Wordless Friday

Central Park

New York Bound!

I'm heading to New York City to see my dear sister and take in the sights for some mental R&R. So far on the agenda is 'South Pacific' on Broadway. And a muffin from Pret A Manger. I've never tried them, but my husband is obsessed, so I'll get my chance this weekend. We checked out a guide to Manhattan at the library that we plan to use to find restaurants and activities. I've been to NYC twice, both quick trips, but between those trips I've been to the top of the Empire State Building, shopped on 5th Avenue, walked around Rockefeller Center, went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, and ate dinner in Times Square. Oh, and I did go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and walked through Central Park. So I have a few bases covered, but there is just so much to see and do there. Anything recommended as a "must see"or "must eat" that I haven't already mentioned?

Lake Erie Beach Glass

Sea Beach Glass is glass that was once a beautiful piece of tableware, a bottle, or a dish that once served a purpose. For one reason or another it was discarded and found its way into the water where nature refined this piece of trash by tumbling it into a beautiful, smooth, gem. It has been given back us by nature where we can find these beautiful pieces laying on the shores of our Lake! Headed up by Jodie, Lake Erie Beach Glass creates beautiful jewelry designs and art from the pieces that they pick up off the shore of Great Lake Erie. LEbg™ is a family business, enjoying their days beachcombing several beaches along the coast. In addition to sea glass they collect found objects and like to help our environment by picking up the "flotsam and jetsam" trash that is harmful to our wildlife and by properly disposing of it. LEbg™ is proud to be helping in hosting the 2009 North American Sea Glass Festival in Erie, Pa. Visit them October 17th & 18th as a vendor or attendee! Visit http://www.seaglassassociation.org for more details.
I love the colors of beach glass. Pale blues to vivid greens, warm amber and pristine white. They are fitting of the name beach glass! You can get some beautiful one of a kind pieces from Jodie's shop. I recently purchased this adorable pair of earrings in an emerald green color. So sweet, and they dress up my everyday wear, bringing lots of compliments. ;) Visit her shop at http://lakeeriebeachglass.etsy.com and check out the great selection of beach glass jewelry.

Hair Rehab Conditioner- New Product

New at Soap Rehab--Rehab for your hair! Revitalizes out of shape hair, leaving it tangle-free and silky smooth without weighing it down. A great conditioner for all hair types. Formulated with excellent conditioners as well as jojoba oil for dry ends, sweet almond oil for happy hair vitamins A, B, and E, and wheat protein providing amino acids to strengthen hair. Just work thoroughly through damp hair and rinse. Leave in 3-5 minutes for extra conditioning. The hair softening properties also make this great to use as a shaving cream. I give this product double duty in my shower as both conditioner and shaving cream. It works great on my fine hair, and on my testers' thicker hair...straight and curly alike.

Choosing Wall Paint Colors

Sometimes choosing paint colors is very difficult. We moved into a house that needed a lot of updating, including painting every room. We just finished choosing a color for the room my husband and I use as our shared home office. Hopefully we finished choosing, we'll know for sure after we've completely finished painting it! Sometimes paint color comes easily to me, like our dining room that we color matched to a Tiffany shopping bag. And my son's room, whose only request was that it be "blue". Then there are the room colors that involve getting a bunch of paint chips from every paint carrying store in the tri-county vicinity, all taped up to the wall together...a mass of lonely rectangles of color waiting to be the lucky winner. None seemingly representing it's true nature. And now that so many places offer sample sizes, we had sample splotches painted all over one wall of the office. This is very helpful, by the way, and probably kept us from re-painting. Finally I called "time" and we chose one. I never would have thought that "orange" would prove to be so difficult. We decided on an orange color scheme to spark excitement, creativity, and motivation. Perfect for an office, right? But there are yellow oranges, rusts, brown oranges, red oranges, pink oranges, peachy buff oranges.....whew! How do you pick out paint colors? Any tips?

Grandma's Rhubarb Jelly

This jelly is so good, easy, and makes great use of rhubarb! I'm a little rhubarb crazy, because it's such a unique vegetable that we sweeten and use as a fruit! And it's easy to grow. And I have lots and lots of it. I just got the recipe from my Grandma because I wanted new ways to make use of my rhubarb and have always loved her jelly! So here it is:

5 cups rhubarb, chopped
5 cups sugar
1 large (20 oz) can crushed pineapple with juice (this is the secret ingredient!!)

