As I’ve said before, I work in waves. Right now? I’m experiencing a serious girlie wave. I’m buying shoes, googling “best anti-aging night cream” (any suggestions?) and scouring through sephora looking for the perfect everyday lipstick (this has been a lifelong quest, BTW).
I think this all started when I noticed that when I smile, I see ... I see ...
Wrinkles.
Age has been kind to me, I’m lucky to have good genes (lord knows it’s not lifestyle) so I don’t look my age, well, I certainly don’t look older than my age. But time to face facts, I’m pushing 40.
Let us pause for a moment and let that sink in.
Aaaaaaaand we’re back.
I’ve already embraced how magnificent it is to be this age. I’m more at peace, more comfortable in my own skin, more independent and confident. Dare I say, I’m less emotional than I was even a few years ago. I don’t let things rattle me like I used to. I take better care of myself in every way.
Except ... girlie stuff. My wardrobe is pathetic. I mean seveeeeeeeeerely lacking. If I take time to put on makeup it’s a miracle. I walk around looking like a hobo most days and I’m kinda over it. I feel I shouldn’t spend money on myself, that it’s self-indulgent or vain or a waste of money. Kinda over that too. I’ll drop $200 on fonts at the drop of a hat but I’ll walk around in bad shoes? Gah! Maybe I just don’t want to think about the way I look, so I avoid it. Who knows. But it’s going to change.
I am going to determine a budget for “girlie things” and stick to it. We’re talking shoes, we’re talking $32 under eye concealer, we’re talking clothes people. And not from Old Navy either.
I’m obsessed with BBCAmerica’s How Clean is Your House? I’m pretty sure it’s changed my life. I’ve never been a neat freak or especially fond of cleaning, but this show changed all of that for me.
The premise is, two sassy ladies from the UK go to various people’s really over-the-top filthy, disgusting, OMG gross! homes to show them how much dust, disease-causing bacteria, bugs, mites and nastiness they’re living in ... and how to clean it.
The part I love is as they teach these people (for the first time apparently) how to clean their counters and toilets, they only use products that are commonly found around the house to do the job—borax, “washing up liquid” (which I think is “UK” for dish SOAP), olive oil, toothpaste, vinegar, tea tree oil, baking soda, salt, lemons and so forth.
Since discovering this show which is a staple on my DVR (I like to watch it at lunch time since, minus commercials, it’s about 20 minutes long and doubles as an appetite suppressant), I’ve become a bit of a chemist around the home. I rarely buy manufactured cleansers anymore save laundry and dishwasher detergent. No windex, no furniture polish, no floor cleaner. I make it all myself. They work better than anything I’ve paid $5.39 for and the savings can go toward new shoes. Win, win really.
I now really enjoy cleaning. It’s fun to experiment to see what I can find around the house to clean various things. I’ve also invented (patent pending) what I call “cardio cleaning”—where I run around the house and keep my heart rate up for 30 minutes or more. Putting the laundry in, I do lunges. Wiping down counters, I keep my legs moving. I look like a big old dork, yes, but don’t judge me. My house is sparkly AND I’ve squeezed in my workout for the day. *smug*
My asthma has improved since the switch, and now when I breathe in harsh cleaning chemicals, I can really feel it deep in my lungs. People comment that my house always smells so nice and clean. Except Brian, who hates the smell of vinegar, but luckily I love it and he is always welcome to clean if it’s that bad. Apparently it’s not.
White vinegar is a staple, I buy 4 gallons at a time at Costco (under $4 for the lot) and the huge bag of bulk baking soda. I buy lots of spray bottles (the best ones are found in the garden center, big and cheap) to cut vinegar with water, adding a couple of drops of natural liquid SOAP for an all purpose cleaner (works great on my granite counter tops). Most recently I’ve been adding tea tree oil to change up the smell (also has antibacterial properties, that’s why people use it for zits!) I plan on experimenting with adding other essential oils as well - lemon, vanilla, lavendar - to cut the vinegar smell.
