Shoe Envy: Or At Least I Hope

So I finally did it. Not that it was too much of a known fact here on this blog, but for some time now people have been suggesting I sell my creations. (by the way guys, I make stuff) I had always brushed it off with, "who would pay for anything I make" and "even if people did buy my stuff, I don't want my hobby to become a job"

Then I had the issue of, well, I do so many creative things, what would I sell? My first thought was sewn goods. I mean, it's so easy all the little rolls and pouches, to just bang them out and put them up for a couple bucks. The only problem with that is that so many other people make pretty much the same thing. Online, people are always going to buy from a reputable seller first.

So I let the idea sort of sit in the back of my mind, until I made these

Candy Coated Pumps

They blew up! People loved them. Strangers, family, friends. And I was like. Oh dang. I had made a couple of pairs of shoes in the past, but these really started it all. Soon new ideas were flowing and inspiration was coming in from all angles and I knew this was my calling.

It wasn't until this weekend that I finally decided to actively sell things. Adam and I attended an open house where we fell in love with the property and I realized that while I can't work outside of the home, I could definitely go about starting my own business to showcase my creative work and to also have a source of income so we can A. have everything we want for our wedding and B. start saving for our nest.

Right now I have high hopes, but reasonable expectations. I have so many ideas in my head, that I can't wait to really start building my inventory. (I have 3 items currently for sale! Woo!) Checking back, linking, spreading the word, or even... purchasing (but mostly just spreading the word) would help me out a ton and  I would really appreciate the support. (linens don't pay for themselves, you know)

I thank you all for you support by reading this silly (but fun, right?!) blog, and hope it isn't too much to ask that you tell everyone you know about my little gig I've got going on here. Seriously, just start ringing doorbells and being all: "HEY YO. YOU WANT SOME COOL SHOES?"

With that said, happy days, and CHECK OUT MY SHOP

Thanks. :3

:: Celeste

Garden Update

So here we are, one week after planting, with our first garden update! I could have updated everyone on the garden four days ago. No lie. Apparently cucumber and zucchini plants grow really.. really.. fast.

Day 3

Did I expect to see anything growing in three days? Holy cow no way. I expected tiny tiny barely visible is-that-a-leaf-or-a-piece-of-lint sprouts in, I dunno, a couple weeks? Wow I definitely did NOT expect to have such big, strong, healthy looking sprouts from MULTIPLE veggies! There are cucumbers (the tallest) and next to those, the zucchini, and at the bottom right, a small green bean sprout.

Day 6

This is what I came home to tonight. Giant cuke plants (I should probably transplant them tomorrow), the zucchini are on their way, and look at our little bean plant standing tall (with another one on it's way). If you look really hard, you can see a little teenie tiny sprout of baby spinach! I'd circle it for you, but that requires opening up Photoshop and connecting my tablet and I'm just too lazy right now.

Day 6

Tiny tiny carrot sprouts! I'm excited to have fresh carrots, but sad that I will only get six of them. :(

Day 6

Tiny tiny tomato sprouts! I'm really excited about tomatoes, not because I like them (I actually hate them) but because they're so pretty to look at. There's something about tomatoes on the vine that I just think is so pretty.

And there you have it! My garden thusfar. We still haven't had any pepper, jalepeno, or scallion sightings. I don't expect the scallions any time soon, but I'm really excited for the bell peppers, as they are my favourite vegetable.

I guess I have to say that if anyone is thinking about starting a veggie garden, starting the seeds off in the peat moss greenhouse thingies really work! It's also been really rainy and cloudy this past week. Mostly everything shot up today because they actually got to see sun and it warmed up their little hut nicely. I also talk to them, and tell them how awesome they are and that I love them. Try it! (They also like to be misted.)

Happy Gardening!

:: Celeste

Homegrown: Veggies, Herbs, and More!

It's that time of year again; SPRING! Though here in New England, the spring weather is just a tease right now, it's right around the corner. The trees are budding, the flowers are sprouting, and I have an itch to garden.

Which is strange, since I used to hate helping my mom in the garden.

Seriously though, I really have been having the itch to garden. I'm not very interested in flowers; they're pretty and all, but that's about it. So I decided (and we've talked about it so many times) to start a vegetable garden. I thought it would be pretty difficult seeing as how we live in a corporate building and there isn't much of anywhere to actually plant anything. Then I went to my parents' house and my dad showed me his garden (he's growing basil and rosemary I think. or is it Thyme..) and I knew I could do it to! (Because anyone who has been reading this blog knows that I do just about anything my parents do)

So I high tailed it to Job Lot and bought:

 

THIS AWESOME STARTER GREENHOUSE THINGY!