Cook above ingredients for about 20 minutes. Stir until dissolved a 6 oz package of Strawberry gelatin into the mixture. Seal into jars while still hot.

Etsy Twitter Team: Shop of the Week: LM Creation

I've blogged about LM Creation before, since buying one of her business card holders that I love so much. But here's a little more info from the artist herself, Lisa:

Lisa's aim is to make "the best quality piece that I can in my own style and with fabrics that really appeal to me. I also aim to provide the best customer service that I can, the same kind of service that I would like to receive as a customer." Inspired by the beautiful variety of fabrics available, Lisa, like many textile artists, often feels that the fabric "tells me what to do, so when I see the right fabric I just know that it will make a special bag or wristlet or whatever." Her tip for using Twitter? "Get involved with other people on Twitter, respond to their tweets, re-tweet something that is interesting or good for a new twitter member who might need some help. I might tell people what I'm working on, but I only post links to items in my shop once or twice a day, no more than that. People get to know me and the things that I make and I've had sales and custom orders from twitter contacts, as well as being featured in blogs and treasuries."

Special Deal Offered : 10% discount offered to Twitter customers until July 12. Use code "EtsyTwitter" in the Message to Seller and 10% of purchase price will be refunded.

Check out all of Lisa's lovely card holders, wristlets, iPod cases, and more at http://lmcreation.etsy.com

Ingredient Spotlight-Tamanu Oil

Tamanu oil is a remarkable topical healing agent with skin healing, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antibiotic and antioxidant properties. The Tamanu tree is indigenous to tropical Southeast Asia; it is found in Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, South India, Sri Lanka, and the Melanesian and Polynesian islands. The Tamanu tree blooms twice annually with fragrant, white flowers, which later yield clusters of yellow-skinned spherical fruit. The fruit's pulp tastes similar to an apple, within which a large nut is embedded. The nut contains an odorless pale kernel, called punnai in some Pacific areas. This kernel is dried in the sun for two months until it becomes sticky with a dark, thick, rich oil; it must be protected from humidity and rain during drying. This sticky oil is cold-pressed to make a greenish yellow oil similar to olive oil. To put this spectacular oil into perspective, and to further justify its relatively high cost, It takes 100 kilograms of Tamanu fruit, the amount that one tree produces annually, to yield just 5 kilograms of cold pressed oil! Natives believed the Tamanu tree was a sacred gift of nature and that gods hid in its branches. It was their answer to skin protection from hot sun, high humidity and ocean wind. Tamanu oil possesses significant antimicrobial qualities, as proven in antibacterial and antifungal tests. It also works miracles on scar tissue, making scars look less unsightly. It's also said to be helpful for acne and sunburn.
I pulled this info from http://www.mountainroseherbs.com --a great resource for oils and herbs.
Given how wonderful Tamanu oil is for the skin, I recently added it to my shea butter formula, making it even more luxurious and soothing. This addition also makes the Pure Rehab unscented version awesome as a face cream.

Independence Day

Happy July 4th! I recently re-read the Declaration of Independence and found it so inspiring. Well thought out, clearly stated, and so impassioned yet uplifting. Here is an excerpt, but you can read the entire document and brush up on our Nation's infancy here: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Have a Happy and Safe Holiday!

Home Depot Kid's Workshops

Home Depot has FREE "How To Clinics" for Kids at all locations the first Saturday of every month from 9am to Noon. They are designed for kids age 5- 12 . This Saturday's workshop is this sweet picnic caddy. This would be great for your 4th of July and other summer parties and celebrations! Even though I'm in Home Depot frequently, I actually learned about these workshops through http://bargainbriana.com, a great source for grocery bargains, giveaways and all things thrifty.

In addition to bringing home the newly constructed project, your child will all receive a kid-sized orange apron, similar to The Home Depot associates’ aprons, and an achievement pin.

What a fun way to get your kids crafting this summer, build something the whole family can enjoy, while building their self esteem. And it's FREE! You can't beat that for summer fun. Check on upcoming workshops at their website: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?catalogId=&langId=-1&pn=Kids_Workshops&storeId=10051