We LOVE Garage Sales!

*This is a post that I previously wrote for the Quad City Moms Blog. Just thought it was worth sharing again, and since I haven't been feeling good this week, it's an easy post! Enjoy!

It’s About That Time Again!

What time, you ask? Garage sale time! If you know me (and my mom) at all, you know that we are crazy garage-salers!  For as long as I can remember, Thursdays have meant one thing:  driving around town with a newspaper in hand and bargains on the mind.  And now that I have children, we have gotten even crazier…but in a good way! (I think!) Since my first son was born in 2008, I would estimate that at least 80% of their lives they have worn clothes from garage sales.  Nearly all of their toys are from the sales, and many of the things in our home are from there as well.

Now, I know what you may be thinking.  My husband and I both work..why not buy our kids clothes?  To tell the truth, I think that no one would ever know that their clothes are secondhand.  In fact, I’ve had many comments like “oh, that outfit is so cute! Where did you get it?”.  Let’s face it: kids under 5 ruin their clothes.  Dirt, food, vomit, and many other unmentionables…the clothes take a beating.  And when my kids are running around in the backyard full of mud, I’m not the mommy who’s running after them with the Shout stain-stick.  Because their pants didn’t cost $20 dollars…they cost 50₵.  And that’s the truth.  (*NOTE:  My kids do not wear socks, underwear, or pajamas from garage sales.  I do draw the line somewhere! I also don’t let them buy stuffed animals. Gross.)

I understand that some of you may not agree with the idea of your kids wearing clothes that have been worn by others.  However, toys are a different story! Toys are expensive, and if you come to our house, you would guess that we have spent a fortune on our kids.  But you would be wrong.  In today’s blog, I have decided to share with you just a few of the MANY bargains my mom and I have found for my children.  Toys that they love, that they play with (destroy) on a daily basis, and for a fraction (a very SMALL fraction) of the retail prices….

Bouncy Ball Pit

This is the main attraction in our basement these days.  The average retail cost of a ball pit this size is $50-$70.  We paid $4 (with the balls included), and my kids have been enjoying this toy for over a year now!

Legos

What is life (especially for a boy) without legos?  You all know how expensive they are at the store.  We have found so many Legos at garage sales, that I have not only gotten a TON for my own kids, but also for my aunt’s daycare kids as well!  The size of the buckets vary, as do the amount of pieces in each one, but the average bucket size that we’ve found costs between $25 and $50 at the store, and the most I have paid for one bucket is $4.

Power Wheels ATV

This is one of our best buys, and a great story! We saw this in the yard and ran right to it, checking if it worked and how much they wanted.  They had it marked at $60, which is more than we ever pay for anything at a garage sale.   However, there was a little boy who lived at the house, and he automatically started “bargaining” with us. It was hilarious. We told him the most we would pay was $40. After some double checking with his mom, and some scolding on her part (for bargaining with us), they finally agreed to it.  My mom bought it, cleaned it up, and gave it to Sam for his 3^rd birthday.  What a great gift! Retail price for a comparable 4 wheeler online is between $115 and $150.

Finger Skateboards

This was another GREAT buy, and we almost passed it up!  We were leaving a sale and I saw a plastic tote full of toys.  I wasn’t even going to open it, but boy am I glad I did! It was full of those little finger skateboards (my boys love them) and ramps, stairs, etc.  These toys are surprisingly expensive.  The average cost for one skateboard is between $1 and $4, and the ramps (especially the Tony Hawk brand, which is what we got!) go for between $20 and $40 each.  I walked away from that sale with approximately 20 skateboards, 7 ramps, and the tote they came in, for $2!

Why garage sale?

