiles 10 in. x 10 in. Brownie Mosaic Tile Decorative Wall Tile

THANKS MARGARITE!!!!!  YOU ROCK!

How to Professionally Procrastinate

So...yesterday I came downstairs with a word goal.  I put the deck umbrella up, blew the dead leaves off and put my computer, water, phone, notebook and pen out.  

Then...I put my iPad on a stand and found OWN on the Verizon app and buffered up.

Then I went inside to get a towel because it looked like there was something on the table and I wiped it down well.

Then I REPLACED all my stuff back on the table.

Then I went inside to wash my hands and noticed the hand soap dispenser was low so I got out the refill soap bottle to fill it up.  As I was under the sink where I store the soap, I decided to take everything out from under there and throw away anything that was almost empty because it was an unorganized gabble of ick.

And then I saw this mess:

How to Treat Burn Blisters

A few weeks ago I was broiling something in the oven.  The skillet I'd used to sear it was on TOP of the stove.  I was cleaning the kitchen as I cooked and reached for the skillet to clean it.  The handle was near the back of the stove and the heat from the broiler made it HOT.AS.HELL.

I burned 4 fingers and yall...it hurt.

I immediately ran cold water over it until it was bearable and The Robinator gave me some Advil and put Neosporin on it.  It hurt for days after with two blisters.  I kept putting Neosporin on them daily and I let the blisters do their thing.  Basically, the liquid you see inside of the blisters is the body's own medicine that helps to heal the skin under the blister.  Before long, the blister turned white and got flat and now I'm just waiting for the skin that was around the blister to dry up and come off.  This way...I don't have scaring.

I was telling a friend about it and she asked me why didn't I put butter on it and I told her because that's not how you should treat a burn.  She shared that's how she always treats it and how her mother treated them as well.  I said okay.

How do YOU treat burns and blisters?

Arcadia Mobile Market - Things that make me HAPPY!!!!!!!!!

I had a meeting in DC last week at the Dean Wood Community Center & Library.  While in wait mode, I took a walk around the facility.  To say I was impressed with it is the least I could say because the place truly blew me away.  

I kept asking questions because I couldn't believe it was free to the public with minimal fees for use of services like the fitness center and the pool.  There was a full blown senior center with a VERY active senior population, meeting rooms, quiet rooms, computer room, etc.

And it was all free.  

I walked outside and walked around a bit stopping in my tracks when I saw this:

New Home, New Furniture!

When you moved into your first new home...what was the first furniture you purchased?  Do you still have it?

Doggie Smells and More!

Jaru and Lucy probably get bathed more than most big dogs because well...I have issues and have no problem subjecting them to regular/frequent baths to keep up with my issues.  LOL!  

There could be worse things right?

Right.

Because we have carpet on our top and basement levels, I keep 2lb. boxes of baking soda stocked in the cabinets.  I buy them in the baking section of Target and they are only about $1.20 for a 2lb. box.  

About every 2 weeks, before we go to bed, I liberally sprinkle baking soda on the carpets leading down to and in the basement and let it sit overnight after using a carpet broom to rub it in really good.  The next day I get up, make my bed and do the same to the bedroom level as I leave it to vacuum the basement.

Before we go to bed...I vacuum the bedroom level.  The baking powder absorbs all of the pet odors in the carpets and it makes me happy, happy, joy, joy.

I also wipe down the walls from my waist on down about the same amount of time.

E burned some popcorn and decided he'd eat around the burned bits once and the main and basement levels smelled like ick.  It was winter so I couldn't open the windows to air out the house.  

I took out some wide mixing bowls and poured a good bit of white vinegar in the bowls.  I put one on the table in the family/dining room and one downstairs in the basement.  I let it sit for 24 hours and yup...it absorbed all of the burned popcorn smells big time.

I also keep those febreeze plugins on the main level.

I hate odor and my nose is very sensitive so yeah...my deodorizing game is proper.

What about you?

Anything you do that you find works really well when you think you smell something?

Organized Household Tips

I'm pretty happy with the level of organization I have going on at home.  I do little things daily to make sure that it never gets completely out of hand and looks like a mess.  Other than the seemingly constant laundry going on here...it's always surface clean.

Housework and Working Out!

If you work out in the morning...do you make your bed before or after you work out?

Did you work out this morning?

Did you make your bed?

How often do YOU sweep?

 

 

 

A relative told me they sweep their main level every night before bed.

*BLINK*

Wow.

Cool.

My mommy used to do that too.

Me?

Not so much.  

