You see, most of my baby weight came off quickly, but there is that pesky 15% that is lingering.  I’m not a super weight-conscious person, but ideally I will fit back into my work clothes before I go back to work full time.  I mean, I’d like a new wardrobe and all, but not for that reason.  And I know that being back at pre-baby weight won’t mean that all of my clothes fit, but a girl can dream, right?

And so I am motivating myself by keeping track of the weight I’m losing…on our bathroom mirror.

I’m not sharing my weight with the world so I won’t zoom in closer, but notice the scribbles in the upper left?  That is me and my dry erase marker writing my weight loss progress.  In a place that my husband can see, no less.   It is very motivating.

I just store the marker up at the top of the mirror and I’m good to go.

Perhaps I could use the marker for better purposes, like little love notes for Chris in the morning, or to tell myself how great I look.  But for now I’m being practical.

Have you used dry erase markers on a mirror before?  It rubs right off like it was never even there, which is particularly helpful after a plate of peanut butter chocolate chunk brownies.

I haven’t cooked enough Thanksgiving dinners yet to call myself a pro by any means, but I do have a few tricks and tips that make preparing the big meal easier, and even fun and relaxing (Note: you actually have to like to cook in order for Thanksgiving meal preparation to ever be fun and relaxing for you; there’s no pretending otherwise!).

So, if you are planning to cook the big meal next week, here are my best suggestions for preparing for the big day:

Menu planning
Your first step in planning for Thanksgiving dinner should be planning your menu.  Consider who is coming, what they like, what they can bring, and then make a list of the dishes you will prepare on your own.  This is also a good time to think about the fact that your oven will be completely useless to you for several hours on Thursday while the turkey is cooking, so be sure to consider how you will prepare other side dishes (either making them ahead of time, using a crock pot or making them on the stovetop).  You can see my menu plan from last year for ideas.

Your shopping list
Once you have your menu planned, sit down with a notebook and all of the recipes you’ll be using.  Go through each recipe and make a note of any ingredients that you need to buy.  And when I say go through each recipe, I mean it.  It is truly the only way you will think to check whether or not you have enough cinnamon to make your grandmother’s apple pie, or that you have plenty of pounds of butter on hand.  I’ve found that this method completely eliminates the need for last minute or late-night trips to the over-crowded grocery stores.  Once you are done with your recipes, think through the whole day outside of the main meal.  Do you have enough coffee, creamer, tea, etc.?   What drinks do you need for dinner?

This is the point where my family members roll their eyes and tell me I should probably just relax a little bit.  But, keep reading because I promise that making all of these lists actually makes me more relaxed on Thanksgiving day and actually allows me to enjoy making the meal!

Non-meal task list
Take a moment to step away from the food and think about other things around your house that might need attention before the big meal.  Do you need to wash/iron linens?  Do you need to make up the guest room?  Will you be polishing your silver?  Make a list of all the tasks you need to complete.

The master timeline
Now that you know what you need to cook and what you need to do around the house, make your timeline for the next week.  What tasks will you complete each day?  What food can be made ahead of time and when will you make those items? Try to spread the tasks over several days so that you have nearly nothing left to do on the big day.  Don’t forget that something like your table setting can be done ahead of time.  Set your table days in advance and then just cover your table with a sheet (to keep out dust) until Thanksgiving morning.

The Turkey Day timeline
By Thursday morning you will have already crossed many things off the main timeline.  Now is the time to focus on how you will time all of your dishes so that your meal is done and warm all at the same time.  Working back from the time you want to eat, make a timeline of what needs to be prepped/cooked and when.  Here is an example using my timeline from last year:

9:00 a.m.
Prep turkey and heat oven

9:30 a.m.
Turkey goes in the oven

11:00 a.m.
Make mashed potatoes

12:00 p.m.
Make appetizers before guests arrive

2:30 p.m.
Turkey is done!

• Reheat the pre-made zucchini casserole, mashed potatoes, butternut squash souffle, rolls
• Make gravy using turkey drippings
• Have someone else carve the turkey

3:00 p.m.
Dinner time!

As you can see, the above timeline actually allows for down time and spending time with guests.  It also gives you time to keep the kitchen relatively clean so that you don’t have a huge mess at the end of the day.

What comes next?
Kick up your feet, have some pie, and let someone else do the dishes!