If you have the time, you should definitely try it out at least once.  Even if you don’t find anything, it’s fun to drive around hunting for bargains.  The Quad Cities is really big on garage sales, and it’s no longer only Thursdays, but now Fridays and Saturdays as well.  As a well-seasoned garage-saler, here are my top tips:

1.       Bargain! Don’t be afraid to offer less; the worst they can do is say “no”!

2.       Plug it in! If the item requires electricity, ask them to plug it in and show you that it works.

3.       Bleach it! Throw all the toys in watered-down bleach, rinse, and dry before your kids touch!

4.       Compare prices! Thank goodness for smart phones.  When we are wondering if something is a bargain, I just google the item to find the average retail price.

5.       Hit the neighborhood sales! These are the best, especially if you have little ones with you.  We just pull out the stroller and walk from sale to sale.  You’d be surprised how much your kids will enjoy it! Plus, if they want a toy, there’s usually a Free Box somewhere!

6.       Return the favor! When your own house is bursting at the seams, pull out the price tags and have your own sale. And when you do, be fair.  Our family had one this past summer, and our prices were so low that people were laughing as they piled bags full of 10 cent and 25 cent items. It’s good to pay it forward…we would love to hit a sale where everything was a quarter!

I hope to see some of you out there on Thursday mornings this year!  If you do, make sure to tell me about the deals you find! And if you see my mom and I at the same sale as you, watch out!  We will run you over to get to the bargain!

More Chef Laura Tips: Growing and Using Herbs

Fresh herbs can liven up almost any recipe.  Fresh herbs also have a detoxifying effect on our bodies--they are packed with antioxidants (especially oregano), many have anti-inflamatory agents, and can also aid in digestion. They are very easy to grow, so don't worry if you don't have a green thumb.  Herbs are practically a weed, and we all know those don't require a green thumb! If you plant them in the ground, they don't need much watering after they are well-established, and generally animals and insects don't bother them because of their pungent flavor and aroma.

Here are a few basic herbs to start an herb garden:

Parsley

 -Probably one of the most under-rated herbs, in my opinion.  It is not just pretty as a garnish; it also has a wonderful, bright flavor.

-A good addtion to marinades for any meat, fish, or veggie

-Adds color to salads (pasta, potato,etc)

-Good in soups and sauces

-Sometimes a perennial (if grown up close to your house where it is more sheltered in the winter months)

Basil

-Also good in salads and marinades

-Especially good in fresh pasta sauces, pestos, and caprese salad (tomato, basil, mozzarella cheese)

 -This herb will have sweet, tender leaves all season if you pinch the buds before they flower (to keep it from  going to seed).

-It's usually an annual, but towards the end of the season you can let it go to seed and sometimes it will re-seed  itself.

Chives

-A nice addition to dips, salads, soups, and marinades

-I also like to add it to cottage cheese.  My mom would sometimes let us eat cottage cheese with chives as chip-dip and somehow rationalize it as a healthy snack--I never protested!  I also like this mix on top of a baked potato (instead of sour cream)

-They are a perennial and have pretty purple flowers in late spring/early summer

Oregano

-This herb is another key ingredient in a good pasta sauce

-I think fresh oregano has a distinctly different taste than dried. I find the flavor more mild and slightly minty.

-Delicious in minestrone and many other soups

-It is also a perennial and should be cut back at the end of the season, after it is an established plant.  You will need to keep your eye on this one, or it can take over your herb garden!

Cilantro

-A key ingredient in salsa, but also has many other uses

-A great addition to Asian-inspired soups and marinades

-Pairs well with citrus and oil-based marinades for fish, pork, or chicken

-It's a really easy herb to start from seed as long as you keep it watered at first

-Like Basil, to extend its tender leaves and growing season, pick tops before it flowers to prevent it from bolting (or going to seed)

 **A general tip for storing cut herbs: lightly dampen a paper towel, lay herb on top and store in an unsealed plastic baggie in crisper drawer for 3-5 days

**Also, at the end of the season, I'll be sharing some tips on preserving different herbs so you can enjoy their fresh taste and health benefits all winter!

