Oh Trader Joe's, I Love You So!

Sharing some yummy things I've come up with in the past few days, with Trader Joe items:  

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter
This is delicious! I think that even if you're not a pumpkin flavor fan, you'll enjoy this pumpkin butter. It's not overly pumpkin-y, and not too sweet. I just picked up the jar and tried it for the first time the other day. This will be a staple in my kitchen.


Cookies
Trader Joe's Gluten Free Ginger Snap Cookies
Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter

Spread some pumpkin sauce on top of a ginger snap. Snazzy and elegant treat!  
Fruit compote with Pumpkin Butter
Sliced banana
Sliced peach
Chopped walnuts
Pumpkin butter.

Put all the above in a bowl. Drizzle pumpkin butter, and enjoy. Very tasty desert.



Pasta with Tomato and Lemon Alfredo Sauce
1 Jar Trader Joe's Alfredo Sauce
Trader Joe's spiral brown rice pasta
 Sliced lemon
1/2 small can tomato sauce
Red pepper flakes
Parsley
Oregano,
basil,
black pepper to taste
Cherry tomatoes, halved

 I use the rice pasta or corn pasta because I try to avoid gluten as much as possible, but any type pasta will be fine. Heat contents of Alfredo sauce in sauce pan. Add half can tomato sauce, tomatoes, spices. Squeeze in lemon juice to taste. Pour over cooked pasta.

Girls' Shape Ups X F - Mary Jane - SKECHERS Official Site

Skechers is now targeting preschoolers and grade school girls with their shape up type shoes. Messaage: you're never too young to start obsessing about your body or feeling like a huge bag of dung for not having the right body image. They're $50.00 which is not even in the equation for a lot of families; these days, or, ever...

Girls' Shape Ups X F - Mary Jane - SKECHERS Official Site

Shopping!

After our UFO conference meeting today I headed over to a local shopping area called Uptown.  My plan was just to go to Trader Joes, but then I decided to also do a quick walk through of the open air mall.  I came across a shop called Francesca's Collection.  I had never been there before and what drew me in wasn't the clothing, but the accessories!

I bought way more accessories than I need considering the boxes and boxes I already have.  What could I do?  They were on clearance and really cheap!  Most of the clothes were too youngish for my taste, but I did buy the vest in that photo and a leopard print scarf. :-)

Anyhow, a fun day for me!

A Dress A Day: From Ugly Thrift Store Finds to Style

  Marisa Lynch was inspired by the film Julie and Julia, that, and being laid off, to transform ugly thrift store dresses into stylish pieces:

Marisa Lynch set herself a challenge: Transform 365 unattractive frocks in 365 days, for $365. Just before her 30th birthday, she got laid off. To some, losing a job means hitting the streets with a resume or wallowing in grief. But for Marisa, it meant getting the sewing machine out and upcycling thrifted fashions. Every day.

“I was just in this not-feeling-good, crummy kind of mood, and I didn’t know how to kick it,” says Marisa. That’s when Marisa saw the movie, Julie & Julia. “[Julie] was finding something to do every day that made her feel great. I was jealous. I thought, I want to find that.”

Thus, New Dress A Day entered the blogosphere. The task: To make a new fashion piece a day — on a budget of a dollar a day — for an entire year.

Think the uber-frugal budget and tight turnaround requirements can only mean shoddy, unfashionable duds? Not for Marisa. All you have to do is take a quick glance at New Dress A Day to see that while this West Hollywood resident may be short on money and time, she’s never short on style.

I love it; I wish I could do that. I love thrift store shopping but the most I'll do is maybe change buttons or something like that. I'm not a sewer by any means, but admire those that are creative with needle and thread.

More Adventures in Grocery Land

Jim and I were just at Target. The cashier was ringing up our items, then all of a sudden she asks Jim "What's your birthdate?" Jim says, very nicely but confused (as was I) "Why do you need to know my birthdate?" She said "Because of the wine, we have to ask." (Among our items was a bottle of red Zin; Gnarly Head)  We both cracked up and I said (nicely, like anyone would know that was a needless question to ask) "That's ridiculous," but she didn't get it, in fact, looked offended. The people in line behind us were making jokes too.

At first, when she asked us, we thought it was some weird Big Brother thing, like places that ask for your zip code and phone number and stuff. It never occurred to us that buying wine would be an issue.

I understand that state law probably requires cashiers to ask someone's age if they appear to be under 25 or 30 or something. But where's the common sense? Here's a picture of my darling Jim:

Does he look like he's over 21? LOL.

