home again, home again, jiggety-jig

Yesterday we red white and blued ourselves back down south. 

It's good to be home. 

It was a little strange to wake up and not see this charming scene from our bedroom window today.  We stayed right in the heart of downtown, complete with a war monument and antique stores. 

If you ask me, the best part about staying at a bed and breakfast has to be the breakfast.  I mean, you can get a bed almost anywhere.  

We ate each morning on the big front porch and watched the cars go by and talked about the day.  Sometimes it was rainy and sometimes it was sunny.

The food tasted great either way.  They served something different every morning, but there was always fresh fruit so we felt right at home. 

Sometimes Sarah joined us for breakfast, but I don't think we were messy enough for her liking.  She usually just got bored and napped. 

All in all, I think we spent more time on the porch than in our room.  We didn't want to miss any of the 75 degree air.  One morning it rained and we sat on a love seat and read magazines, which was only exactly what I wanted to do while in Maine. 

And as great as our time at the bed and breakfast was, I'm not even sure if it was my favorite part of the trip.  There was also downtown and the lake and Nana's house. 

Would you be totally bored if I spent the rest of the week sharing trip pictures? 

If so, could you just come back on Monday when I promise I will find something else to talk about?

If not, I'll see you tomorrow.  Same time, same station.   Over and out. 

skin care 101

Recently, I've developed a new skin care regimen.  I've been doing it for about four months now, so I feel safe in declaring it my favorite ever.  Four months is a long time in the world of skin. 

I've always had a fairly volatile relationship with my skin and wavered between caring about it too much and trying not to consider it at all.  Every time I finished a bottle of face wash, I would buy a different kind, hoping that it would be "better".  And I must tell you that I found no joy in continuously spending money on face wash that did not appear to improve the state of my skin in any way. 

If you know me, you may have guessed where this is headed. 

That's right- it's headed straight to the gallon jug of white vinegar in my pantry.  You know how much I love vinegar. 

The idea behind this new skin care routine of mine is a combination of things I've read and things I've probably made up but thought that I read somewhere, so take it as you will. 

Almost every night, I steam my face with a wash cloth soaked in hot water for a few minutes.  I wring it out and put it over my whole face for about 30 seconds or until it starts to lose its heat, then get it wet again and repeat the process 5 or 6 times. 

After I'm done, I soak a cotton ball in a solution of white vinegar and water (50/50) that I keep in a little jar and rub it over my whole face as a toner.  Don't worry- the smell goes away once it dries. 

One or two nights a week (really as often as I have time), I give my face an oil treatment.  I keep a jar with a mixture of Castor oil and olive oil in the bathroom as well.  The exact mixture depends on your skin type- the Castor oil is the drying agent and the olive oil is the moisturizer.  My mixture is about 30/70 respectively.  I don't think you'd ever want to use more than 50% Castor oil. 

I massage the oil into my face for several minutes and then use the same washcloth steaming method that I use every night.  Eventually, the oil will all be soaked into your skin and that's how you know you're done.  I know it sounds crazy that you don't wash it off, but it really does just soak right in and not make your face oily.  It's a mystery.

You can buy a small bottle of Castor oil at the grocery store for about $2 and it lasts forever. 

Yes it does say "laxative" on the bottle.  Try not to think about that while you're rubbing it on your face. 

In the morning, I usually just rinse my face with hot water in the shower.  About once a week I use an inexpensive microderm abrasion cleanser to exfoliate.  And that's it! 

For those of you that never see me in person, I thought I'd also include an actual picture of my face, taken just last week.  It seems a little sneaky to suggest a skin care routine and then not show what your skin actually looks like.  For all you know, I could have started to resemble a salad. (you know.... all the oil and vinegar....)

But clearly, I do not look like a salad.  Just like a person with fairly happy skin.  And uncombed hair. 

I'll meet you back here on Wednesday with some pictures of our trip! 

how to turn your house into a post office

As most of you know, I go to the post office.  Kind of a lot.  I know that you can mail things from home, but I never felt like I had all the proper supplies. 

But recently, I decided that it really would be a lot more practical if I could fulfill most of my postal needs at home.  This decision came directly on the heels of a week where I had to go to my post office two days in a row, and then travel to a post office across town because mine was out of envelopes. 