Mi casa es su casa

As always on Tuesdays, we are looking for “the good” in our home.  However, it’s not always our own home that makes us feel special, or loved, or “at home”.  We all have places, whether near or far, that hold a special place in our heart—places we have made memories, places we have grown up or grown together, places we love.  Today I’m sharing a few of my “homes” with you…

1.My parents’ house(s)…Of course I have an attachment to the house (duplex) that I grew up in.  We moved there when I was three, and my parents didn’t leave there until I was almost done with college.  Nearly all of my childhood memories were made there…birthday parties, Christmas mornings, my first pet (a Pekingese named Squirty), and just the day-to-day life of me, my mom, and my dad.  Wonderful times—I was lucky to have such a good childhood.  And now they have a new house…one that I thought I would never live in with them, but never say never!  After my husband and I sold our first house, we ended up moving in with my parents for about a year until we found our new home.  And so, we now have a lot of memories at my parent’s “new” house, too!  Especially because our son spent much of his first two years there…he went from the cradle to the crib there, he first climbed stairs there, he started talking there, he started sleeping in his “own” room there…SO many memories of our precious first born!  And in fact, we even brought our second-born son home to their house from the hospital!

2. My grandma Shirl’s house…As I have mentioned already on the blog, my grandma’s house is usually the meeting place for the whole family.  And not just at holidays or special events—we are there every week!  Most Saturdays we are seated around her kitchen table, sometimes just 5 or 6 of us, sometimes 10 or 15, or more!  It has always been this way, I don’t remember a time that we didn’t have Sabbath lunches at her house.  In a way, all of us cousins grew up in that house.  Many of us have even lived there at one point or another…for me, it was in college, after my grandpa died.  Those few months gave me a lot of new memories of her house—just the two of us living there, reading books at night and eating breakfast together.  I even woke up in that house on my wedding day!

3.My aunt Jeannie’s house…Yet another place that I actually did live!  When our house burned down when I was in 5^th grade, my parents and I moved in with my aunt Jean, my uncle Steve, and my cousin Elyse.  Our time living there was an emotional roller-coaster, after having lost nearly everything we owned (including our pets), but at the same time enjoying the bond between family, and realizing how lucky we were to have them in our lives.  Jean had always been like a second mom, and Elyse like my sister, but after living together, the connections were only stronger.  We brought home our new pet, my dog Molly, to their house—what a special time for a little girl!  Now that we are all grown up, Elyse and I send our boys there to Jean’s daycare, where they play with the toys that we grew up with and they are learning to love each other as we do.  It’s a special place!

4. My in-laws’ (old) house…No offense to their new house, but I have a special place in my heart for the house that my husband grew up in.  Since we started dating when we were 16, and they only recently moved out of that house, we obviously spent a lot of time there!  I met all of his family in that house, we spent many nights watching movies or playing games with our friends there in high school, and it was in that kitchen where Matt announced to a whole group of people that he had asked me to marry him.  When they decided to move about 2 years ago, I think I might have been just as sad as Matt!  We fell in love there, and I guess I just thought they would always live there…but hey, we are starting to love the new house, too!  Our boys go there a lot, and their dede (grandma) has made them a wonderful playroom in her basement.  New house, new memories to be made!

5. Spain…I know this isn’t a home, but I did live there for 6 months in college, and I felt such a connection to that place, to the people.  In fact there is a home where I feel at home there…it’s a 2^nd story flat on the busiest street in Seville, called Menendez-Pelayo.  There I met my house mother, Maravilla, and her wonderful family—most importantly her son, my life-long friend Álvaro.  Without him, and my other friend Chelsea, my experience in Spain would never have been so good.  I fell in love with the country, the lifestyle, the music, the food (ha!), all of it!  No matter how long it takes me to get back there, I will always have a tugging to return.  Anything related to Spain makes me miss it—watching a movie, hearing a song, even seeing something “Spanish-looking” or eating Spanish food (by the way, if you want Spanish food, I know the place for you!  I will be posting about it soon…keep an eye out!).

