A day off for working citizens…

Happy Labor Day, my fellow working class!

Enjoy this day off! I hope you spend it with friends and family and those you love!

(Which reminds me…110 days until our Disney vacation!)

Food A to Z…

Each year, Rachael Ray magazine publishes a “Food A to Z” guide, where the Rachael and her army of editors and editorial assistants put together the hippest, hottest, trendiest, most useful (or not so) tidbits of information in alphabetical order.  While some are helpful, others are interesting…some are brow-raising and others are just useless, I wanted to highlight two that really hit home for me.

E:  “in this economy”  Are you tired of hearing that as we are?  Everyone’s tightening their belts - we get it. 
To combat this rough economy, the webmaster on rachaelraymag.com conveniently created a new page, aptly titled:  $10 Spot – for family dinners that cost 10 bucks or less.  Pretty cool, right?  But honestly, my friend Camille said it best “I don’t mind spending money on good food.”  And I must agree with her. 

Whether its Wegmen’s or Whole Foods (or even Acme’s Wild Harvest organic line), I would rather spend an extra $10 on a cartfull of healthy groceries than hitting up the $5.99 fried chicken dinner special at the deli counter or frozen convenience foods filled with preservatives.  As with most things, it’s all about choices.

M:  music.  Keep yourself company in the kitchen (even when you’re alone) with playlists.
Music to chop to:  The First Cut is the Deepest – Sheryl Crow
                                     Cuts Like a Knife – Bryan Adams
                                     Into the Groove – Madonna
Music to stir to:    Daydreaming – Corrine Bailey Rae
                                    Five Minutes More – Frank Sinatra
                                    Stop and Stare – OneRepublic
Music to grill to:  Don’t Stand So Close to Me – The Police
                                    Not Dark Yet – Bob Dylan
                                    Burn – The Cringe

Bravo, RR, bravo!  Not only was this a set list full of quality, yet eclectic, artists, but tongue-in-cheek too!  I love it!  Download these tunes and start movin’ and groovin’ in your own kitch!

P.S. – Happy Birthday, Rach!

Now let me tell ya ’bout the Berds and the Bees…

No, there is no typo in this headline.  Believe you me, I would be the first with the red pen in-hand if it was.  “Berd and Bee” recently set up shop at Red Bank’s trusty Farmer’s Market.  This stand was way different than any of the other crafty places. 

It was fresh and funky. 
It was vintage yet original. 
It smelled delicious and I knew I was where I wanted to be.

There were handmade pillows and hand molded candles.  Everything had the same feel to it.  (Great branding effort.) 

I picked up an apple shaped natural beeswax candle.  They say that smell is the sense with the closest link to memory and as I took a whiff,  I was transported back to second grade.  The day’s art lesson included candle making.  With clumsy 10-year-olds, candle making did not consist of dipping hot wax, but a plastic wick and a sheet of beeswax. I remember rolling up my sheet and then unrolling it because my fingers couldn’t roll it quite tight enough.  Once the wick was sticking out exactly one inch on top and the bottom was as flat as can be, I was so proud to present my creation to Mom after school that day. That crooked, lovely, lopsided candle still sits atop her bureau.  Time for a vintage-y update.

A neatly wrapped package and $12 bucks later, I am yet again proud to show her my find!

(Check out all their stuff – they’re trying to move some inventory before leaving this fall for Graduate school at the Savannah College of Art and Design!)

 

 

 

Your Special Place…

A shout out to Jersey native poet William Cottringer for this post:

YOUR OWN SPECIAL PLACE
By Bill Cottringer

Everyone needs a place—
That very special place;
A rainy Saturday sofa nap,
The peaceful beach sunset,
A candle-lit dinner by the pond,
Or hazelnut coffee on your river;
Maybe a honeymoon cottage,
Overlooking a stormy ocean;
The mountain reflecting perfectly
In the flower outlined lake;
A poster bed with silk sheets,
Or sleeping bag under the stars.
Somewhere is your special place
Waiting for your eyes to see,
Nose to smell and fingers to touch;
Your special place is anywhere
When you’re with her.

Me?  Well I certainly have a special place.  Here’s the view:

Diamond in the rough…

What a disappointing day at the beach.  We trudged out in high hopes that the sun would break though the clouds – but received little pay-off for our venture.

It was quite disturbing as the water washed up more trash than I have ever seen at Monmouth Beach. 

There was one highlight of the morning, however:

Plastered sayings…

As seen on the walk down West Front Street…

...to describe the life of a 20-something.

I’m baaackkk…

So here goes nothin’. Third time’s a charm, right?!

I wallow in guilt for not blogging for (gulp) six months, yet I will not make excuses. For by day, I am praising the social media world and stressing the importance of consistant and focused messaging and by night, this girl is not following through. So no more, blog-o-sphere…here is my documented return!

And with that, I will leave you with a relevant video. By a masterful artist who once quipped, “I’m the macaroni with the cheese!”