This was perfect for me for a number of reasons.

1. I have nowhere to grow
2. I have limited space indoors (seriously I have almost no counters with sun)
   
3. It was cheap

Mine came with 36 little peat moss pads for $5! FIVE DOLLARS. I'm pretty sure that's cheap! (The one pictured retails at $8.99 for 25 peat pads.)


It was super easy to use. I just had to water the pads until they expanded to the point of not taking anymore water in, sowed my seeds of choice, covered with a little bit of potting soil (you can probably get something more super awesome), misted it, covered it, put it in a sunny window. BOOM. Greenhouse.


I have two. One is the 36 seeder where I have:

• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Scallions
• Baby Spinach
• Green Beans

Then a 10 seeder that I have:

• Bell peppers (A variety of colours so I have no idea)
• Jalepeno peppers

Once these little guys reach transporting size (and I'm praying that they do), I'll be putting them in (painted of course) terra cotta pots outside. My house is conveniently built where if I go out the back, there's a section of the roof that is about waist high and gets full sunlight. :)


I will keep everyone updated on the progress of these plants and I encourage you all to make a mini garden and keep me updated! (I think this whole operation cost me all of $15)


Happy Gardening!


:: Celeste

Nomtastic: Quick & Cheap Meals for all

Hey there, remember me? I forgive you if you don't. It's been too long. For the longest time, I was fresh out of ideas. Then, as I'm sitting here eating a mixing bowl full of cookie dough, I thought about food. Dinner. I've been spending most of my time at my parents house as they are away on a cruise, and have re-fallen in love with Chef's kitchen (especially the spice/oil/sauce cabinet!). I have been making real dinners (because even I have to admit that though chicken nuggets and scrambled eggs may be eaten for dinner, it is not a real meal) and got inspired to share some of my recipes with you!


Cream of Celery Soup (about 10 mins)
This is a childhood favourite of mine. My mom was never big on cooking (she's a phenomenal baker though) so before my dad became Chef, she was in charge of dinner so she liked to stick to the basics. The simple, the easy, the comforting, the delicious.
1 can of cream of celery soup (condensed)
1 pound of ground meat. As a kid, my mom used ground hamburg, but I've made it with both ground turkey and ground bison. Both are very tasty. I've also seen soy crumble for the vegetarians. I want to try this too.
Rice or mashed potatoes. Or a baked potato! Or pasta!
COOK the meat in a large sautee pan until brown. Season as you cook. For this I just use salt, pepper, garlic, and celery salt
ADD the cream of celery soup. It comes out like cranberry sauce. Don't be tempted to add water. Well, you probably could, but it would dilute the flavour.
MIX the soup and the meat together until the meat is well coated
COVER and let simmer for just a few minutes
SERVE over rice, potatoes, or pasta. (listed in order of my personal preference)
--
This Dish Has No Name (15-20 mins)
This is something I just threw together one day as I was scrambling to make something vegetarian. I'm trying reallllllllly hard to support Adam's diet. I am not creative when I'm cooking. I am a VERY creative baker, but like I'm sure I've said before, my dad is Chef. I am not. I can barely come up with normal recipes nevermind something WITHOUT meat? What the heck? I like to think I'm getting better at it.
1 package spanish/mexican/chicken/whatever flavourited rice
1 package of tortillas (I like whole wheat ones myself)
3 (or 4, or 2, doesn't really matter) Eggs
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
PREPARE: Rice as directed
DICE: your peppers
SCRAMBLE: your eggs. Well, not your eggs, the chicken's eggs
COMBINE: Rice (once it's done) eggs and peppers
WRAP: everything in the tortilla
ENJOY: your lunch/dinner/midnight snack
STORE: your leftovers for another day. This dish can be enjoyed for days and days and days.
---
Sauteed Veggies (7-10 mins?)
Pretty self explanatory. Pretty tasty
VEGGIES OF YOUR CHOICE. My favourites are: onions, peppers of all kinds, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots and zucchini 
HEAT your pan with oil (olive, canola, veggie, sunflower... whatever!) and a heaping spoonful of garlic
STEAM your broccoli and carrots in the microwave. This step is completely optional. If you're in a hurry and you don't want that SUPER crunch, you probably want to steam. If you like that crunch or you'd rather not have that steamed texture, then just be sure to put these in the pan before the others so you don't cook the other veggies waiting for these guys to be ready :)
SAUTEE all the veggies together. Season with salt and pepper. (or anything else if you wanna get fancy. I prefer to keep this simple)
---
PASTA AND EASY WAYS TO SPICE IT UP:
PESTO: just a couple spoons of this in a bowl of pasta and a little grated cheese sprinkled on top. Guh. One of my favourites.
PEPPERS: sautee them up, red and green, with a little bit of garlic, and add it to your pasta. 
BROCCOLI AND GRILLED CHICKEN: Steam the broc, grill (or cook in a pan) your chicken. Little salt, little pepper, grated cheese, yum.
---
SALAD AND EASY WAYS TO SPICE IT UP
Just a list of things to throw into a salad to make it feel more like a meal than something to settle for.