I think 5 “home away from homes” is more than anyone could ever ask for in life!  I consider myself beyond lucky to have grown up in a family, and a circle of friends, where there were so many welcoming homes, so many loving people who shared their four walls with me.  I am forever grateful to all of them, and I hope that my children have as much luck to find so many “homes” in their lives, too.  As long as their favorite home is mine!

Do you have any “home away from homes”?  Why are they special to you?

A Day of Rest

I grew up in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  As the name suggests, we believe in the seventh day Sabbath, in other words, Saturday.  Growing up, we knew that from sundown Friday night until sundown Saturday night would be our Sabbath.  Of course, everyone honors the Sabbath in a different way—in my own family, it was a time for family.  No TV, no going out shopping, no working.  We spent those 24 hours together, actually together—eating, playing a game, going to church, going to the park, etc.  Now that I am a mother and have my own family, I try my hardest to instill in my boys this need to take a break from the world—to remember where we came from, to remember what’s really important in this life.  I take them to Sabbath School and church, we eat lunch with our entire family afterwards (yes, every Saturday!), and spend the rest of the day together—playing outside, going for walks, playing games, etc.

My post today is not just for Seventh-Day Adventists, or even just for Christians.  My point is to remind you that we all need a day of rest, whether it be for religious reasons or otherwise.  I recently read an article about Leelee Sobieski (the actress), who says that she and her boyfriend realized one day that they were spending too much time watching TV, checking their Facebook and email, etc.  I like the way she describes this—“..even when we were alone, we were never truly alone—our friends were always popping up in our in-boxes”.  So they decided that they would “unplug” themselves every Friday night until Saturday night (no phones, no TV, no internet, no work, no chores!).  Similar to my story, Leelee says that they started playing more games, taking more walks, etc., and she says that they started to feel refreshed by the break they had taken.

I think that the importance of some “un-plugged” time is highly overlooked in this world today.  We are slaves to technology—it’s on our computer, it’s on our phone, it’s always on our mind.  There are some great things being done with all of this new knowledge, but at the same time it’s so important to take a break.  I mean, do we really need to check our Facebook status or our email every hour?  If something is that important, I’m guessing that you will get the message somehow.  It’s about time that we started re-connecting with the real world—having actual conversations with people, spending time outdoors, or just sitting still long enough to hear our children laugh or share a good snuggle with our partner.

No matter what day you choose to rest on, just make sure you do it.  Make your own rules—maybe you can’t live without your phone ( I know I would never turn mine completely off, for fear of an emergency), but you could at least give people a heads up and say “hey, from Monday night to Tuesday night, we are taking a break, so unless you really need me, please don’t text or call”.  Believe me, people will understand—heck, you might even inspire them to do the same in their own life! 

Just give it a try—you will be amazed at how refreshed you feel, just like Leelee said in the article.  The thought of leaving a pile of emails until tomorrow might seem overwhelming, but if you are in a constant state of burn-out, the stack is never going to look or feel any smaller.  After a “day of rest”, you are much more prepared and focused, and the stack will disappear before you know it! (well, maybe not disappear completely, but you will see a dent, for sure!) 

I’d like to end with some more of what Leelee said in the article.  I was so glad to read this in Oprah magazine, because I really do think that this idea goes beyond the religious aspect.  Even though for me personally, I view the Sabbath as a day to worship God and be grateful for everything He has given us, that’s no reason that you can’t have a day of rest in your life that suits you.  Another thing that she said, about taking pictures of her daughter, really made me think:

“When I had my daughter…I started recording every funny or sweet thing she said or did on my phone.  But on one of our unplugged days, I realized I’d been so focused on capturing those moments that I hadn’t been feeling them.  I’d missed opportunities to connect with my daughter because my face was always hidden behind my cell phone.  Now when I see something beautiful or funny or sweet, sometimes I reach for my camera, but other times I think, I need to let this moment exist.  I don’t have to capture everything.  I just want to experience it.”

