August 23, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Sporcle

Because it is Saturday. Because we all have laundry to do. Things to do. Let’s play a game instead! There is nothing like procrastination.

I started playing on the website, Sporcle, two years ago. Actually, two years ago, I exclusively played only one of their games. It was “Name The Countries Of The World.” I performed pitifully the first time, but ~~after dedicating every last brain cell to the task~~ eventually I was able to name them all in the time frame (I have been slacking and the last time I played I failed miserably). It is a great teaching tool, too. The site has many name-the-state-capital-quizzes. This is fantastic for children or for adults who, ahem, tend to forget things taught to them in the third grade. This is different than lessons purposefully forgotten, like sharing. I never had much use for that one.

The quiz I play the most often is the one below. I apologize for its too large size. There is not a quiz on the site to teach one computer coding skills. If you are on a tablet or smart phone, you can turn the screen sideways and it will fit. You can actually play that one below.

It is an entirely unnecessary quiz for a writer. The words are not likely to ever be forgotten, so there really is no need to practice them. However, it is more of a memory game at this point. I have to get all one hundred words each time I play. Sometimes I can only remember ninety eight. I slap myself with my Anthropologie receipts when that happens.

I also am a huge fan of anagrams. I have a good friend who I have flown on an airplane with a few times. We like to do puzzles on the airplane together. That actually is one of my favorite parts of the trip. We keep saying that we will get together to do puzzles without travel one day, but that never happens. We play anagram scrambles. There are a few on Sporcle that I like. Of course, those are one time play games. Once you know the answer to those, it is not really necessary to play it again.

Their baby name quizzes are fun, too. Although I am terrible at those. I am also horrible at most of Sporcle’s movie and television quizzes.

It’s The Little Things: Wasting some time while still getting your learn on (based upon this sentence, I still have a long way to go).

Have you ever played on Sporcle? What are your favorite quizzes? Do you challenge yourself?

August 16, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: You Can’t Cry In Costco

I had a post I was going to publish today about handsoap, but my heart was just not in it. It was a really draining emotional day yesterday and I had a moment where my husband and I were walking down the office supply aisle in Costco and I just lost it.

My husband looked at me and said, “You can’t cry in Costco!”

I stared at him for a moment as tears streaked down my cheeks and then I burst into bubbling giggles. The statement was so random. I loved the obscurity of it.

I collapsed in a nearby office chair in hysterics. Caught between tears and laughter, I laid my head back in the chair and closed my wet eyes. The chair moved. It was a swivel chair. This was the deciding factor. My tears stopped. I smiled. My kids went back to school this week and it has been rough. But my son’s favorite thing about his new school are the swivel chairs in one of his classrooms. I could see the appeal.

I put my foot on the floor and pushed a little. I did not remove my foot from the security of the ground. If tears are forbidden in Costco, then spinning must surely be frowned upon. However, who puts three perfectly good swivel chairs in the middle of an aisle if one does not want them to be tested out?

Being incapable of self control, I let go of my foot. I set it down, only to lift it up again and again. I spun faster and faster. Soon I was laughing. My husband looked at me caught between embarrassed horror and acceptance.

“Come on,” I said as I stood up. “Get in. You have to spin!”

He reluctantly sat in the chair, his arms only halfway resting on its surface as he hunched his shoulders in a crouch in case he got caught and had to get up quickly. I moved his arms so they were sitting in a position so that he was no longer a Golem-like statue. He slowly began to spin. Not much. He is not as ~~arrestable~~ cool as his wife. I clapped my hands in delight. He opened his mouth to speak. I could not wait to hear the happy review of fun that would pour from his dizzy lips.

“You know,” he started. “I use a swivel chair at work everyday.” This was not said in a bragging voice as one who makes a statement such as that should use. It was said in a blasé, this is not impressive at all to me tone.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head in disappointment.

“But do you spin?” I asked, all ready knowing the answer.

“No, but…”

I sat down in an opposite swivel chair, closed my eyes and ceased to listen. Then I got a dizzy high in Costco.

Because sometimes life is going to punch you in the stomach and make you fall down. But if it also generously provides you with a chair. A chair that spins. A safe place to not only fall, but to also momentarily escape the stifle of life. Then by golly, there is no other choice.

If your heart is heavy. If your stomach has dropped. If your soul has sagged to your toes. The only cure is to lift them up. The fastest way to do so is to spin as fast as you can. Do not stop until you feel all three negative sources dance together in a kaleidoscopic twirl of harmony.

Or you throw up.

Either way, it is a distraction.

It’s The Little Things: If you can’t cry in Costco, then surely you can laugh.

*Obvious disclosure: I cannot condone the spinning in Costco. Nor can I be held responsible for any accidents that may occur while doing so. If you choose to spin, please do so at your own risk. And kids don’t do anything I would do. It might result in you actually crying in Costco. And we can’t be having that.

August 9, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Some Pantry Staples

First, the items I want to discuss are more like refrigerator staples and not pantry staples, because that is where these things are stored. But “refrigerator staples” does not roll off one’s tongue in quite the same way that “pantry staples” does. What? You don’t think “pantry staples” is pure poetry? Next you’re going to say that “Mops and Brooms” is not your favorite song. It’s a rap, by the way. And it’s sweeping the nation.

There are three products I always have in my refrigerator. They are not your typical staples. Let’s discuss:

Trader Joe’s Cilantro and Chive Yogurt Dip is my go-to staple. I love it with my my favorite grilled chicken in the summertime, but I have also paired it with steak and fish and it is equally delicious.

