Egg Safety

Tonight I was trying to decide whether or not to use the eggs in my fridge to make Matzoh balls because they were about 23 days past the "best by" date on the carton. My mom told me they were fine, but I'm paranoid so I went searching around and found this site:

http://www.eggsafety.org/f_a_q.htm

Thought I'd share in case anyone else faces the same issue. And yes, the eggs are fine. The matzoh balls are chillin' in the fridge now!

Tennis Ball Birthday Cake

I went to a birthday party this weekend that had the most amazingly decorated Curious George cake (it was a party for a 2 year old). The cake reminded me of a few of the fancy cakes I have made in the past for my mom. One of my favorites was a tennis ball cake I made for her 2 years ago. She's a big tennis buff, and this cake was the envy of her entire tennis team. And it was decidedly simple to make, too!

1) Make a regular boxed cake mix in the Betty Crocker Bake-n-Fill round pan. (I borrowed it from a friend).

2) Buy some neon food coloring. Mix the green and yellow into a can of white frosting until it gets to be that neon tennis ball green. (I kept a real ball next to me for comparison).

3) Using a large star tip, pipe green stars all over the entire cake.

4) Using a small round tip, take white decorator icing and pipe two cruved lines around the cake like you would see on a tennis ball.

Done! Easy as pie, and looks great. I will post images of mine later - I have to scan them in first.

My favorite organizing book

I was traveling on business this week, and during a presentation to real clients mentioned that organizing is a hobby/passion of mine. After listening to me talk for 3 hours about work stuff two women stopped me to ask one question - how do we get organized!?!

I pointed them to my favorite organizing book as a great starting point - Julie Morganstern's "Organzing From The Inside Out".

My favorite things about this book are:

1) The analysis at the front breaking down reasons for disorganization. They range from the uber-practical (nothing's put away because it doesn't have a home) to the very deep (people use clutter as a way to avoid emotional intimacy). Reading that section alone was a huge help for me to identify what solution is right in a given situation based on the root cause of the issue.

2) The emphasis on working with your natural tendencies. Many disorganized people think somehow they're bad people for being disorganized. But the truth is we all have systems we use to keep track of things and some natural tendencies for keeping things in order. The idea that it's not the person whose broken, just the system, is refreshing for people I work with. It's also easier to study the systems that do work for people and make minor adjustments to those than to make them try to relearn a totally new routine for things they do almost on autopilot, like put down the mail after a long day of work.

There are a myriad of other things I love about this book, but those were two of my biggest ah-ha moments. If you buy only one organizing book ever, I recommend it be this one. Thanks, Julie!

Prevent (or at least delay) fading of dark wash jeans

Stacy and Clinton from "What Not To Wear" always say to wear dark wash, straight legged jeans with no tears, rips, fairs, etc. Such jeans are VERY hard to find, so I try to take care of them when I find them. I don't go as far as dry cleaning them - that's just not practical for me. But I have devised a strategy that seems to help:

1) Wash them inside out.

2) Put 1/2 cup vinegar in the wash the first time you wash them (got this tip from someone at J.Crew)

3) Only wash your jeans every 2 or three wears.

4) If they're just stretched out, not dirty, use at-home dry cleaning kits like Dryel to steam and freshen them without washing.

5) Hang dry, don't put them in the dryer.

So far this seems to have worked for me. What are your favorite tips for keeping jeans or other clothes looking their best wear after wear?

Organizing Tip Of The Week: Tax Paperwork

Taxes are due in exactly one month. Yikes! I just finished putting my paperwork together to send to my accountant, which only took about 20 minutes. It's easy because I have a file folder at the front of my file cabinet labeled "Tax Paperwork". Throughout the year, whenever anything comes in that I might need for my taxes I put it in there. Most of it comes in January (W2s, 1099s, etc) but I do get donation receipts and a few other forms throughout the year. I put them straight into that folder so that when tax time rolls around I don't have to go digging through the rest of my files and try to remember what I am supposed to include.

I highly suggest setting up such a folder for yourself, especially if you make alot more deductions than I do (my return is pretty basic). It saves alot of hassle and gives you peace of mind that you're not forgetting something that might lead the IRS to come knocking at your door later!

Take the "No Phone Zone" pledge

I have decided to take the Oprah Winfrey "No Phone Zone" pledge. I encourage you to do the same. Texting while driving kills, and is 100% unnecessary. Talking on the phone while driving is dangerous, too. I'd prefer people stop altogether, or pull to the side of the road if you must. There is an option to agree to only talk handsfree if you must talk.

There is not one conversation in the world that is worth risking someone else's life and safety. So please put the phone down, keep your hands on the wheel, and your eyes and mind on the road.

Your fellow drivers will thank you for it.

Ever wonder what a first cousin twice removed is?

I ran into a cousin today while shoe shopping, and someone asked me what kind/level of cousin. She's the daughter of my grandfather's first cousin so I knew it was somewhat far removed, but never could keep that "second cousin twice removed" stuff straight in my head.

Wikipedia to the resuce! I found the cousin page that includes a great little chart to help you figure it out.

It turns out she's my first cousin twice removed. At least I think so! So confusing...

Quote of the week 3/3/10

So the "quote of the week" feature hasn't exactly been weekly yet. I'm working on that whole consistency thing. But here's one that is speaking to me this week:

An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth.

--Bonnie Friedman

I've been feeling very harried lately and so I'm trying to focus on slowing down and calming down. That means less sensory input - no TV, less time on the computer, more time focused on a single task at a time. It is amazing how much more peaceful I feel when I eliminate the constant chatter of the modern world, of only for a little while.

Cleaning without the chemicals

Lately I've really be getting into reducing the volume of chemicals in my daily life. That includes in my food, and in my home. My favorite blog, Young House Love, recently featured an article in one of my favorite magazines, Real Simple, about how to clean your house with natural things you likely already have on hand. Here's their post:

http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/03/real-simple-solutions/

I'm definitely going to print this out and use it as a reference on my next big cleaning spree (should be soon - it's almost Spring!!).

They also referenced a second article titled 66 All Natural Cleaning Solutions that seems worth checking out. My only peeve is the format that Real Simple uses on it's Web site that makes you scroll through screen after screen to see all the content. As someone who specializes in Web site usability this makes me want to tear my hair out - why must you torture me so? Give me a regular article, please!! But alas, I suffer through it because the content is worthwhile.

What are your favorite tricks for natural cleaners? I posted one of mine for cleaning the commode a while back. But I'm always looking for more ideas.