In the Grocery Store: Snarky Cashiers and Grabby Baggers

There's one market we shop at every week; it's like a Whole Foods but that's not the name of the store. And like most places now, you're encouraged to bring in your own bags and get a few cents off for each bag you bring in.

Every time we go in there, we bag our own groceries. We do this because we've had such awful experiences with the people who bag; it's incredible! One of our own bags is an insulated cooler type bag; which would tell anyone with a brain that perishable items go there. But nope, they'll toss any old thing in there. They might put, say, the fish in there but then on top of that, they'll put tomato cans. Speaking of cans, they also put all the cans in one bag, all the glass bottles in another, etc.

So instead of coming off like uptight mean people, (because no matter how nicely you might say something to the person bagging your groceries, they take it the wrong way...) we gave up and just started bagging our own groceries.

A typical encounter goes like this:

I set up the bags at the end of the counter. Person comes over to start bagging, or the clerk will start to bag. I'll say, very cheerfully, very friendly, something like "Oh, thank you, but we'll bag our own stuff," and sometimes make a joke or something. Almost always, the clerk will say something like 'OH, well, by all means..." super sarcastically. I've had the baggers just stomp off! What kind of customer service is that?

To top it off, I've had baggers come over when I'm done, and I'm putting the bags in the cart, and the person will take a bag from out of my hand!!!! and put it in the cart. I'll say, "I have it thanks," but they ignore me. Ignore me! They either stomp off again, or act all offended.

I don't want to be rude but next time some clerk or bagger cops an attitude about me, the paying customer, bagging my own damn groceries, I'll tell them why it's so. Because you all don't know how to bag stuff using common sense.

More Shoes and Stuff

I know it is easy to think that I love shoes and mostly I do, but not in the summer.  I live it NM, it is hot here and in the summer I can’t stand to have my feet confined in a shoe, any type of enclosed shoe (or socks) makes me miserable.  So that is why when I bought new hiking shoes Tuesday, they were Teva sandals.  Oh yes, I know the problem with sandals, little rocks can get under your feet and it is easier for creatures like ants to get to you and bite you -- I am willing to put up with that.  I haven’t had any Teva shoes for a while, but they do have great soles for hiking, especially compared to what I had been wearing which were burkies and betulas. :-) 

Actually, I noticed yesterday when we took a short hike that the soles slip less than my New Balance athletic shoes.  I only had one very minor slip, unlike most days.  Slips where I don’t fall on my ass wouldn’t be so bad except they almost always cause me to twist which throws my back out of whack.

Just so you know that I don't only buy shoes, check out these great notebooks I got at borders for 75% off:

My Girlie Plans for Today

After more than an entire winter, I think since last August, I am going to get a hair cut.  My friend KC got her license several months ago and she will be cutting it at the salon she works at.  So it is double fun!  I get to have my hair cut and I get to hang out with KC for a bit.

After that I have something else planned, though I am not sure how girlie it is.  I will be shopping for and hopefully buying the 64 gb iPad.  I suppose if they don't have any left at Best Buy I will have to order one, but Albuquerque isn't like big cities (LA and NYC) people weren't camping out over night to get one, so I think my chances are pretty good.

I would take before and after pictures of my hair, but my built in camera on the macbook doesn't seem to be working.  It does that sometimes and then starts working again at a later date -- I have no clue why.  Maybe I will try taking photos with my regular digital camera.

Green Living and Clothes Disposal

I do give my unwanted clothes to places like Goodwill, but have to admit I'd never thought beyond the impact of clothing and recylcing, etc. Here's some good info
NRDC: Natural Resources Defense Council site about this topic.

My latest thrift store bargain

How could I resist that adorable ceramic cup set for $3? I couldn't.

Kind of girlie stuff

For those of you from other parts of the country and world -- that is a Navajo Taco. That one is fry bread with beans, lettuce, tomato and cheese. Normally they also contain ground beef and red chili rather than green, but I prefer no meat with green. Fry bread is a wonderful thing. Luckily it is not something you find everywhere, not even in NM. Aside from the tacos it is yummy with just honey. If you have ever had a sopapilla, it is like that only not as puffed and much bigger.

Anyhow, we spent part of the day at the Wild West Antique Show, at the fairgrounds. That is kind of a girly thing, but plenty of men like antiquing -- including mine.

Normally I like to buy trade beads at this annual show, but since I haven't beaded in ages -- I bought nothing other than food. Oh, I still would have bought beads if I found any really unique trade beads, but I didn't. A couple years back I bought a strand of rattlesnake rattles and I still need to make those into something because they are awesome!