Even served simply with some grilled flat bread and rice is yummy.

It is a greek yogurt (tzatziki type sauce) blended with herbs and it is outstanding. I do not typically care for premade sauces and dips. I much prefer making my own, but this one is perfection. It is easy. I highly recommend it. I always have a container on hand.

This brings me to my next staple. I love Stonefire’s Naan Flatbread (I have found mine at a local little grocery store and in the fresh bread section at Albertson’s). Usually you would serve pita bread with the yogurt dip, but I like naan better. It is wonderful dipped in the yogurt sauce above.

I smear melted butter on each side of the bread and toast both surfaces for a few minutes each in a hot skillet. Then I cut it with a pizza cutter and serve.

This bread freezes wonderfully. When I want to use it, I simply defrost the package for an hour and then I cook it as I previously described. It is a healthy little appetizer served with veggies and the sauce above in case company spontaneously stops by.

Which leads me to the last staple I will be writing about today. Broccoli. It has always been my favorite vegetable. My kids enjoy it, too. Two nights ago my son had two servings of broccoli before he even touched his main course. “The secret is butter.” As it always is. By the way, that’s my second favorite song. It’s creaming its competition.

I love these prewashed and chopped broccoli florets that come in their own plastic bag. You can serve them raw with the tzatziki sauce. But I usually eat them hot as a side instead of with the dip. I puncture the bag with a fork two times and then microwave the bag for three minutes on high. I let the broccoli rest in the bag for one minute then I dump the broccoli in a bowl with two tablespoons of salted butter, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper. I mix it together and serve it as a side to my family’s dinners throughout the week.

When I was taking the broccoli pictures my daughter begged me to make the broccoli even though it was almost nine o’clock at night (which explains the great lighting). I did. And we ate it up. I have heard that eating after nine is bad for you but broccoli doesn’t count right? Let’s see…

Brocolli after nine
Is perfectly fine.
Just drink some wine.
Don’t have a last line.
For this bad rhyme of mine.

What is your favorite ~~pantry~~ refrigerator staple? Do you use any of the ones I mentioned? What is your favorite thing to serve to unexpected company? I would not recommend poetry. They seem to leave after that. Hey, where are you going?

August 3, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

It’s The Little Things: Wave Iron

I first learned about the wave iron on a girls’ trip I took to New York City with a bunch of friends four years ago. One of the girls is a genius at doing hair. She did my hair with the wave iron. I was skeptical because I thought it would be like a crimper. But it isn’t. It simply produces soft waves. The waves all of us girls in the eighties wanted. The ones we used to have to get through perms.

I was hooked from the moment she did my hair.

I used to do my hair with the wave iron all of the time, but I lost my wave iron two years ago.

I only recently purchased the Pro Beauty Tools Professional Speed Waver from Amazon. It was under $15 so I figured if it did not work, it was not a big deal.

Well, I loved it.

Here is how I use it. Wait! Before I begin, I want it noted that my mirror is not dirty, but rather, when they installed my countertop last year, they reinstalled the mirror with some sort of glue that is now eating through the mirror and causing those marks. I think it looks vintagey, so I do not mind it:

I have very thin hair. It took me nine minutes to wave my entire head. I never use the wave iron with clean hair. The wave is too soft. I like to use it with one day old clean hair. Does that make sense?

I turn the wave iron onto a setting that is not the lowest but just a little hotter than the lowest setting. You do not want to use the highest setting. This wave iron gets hot and your hair has a greater potential of frying if it is set at that.

First I start with a small section of hair and I place the top section of the hair near the root into the wave iron. I count quickly to ten (not in the thousandths, just one, two, three…). When you first try it, count to five to see if it works at a lower number. You do not want to burn your hair!

Then move the wave iron down to an unwaved section and count again. Do this until you reach the end of that section of hair. Because ends of hair are usually the driest, I only count to five at the ends. They have a greater potential to burn off with heat so I do not want to chance it. Plus it looks more beachy with the ends slightly not as wavy as the rest of the hair. I always do one half of my head before I do the other half.

Pretend you’re a mermaid and make a fish face. Yes, this part is necessary. Trust me. Your hair will ~~not~~ turn out if you do not do this.

Repeat all over head. Then do not forget to unplug your wave iron (this message is to myself because inevitably five minutes after we have left the house, we have to turn around to check to make sure I have unplugged my devices. Be better than me!).

Spray with hairspray.

Make a funny face.

Enjoy your waves! These are nice the next day, too. The wave is softer and more beachy then. Plus the wave hides dirty hair pretty well. I touch up a section if it needs it.

I do not use this all of the time. Any kind of heat is not good for your hair. So, use sparingly. I used mine five times before I reviewed it here because I wanted to make sure I would recommend it.

I do. With that said, as with any product your experience may vary. And as with any beauty tool, please use with caution and at your own risk.

I purchased this wave iron with my own money. I was not compensated for writing this post. However, the link above is an affiliate link. Purchasing the wave iron from the link will provide a small commission for this blog.

Do you have a wave iron? How often do you use it? I use mine about once a week, but I can usually get two to three days of wave from that one day.

It’s The Little Things: Changing Your Hair In A Fun Impermanent Way.

*The dress in the photos was styled and ironed previously in this post here.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

It’s The Little Things

It’s The Little Things: Sporcle

It’s The Little Things: You Can’t Cry In Costco

It’s The Little Things: Some Pantry Staples

It’s The Little Things: Wave Iron