I’ve seen some other great Thanksgiving advice around blogland.  Jess at Frugal with a Flourish is also a list/notebook kind of gal, and my friend Jen at Home in the Country just prepared an early Thanksgiving with friends.

Do you have any tips and tricks?  Just share them in the comments!

One of my college friends commented on my post about paint earlier this week.  Megan said:

“Do you have any suggestions on how to go about picking a wall color?
I always seem to love the tiny sample and not the overall wall.”

While I am far from perfect when it comes to picking paint colors, I do have a few reliable tricks.  And so far, none of them include taping paint swatches on the wall or buying small samples to paint in test squares.

Nope.  I cheat completely.  I copy the hard work of others.

But at least I admit it!

My first resource is inspiration pictures.  So many people have taken to showcasing their homes online (either on blogs or just Flickr) and sharing their design choices, so it is easy to spot and identify a color that you like.  I recommend doing Google searches or reading home improvement blogs to hunt down a room with a color you like, then snag the details on the paint color.  If the color isn’t listed, you can likely leave a comment or send an email to ask what the color is.  Trust me,  we bloggers are usually more than happy to share and talk about ourselves!

Take the nursery paint color for example.  When I saw this nursery, I immediately fell in love with the wall color.

via Ohdeedoh.com

I also took note of the room and realized we also have two windows that get a lot of sunlight and that I would be using a lot of white and bright accents, so the color would likely look similar in our room.  Luckily the talented mom who designed this room listed the color as Benjamin Moore’s Gray Horse.  So, I trudged down and had Lowe’s match the color using Olympic’s zero VOC paint.

Does the paint look identical in our room as it does in the picture?  No, not quite depending on the lighting, but it is pretty darn close and we love it.

Another great place to look is the Pottery Barn catalog.  Even if the big PB isn’t quite your taste or within your budget, the catalog does the huge favor of listing paint colors that are used in the display rooms.

Again, the color won’t look identical in your home, but you can get a sense for what it would look like against your furniture, etc.  And remember, most stores can match colors from any brand of paint, so don’t worry about seeking out Benjamin Moore paint just because you want that color.

When I’m not immediately finding a color that I love in inspiration photos, I work backwards.  I pick out some swatches that I like in the store, bring them home and then Google Images and I become best friends.  I just type in the paint brand and color and usually I get a slew of photos that show the paint color used in the homes of others.

For example, here is a photo that shows up in Google Images for Olympic’s Guacamole paint (with day light)…

And here’s how it ended up looking on my dining area accent wall (in candle light)…

And, if nothing shows up in my Google Images search then I assume the paint color isn’t cool enough for me to use.

Not really.  Well maybe.

Let’s just say that I am much more likely to try a color if I can find others who have.

Finally, I do have one go-to resource that I usually check out before going too crazy: the Young House Love Foolproof Paint and Color Scheme post.  This post by John & Sherry is chock full of suggestions for any hue you might be considering.  This is where I first saw Behr’s Pensive Sky listed, which I ultimately chose for our first floor bathroom makeover.

And that, my friends, is how I copy others and take very few risks when picking paint colors.  Aren’t you impressed?

I hope this is helpful, Megan!

Does anyone else have any friendly paint advice to offer?  I hope someone has a more calculated approach than I do…

top photo source

My little sister jokes that coming to our house is like staying in a hotel.  While she is certainly just making us feel good, we do try to keep some basic necessities on hand and in plain sight so that guests can help themselves to what they need.  The dressing table in the guest room holds a basket of toiletries, tissues and some bottled water.

The contents of the basket varies based on what we have around, but some of the basics include:

• Extra toothbrushes
• Floss
• Toothpaste
• Mouthwash
• Ibuprofen
• Tums
• Lotion
• Hairspray
• Nail clippers
• Tweezers

Having these items out and in plain sight assures guests that they can help themselves, and also keeps them from rummaging through the medicine cabinet (not that we think any of our guests actually do that!).

I also try to put out towels and a washcloth.  I know the linen closet is obvious in the bathroom, but it’s a little touch that I like to think makes people feel at home.

Oh, and having an obvious place to hang wet towels helps guests out a lot, too.  Our new DIY towel holder from the bathroom makeover certainly helps in that area.  Now we have ample space for towel hanging!