After much research, I think I have come up with the easiest, least expensive way to mail from home, and I figured that someone else out there might be interested in that as well.  So here goes: 

First you need shipping supplies.  Did you know that you can order free shipping supplies from USPS.com and they will leave them right on your doorstep?  Here is the link to their postal store where you can choose all the sizes of boxes and envelopes you want.  They come in packs of 10 or 25 and usually arrive within a couple of days. 

For mailing things non-priority, I keep two different sizes of manila envelopes on hand and save any shipping boxes that we get in the mail. 

If you purchase the flat rate boxes or envelopes from the postal service, you don't have to weigh them so you can skip this next step. 

Most of the time, I do not use flat rate boxes and need to weigh my packages.  We purchased the Ultraship U-2 from Amazon a few weeks ago.  It weighs up to 60 pounds and is small and easy to use.  As an added bonus, Steve really likes to weigh things around the house, just for fun. 

My biggest hurdle in mailing from home was finding a way to print postage without fees.  You can print postage for priority and express mail on the USPS website, but sometimes I just want to print first class postage.  Places like Stamps.com charge a fee, so your postage ends up being more expensive. 

I finally figured out that I can print postage through PayPal.  The easiest way to do this is for someone to purchase something from me- then I just click the "print shipping label" button next to their purchase and go from there.  But what about if you aren't selling anything?  I was able to find a link that lets you bypass the selling part and input your own information for a shipping label, so anyone with a PayPal account (which is free) can print the postage they need, in any amount. 

The final step is to get this package out of your house.  If the box is too large to put in the mailbox, you can schedule a free pickup for the next day!  Just go here and fill out the form and leave the package on your doorstep.  Super easy! 

Hopefully this is helpful for anyone who finds themselves at the post office fairly often.  With a bit of planning ahead, you can have everything that you need and never have to wait in that line again! 
Have a great weekend- I'll see you back here on Monday!

serendipity

This morning found me drinking iced lattes with Steve and running errands early to beat the heat. 

These were not even fun errands.  These were the kind of errands that you'd rather not even bother with, but you really do need a nine volt battery to silence the beeping smoke alarm, so you go anyway. 

But then!  As if the universe were rewarding you for your diligence (I don't really believe in rewards from the universe, but just go with me here), you pass a table of tank tops on your way to the batteries and there is a lovely gray one and you had just been wishing for a gray tank top and they have your size and it's $3.88!  And of course, as it goes with serendipitous occasions such as this, you take it home and try it on and its a perfect fit.  Of course. 

My afternoon will be spent packing.  I already know what I'm wearing, so it should go quickly. 

I found this great luggage tag that was a gift that I've not been able to use yet.  I don't think I've ever had an actual luggage tag before.  It feels very official, like maybe I'm a seasoned traveller instead of someone who only flies once every two years. 

I'm also excited to pack in this new zipper pouch that I made last week.  It matches my big travel bag.  It was going to be for the shop, but I had some issues getting the zipper to lay correctly, so it ended up being for me.  Better luck next time, shop. 

I made the pouch to try out this laminated cotton that I purchased a while back.  I think it will be great for makeup. 

We'll be flying the friendly skies tomorrow and then hopefully doing a whole lot of not much, but I've scheduled some posts for while I'm gone. 

Speaking of while I'm gone- yesterday was kind of a big day for Plumfield Shop- my one year shopiversary!  To celebrate, I'm offering a special coupon for the week I'll be gone.  Use the coupon code "ONEYEAR" any time between 8/3/11 and 8/9/11 to get 10% off your entire order!  All premade items (everything in the shop is premade, unless it says otherwise in the description) ordered during those dates will ship on 8/10 and any requests for custom items during those dates will still get to use the coupon. 

Have fun shopping while I'm gone- I'll see you next week!

packing strategy

One of my life goals is to be a more efficient packer.  I mean, it's not up there with "own a successful business", but probably on the same level as "learn a second language". 

I read recently that one of the secrets of packing efficiently is to make sure that every article of clothing can be worn with at least two other articles.  Sounds easy enough.

For our Maine trip this summer, I decided to take it a step further.  Instead of picking a few items of clothing that I wanted to take and then finding things to match them, I reversed the process.  I'm sneaky like that. 