In fact...I only sweep when I see something.  Then I get the broom and actually sweep it up.  ESPECIALLY in the kitchen.  

Twice a week I run the vacuum on the bare floor setting and hit the rugs too.  

Since we don't have kids crawling on the floor or walk around without shoes on...I think I'm doing well.

What say you?  How often do YOU sweep your floors?  Do you do it daily?

Stackable Prep Bowls

Le Creuset Silicone Prep Bowls

I'll be honest when I say I only use prep bowls when I'm trying to keep the kitchen as clean as possible while cooking because I have company coming over or I'm recording what I'm doing.  I have a stackable set that I bought at TJMaxx for like $7.99 for about 6 in the stack of varying sizes.  

You put each ingredient in it's own bowl and then put the source product away.  Keeps everything neat.

Do you use prep bowls?

How to Make Spicy Guacamole!

I make guacamole every chance I get because we love it so!  It's quick, easy and healthy!  All pluses!  

Do YOU make guacamole at home?  Do you make it the same or is your recipe different?

Favorite Kitchen Tool - Salad Dressing Bottle!

I have a lot of FAVORITE kitchen tools but this has to be in the top 10 for sure:  Kolder Salad Dressing Bottle 

That's not the exact one I have but it's way cheaper than I remember paying for mine years ago and it will serve the purpose quite nicely.  There are easy to follow recipes for basic salad dressings on the side and  you can always just screw the top on it and store the rest in the fridge.  This is one of those GENIUS things I wished I'd thunk of.  LOL!

Name one of YOUR favorite kitchen tools!  Not appliances...little hand tool thingys.

How to Plant Grass - SPRING CLEANING!

On the corner by our house the grass is coming back all weird so The Robinator decided to spread some seeds.  

First...he put this down over the problem area:  Scotts Turf Builder 15.97 lb. Fertilizer with Plus 2 Weed Control

Then...he used a seed spreader to spread the seed:  Pennington 1 Step Complete

Then...he watered it down well and covered it with hay.

So...our neighbor is going to water it in the mornings and Robby is going to water it in the evening.  He's thinking he should have some new grass sprouting by the end of the week.  

Oh...were you wondering what I did while he did all the work?

House Wash - SPRING CLEANING!

See that green stuff underneath the house numbers?  Yeah...that's mildew and it had to go.  LOL!

How to Soften Hard Paintbrushes

Spring cleaning continues at 13700 and we couldn't be more excited about how our efforts look.  I've always felt that every Spring,  you should do all of the things you'd do to your home if you were getting it ready to sell and that's kinda how we're treating our list of projects.  

What would we do if we were trying to get the best price possible right now?

Cleaning and staining the deck and fence was hard, back breaking work for us and man...at the end of the evening we'd be bone dead tired.  That said...we didn't properly clean our tools before we went to bed.

Or the next day.

Or even that next day.

So yeah...we thought we were going to have to get rid of $30 worth of new brushes and roller.

Outdoor Chair Cushions

I need to buy new ones.  Have YOU ever replaced your cushions?  Where did you find the perfect ones?  Was it difficult to find cushions for YOUR chairs?  Do your chairs use seat cushions only or seat AND back cushions? 

 

How to Power Wash and Stain Your Deck - SPRING CLEANING

On Saturday, we power washed our deck:  How to Power Wash Your Deck - SPRING CLEANING

On Sunday, we power washed our fence while I started staining our deck after lightly sanding it and then blowing off all the dust from the sanding.

As I was staining the deck with a brush...SOMEBODY was down below complainig that I was dripping stain.

SOMEBODY almost got a can of stain dumped on his head.

Grocery Store Cardigan

I have a grocery store cardigan that stays in the back of my truck with my reusable grocery bags because I hate being cold in the grocery store and I'm ALWAYS cold in the grocery store.

Is that just me?

Do YOU keep a sweater in your car for the same reason?

Or is that just me too?

How to Stain an Old Weathered Bench - SPRING CLEANING

The Robinator's mommy gave him this bench for the balcony at his apartment a long, long time ago.  He brought it with him when we moved in together and it's been with us ever since.  

I decided to give it a once over today and make it a bit less rickety.  I tightened the screws and replaced some rusted nuts.  Then...I roughened up the surface with a sanding block to get it ready for staining.

And then...I stained it.

And voila!  A new finish on a lovely old piece!  

Have YOU done any Spring cleaning yet?

Deck Pressure Washing Before and After

Spring Cleaning Guide 101!

SWITCH CEILING FANS TO COUNTER CLOCKWISE!

