Well, I thought that since school was over I'd have lots and lots of time to give you all lovely blog posts, but I'm afraid I already have to take another break!
My sweetie will be headed over to spend six months in Iraq--and he leaves in a little under two weeks.
We will be trying to spend as much time as we can being together as a family, so I won't have much time for posting at all.
Thanks everyone for sticking with me--I'll be back in no time at all!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Home Improve-mint
Quick! Name something minty!
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What did you come up with?
Toothpaste?
Candy?
Gum?
Mouthwash?
Breath mints (of course!)?
The above are all things that everyone considers minty, but have you ever wondered why? Why is it that so many personal hygiene products smell minty—especially ones we’re supposed to put in our mouths?
It’s because mint is clean. Mint is fresh. Mint lifts the spirits. Oh, and did I mention mind is clean? :)
It is for this reason that if someone asked me to name something minty, I would probably answer “my house.”
I discovered a few years ago, that although unconventional, the scent of mint is a wonderful addition to any home. As I described above, it just makes everything seem cleaner. Think of it as giving a breath mint to your house!
When using mint, I tend to rely most heavily on regular old McCormick mint flavoring, found right next to the vanilla in the spice section of the grocery store. I also like to use spearmint essential oil that I buy from www.sweetcakes.com. Because mint is a fairly easy oil to extract, you can buy a huge bottle of it inexpensively. I’m sure places like Whole Foods and Wild Oats also carry it, but I’m not sure about their pricing. When buying the oil, I like to get spearmint rather than peppermint, but that’s purely a personal preference. Try both—you might find you like peppermint more.
Anyway, below are some of my favorite ways to incorporate a minty freshness into my house:
--Pour about a tablespoon of flavoring into my bottle of homemade vinegar cleaner.
--Place a couple of drops of oil on my vacuum filter before vacuuming the house.
--Make my own scented scouring powder by adding a little oil to equal parts of kosher salt and baking soda (your tub has never been so fresh!).
--Buy a Yankee “Fresh Mint” candle. The way they have scented this is uncanny. It smells exactly like a mint patch growing out in the yard. They have perfectly captured not only the mint, but also the subtle earthiness and bitter-sweetness of real, fresh mint. Have a look at www.yankeecandle.com. It is well worth the $23—I promise!
--If you’ll be leaving home for a few days, pour a few drops of the flavoring down each drain and in the bowl of your commode. It will eliminate that stale smell that develops when stagnant water has been in the pipes for too long.
--Dab a few drops of oil on the cardboard tube inside your rolls of toilet paper and paper towels. You’ll have freshness with each spin!
--And don’t forget about using mint for personal care products as well: a lid-full of essential oil poured into a full bottle of vanilla body wash is incredibly delicious (my favorite is St. Ives Swiss Vanilla—about $3 at the drugstore or Wal-Mart).
Once your house—and you—are sweet and minty, you’ll wonder why you never thought to use it before!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Happy Little Hint
A few days ago I made a fun little discovery. As it turns out, My Little Ponies have magnetic feet! I have a couple on the fridge right now holding up a "to do" list! I think I'll be headed out to Wal-Mart sometime this week to pick up a few more. So much more fun than standard fridge magnets!
Just a little tip for those of you who occasionally find yourselves craving something girlish and kitschy!
Just a little tip for those of you who occasionally find yourselves craving something girlish and kitschy!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
A Family Motif
Once before my husband and I were married, we were having a popcorn and movie night at my place. As the newly-engaged often do, things became rather playful and flirtatious when we all of a sudden found ourselves in a tickle fight! Now, I am ticklish and he is not, so this was not a very fair fight! Gasping for air, I decided I'd surrender, but because I was laughing so hard the only thing that came out of my mouth was a shrill cry of "BEEEEEE!" Now I don't even remember what I was trying to say. "Be nice?" "Behave?" Anyway, it was shrill and grating, but it got my honey to stop. He stopped, until he started teasing me about my "beeee" scream! Because of this incident, we jokingly started saying "bee" whenever things didn't go our way. Work wanted us in when it was supposed to be our day off? Bee. About to run out of gas? Bee. The people at Burger King forgot to put cheese on the burger? Bee.