I chose red, white, and blue for my color scheme.  (Does anyone get tired of red, white, and blue in the summer months?  I sure don't.)  Then I went through my closet and pulled out pieces that fit into the scheme. 

 
Obviously, gray is also allowed because- hello- it's gray. 

Choosing things to pack was super easy- all I had to do is think about the weather (70s during the day, 50s at night, hallelujah!) and stick with the scheme.  I have five sundresses.  I didn't even have to think about which one to take, because only one was the right color. 

So here's what I'm planning to take for our 6 day trip:

7 shirts, short sleeved and sleeveless

1 pair khaki shorts

2 skirts

1 dress

2 pairs of pants

2 long sleeved shirts/sweaters

Obviously, this doesn't include pajamas or bathing suits or things like that, but you get the picture.  I don't think that I'm actually packing less that I would have without the color scheme, but I'd like to think that I'm packing smarter.  I love the thought that I can put on any skirt and every shirt in my suitcase will match it. 

Also, think about shoes!  One nice pair of sandals, one pair of flip flops, DONE.  Of course they match everything.  Everything matches everything. 

As you can see, I'm pretty stoked about the idea.  I think it has the potential to either be a real breakthrough in packing technique, or an absolute disaster.  I'll be sure to keep you posted on the results once we're home!

As a side note, Natalie and I used to have a formula to calculate how long it should take to pack for any trip- one hour for every day you will be gone, plus an hour if you've never been there before, minus an hour if you have.  I've actually found it to be fairly accurate, so I've set aside all of Wednesday morning to prepare for our upcoming vacation.  I may even time myself. 

best life

Yesterday, during our lunchtime phone call, Steve asked what I was doing for the rest of the day. 

I said, "Making a chocolate pie and sewing a birthday dress for Rose."

Then I realized that I have the best life.

Do you ever do that?  Do you ever find yourself doing something so simple and mundane and then it hits you that you love this?  That you are absolutely crazy for baking pies or sewing or gardening or whatever it is for you. 

I'm trying to do it more.  Trying not to get caught up in the busyness of every day so much that I can't appreciate the small blessings.

Like Steve and I playing old school battleship on paper the other night and having so much fun that we stayed up past our bedtime.

Like an unexpected phone call from my best friend, where we got to talk for a whole hour, uninterrupted. 

Like the quiet in the house during the day so that I can hear every bird and cicada while I work.

Like a weekend, stretching out in front of me, full of sunshine and Steve and chocolate pie. 

See you Monday!

we eat like kings

One of the best things about summertime, if you ask me, is how easy it is to eat well without a lot of work.  The availability of fresh ingredients combined with the natural desire to eat cold foods makes preparing meals a snap. 

This summer, we've been eating a lot of grilled pineapple as a snack on the weekends.  I cut thick slices and Steve grills them and we eat on the patio. 

I've also been really into tacos.  Fish tacos, beef tacos, chicken tacos- if it goes in a tortilla and is covered with cheese and salsa, I'm in. 

Lately, we've been trying to eat out less, so I'm always looking for super easy dinners to fix on the weekends.  Last Sunday, I tried out this recipe for avocado egg salad.  Oh.  My. 
I think that the salad on its own is fantastic, but serve it up on homemade bread with thick slices of ripe tomato and some chives from the garden and you've got yourself a top 10 dinner. 

For breakfast, you know how we roll.  I simply cannot get enough of these bowls of goodness we've been eating every morning.  Suddenly, cereal and bagels seem so.... flat. 

Even the beverages are better in the summer.  Recently, while looking through a magazine, I saw this idea for water flavored with fruit and herbs.  We tried it with pineapple and mint.  While drinking my pineapple mint water with a little mint leaf on top, I definitely felt like I was somewhere fancy, doing something exciting, and not just sitting in the back yard. 

And that's something I've been thinking about lately, with regards to our food.  How meals can be an event and how food and drink are something to be savored and lingered over.  I've also realized that the cooler stuff I am able to make at home, the less we want to go out.  This week, I mastered lattes, both hot and iced, using a very basic coffee maker and a sauce pan.  I'd like to thank my three years in Girl Scouts for my spirit of ingenuity.  And my six months at Starbucks for my general knowledge of coffee-based beverages. 

I feel a little sheepish admitting this, but just so you understand that I'm not some sort of cooking robot and am really quite regular- tonight for dinner we're having canned soup.