CLEAN OR REPAINT ALL BASEBOARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CLEAN ALL WINDOW TREATMENTS!

How to Power Wash Your Deck - SPRING CLEANING

I'm of the mind that anything around the house that I can hire someone to do...I can do myself.  I've hired people to do stuff and the people who come out to do it aren't rocket scientists and I believe I'm smarter than the average bear.  The Robinator, on the other hand, thinks you should just pay someone to do it so YOU don't hav e to do it.

But I like to do stuff.

So we debated on doing our deck ourselves and then we decided that yeah...we can get'er'done.

We took everything off the deck:

Guest Bathroom Medicine Cabinet

This is what I do with all those samples I get from Sephora and the dermatologist.

And those free toothbrushes from the dentist.

You never know who might leave something they need at home or who just ended up spending the night unprepared after a late night on the deck with a couple of bottle of wines.  LOL!

I keep the shampoo and conditioner in the shower.

Oh...and I have bags of new Hanes underwear too so you can shower and not feel gross after.  I just realized recently that I don't have any for men but hey...men are cool with feeling gross right?  LOL!

Guests in the 13700 Guest Bedroom

At 13700 everyone knows that we have an open door to family, framily, friends and lost souls who need time before they can get organized.

The guest bedroom door is closed right at this minute to give some poor, lost souls a bit of privacy from our eyes and I'm hoping that in the very near future I will have the energy and time required to help them find their place in the world.

Mattress Shopping

So...I've been looking at mattresses lately and I have to say I'm a bit annoyed at mattresses these days.  The top of the line ones can't be flipped twice as I'm used to doing (left to right, top to bottom) and that makes no sense to me at all.  I mean sure...it's better for the mattress makers because mattresses which can't be flipped twice will wear out sooner than I'm used to but it's a lose for the consumer.

Then I looked at the middle of the road ones and you know what?  They've done the same thing.  They've made it so that only one side of the mattress can be slept on and yall...that's a bother.  I flip our current mattresses pretty regularly and that's why they last and stay comfy.  It's time to start thinking about a new one and well...the options out there aren't conducive to how I like mattresses.

Did you notice this too the last time you went mattress shopping?

Have you purchased a good mattress recently which can be flipped twice?  If so...PLEASE share.  PLEASE!

Those of you with the pillowtop mattresses...how long have you had them?  Any issues yet with not being able to flip twice?

Pillowtop Mattress

Do you own one?

LA's Totally Awesome All-Purpose Cleaner

 

 

T-Rhonda called me today to rave about this cleaner she found at the dollar store:  

LA's Totally Awesome All-Purpose Cleaner

Any of you ever try this?

Side table for your deck or patio...

BUBBLE CERAMIC SIDETABLE - EMERALD CRACKLE

If you like this...I just saw a green one and a white one almost exactly like this at Marshall's for $39.99.

 

Spring Seedlings!

This year, instead of dropping a few hundred on flowering plants for my planters and pots, I decided to start seedlings of flowers.  In the past I've only done this for herbs so I'm kinda excited to see how they turn out. I planted them on Sunday and they are already sprouting in the Jiffy Greenhouse and make me happy.  I choose seeds of all purple flowers since I love purple flowers in the front of the house.  I'm going to do red and fuchsia for the deck.  Cool huh?

Would you do this instead of the Spring trek to Home Depot or the nursery for flowering plants to spruce up for Spring?

What color or finish are your dream appliances?

Getting Ready to Spruce up for SPRING!

A delivery man accidentally knocked over the Fleur de Lis at our front door and it broke.  A girlfriend knew I'd been shopping around for another one, saw this one and bought it for me.

ME LUBBY ME FRAMILY!

I decided to paint it and started doing that this weekend.  This was after one coat.  I added a second coat amd am going to put to it out front when I finish sprucing up the front.  I think I want new planters. Something modern looking instead of traditional.  

Like this:  

I also want to change the outdoor lantern from the builder grade one to something snazzy.  

Like this:  

What's on your spruce up for spring list?  Did you get started yet?

New Clorox Bottle - Smart Tube Technology!

Every now and again something new comes along that changes the game.  That doesn't happen a lot with cleaning supplies.  We've had the Dyson and Swiffer products but that's pretty much it for new and awesome stuff.

And then along came this bottle from the Clorox people.  It has made me so happy I could have shed a tear the first time I leaned in all the way and squirted out that last, last drop of Clorox Clean Up.  It was HEAVEN!

And yall know nothing about cleaning thrills me so you should be impressed on that caveat alone.  LOL!