                                                                                                                (Oprah magazine, May 2012)

Do you and your family have a “Sabbath” or an “un-plugged day”?  What do you do on these days?  Why do you think they are so important for us to have?

Little Surprises Make A Big Difference

Today was my fourth day of bed-rest.  Let me tell you, four days is enough.  I don’t know how women do this for weeks, even months!  I am bored, I am tired of sitting on the couch and having other people do things for me, and mostly I am sad that I cannot pick up my kids or run around and get them what they need like I always do.

I have a lot of help, and I appreciate each and every one of my family and friends who have been here for me this week.  We are having baby girl’s baby shower at my house, so today everyone was coming to help me get ready.  It was a busy day, lots of things to get done and lots of people running around.  I had a lot of extra hands helping me clean my house, decorate for the party, and take care of my two boys.  But I have to admit, with no offense to everyone else, that my favorite bit of the day came this afternoon…my mom, aunt, and friend came to the door yelling “meals on wheels”, as they brought in a plate of food that my grandma had made for lunch.  Everything looked delicious, but then I saw the foil-covered second plate…

…my favorite thing in the whole wide world, my grandma’s apple pie.  Sometimes little surprises from the ones we love can really make a difference.  That piece of pie just melted in my mouth, and it made me feel so much better.  It really did.

And so today, as you go about your day, try to remember that sometimes the smallest surprises are the best, and sometimes people could really use that surprise, in a small or even a big way in their lives.  And if you are in need of a little pick-me-up, I hope that you get it soon!

PS…the best part is, she sent two pieces of pie, so I am going to sleep with a smile on my face, knowing that the other one is waiting in my kitchen. And yes, I will be eating it for breakfast.

the BEST apple pie on earth. hands down.

What was one of the best “little surprises” that you ever got?  Why was it so important to you?

My Favorite Person.

So, after the last two Saturday posts about hugs and kisses, and the whole idea of “looking for the good in people”, I just can’t go another day without writing about my favorite person.

When I was 15 years old, my friends and I went to a party.  I ended up on a barstool in a friend’s basement, shamelessly flirting with a boy I had gone to junior high with but never even met.  He was one of the only people at the party who had already had his 16^th birthday, and was therefore talking about his car.  I don’t remember what else we talked about, but I know that my friends and I made fools of ourselves.  The next day, my friend told me that she had a crush on him.  I didn’t want to tell her that I did, too, so instead I set them up to go to a little dance together at our school. The rest of us girls went without dates, so we were all together that night.  Fortunately for me, my friend backed out and decided it wasn’t really what she wanted…but it was what I wanted!

I will remember that fall for the rest of my life. I remember sitting in my childhood bedroom, “chatting” with him online and him asking me to be his girlfriend. I remember sitting at a football game…he gave me his sweatshirt, I wore it home that night, and didn’t take it off for the entire weekend.  I remember my mom just smiling at me.  I remember telling my friends, “this is the one”. Of course, what sixteen year old doesn’t say that about her boyfriend? 

For the next three years of high-school, we were together every day.  We laughed, we fought, we formed a circle of friends that lasts a lifetime.  We made memories, we went through the ups and downs of life together.  We graduated high school, and the cycle started all over again—we laughed, we fought, we even broke up for a little while, and then one night I saw him again and knew, it just couldn’t be the end.  He was there with me through it all—dorm life, apartment life, exams, even my 40 page thesis. 

And then one night, after a long night of cards and good times with my family, we got in the car to drive back up to school.  About halfway there, he turns and says to me, “what would you say if I asked you to marry me right now?” (yes, he was driving at this time!). I say, “of course you know I would say yes”, and then I see the white box in his hand.  I have never smiled so much or so hard in my life—all the way to the apartment, where he got down on one knee, and slipped the beautiful ring on my finger.  We spent that night drinking sparkling juice and watching movies in my tiny twin bed in my apartment.