As is common in the military, my husband (or fiance, I suppose) almost immediately got orders to spend a year in Korea. So instead of planning our wedding, we ended up planning to spend a year apart. Now, the one good thing about being separated from your loved one is all the letters and packages you get to send each other. As the years go by, you will treasure your "mail order courtship" and many of the letters will come to mean a great deal to you, even after you are reunited. For my letters to him I purchased a little sheet of bumblebee stickers, because saying "bee" was our fun little thing.
....And we were off! Anything with a bee or bee-related we collected and sent to each other. He (finally) came back and we again began to plan our wedding. Unfortunately, our plans were thwarted again by September 11th. It was an extremely busy time for anyone in the military then, and as such our requests to take leave and get married were denied.
Another year later we were finally able to be married! I had such fun setting up our first little house on base, and such fun organizing all the bees we had collected since our courtship began.
Since then, we have continued to collect bees. They are in my kitchen mostly, but there are a few around the rest of the house. They have really become our family motif and it is fun to pick them up when I see something cute. Sometimes with his work schedule I don't see my husband very much, and I still sign the little notes I leave for him on the counter with a little hand-drawn bee.
The bee has represented fun and laughter for us, because that is how the whole bee thing began. But the bee has come to represent so much more. What do you think of when you think of bees? Sweetness? Definitely. Bees make honey and there are few things sweeter than that. Bees are hard-working. That is a value I wish to have and wish to instill in my children. Bees are a family, with all of them working together to build a hive, raise the bee babies, and gather honey for everyone.
For these reasons and more, bees have become our family motif.
Do you have a family motif? What is it, and did you choose it because it meant something to you, or simply because you found it cute or fun?
"Bee" well, everyone!
As is common in the military, my husband (or fiance, I suppose) almost immediately got orders to spend a year in Korea. So instead of planning our wedding, we ended up planning to spend a year apart. Now, the one good thing about being separated from your loved one is all the letters and packages you get to send each other. As the years go by, you will treasure your "mail order courtship" and many of the letters will come to mean a great deal to you, even after you are reunited. For my letters to him I purchased a little sheet of bumblebee stickers, because saying "bee" was our fun little thing.
....And we were off! Anything with a bee or bee-related we collected and sent to each other. He (finally) came back and we again began to plan our wedding. Unfortunately, our plans were thwarted again by September 11th. It was an extremely busy time for anyone in the military then, and as such our requests to take leave and get married were denied.
Another year later we were finally able to be married! I had such fun setting up our first little house on base, and such fun organizing all the bees we had collected since our courtship began.
Since then, we have continued to collect bees. They are in my kitchen mostly, but there are a few around the rest of the house. They have really become our family motif and it is fun to pick them up when I see something cute. Sometimes with his work schedule I don't see my husband very much, and I still sign the little notes I leave for him on the counter with a little hand-drawn bee.
The bee has represented fun and laughter for us, because that is how the whole bee thing began. But the bee has come to represent so much more. What do you think of when you think of bees? Sweetness? Definitely. Bees make honey and there are few things sweeter than that. Bees are hard-working. That is a value I wish to have and wish to instill in my children. Bees are a family, with all of them working together to build a hive, raise the bee babies, and gather honey for everyone.
For these reasons and more, bees have become our family motif.
Do you have a family motif? What is it, and did you choose it because it meant something to you, or simply because you found it cute or fun?
"Bee" well, everyone!
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Well-Stocked Freezer
A huge part of home keeping consists of keeping a well-stocked and efficiently-run kitchen. I have seen so many articles discussing the pantry and what you should have on hand, meals made exclusively from it's contents and how to organize it, so I thought it would be fun to focus on another area of storage; the freezer.
The following list chronicles the contents of mine when it is well-stocked, and affords me many wonderful things to eat no matter what the situation.
1. A stash of breakfast foods.
When making pancakes, I normally take the leftovers, spread them out on a cooling rack, and when frozen solid I put them all into a gallon-sized freezer bag. Remember, they must be frozen individually or they'll turn into one giant pancake slab! To reheat, I put a couple into my toaster oven and "toast" until thawed and warm. If I'm short on time, about 20 seconds in the microwave brings them back to life. **This works wonderfully with the banana pancake recipe I posted previously **
I also like to make & store French toast this way. I'll normally make an entire loaf's worth, again freezing the slices individually on a cooling rack. Then, I stack the pieces together and put them back into the original bread bag. Essentially I am left with a "loaf" of French toast. Again, a couple of minutes in the toaster oven is all it takes to thaw and warm any number of slices my hungry family needs.