One last thing that I try to do (but sometimes forget) is to put out some fresh flowers.  I usually pick up an inexpensive bunch from the grocery store and split the arrangement up into smaller bud vases.  I put some in the bathroom and the bedrooms.  I like to think it adds a little something.

And there is your sneak peek into how I prep our guest room (and bathroom) for visitors.  Do you have anything to add to my must-have list?

Then, I was elbow deep in The Pioneer Woman’s scones when I realized I was out of confectioners’ sugar for the icing.  And it was Easter morning.  So, I made my own!  Who knew I would need to call upon that nugget of information so soon!?

How do you accomplish such a feat?  It’s easy.

• Add 2 tablespoons of corn starch to every cup of granular sugar that you need, and pulse very well in a chopper, food processor or blender.
• You’ll need to pulse it quite a bit to get it to the right consistency.

That’s all it takes!  I was so surprised by how you make this ingredient that I decided I should research it a bit more.  I dug into my Food Lover’s Companion book and found the definition.

Confectioners’ sugar (or powdered sugar) is indeed a granulated sugar that has been crushed into a fine powder.  To prevent clumping, a small amount (about 3 percent) of cornstarch is added.  Often used to make icings or candy, or for dessert dusting, one and three-quarters cup of this ingredient is equal to one cup of granulated sugar.  It is also helpful to know that one pound of confectioners’ sugar is equal to 3 and three-quarters cup.

Now you know what I know about confectioners’ sugar.  As long as you have granulated sugar and cornstarch on hand, fear not about running out of the sweet stuff!

Did you know that you could make your own powdered sugar?  Have you ever tried it?

Let’s start with the strawberry slicer.  If you’re anything like me, slicing strawberries by hand is the one thing that stands between you and strawberry shortcake or strawberry rhubarb pie.  That’s where this tool comes in handy.

The slicer whips through berries and produces nice even slices.  It’s especially helpful when you go strawberry picking and have a gazillion berries to freeze.  Trust me.

And another handy feature is that you can fill up the container and measure out your berries at the same time.  It makes it very easy to cut up the two cups of berries you might need for muffins.

And then there is my beloved apple peeler and slicer.  When I had friends over recently they thought this tool was completely unnecessary.  My mom had this tool, so using this slicer was normal for me.  I had to convince my friends though.  Once they saw it in action peeling, coring and slicing the apple, they were sold.

This gadget suctions right to your counter and magically makes apple peeling easy (and even a little bit fun).  As an added bonus, you can also use this gadget to peel potatoes (you just move the coring and slicing mechanism to the side).

So, those are a few of the kitchen gadgets that I truly couldn’t live without.  Have you used either of these or are they new to you?  Are there any gadgets you can’t do without?

Somehow this came up during a conversation at work and my witty and talented co-worker Joyce came right to my rescue.  She sent along a full blog post on how to cut a pineapple.  Always up for a challenge, I decided to put her directions into action and see if I could manage to master the art of pineapple carving.  I took photos along the way to prove I did it, and to show how easy it actually is.  As you can see below, I was successful!

So, here is Joyce with the how-to and the photos I took while on my pineapple cutting adventure:

I’m often surprised by how many people are intimidated about buying and cutting up a supermarket pineapple. Sure, it looks thorny and unwieldy, and most of us have been disappointed by contents that aren’t sweet or juicy. So it seems easier to drop six bucks on the cored, pared version in the baggie, or even succumb to the canned version.

The right approach, like so much in cooking, is simple but takes time. Your best bet with a pineapple, as with an avocado, is to buy it when it’s hard and green (and on sale) and to let it ripen in your own kitchen until it’s perfectly ripe.

So how do you know when it’s ripe? Well, that business about pulling a leaf from the top center from the top has never struck me as very useful—even when it slides out easily, the fruit may need more time. I go by look (uniform golden color) and smell (heavenly and fruity—check the bottom). I’d rather have it go a little too far, with a bit of mold on the bottom, than cut it up too early, since you can always chop off any brown bits, but there’s no remedy for hard, dry fruit.

(Note from Erin: My pineapple was super ripe and I did have to cut off the bottom.  I suppose I could have cut it a week ago and it would have been fine!)

Now the fun part: hacking it up. Have a bowl ready for the cut-up fruit and a compost bag for the trimmings; sharpen your big heavy knife, and get a cutting board. And have a paper towel ready for any runaway juice.

Grasp the leaf crown in one hand and the pineapple in the other, and twist it off.