• Craisins
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Peanuts (especially the honey roasted type!)
• Mandarin Oranges
• Strawberries
• Baby Spinach (in place of iceberg lettuce. that stuff is just nasty)
• Feta Cheese
• Mozzarella Cheese (diced)
• Raspberries
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Raspberry dressings/vinaigrettes 
• Sunflower Seeds
• Tofu

Salads are one of my favourite meals because of how versatile they are. Toss away those pre-mixed bags of iceberg lettice, carrots and radishes and dare to try something new. Take something you would never think to pair with lettuce and throw it in. It might be nasty, but it might just be your new favourite lunch, dinner, or anytime snack! The best thing about salads is that you can prepare single servings just as easily as you can 
prepare for a large crowd. 


QUICK TIP:
It seems like everyone except for me is in a hurry. So, to help all of you prepare dinner with just a little bit less  stress, here's my quick tip. Take a half hour of your free time (I know you have it because you all watch TV) and chop all your veggies. Separate them into tupperware and store it in the fridge. If you're going to be using grilled chicken in any of your meal plans for the week, now's the time to cook that up as well. Cut and store this in the fridge with your veggies. Now when you go to cook dinner, you essentially have a 'heat and serve' meal, but without all the nasty 'how do you pronounce that?' unnecessary ingredients. 


With that said..


Happy Cooking!


:: Celeste

Talk Clean to Me: DIY Salt Scrub

This is probably my most exciting post yet-- for me at least. I have a facial routine that I have recently realized is awesome on my skin, but not so much on my wallet. As a money saving fanatic, I overstepped my first rule (never purchase anything at full price [M.A.C excluded]) and became obsessed with the Store LUSH. This is Adam's fault. He showed it to me, I can't stop. My absolute favourite product is their Ocean Salt. You really can't beat it. I use it on my face every single day. The people at the store will widen their eyes and step back, but I'm tough. I will rub coarse sea salt over my skin every single day. Or at least I used to. When I had fewer bills and looser spending habits. Now we make a pot of it last 6 months between the two of us.

This morning, I noticed we are running (very) low. So I took a trip around the internet for some DIY recipes. Even lasting 6 months, I can't justify $34.95 for a facial scrub when my entire grocery bill is just over $60.

I was really in the mood to try my hand at making a scrub, but all the recipes I could find called for essential oils and I just don't have any of those at my house! So I went into the kitchen and made it up.

The first batch was a disaster and I'm sad about that because it used a lot of salt, EVOO, and all my lemon juice. Don't use EVOO if you don't want your face to smell like Italian food. I tried everything I could think of to neutralize the smell, but it was just too strong. By the end of it I had an oily mess that looked too similar to pee that I couldn't stand to look at it anymore.

Then I reached for an oil just because I liked the smell. I mixed it with the other things I wanted to throw in there, then hopped in the shower to wash my face. (I can't stand washing my face in a sink. Too much water where I don't want it)

Not to toot my horn too loudly, but I won't be buying Ocean Salt again for a long time. This is so inexpensive and easy to make (and I can't stop feeling my face! So soft!) I really encourage everyone to try this recipe.

Sea Salt: Any type will do. I had fine in my kitchen, but coarse is good too. It hurts though, so be careful haha

Baby Oil: If you don't have any at home, it's only about $4/20oz bottle and that will make about 10 batches, depending on how much you feel like making.

Citrus: I ran out of lemon juice on the crap batch, so I used a clementine.

Vanilla extract: For scent, I think. I don't actually know if vanilla does anything for the skin. It was in one of the recipes I couldn't use so I figured why not.