Smoothie ingredients are also nice to have on hand. You can buy bags of frozen berries in the store to have them available always. Those, coupled with some frozen sliced bananas (the ones that got too over-ripe in your fruit bowl) and some yogurt in ice cube trays (the stuff you bought on sale absolutely sure that you would eat a dozen cartons before they went bad) make a delicious breakfast beverage. Simply toss some fruit, the banana slices, and a couple of yogurt cubes into a blender with a splash of milk, and you have a smoothie!
Muffins also freeze extremely well. Just pop a few in a baggie and put them in. Another quick defrost in the microwave and a hot, homemade breakfast is on the table in 30 seconds.
2. Low Maintenance Lunches
I have so many recipes for soup that I absolutely adore! Creamy potato-cheese and cream of tomato are my favorites and I always make an entire stock pot full each time I cook them. I put what I think I'll eat in the fridge, and the rest I freeze for easy lunches throughout the week. Simply make your soup, then pour into quart-sized baggies, stack, and freeze.
What goes with soup? Bread, of course!
Bread freezes beautifully. I almost always have a giant loaf, or "miche" of French bread on hand. I also normally keep a loaf of our regular sandwich loaf, some hamburger buns, and dinner rolls ready to reheat at a moment's notice.
3. Dinner in a hurry
I love to keep a few of my favorite casseroles on hand for nights when I don't have a lot of time to make dinner. To do this, first take your Pyrex dish, or whatever you're using, and line it well with plastic wrap. you may need to use a couple of pieces depending on the size of your dish. Assemble your casserole inside, but don't wrap it up--just leave the plastic hanging over the sides. Pop it in the freezer, and when it's solid wrap it in the plastic. Then pull the casserole out of the dish so you essentially have a "casserole cube" Wrap it in another layer of plastic, then in foil, then take a permanent marker and write the contents on it. Stack several of them neatly on a shelf. When it's time to eat, simply unwrap your casserole cube, put back in it's original dish, and cook until piping hot. You'll never have an casserole dish "out of commission" because it's in the freezer.
4. Miscellaneous things that are nice to have
Cookie dough rolls; take a drop cookie recipe and lay all the dough in a line on a piece of parchment paper. (For the longest time I had no idea where to get parchment--I buy mine at Wal-Mart, right by all the other foils and baggies). Roll the dough up in the parchment forming a nice solid log. Twist the ends like a candy wrapper. When you're ready to bake, let the dough sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, slice with a serrated knife, and bake as normal.
Frozen juice in cans; great to use in a pinch
Fresh herbs in a baggie
Mashed potatoes; they're such a pain to make from scratch, so when you do, make a ton and then freeze the rest. They are kind of watery when defrosted, so after you thaw them, heat them up in a sauce pan right before you serve.
And of course, ICE CREAM! My favorite flavor ever is Coldstone's "Sweet Cream." It tastes uncannily like ummm....sweetened cream (ha ha!). It's perfect for eating on its own, or for topping with just about anything from crumbled cookies to fruit syrup.
I'd love to hear what you keep on hand--what are your "musts?"
The following list chronicles the contents of mine when it is well-stocked, and affords me many wonderful things to eat no matter what the situation.
1. A stash of breakfast foods.
When making pancakes, I normally take the leftovers, spread them out on a cooling rack, and when frozen solid I put them all into a gallon-sized freezer bag. Remember, they must be frozen individually or they'll turn into one giant pancake slab! To reheat, I put a couple into my toaster oven and "toast" until thawed and warm. If I'm short on time, about 20 seconds in the microwave brings them back to life. **This works wonderfully with the banana pancake recipe I posted previously **
I also like to make & store French toast this way. I'll normally make an entire loaf's worth, again freezing the slices individually on a cooling rack. Then, I stack the pieces together and put them back into the original bread bag. Essentially I am left with a "loaf" of French toast. Again, a couple of minutes in the toaster oven is all it takes to thaw and warm any number of slices my hungry family needs.
Smoothie ingredients are also nice to have on hand. You can buy bags of frozen berries in the store to have them available always. Those, coupled with some frozen sliced bananas (the ones that got too over-ripe in your fruit bowl) and some yogurt in ice cube trays (the stuff you bought on sale absolutely sure that you would eat a dozen cartons before they went bad) make a delicious breakfast beverage. Simply toss some fruit, the banana slices, and a couple of yogurt cubes into a blender with a splash of milk, and you have a smoothie!
