You need this...

because it 100% works - for real.

I am almost certain that the gravitational pull right in front of my mouth is at least ..... 7 times stronger than normal - so when food gets near it, without fail, it falls right off the fork/spoon/toothpick/chopstick down the front of whatever I'm wearing. This has been a big problem for me (and my wardrobe), but this little pen has changed my life!

Just today, at lunch, I was eating some fresh cherries and a piece fell right on the "tray area" of my clean white shirt. Cherry juice + white shirt usually means minor freak out, find different white shirt, bleach cherry stained white shirt, go back to work and explain why I'm wearing a different shirt, bleach shirt again, mourn the loss of favorite white shirt with permanent faint red stain. But today I got in the car to go back to work (with no backup shirt - that's how much faith I have in this thing!), grabbed my pen and scribbled a little on the stain and by the time I'm in the parking lot it has dissappeared and the wetness of the pen has dried - AMAZING!

It says on the pen that it is best used on "fresh stains" however, I used it on the mascara mark that has been on my car visor for at least 6 months and the butter stain on my favorite J.Crew tee and both were gone in less than 5 minutes .... it's so exciting to me!! I'm thinking it's a great gift idea for new moms, new college students, all of the laundry impaired, and basically anyone who wears clothes.

( I swear they're not paying me, I'm just that excited )

Is there any product that suprised you because it works and you love it? My mom recently discovered this fantastic chopper that she swears by - what are your favorite finds?

Italy is my favoritist place ever

My street! Ours is the first door on the left, it was an old convent that was converted into a mini campus for the study abroad students.

This is the hallway on the first floor, at the end on the right was the computer room where I emailed my family and Jared about the latest adventures. On the left was the courtyard in the picture below.

Everyday I would come down the hallway (above) , turn left and come down the staircase on the right side of the courtyard (left) , counting my blessings with every step...

I just don't know of very many places where you see things like this around every corner - it really is as beautiful as all of the postcards.

One of my most valuable and rewarding experiences in college was without a doubt studying abroad in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy the summer before my senior year. I always have had a fascination with Italy and when I found out that I was going to spend almost two months there it was more than a dream come true.

There were several interesting things that I learned while I was there - gelato is the food of the gods, wine is free but water costs money (not cool for one of the only non-drinkers in the group!), exactly how severe my shopping problem is, that Olive Garden is not real italian food, and that somehow I was born on the wrong continent. I really fell in love with absolutely everything and can't wait to go back with Jared and my family someday. Lindsey, my roomate and partner in crime there, and I joked around about buying a villa together and getting our husbands to fix it up - we then proceeded to look for villas in every town that we visited and discovered that even the average ones are insanely expensive. Good thing Jared knows how to fix just about anything...

Where have you always wanted to go? or where have you been that has you dying to go back?

I don't collect things

but if I did I would snatch up a few of these little lovelies...

                 

I just have a thing for trays I guess - I love all trays, but these decoupage ones are especially cool. Check them out here. They are pretty pricey, herego a collector item for people who have the kind of money to buy things for no other purpose than "adding them to the collection". Currently, I am not such a person , but when I am I will have trays galore and buy them for all my friends. I think this elephant one is cool too.

recipe of the week - the best guacamole ever

Even though one of Bear Gryll's three favorite foods is the avocado I was not having it - until just recently when my younger sister, Kellye, whipped up this amazingly fresh guac in under 10 minutes. I must say I am truly converted. It's super easy (for the culinary impaired like myself) and makes enough for a crowd. Thanks Kel, for opening a whole new world for me and my new found love of the avocado. Enjoy!

Kellye’s Famous Guacamole

INGREDIENTS:
4 large avocados
8 dashes hot pepper sauce (or jalapeño juice)
1/2 cup small diced red onion
1 large garlic clove - minced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 medium tomato - seeded then diced, don’t forget
the seeded part.
2 tbsp Lemon juice (to taste)
2 tbsp Lime juice (to taste)

WHAT TO DO:
Cut avocados in half, add lemon juice (oh, and lime juice, too), hot pepper sauce, onion, garlic, salt & pepper. Toss well using sharp knife till avocados are diced! Then, add tomatoes! salt to taste! MAGNIFICO!


Photo by Nick.

I heart Bear Grylls

If you haven't seen Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel then you seriously need to evaluate your level of coolness. Doesn't everyone need to know what to do if you're stranded in an African safari or on the middle of an Alaskan glacier? The answer is of course. He's like a modern day McGyver lost in the wilderness - and since I watched some serious McGyver back in the day, I'm a fan.

It's Friday, have a cookie....

Pumpkin Cookies & Cream Cheese Frosting

1 c butter flavored Crisco
3 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 teas vanilla
5 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

**Cream shortening and sugar in kitchen aid. Add eggs one at a time. Add pumpkin and vanilla. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Mix well. Spray Pam on cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Move to cooling rack and cool completely.

Frosting
1 8oz pkg cream cheese softened
1/2 cup softened butter
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

**Combine in kitchen aid bowl mix well. Frost cooled cookies. Eat whole batch.

I'm married to a pancake artist

Tomorrow is my birthday. My husband, Jared, happens to be a fantastic pancake maker which is good news for me. But little did I know that on birthdays and special occasions he has been known to get quite artistic with his medium of choice - batter. Last year on my birthday I had pancake balloons, letters, and hearts that for some reason seemed to taste a little better than the regular round ones. Maybe tomorrow the artist will emerge once more!