I’m always on the hunt for new recipes but here are my favorites:
Counters
1/2 White Vinegar
1/2 Water
Few drops of liquid SOAP
Carpet Fresh
Baking soda
A few drops of your favorite essential oil
Sprinkle and vacuum up (can do this on your throw pillows too, when’s the last time you smelled yours?)
Mildewy Gunk
Tea Tree Oil
Liquid SOAP
Baking Soda
Elbow grease
Dirty Microwave
Bowl of water
Lemon Slices
Heat for 5 minutes
Wipe away, clean and good as new, smells like lemons
Windows
1/2 Vinegar
1/2 Water
Black and white newspaper to wipe (it works!)
Wood Laminate Flooring
1/3 Vinegar
1/3 Alcohol (not the good stuff haha,) - These floors aren’t supposed to stay wet for long, so this helps the vinegar mixture to dry faster.
1/3 Water
Drains
1 part vinegar
1 part baking soda
1 part salt (optional)
Let sit 15 minutes, flush with boiling water
Dark Wood Furniture
Wipe down with old coffee, brings back the color!
(for light furniture, I’ve heard that tea does wonders, or really really watered down coffee)
Furniture Polish
Warm water
Lemon
Olive oil
I’ll share more as I discover them; in the meantime—anybody have other/better ideas?
Lately I’ve become obsessed with the number of plastic shopping/grocery bags that enter my household. I’ve been sticking them in a drawer to see how fast it takes to fill up.
Not.
Long.
I used to merely hate waste and packaging and so forth, but I’m learning to despise it.
To be aware and to take action when it comes to the little things automatically puts you in the “damn tree hugger” category. I see the looks, I know. Nobody wants to be the slightest bit inconvenienced. But enough is enough!
Lately I’ve been thinking long and hard about my little trips to the grocery store. Like maybe I could buy one of those canvas bags to stick stuff in. Not for the big shops, the Costco runs, but for the other 90% of the time when I’ve only got a few items.
Today I was out and about and had my huge ass purse with me so I figured let’s see how this goes. Barnes & Noble? “No thanks, I don’t need a bag.” Grocery store? Well, I kinda forgot about my plan by that point. I was buying fat free sour cream and fat free cheddar cheese and it was only as I was swiping my debit card that I remembered I was going to stop using plastic at the grocery. I could have fit a whole case of the stuff in there so I said, “Come to think of it, I don’t need a bag.” She gave me the look. Like I was seven types of crazy and how annoying that I inconvenienced her. She took a deep breath and mustered up the strength to take those whole two items out of the bag. I stuck them in my purse.
And then.
She crumpled up the bag that had been contaminated by my grocery cooties and threw it in the trash.
Blogging 2004, so much of the conversation was shaped on the web. Now, is it possible that democrats are getting it? Sure, the web has changed a lot in the last few years, but even back then the campaigns didn’t take full advantage of what was available. Everything was grassroots, a bit disconnected. We were talking, but they paid attention only when the web conversation crossed over into mainstream media. Candidates attempted to use forums and blogs to communicate, but we all know they were lame, impersonal. I didn’t see any political blogger with a campaign site on their blogroll let’s just put it that way.
Maybe there are some hipper, savvier marketing people involved this time. (Then again, not hard to achieve.)
Rather than just sending me HTML emails asking for money and giving me updates about how bad Bush sucks ... I am seeing positive signs that the candidates are attempting to understand the culture of the web, the power of viral marketing, social networking, blogging and the interactivity (key) that goes with it. They have the power to reach out in a more personal way, participate in the conversation, and they just may be smart enough to take advantage of that.
This morning the email from the Hillary campaign wasn’t about issues or begging for contributions, it was a plea to help choose her campaign song. On the surface a bit gimmicky, sure, but when the home girl is self-effacing, that’s good funny and from a marketing perspective, brilliant.
You know when somebody asks you to dance, but you’re really not feeling the beat of the song? Oh and you’re sober too. You may otherwise be a decent dancer and a pretty cool cat.
