Fashion, Health, In the Kitchen, Photos, Running

Happy “Friday” to me!

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Not really Friday, because it’s Wednesday. Canada Day is tomorrow, but I still have to work on the real Friday. Such a confusing work week, but welcomed holiday. Much needed.

So my brutal burn has turned into an unexpected tan. I’m multi-tasking here and talking to my Mom on the phone, cooking supper and modeling my new tan for you all. Fancy fancy. I haven’t been working out regularly since my 5k race on Father’s Day except for the soccer games I play in. So I decided to kick it up and go back to the gym and do a Boot Camp class (for the first time in a few months) — sure I got my ass whooped but the class somewhat flew by and I feel great this morning. Not sluggish at all!

Funny how when you skip the gym or a workout for … oh I don’t know, two months and just keep running that you feel worn out. Exercise = energy just like Kelly talked about on her blog yesterday!

Then of course I fueled up with some asparagus wrapped in chicken with some roasted red pepper something or other Kraft salad dressing drizzle on top.

Chomp down! Can’t wait for supper tonight. Mmmm my belly loves food.

Don’t forget to enter my DownEast Basics (clothing) giveaway — you have until July 5.

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Health, In the Kitchen

Quick and painless cleaning tips (#1)

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After a while of collecting some useful tips and tricks on how to clean certain areas of your house, I have collaborated a few of my own that I have gathered off the interwebs.Sorry I don’t remember where I read everything and apologize that I haven’t credited the authors.

Vinegar seems to do most of the trick, so buy in bulk!

Sinks/Showers:

  • Use a vinegar soaked rag to remove hard water stains from your shower head, faucets and even stainless steel appliances.
  • Use a damp dryer sheet to remove soap scum from shower doors and walls. Not only does it remove this unsightly film, but it leaves the room smelling clean and fresh.
  • Use Borax for removing hard water stains. Just sprinkle some onto the offending area, let sit for a few minutes, and wipe with a damp sponge.

Isn’t our shower nice? So spa-like. We just go the tiles re-done, after a really long sink + bath tub faucet leak. Pretty.

Toilets:

  • Drop a couple of denture cleaning tablets in and let them fizz for a while.
  • Pour two cups of vinegar into the bowl and letting it sit for an hour, scrubbing should be minimal. If you have hard water stains from the sides of the bowl, try filling the bowl with vinegar and leaving it to sit over night.

Drains/Pipes:

  • Pour one part baking soda followed by one part vinegar down the drain, let stand for one minute, then rinse to clean out the pipes.

OTHER:

  • Add one part vinegar and one part water to a spray bottle and spray down mold or mildew, then just scrub it away with a textured sponge or rag and rinse it clean.

Always keep your old toothbrushes on hand, they’re perfect for getting in the little crevices behind the faucets and in the corners of the floor, where the dirt can hide!

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In the Kitchen, Photos, Reviews

CSN Stores review

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Remember when I said I had an upcoming review from CSN stores? That was a while ago, hey? It took me so long to decide on what to pick out that I was literally weeks choosing something!

I kept resorting back to the Le Creuset 8 ounce casserole dish even if my Mom told me it was going to be the size of a pop can. I didn’t order that, thankfully. What the heck can you cook in an 8 ounce dish? It’s about the size of my palm. Literally!

I was told I could pick out something worth $40.00 which included shipping. This excluded International Fees however, and in order for me to get the product for “free”, I had to choose something under $20 because of the additional fees that were tacked on.

Since I’ve been baking some goodies lately, I’ve been in dire need of a cooling rack. The one that I had before was miniature and only held 10 muffins out of the 12 that I usually make. It was an annoyance for sure as I want them all to cool evenly and not get all moist and turn to mush in the muffin tins. The choice was easy. I decided to be practical instead of ordering yet another bowl which I was on the edge about. I wanted to put my fruit in it! Or pasta! Yum. Doesn’t it look pretty? Sigh. I just don’t need it though.

I was also tempted to get a new leash for Alfie though. They’ve got some pretty ones.

So here is my brand new … super large cooling rack in all its glory. Much nicer than the one I had before.

I‘m feeling quite productive this morning. We went and got some groceries last night and I was feeling like some blueberry muffins when I woke up at 6:30. So there they are, cooling off on the giant awesome cooling rack.

As I mentioned before, there are over 200 stores to choose from and so many things on their site that it made my decision a bit difficult to make. I swear I could look at their cookware site and tell you what products they have and how much they cost, haha. After weeks upon weeks of trying to choose what to order off CSN’s thousands of products from their hundreds of stores, I ended up getting an extra large cooling rack for $13 (which ended up coming to be $37 with all the taxes and shipping). CSN stores is able to ship to Canada, but more importantly through the States. Since I’m located in Canada, I would not suggest that you order from CSN stores. The international fees (duties and what not) will get you every time, and they’re really high! The shipping also varies on the weight of the item.

Overall though their Customer Service at CSN is pretty friendly. I was dealing with one woman throughout the whole process, and it was very casual and laid back, yet professional in a sense that I trusted them. If I had money to splurge, I’d definitely buy some Le Creuset bake ware/cookware, but I don’t — so I’ll have to stick to places around my city for that stuff. For now at least.

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