Have YOU seen or tried the new bottles yet?  GO CLOROX PEOPLE GO!  Way to solve a VERY.REAL.PROBLEM that has irked us for decades!

Paper Plates

Do you know anyone who uses paper plates to eat on daily in their home?  Do you?

For Sale!

Have you ever put a house on the market for sale?  When?  Was it recently?

How long did it take for you to have it ready?  

What did you focus on?  

Did you get it ready first and THEN contacted a real estate agent or did you contact the agent first and take their advice on what to do?

About how much money do you think  you spent?

Did you start building or shopping for a new house before you sold the old house?

Mattress Caddy

I bought one of these and now my nightstand stays clean.  

GO ME! 6 Pocket Bedside Storage Mattress Book Remote Caddy

Do you have anything like this?  

Question...

What's your take on late night dishes?  Say for instance you've cleaned the kitchen and someone comes in and gets a glass of water or a slice of pie.  You good with them putting the dirty dishes in the sink overnight or do you expect them to clean them and put them in the dishwasher?

Fruit and Vegetable Container from "Modern Family"

I saw this on an episode of "Modern Family" and decided I want one:  Progressive International Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Keeper

I always have too much fruit and veggies to fit in the fridge bins so this would be nice I think.  What do yall think?

Broom Groomer Broom Cleaning Dustpan

Seriously...this is awesome.sauce.  WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?????  Broom Groomer Broom Cleaning Dustpan

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Awareness

On Christmas day I was cooking and the fire alarm went off in our home.  I was confused because nothing was smoking in the kitchen.  Robby went to the panel and disarmed it but then the alarm company called and told us they'd sent out the fire department already because it was the carbon monoxide detector.

Um...huh?

Then they told us to get out the house and wait on the fire department.

As they were telling us this...the fire department rolled up and we got out of their way.  They were all official and whatnot with monitors and they checked the levels in our home for carbon monoxide.  The highest they found was a 5.  It's dangerous when it's 35.

So...it was determined that it's time to change out our detectors because they store "levels" and start going bad after about 10 years.  We're going to get new ones installed in January because we didn't know they needed to be replaced every 10 years.

I don't know if you knew this or not...but now you do so yeah...check that out.  Carbon Monoxide poisoning ain't nothing to play with.

Homeowner Maintenance and Upkeep

If the exhaust fan in your bathroom of the home that you own went out...would you pay to have it fixed or is this the kind of thing you wouldn't worry about until you were about to put the house on the market?  

Refinishing a Leather Sofa

A few months ago Jaru started this weird scratching crap.  Like...he would start and couldn't stop.  No matter where he was or what he was doing.

Even if he was sleeping.

On the leather sofa.

One morning we came down and noticed the first hole in the damn sofa seat cushion.  Soon there were three holes and then...as many as five on two cushions.

Damn sofa looked like it was on a rickety porch down in Memphis somewhere hustling and flowing.

No biggie since I've been SLOWLY looking for a new one right?

WRONG.

Damn dog hasn't stopped scratching so I spend a crap load of money on a NEW Thomasville reclining leather sofa and let him scratch that one up too?

Um...yeah...no.

So what to do?

I scoured the internet for solutions and seriously...nothing seemed like it was going to be a good enough solution so I went to ABBA Upholstery in Gaithersburg.  They sold me a leather hide as close to the color of the leather on the sofa as possible seeing as though it's a 10-year old sofa.  Then they took my old cushion covers and remade the covers down to the velcro on the back of them.  SO.AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Initially they said it would take 2 weeks but 2 weeks was Friday and I didn't get them until today.  We've been living on the sofa using a blanket for all this time and BAAAAAAAABY!  We were soooooooooooo happy today when we put them on!  GO.US!

So yeah...moral of the story is...there probably isn't a refinishing product that you'll like either if you're anything like me.  The new cushion covers ended up costing us $425 but that's way cheaper than how much it would cost to replace the entire damn sofa running the risk of the damn dog scratching another hole in a BRAND.NEW.SOFA.  

I'm good with the slight discoloration until his azz stops scratching or until we just wear out the new pebbled cushions and make it all smooth and worn.  LOL!  $425 WELL spent in my opinion!  GO ME!  GO US!  13700 ROCKS!

What would YOU have done? 

How to clean your coffee pot.

Rinse / wash removable parts.

Mix one part vinegar and two parts water in the water vessel to fill it up.

Run.

Let sit for about 15 minutes.

Pour out vinegar water.

Run again using clean water.

Done!