Now I don't have any exact measurements, I just fiddled around.

Pour your salt into a bowl and then slowly add the baby oil. Put a little in, mix it up and see where that gets you. It will seem like the salt is eating it up and then all of a sudden you might have oil pooling at the top before it even had a chance to sit. It happened to me a couple of times, don't worry.

• If you do end up with too much oil, you can empty your mixture onto a cloth (I used linen, but a tee shirt will do) and squeeze the excess out and let the cloth soak up some too. You might have to repeat this a couple of times
• You also want to probably put in less oil than you think you need because the citrus and the vanilla are also liquid and like I said, the oil pooling.. not so much fun.

It doesn't matter if you add the citrus or the vanilla next, just mix all your ingredients until you have your desired consistency. I think it works when it's like sandcastle sand. It might smell like, and sort of look like tasty and delicious cookie dough, but please resist the temptation or else you will be severely disappointed.

Store it in a tupperware near wherever you wash your face. I recommend scooping it out with a popsicle stick when you use it because you don't want any water to dissolve the salt.

Happy Exfoliating!

:: Celeste

The Importance of eBay and Craigslist Part Two: Craigslist

Welcome to part two the eBay/Craigslist lecture. Now that we're all professional eBayers (did you buy anything yet?), let's talk about an equally convenient, yet vastly different avenue.

Craigslist

Craigslist is definitely more intimidating that eBay. With eBay, unless there is an issue, everything is handled electronically and there is no person-to-person communication. Craigslist is just the opposite. Maybe you prefer it, maybe you're like me and think every person on Craigslist is an axe murderer. Loosen up and listen up. 

CL is like the Salvation Army of the internet. It has everything. At first when Adam started using it, I was totally sketched out. I mean, the layout of the website is so basic it looks like it's been slapped together by some weirdo living in his mom's basement. (I hope the guy doesn't still love with his mom; I'll feel bad about that comment) Also, the idea of him going out to meet strangers who are selling things like phones (he was big on buying and selling parts for his phone for a while) was TOTALLY freaky. It didn't help that we lived in a bad part of town at the time and I was convinced everyone could just open fire at any moment. 

Then we sold a musical instrument. We drove an hour away from home to a mattress store to meet two Brazilian men who wanted to take a look at it. It was just us, them, and the mattresses. I guess one of the guys wanted it for his brother back in Brazil. I wouldn't know; he was speaking Portuguese pretty much the whole time.

In the end, no one came out from the back room with a gun, no one followed us to the car, and we went home $1200 richer. Granted we used it to turn our heat and hot water back on, but still. It was pretty sweet.

Since then, we have been using it for a whole bunch of things. Adam uses it to grow his business as a music teacher. Many people post on CL looking for a guitar or piano teacher, a musician to play at their wedding or party, and even studios looking to hire teachers. Craigslist is responsible for making it possible for me to stay at home with Nikolai. Thanks, Craigslist.

Craigslist is also a shopping mall for... well it's a shopping mall. Adam did all his big ticket Christmas shopping for me on Craigslist. Sounds weird, I mean, going out and buying people's used stuff for a Christmas present? Saved us hundreds. I got:

• A Wii
• A hard drive with 80 Wii games
• A moving water picture (like in the Chinese restaurants! I always wanted one)
• A Digital photo frame
• A Camcorder 

Not that I was adamant about getting any big ticket items, but when he told me the Wii and HD with 80 games cost him $125 altogether, I was so proud of him!

Some of the items were brand new, but even the ones that were second hand, it hardly matters once it's hooked up or hung up on the wall! Why pay more than you have to?

One of my favourite CL purchases are my Valentine's day decorations. Being a new family, we don't have a big collection of decorations like my parents do. A lady had too many, so she sorted out the ones she didn't want anymore, put them in a bin and put them up for sale on CL. $25 later, my house is all Valentine's out! Beat that, Martha Stewart.

But Craigslist isn't all about buying and selling. There's a pet section, a job section, apartments, cars, classes, rants and raves, personal ads, volunteer groups, and just about anything else you might want to search for in your area. (or in other areas!)

For the avid Craigslisters (Adam), there are the smartphone apps. Craigslist Pro for the iPhone and Craigsnotifica for Android. These apps allow on the go CLing, searching within x miles of your zip code, and registering different keywords. Definitely worth checking out.