Muffins also freeze extremely well. Just pop a few in a baggie and put them in. Another quick defrost in the microwave and a hot, homemade breakfast is on the table in 30 seconds.
2. Low Maintenance Lunches
I have so many recipes for soup that I absolutely adore! Creamy potato-cheese and cream of tomato are my favorites and I always make an entire stock pot full each time I cook them. I put what I think I'll eat in the fridge, and the rest I freeze for easy lunches throughout the week. Simply make your soup, then pour into quart-sized baggies, stack, and freeze.
What goes with soup? Bread, of course!
Bread freezes beautifully. I almost always have a giant loaf, or "miche" of French bread on hand. I also normally keep a loaf of our regular sandwich loaf, some hamburger buns, and dinner rolls ready to reheat at a moment's notice.
3. Dinner in a hurry
I love to keep a few of my favorite casseroles on hand for nights when I don't have a lot of time to make dinner. To do this, first take your Pyrex dish, or whatever you're using, and line it well with plastic wrap. you may need to use a couple of pieces depending on the size of your dish. Assemble your casserole inside, but don't wrap it up--just leave the plastic hanging over the sides. Pop it in the freezer, and when it's solid wrap it in the plastic. Then pull the casserole out of the dish so you essentially have a "casserole cube" Wrap it in another layer of plastic, then in foil, then take a permanent marker and write the contents on it. Stack several of them neatly on a shelf. When it's time to eat, simply unwrap your casserole cube, put back in it's original dish, and cook until piping hot. You'll never have an casserole dish "out of commission" because it's in the freezer.
4. Miscellaneous things that are nice to have
Cookie dough rolls; take a drop cookie recipe and lay all the dough in a line on a piece of parchment paper. (For the longest time I had no idea where to get parchment--I buy mine at Wal-Mart, right by all the other foils and baggies). Roll the dough up in the parchment forming a nice solid log. Twist the ends like a candy wrapper. When you're ready to bake, let the dough sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, slice with a serrated knife, and bake as normal.
Frozen juice in cans; great to use in a pinch
Fresh herbs in a baggie
Mashed potatoes; they're such a pain to make from scratch, so when you do, make a ton and then freeze the rest. They are kind of watery when defrosted, so after you thaw them, heat them up in a sauce pan right before you serve.
And of course, ICE CREAM! My favorite flavor ever is Coldstone's "Sweet Cream." It tastes uncannily like ummm....sweetened cream (ha ha!). It's perfect for eating on its own, or for topping with just about anything from crumbled cookies to fruit syrup.
I'd love to hear what you keep on hand--what are your "musts?"
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Looking Good All of the Time
Do you have an outfit (or several) that you just never seem to feel good in? For me that outfit consisted of at least 3 tee shirts and a few pairs of sweatpants. Although I love the "idea" of a white shirt and all the crisp, fresh, clean things I associate with them, they just don't look good on me. The white makes my skin look yellow and my freckles look muddy, and it makes me look, well....wide. The other two tee shirts were a light blue and a red one. Neither looked particularly good on me, but they were on sale. And I got them at The Gap which I considered to be very fancy indeed. I owned all of the above for about five years, until it finally dawned on me that I felt unattractive every time I wore them. In fact, I think the final straw was when I wore the red one with a pair of khakis to Target and couldn't figure out why I kept getting strange looks. It turned out it was because I was actually wearing the Target uniform! I'm sure everyone was wondering where my name tag was and why I wasn't being friendlier to the other customers! As for sweatpants--does anybody actually look good in them?
Once I realized why I felt so unattractive, I decided that I would just do the simple thing and throw them all away. I couldn't believe how easy it was! And I had just ensured that I wouldn't have to feel like a slob in public anymore! Empowered, I also threw away my baggy sweatpants. Then I had a radical idea. Why not move on to the rest of my wardrobe? Why not get rid of everything that didn't make me feel good, or that I knew wasn't in fashion (even if I secretly liked it just a bit).
I replaced all my tee shirts with nicely cut and fitted Merona ones from Target. In fact, I believe I have one in almost every color. Except white, of course! My ugly jeans with baggy knees have been replaced with always cute-and-sassy capri's. I have stocked up on yoga wear, which is nicely cut, nicely fitted, and looks so much more polished than slobby sweats. Now, no matter what I grab out of my closet, it's guaranteed to look nice.
