bento box.

A Bento box is to the Japanese what the brown bag lunch is to Americans. Since I bring my LUNCH to work each day, I was VERY interested when I read about these handy ones sold at Plastica.

It's a stackable lunch box with little compartments that could house all the snacks I bring to work. I bring LOTS of little things, and this would keep them all contained in a bright, fun lunch box that would make me happy each day @ noon. I like the blue, green and white one the best. With this, mr hummus doesn't have to touch mr veggies OR mr pitas until right before I eat!

I will admit - I might be pretty easy to please. Right now my solution for a lunch tote is tupperware in a Target bag.

tom's toothpaste.

I'm a Tom's toothpaste lover. I made the switch about a year and a half ago. Bye-bye Colgate for Nicky. I like Tom's because it TASTES GOOD. Plus, they use all natural ingredients in their products and are big charity contributors.

Last night, we ran out. BOO. It was pretty late, but I scoured the linen closet to find the teeney-tiny travel size Colgate we have. It's tough to go back, it's like having Jiff after you've been eating all-natural PB for awhile.

I must have complained loudly, because this morning I was happy to find McAllister had made a late-night pit stop for Tom's on the way home from work. Happi Day!

junk outing.

Sondra and I went junking this past weekend. We hit up some moving sales and antique stores. It is a successful trip when we can fill up the back of her SUV (camera pic below) with JUNK for less than $40 total!

Among my coolfinds:
-A $10 ladder that I'll use as a towel rack and shelf in the guest room.
-Large wire baskets ($2 apiece) that will make 4 GREAT storage with an industrial feel.
-3 small, old drawers ($1 apiece unless your me - then they charge you double!) from our local, architectural salvage shop. I'm going to make them into a 3 shelf inbox for my desk.
-2 OLD suitcases for $3 each. They'll likely be made into one end table, I'm just not sure yet if I want them on casters or not....

There was LOTS more (oh yeah - the $5 vintage drying rack!). I'm sure I'll post about the finished products. Let the projects BEGIN!

mygoogle themes

My Google has THEMES, pass it on!

Thanks to ljc, I now know my 'My Google' page can have a THEME.

The page will dynamically change based on where you are located and what time of day it is, so you won't get bored of your theme. Very rad.

The 'Bus Stop' looks like it could be fun, but for now - I agree with ljc and will opt for the 'Tea House' theme. The orange trees are helping me move past winter and onto SPRING.

switzerland photos.

No one is holding their breath for the photos from our super-duper trip. Thank goodness for that, b/c I've been a total slacker getting them organized and online. My average time from "say-cheese" to computer is usually quicker than a bunny. But not with Europe. And doing the math, I think I know why....

As a couple, during our trip - we hit new photo taking levels never hit before. In our 19 day trip, we arrived home with 2298 images and 34 video clips. (well over 3MB of storage)

2298 pics?!?!?! That means, on average we took 121 photos per day. That's crazy. It's so crazy, I LOVE it.

fyi: I finished Switzerland and posted them to my Gallery Travel page. Next up: Southern France and Rome.

medicine cabinet makeover.

I shamelessly stole a neat-o project idea from MARTHA that I saw online last year.

The project is an easy-peasey way to JAZZ up your medicine cabinet using a sheet of galvanized metal. Plus, it works DOUBLE time for you as storage b/c you can stick magnets to it!

You can check out the before/after road to getting there on my PROJECTS page. It was ironic to see the project tip featured in Martha's APRIL issue of her Living magazine this month. I finished it last week, before the magazine dropped - so I'm CONVINCED Martha and I are on the same wave.....

spring.

I've got the itch. The itch for spring & all that comes along with it!

That includes flowers, sunshine, gardening, coffee on the front porch, lazy Saturday mornings, flip flops, farmer's market, garage sales, flea markets, trips to the dog park and MORE.

happy FIRST day of spring!

shamrock coasters.

I went to Albany for the weekend, to visit my crafty Irish friends.

I made 6 festive shamrock coasters as a gift for my lovely hostesses. They were a nice, functional gift and really fun to make too. I even was able to enjoy them most of the weekend during my stay.

Check out my projects page for the how-to!

going GREEN.

In the spirit of the upcoming GREEN weekend, I thought it would be timely to introduce a new, buzzing, local business here in Rochester....

Green Way Cleaning, is the new biz in town! It was started by a couple of stay-at-home mom's with an eco-friendly passion. They've introduced new products & services for those that want to introduce a green way of cleaning into their homes. They have residential cleaning services, do public speaking engagements and even sell the cleaning products they make.

I just ordered the Green Way Caddy!

the queens of junk.

I love making NEW uses out of OLD things.

Two of the masters of that, are Sue Whitney and Ki Nassuer - the owners of Junk Market. They're also authors of a book (which I own), Junk Market Style, have their own magazine (same name) and a monthly column in Country Living. They are famous for re-purposing garage sale scores into neat and clever ideas. Take their doggie dish idea.... did anyone think I could come up with that on my own?!

My girlfriend and I went to hear them speak over the weekend at the Buffalo Home and Garden show. They were awesome.!! We got to meet Sue unexpectedly on the way in, when we were lost. She smuggled us through the exhibitor entrance saving us that ridiculous $9 cover charge.

Their talk got me super-charged for all the flea market and garage sales that are right around the corner with SPRING!

candid's in town.

I got an email yesterday from a fave band - CANDID.

Simple marketing, they email to announce where they'll be playing. I just HEART how different their email creative is. I've come to always expect something new and different, so I open them all regardless of if whether their tour is in a far-off city I won't be attending.

They are playing here in Roch this weekend. I have tentative out-of-town plans though.... BOO.

Happy 50th Anniversary!

My BLOG turned 50 today….

Having a relatively new entrance into the BLOGGING world, I baked myself CUPCAKES today to celebrate my 50^th POST.

Cheers to 50 MORE!

vending machines

Last week, during my travel to the west coast and back, I happen to notice that vending machines are not just for candy and soda anymore. In Vegas, I saw bouquets of flowers including dozens of roses being sold out of the vending machines while I awaited my luggage @ the baggage claim.

In the Minneosota airport, you could purchase a 30 day OR 60 day supply of Proactiv acne medication right out of a vending machine. You could also purchase an ipod, or if you already have one – accessories for it like headphones, rad cases or iTunes gift cards. The direct-to-consumer marketing model is growing by leaps and bounds when you look at all these new selling channels....

Have you seen anything extraordinary hanging out in your local vending machines?

you're hired!

Does this guy look familiar?!

He may - he is the season-one winner of The Apprentice, Bill Rancic.

The conference I went to last week had Rancic as a key-note speaker. I wasn't entirely excited when I first heard. I'm just not a big fan of people becoming famous off their short-term reality-TV stunts. But his speech was actually quite good and informative. He gave a motivational speech covering his perspective on business values, strategies, goals, etc. He is a SMART guy.

I got a FREE copy of his book (which is signed now ;-0), You're Hired and I read a good chunk of it on the plane ride back. I can tell already it will be an easy, inspiring business-book, I've already related to it on many fronts.

vegas bound.

Here's the view from my WINDOW seat. This was during the Rochester to Chicago leg of my trip over to Vegas for business.

I was running a bit late for my early flight and forgot to turn my cell phone off during take-off. I managed to catch a quick pic with my camera phone before I interrupted traffic control signals....