Britton talked me into sitting on a bull to have a photo taken. Actually, I am glad he talked me into it because it was fun and I can now say that I have rode a bull. :-)

Exercise -- an excuse to shop!

So after almost a week away from "the spa" (due to the dog bite) I went back on Sunday. Any weight I had lost that previous week I had managed to gain back. Not that it was any surprise. On the bright side, my neck and back still feel great from swimming.

I swam enough laps last night that my arms are actually a little sore. I am going to see if I can lose those few pounds again this week.

Something I discovered now that I am "working out" -- sports bras are wonderful! Much more comfortable than most regular bras. I have been wearing them everywhere lately. I didn't know that some come with actual cups. Seriously, I love them!

Of course, I had to buy more yoga clothes and I have ordered a couple more swimsuits. Now I just need some new shoes. I am not a big fan of athletic shoes, but surely I can find some that I like. After all, they are shoes and I have never had a problem finding shoes that I want to buy. :-)

A Totally Girlie Day

Today was a totally girlie day, and it was great! My friend "Lola" who lives fifty miles from me, is a full time student, works, a mom and wife -- we don't get the chance to see each other like we used to. But today was a fun, totally girlie day. She was in town, visiting with a relative from out of state. Lola has been trying to get us to meet all these years, and I can see why; as soon as we met, it was like we've known each other forever.

So Lola gives me a call this morning, tells me they're getting pedicures at the mall, and for me to join them.

I've never had a pedicure! Not ever. I always thought they were too bourgeois or something. But I went and did it and got the manicure too. It was great! Soooooo relaxing. Now I'm hooked and plan on doing this all the time. Naturally we had to get more girlie and take pictures of our feet. (I'm the one with the green nails.) Then we had lunch. Then we browsed a few antique stores -- earrings and a Dean Koontz book -- and then we went back to the mall and shopped. Not only did I do something I've never done before; the pedicure, but bought a ridiculous pair of Fossil "Reesa" style sunglasses with rhinestones and metallic glittery things in the tortie frames for five bucks (usually retails around $35.00) I love them!

A perfect girlie day in every way; good friends, pretty feet, silly shades.

Shoe Update!

As I was surfing through the Shoes.com site, Jim asked me why was I looking at a shoe site? I just looked at him. After a pause, I said, "Um, well, because it's shoes!" He said "Makes sense." A few moments later, and I found these:

and exclaimed something like "ohmygodthosearethemostbeautifulshoesIwantthem" and so my darling husband said he'd buy them for me for an early Christmas/Hanukkah whatever present, handed me his credit card, and now they're on their way! Thank you sweetie!

Girlie Tee Sale

One of my favorite internet tee shirt shops, Threadless, is having a sale. All their girlie tees are only $12.

These are the ones I ordered --






There was one other that I really liked what it said, but I didn't like that there was no artwork on it and so I didn't order it --

Amazon Sucks!

OK, not normally -- I actually really like Amazon, but this time they pissed me off. I placed my Newport News order with them because it is easy, I have an account and don't have to type anything in. However, when I checked my email last night I found out they canceled my order. No reason as to why, just an email saying it had been canceled. So I had to go reorder my stuff at the Newport News site, which will delay the arrival of my boots which I had expected to arrive any day now.

Mind you, it isn't like I need my boots right away. So far it is too warm to even consider wearing them, but when you order something you look forward to the arrival.

My totally girlie day

It was a super girlie day for me yesterday!

First I stopped in and got my hair cut. I can't tell you how much it needed it. I finally got all the really horrible dry dyed part off. Of course, I automatically thought of dying it again in an effort to hide my grey hairs, which I don't have a lot of, but I don't particularly like anyhow. We will see what I end up doing, but right now it is totally natural.

Then I went to one of my favorite shopping places -- Marshalls. I bought another pair of Rocket Dog shoes, brown tartan this time. A boho skirt (darkish blue with silver flowers), two pairs of shorts, another tankini and I was too lazy to try any of it on, so we will see what I end up taking back because it didn't fit or looked horrible on. Oh, also a big floppy packable hat. All for my trip next month. I can't be expected to wear the same outfits that I do here at home. :-)

After that I stopped at a craft store and bought some yummy dichroic glass pendants. I used to make my own glass pendants and beads, but it is much cheaper and easier to buy them now. Not quite as fun though. I really like melting glass, but I never seem to find the time to do it.

Lastly I stopped and picked up Chinese food for dinner -- no cookin' completes the perfect girlie day.