I strongly suggest that you go through your own clothing, and with your most critical eye decide if something really looks good or not. If it doesn't, donate it and replace it with something nice. If you are on a budget, as I always am, it's still possible to replace what you need to. I think I purchased all of my new things for under $200, over a period of several paychecks. I have found most of my things from places like Target, Ross, Wal-Mart, and the like. The only item I can think of that cost more than $10 are my Levi capri pants!
As for shoes, my goodness! Get rid of the worn flip-flops and the graying sneakers! They have such lovely sandals these days that go with everything. Pick something up in a neutral color with a little heel. They take no more effort to put on than a pair of flip-flops, but they look a million times better.
Some people don't wear make-up, but I find it necessary to fool people into thinking that I don't have beady eyes! I have it down to an art and it takes no more than three minutes to put everything on. The first minute I do my foundation. I use a mineral makeup that L'Oreal recently put on the market. The second minute I do my eyes. A quick swipe of eye liner, some brown eye shadow on my lids and some pearl-pink to blend everything together and make it look nice. Then a little mascara. The last minute I use to apply some blush, bronzer, and my lip gloss. And I'm finished in less time than it takes to make popcorn.
As for hair, don't be afraid to try color (it will grow out!), a dramatically different cut (it will grow back!), or some new accessories (headbands are back in! Yay!). Last time I got a cut I asked the stylist for something above my shoulders, with layers around my face, and lots of movement all over. She gave me a perfect cut that I don't even have to blow dry. I'm sure your stylist can do the same if you ask for it.
Looking good, even all of the time, doesn't really take much effort if you plan. If you don't own any ugly clothes, you will never wear ugly clothes. If you have a good hair cut and a head band or pretty elastic, your hair will always look good. If you have just a little bit of make up, but know how to use it, you will always look fresh and well-rested.
And if I, a mother of three-under-four, sometimes single, never well-rested,
budget-minded, full-time student, frequently frazzled homemaker can look good darn near all of the time, you can too.
I promise!
Once I realized why I felt so unattractive, I decided that I would just do the simple thing and throw them all away. I couldn't believe how easy it was! And I had just ensured that I wouldn't have to feel like a slob in public anymore! Empowered, I also threw away my baggy sweatpants. Then I had a radical idea. Why not move on to the rest of my wardrobe? Why not get rid of everything that didn't make me feel good, or that I knew wasn't in fashion (even if I secretly liked it just a bit).
I replaced all my tee shirts with nicely cut and fitted Merona ones from Target. In fact, I believe I have one in almost every color. Except white, of course! My ugly jeans with baggy knees have been replaced with always cute-and-sassy capri's. I have stocked up on yoga wear, which is nicely cut, nicely fitted, and looks so much more polished than slobby sweats. Now, no matter what I grab out of my closet, it's guaranteed to look nice.
I strongly suggest that you go through your own clothing, and with your most critical eye decide if something really looks good or not. If it doesn't, donate it and replace it with something nice. If you are on a budget, as I always am, it's still possible to replace what you need to. I think I purchased all of my new things for under $200, over a period of several paychecks. I have found most of my things from places like Target, Ross, Wal-Mart, and the like. The only item I can think of that cost more than $10 are my Levi capri pants!
As for shoes, my goodness! Get rid of the worn flip-flops and the graying sneakers! They have such lovely sandals these days that go with everything. Pick something up in a neutral color with a little heel. They take no more effort to put on than a pair of flip-flops, but they look a million times better.
Some people don't wear make-up, but I find it necessary to fool people into thinking that I don't have beady eyes! I have it down to an art and it takes no more than three minutes to put everything on. The first minute I do my foundation. I use a mineral makeup that L'Oreal recently put on the market. The second minute I do my eyes. A quick swipe of eye liner, some brown eye shadow on my lids and some pearl-pink to blend everything together and make it look nice. Then a little mascara. The last minute I use to apply some blush, bronzer, and my lip gloss. And I'm finished in less time than it takes to make popcorn.
As for hair, don't be afraid to try color (it will grow out!), a dramatically different cut (it will grow back!), or some new accessories (headbands are back in! Yay!). Last time I got a cut I asked the stylist for something above my shoulders, with layers around my face, and lots of movement all over. She gave me a perfect cut that I don't even have to blow dry. I'm sure your stylist can do the same if you ask for it.