Now you’re going to quarter the pineapple lengthwise.

Next, you’re going to slice the core off each of the four quarters. Then slice off the crusty exterior. Cut off less rather than more, because you can always go back with a small knife or the tip of a vegetable peeler to scoop out those hard little nuggets.

For bite-size pieces, slice the quarters in thirds lengthwise, then cut across in 1-inch pieces. That’s it!

Following Joyce’s step-by-step instructions, I had success in cutting my very first pineapple and the freshly cut fruit is so delicious!

So tell me, are you a pineapple newbie like me or did you master this skill a long time ago?

Don’t get me wrong, I love a beautifully wrapped gift for a birthday, anniversary or really any small event where there isn’t an entire table of gifts to be opened!  But for the sake of showers ending on time, shouldn’t we all be more cognizant of the gift wrapping choices we are making?  How about avoiding paper, tape and ribbon and sticking with a nice gift bag?

Call me a shower scrooge but hear me out.  Simple can be beautiful, right?   Following my own advice, this is the gift I presented at a recent bridal shower.

I loosely wrapped the gifts in tissue paper and placed them inside this basket.  And you’ll see I didn’t scrimp on the ribbon, but I also didn’t wrap it up, down and all around.  It stays off to the side of the basket letting the bride-to-be get right to the goods.

So, are you with me on this one?  Do you agree that shower wrapping should be simple and easy?  Or do you think I should have more patience and shower spirit?

Here is my tray of tools, which kind of reminds me of a doctor’s tray, all lined up.  Cake making is kind of like life saving, after all.

• Baking pan – This half sheet (18×12″) pan was the definite key to my overall success.  I purchased it just for this project and bought only one despite making two layers.  I figured I won’t be making that many sheet cakes and I could just bake one layer at a time.
• Parchment paper - When you are making a cake this big, you do not want to risk your layers sticking to the pan.  So, I lined mine with parchment paper and greased the sides of the pan.  It worked like a charm!
• Offset spatula – This tool came in handy several times.  First it helped me level out the cake batter and then it helped me smooth on the frosting!

• Serrated bread knife – normally I use this blade for slicing bread, but it was just what I needed to level the layers after they came out of the oven, and trim the flared edges of each layer.  To trim the tops, I kept the blade level with the edge of the pan and sawed across.  The sawing motion is key in not mushing your cake.  This process helped me get a nice flat cake with squared edges.

• Wilton Icing Color – This color paste was highly recommended to me by a co-worker for its ability to create vibrant colors.  It almost worked too well because my yellow frosting was blinding!  Definitely start with a small amount and add more until you reach the color you desire.  I found this product at Wal-Mart near the scrapbooking and wedding decor section.

• Icing bag and tips – I was luck enough to pick up a nice set of bags and tips with a gift certificate to a local kitchen shop, and I highly recommend investing the $15 – $20 for a good set.  It will make your life much easier.  (Just a few of the many tips are pictured here.  There are more tips than I know what to do with!)

• Ziploc bag - The same co-worker who recommended the icing coloring suggested I use a plain old Ziploc bag for the text.  The bag allows you to have much more control over the letters vs. using a metal tip.
• Toothpick – I was super nervous when it came to writing on the cake.  I decided not to chance it and I traced out the words with a toothpick first so that all I had to do was follow the lines.

And that, my friends is how this baby shower cake and my first ever sheet cake came to be.

I decided that I may not be able to make super classy cakes, but my future kids will probably love my bright, elementary style!

Unfortunately, we need to leave our vitamins in plain sight in order to remember to take them, which means our kitchen window sill looks something like this.

I had enough of those ugly containers one afternoon, so I decided the plastic bottles had to be replaced by some ever-handy Ball jars.

Much better, don’t you think?  A little “E” and “C” scribbled on the top of each jar reminds us which color is which.  And as an added bonus, we can also keep better track of our inventory.  This little project got a huge eye roll from Chris, but I figure the bigger the eye roll the better the results, right?

Oh, and don’t worry, I tucked those old containers in our medicine cabinet in case we ever need to refer to what’s in them or when the expiration date is.

Have you come up with any creative storage for your must-have-everyday items?  What eyesore containers do you have that you wish you could change?

Linked this week to:

The Persimmon Perch: Made it Monday

Between Naps on the Porch: Metamorphosis Monday