Then I moved to Spain for 5 months…the longest 5 months of our lives.  When he came to visit me there, I literally felt like my heart would beat out of my chest before he got off the plane.  When I saw his face, it was like I had gone home again.

On September 8, 2007, I woke up ready to marry the love of my life.  I wasn’t nervous, I wasn’t worried about anything going wrong, and it didn’t.  It was the perfect day.  I remember sneaking into the back of the church with my bridesmaids, and stealing a peek at him through the window.  All at once, he looked like the 16 year old on the bar stool, telling me about getting his driver’s license, and yet at the same time I could see in him my future, our future—our life, our children, our happy ending.

Three months later, I wanted to start a family.  He looked at me like I was crazy, and yet in the same breath he said “yes, we should”.  And so we did.  Nearly 9 months to the day after he said “yes we should”, we welcomed our son into the world.  Since then, we have lived in two houses, welcomed another son, and will soon be welcoming our daughter.  We have celebrated ten wonderful years together, we have taken trips together, we have even bought a mini-van.  Together. 

At 27 years old, some days I can honestly sit and remember that warm summer night like it was just yesterday, as if I had just written in my journal the words “I have to go, Matt Meehan is talking to me on the computer!” (yes, I actually did that).  I still have the sweatshirt from the football game…in fact, I wore it the other day, and I smile every time that I do.  That circle of friends that we formed in high school is the same circle of friends that surrounded us on our wedding day, and the same circle of friends that we welcome into our home as often as possible to this day.

My favorite person in the whole world is my husband, my best friend, my partner in life.  I love him for the shy, adorable sixteen year old that he was, and for the strong, confident man that he has become.  We have grown up together, we have shared some of the best days of my entire life, and the best part is the thought of how many more we will share.  How we will watch our children grow, how we will watch our love grow, how we will someday sit on rocking chairs on our front porch and drink lemonade.  I don’t have this story without him, I don’t have any story without him.  He has given me two (almost three) of the best gifts anyone can ever receive—he has made me a mother, a wife, and most importantly a better person.  He takes care of me, he works enough for two or three husbands and never complains, and yet he still finds time to stop and buy me my favorite candy bar on his way home from work.

If you are thinking this is sappy, you are right.  And if you are thinking that you should be jealous of me, you should be.  My life is not perfect, and we do have our ups and downs.  We argue, we yell, we disagree.  But then we hug, and we kiss, and we always go to bed in the same bed.  I love him more than I could ever say, no matter how long this blog goes on and on…

And so, as we “look for the good in people”, I pray that I never take for granted the friend  that I share my life with, my home with, my bed with.  He has given me a life that I love, children who have stolen my heart, and a love that everyone deserves to have in their life. 

This one is for you, Matt.

Community Spotlight: Beignet Done That!

Another short and sweet post today…emphasis on the word sweet.  As always on Fridays, we are looking for “the good” in our community.  And so today let me ask you, if you live in the Quad Cities, have you been downtown to try “Beignet Done That”?  If not, then you definitely need to put it on your list!

This little coffee shop, located inside the Blackhawk Hotel, gets its name from the “beignet”, a French donut-like pastry.  They are fluffy, delicious pastries dusted with powdered sugar and served warm and fresh right in front of you in this cute little place in downtown Davenport.

the kids, patiently waiting for donuts!

My mom and I recently took my boys, and my niece, to try out the beignets.  As a sweets-lover (and especially donuts), I knew before we got there that I would like it.  But I didn’t know just how delicious they would taste! We ordered the mini-beignets, because of the kids, but the next time I go I think I will order the same thing.  Everything is better in bite-size, and we ordered the chocolate dipping sauce to go with it. Mmmm!!

my adorable Cooper

No one is paying me to write this little blurb, believe it or not! I just love food, especially sweets, and I love finding new and delicious places in our community.  And, as everyone knows, I love it when it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.  The cost for 12 mini-beignets (which was quite filling, if you ask me) was only $6.  So, head on down to Beignet Done That and enjoy yourself a treat!