Looking good, even all of the time, doesn't really take much effort if you plan. If you don't own any ugly clothes, you will never wear ugly clothes. If you have a good hair cut and a head band or pretty elastic, your hair will always look good. If you have just a little bit of make up, but know how to use it, you will always look fresh and well-rested.
And if I, a mother of three-under-four, sometimes single, never well-rested,
budget-minded, full-time student, frequently frazzled homemaker can look good darn near all of the time, you can too.
I promise!
Friday, June 29, 2007
A Heavenly Bed
About two years ago I was having a really rough day. I was exhausted from caring for a 2-year-old and an 8-month old. I felt like nothing was going right and no matter how hard I worked, nothing was getting accomplished on any of my "to-do" lists. After arriving home one day and finding me in tears, my husband decided to take charge. Have I mentioned yet that he is perfect? Anyway, he packed a pair of comfy jammies, some books and all my fancy toiletries in a bag, put me in the car, and told me I had a two-night reservation at the Hilton in Sacramento. Well who was I to argue? I made the 45 minute drive and checked in. The room was serene and tidy, and deliciously clean in contrast to the disaster I had left at home. The first thing I do in any hotel is check the bathroom to see what little bottles of stuff they had, and after I did that I took off my sandals and stretched out on the bed.
That bed was heaven.
King-sized with a foot-thick fluffy comforter in a gold duvet cover, half a dozen marshmallow-like puffy pillows, densely woven white sheets pulled tightly over the mattress, and the exquisite feeling of fresh, clean linens surrounding me.
It could have been the bed, or maybe just the 2 straight years of interrupted nights :) but I had never slept better.
I have always loved a nicely made up bed. In my mind, there is nothing like the feeling of freshly washed sheets with crisp fold lines still visible. In fact, during my single days when I had all the time in the world, I changed my linens every other day to ensure my bed stayed clean and crisp constantly.
My sweetie and I got married, and he could not believe a bed could be so comfortable, but then again he had been a bachelor so long; a ratty quilt on a bare mattress seemed perfectly adequate to him! Ugh, boys are so yucky sometimes!
So we got married, and enjoyed our bed for nine months. Then we had a baby and our sheets began to resemble an abstract work of art. Every bodily fluid known to man, from spit up to milk to alarmingly yellow poo made an appearance on our formally clean sheets. We were both so sleepy we didn't have the energy to change them as often as we needed. But when we went to bed we found it awfully hard to sleep on crusty patches of baby drool, so we didn't sleep as well as we could have. It was a horrible cycle.
It took a few weeks, but I was finally able to get into a routine that worked for us and once I did our nights were so much nicer. Over the years I have perfected the art of making a heavenly bed, and I'd love to share my secrets with you!
Begin with your mattress. Has it been flipped lately? If not, turn it over so it will wear evenly. Is it a little stale? Buy some Fabreeze or other fabric refreshing spray and give it a good spritz. Alternately, sprinkle liberally with baking soda, let it sit, and then vacuum it all up. If you don't have a mattress cover, go out to Wal-Mart right this minute and buy one! It is essential for keeping the mattress clean, and also helps with that "hard" feeling that comes through the sheets if you've been sleeping without one.
Is your bed soft enough? If it isn't, don't worry about buying a whole new mattress. There are so many products on the market you can place on top to make things squishy. My mother uses a piece of memory foam which is lovely, but my favorite is a down-filled mattress pad. So delicious to sink into after a long day!
Next, let's mention sheets. This is a case where if you do your research, you generally get what you pay for. Cheap sheets will almost always be rough and scratchy. It usually costs a little more, but sheets with a 300 or higher thread count will be so much softer and smoother. Make sure to launder them frequently in hot water (to kill dust mites) and don't skimp on detergent or fabric softener. These days they make products that smell so nice; why shouldn't you get something yummy like lavender or jasmine?
After laundering, if you don't put the sheets directly on your bed, fold them neatly. Martha Stewart has good instructions for this on her website. I would link directly to them, but I don't know how yet! Patience, people! I also love to spray a little perfume or sprinkle a little scented powder in the folds before I put them in the closet. Just a nice little touch that makes the task so much sweeter.