Like any other website, you do have to be careful. Meeting in a public place is probably best and because I'm a baby, I suggest power in numbers. Meet with a buddy. Be smart about meeting up with strangers. Also, if you're 14, please don't even read this post.

Happy Craigslisting!

:: Celeste

The Importance of eBay and Craigslist Part One: eBay

Aside from Facebook and Twitter, Craigslist and eBay are probably the most widely talked about sites on the internet. Okay, maybe that's not true. Google, Yahoo, YouTube.. well still, they're pretty popular! Unfortunately, it seems that both sites are not looked upon to kindly by the public. It's always "oh, you have to watch out on eBay." or "Be careful with Craigslist. It's sketchy." Well let me tell you something: they're right.

But we're not going to talk about why you have to be careful on eBay and why Craigslist is kind of sketch. I'm going to talk about why both sites are awesome. And, if you use your common sense properly and follow my tips and tricks, both will lead you to savings savings savings.

eBay

Hello, Hong Kong! My personal favourite thing about shopping on eBay is buying from international sellers, particularly the Chinese. I've gotten things from diapers, to dresses, to cell phone cases to corsets-- all from China. The only thing is you have to wait about a month for your package to come in, so don't buy anything you need in less than a month. It's probably not economically friendly to be buying from out of the country, but when my wallet says I can dish out $20 for a screen protector for my phone instead of $0.99 (and free shipping!), then I'll buy in the USA. Besides, with my extra $19.01 I can go to a locally owned pizza parlor instead of $5 medium any topping Dominos crap. I like to think it evens out.

Gems: I don't mean actual rhinestones. I mean the diamonds in the rough. The 'one man's trash' deal. There are things that people will put online just to get rid of, and they don't even know what they have.

Auctions vs. Buy it Now: You have to use your judgment here. I usually refine my searches to exclude auctions because I can't be bothered to wait. (I don't spend much time on eBay looking for gems) A lot of times with  auctions though, especially if it's not that popular of an item, you can save some money. I find that with the things I buy that have similar items for auction, have flipped prices. The buy it now might be $5.00 with $0.99 shipping and the auction will be $0.99 with $5 shipping, so keep your eyes peeled for those sorts of things.

eBay Stores: I tend to shop from eBay Stores as opposed to the 'individual' sellers. I feel more secure and more confident about my purchase knowing that it's not just coming from a box in someone's attic (that's where Craigslist comes in!). eBay stores will also link you to other, similar seller's stores if you don't see what you are looking for. It's a great way to do online shopping.

The Dos and Don'ts (By Celeste Leigh. To be followed at the buyers discretion)

• Do get a PayPal account. PayPal is safe, secure, and quick. As a buyer, you will be rated by the seller. Sellers like quick payments and PayPal will go through immediately. You also do not have to give any personal information to the seller which is better for everyone.
• Do check the seller's rating. I normally don't buy from anyone who has less than 98% positive feedback. You can click on the little number next to the % to view the feedback left by previous people this person has made a transaction with--both buyers and sellers.
• Do real all the information provided about a product. People who sell on eBay for a living will make even the cheesiest things look super gorgeous. Double check sizing. I had the misfortune of buying (the cutest) dress because I didn't properly measure myself. When I got the dress in the mail, I ran upstairs to my room to try it on. Got it on, looked at myself in the mirror and went; "OMG I LOOK SO CUTE." turned around, and got a full shot of my panties. Needless to say I was taller than the model. 
• Don't buy used clothing, bedding, electronics, phones, what have you. Well, you can if you want, but I personally advise against it. You can see as many photos of the item as you want, but if it isn't brand new, you never know how you are going to receive it. Unless the seller lives nearby, chances are you won't be able to look over the product before making your purchase. (Though I encourage you to sell these things. People will buy anything! Isn't that terrible?)
• Don't forget to read about the seller's return policy. 
• Don't buy Coach products on eBay. Or any designer for that matter. You are not getting a deal. People go to the outlets (I used to work for Coach, I know how it goes) and buy the bags/accessories SUPER CHEAP because outlets are great and then sell them for just under the MSRP, turning around and pulling a huge profit. Please, for the sake of retail employees and the frustration it causes, do not give re-sellers the victory.

I feel like I had more to say on eBay but I can't think of anything else at the moment. Like I said before, shop using your common sense and you will do fine. Beware of shipping though. Something may look like a good deal, but then the shipping is twice the price of the item! This is not uncommon.

Happy Shopping!

:: Celeste