As for pillows, make sure they are less than five years old. Nothing is more disgusting than a stained, lumpy, old pillow. Do yourself (and your husband) a favor and pick up some new ones while you're at Wal-Mart buying the mattress cover.
Now that you have the sheets and pillows on the bed, you are free to use whatever additional coverings you like. Maybe Grandma's antique quilt, maybe something down with a cover, maybe just something pretty you found while shopping. Either way, make sure it's clean and wrinkle-free. You may also want to have an additional blanket you keep folded at the foot of the bed in case you want to take a quick nap during the day without mussing the sheets.
There now, isn't that nice? Feel free to slip your shoes off, fold back the covers and insert yourself into your heavenly bed.
All together now: "aaahhhhhhhh."
That bed was heaven.
King-sized with a foot-thick fluffy comforter in a gold duvet cover, half a dozen marshmallow-like puffy pillows, densely woven white sheets pulled tightly over the mattress, and the exquisite feeling of fresh, clean linens surrounding me.
It could have been the bed, or maybe just the 2 straight years of interrupted nights :) but I had never slept better.
I have always loved a nicely made up bed. In my mind, there is nothing like the feeling of freshly washed sheets with crisp fold lines still visible. In fact, during my single days when I had all the time in the world, I changed my linens every other day to ensure my bed stayed clean and crisp constantly.
My sweetie and I got married, and he could not believe a bed could be so comfortable, but then again he had been a bachelor so long; a ratty quilt on a bare mattress seemed perfectly adequate to him! Ugh, boys are so yucky sometimes!
So we got married, and enjoyed our bed for nine months. Then we had a baby and our sheets began to resemble an abstract work of art. Every bodily fluid known to man, from spit up to milk to alarmingly yellow poo made an appearance on our formally clean sheets. We were both so sleepy we didn't have the energy to change them as often as we needed. But when we went to bed we found it awfully hard to sleep on crusty patches of baby drool, so we didn't sleep as well as we could have. It was a horrible cycle.
It took a few weeks, but I was finally able to get into a routine that worked for us and once I did our nights were so much nicer. Over the years I have perfected the art of making a heavenly bed, and I'd love to share my secrets with you!
Begin with your mattress. Has it been flipped lately? If not, turn it over so it will wear evenly. Is it a little stale? Buy some Fabreeze or other fabric refreshing spray and give it a good spritz. Alternately, sprinkle liberally with baking soda, let it sit, and then vacuum it all up. If you don't have a mattress cover, go out to Wal-Mart right this minute and buy one! It is essential for keeping the mattress clean, and also helps with that "hard" feeling that comes through the sheets if you've been sleeping without one.
Is your bed soft enough? If it isn't, don't worry about buying a whole new mattress. There are so many products on the market you can place on top to make things squishy. My mother uses a piece of memory foam which is lovely, but my favorite is a down-filled mattress pad. So delicious to sink into after a long day!
Next, let's mention sheets. This is a case where if you do your research, you generally get what you pay for. Cheap sheets will almost always be rough and scratchy. It usually costs a little more, but sheets with a 300 or higher thread count will be so much softer and smoother. Make sure to launder them frequently in hot water (to kill dust mites) and don't skimp on detergent or fabric softener. These days they make products that smell so nice; why shouldn't you get something yummy like lavender or jasmine?
After laundering, if you don't put the sheets directly on your bed, fold them neatly. Martha Stewart has good instructions for this on her website. I would link directly to them, but I don't know how yet! Patience, people! I also love to spray a little perfume or sprinkle a little scented powder in the folds before I put them in the closet. Just a nice little touch that makes the task so much sweeter.
As for pillows, make sure they are less than five years old. Nothing is more disgusting than a stained, lumpy, old pillow. Do yourself (and your husband) a favor and pick up some new ones while you're at Wal-Mart buying the mattress cover.
Now that you have the sheets and pillows on the bed, you are free to use whatever additional coverings you like. Maybe Grandma's antique quilt, maybe something down with a cover, maybe just something pretty you found while shopping. Either way, make sure it's clean and wrinkle-free. You may also want to have an additional blanket you keep folded at the foot of the bed in case you want to take a quick nap during the day without mussing the sheets.
There now, isn't that nice? Feel free to slip your shoes off, fold back the covers and insert yourself into your heavenly bed.
All together now: "aaahhhhhhhh."
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