Happy December!!!Before I go on with this post, I must share something. I’m so emotional right now because it is one of those moments where you realize you taught your daughter well on the subject of high/low shopping.
Happy December! Can you find me?
Oona and her boyfriend are planning a few dinner parties. Among them, she will be entertaining his family and wants everything to run smoothly. Now—they recently moved into a new home and with that comes shopping for all things grown up (it’s the first house). This runs the gamut of furniture to anything else “home” related. She’s been spending a ton of time at Home Goods lately.
And so, we were having a conversation about dishes and china, table settings and she mentioned that she was looking for white dishes because white goes with everything (I have white dishes—she’s such a good girl!). She was looking around at various sets when I mentioned to her that she should head to her local dollar store. The Dollar store is a mecca for plates and bowls and the cost is so minimal that if you break an item, it’s not a stress nor is it a big deal.
Some of my white dollar store bowls…
…and a couple of the many plates. I’m mixing red and white this year–but I haven’t finalized that thought yet!
Then I mentioned that I have bowls from the dollar store that have lasted for almost 20 years. I have soup bowls, cereal bowls and a ton of plates. They always look good on the table and the simplicity of them makes a great canvas for the food. Proof that you do NOT need a ton of money when it comes to home-related goods.
My blue dollar store bowls that are almost 20 years old! I love these!
This morning she called me and thanked me. She was at the dollar store and wanted my opinion on plates. Textured or plain? I can’t tell you how tickled I was. I taught her well. And that is a bit of advice to everyone.
Oona sent these pics to me for my opinion. I’m so proud of my baby for listening to mommy! I need a moment here to wipe the tears from my eyes!
Plates break. And rather than get all flustered in attempting to spend a fortune replacing a “good” and expensive item of China, I go with the budget-minded. They are dishwasher safe and it’s the food and company that are more important!
OK—back to the post!
My efforts for a truly pretty “nude” pink/rose/mauve are a constant challenge. My coloring is cool and I have pink undertones. A bright pink looks horrible on me. Many pink/nudes just look downright weird. Due to my aging lips, darker colors that once did look good, no longer do.
A sampling of my lip colors. In all honesty, I should trash some of these but I can’t bring myself to do so…
They just kind of “hang out”!
I do have my favorites, and my usuals—but still, it is difficult to find the right lip color.
Among my usuals–NYX Butter Gloss–especialy the Tiramisu color. It’s a great neutral!
A few days back I was in Walmart. And to tell you the truth, I was getting pissed off about the rising price of these drug-store lipsticks. I searched and perused and felt like Goldilocks with her porridge. Either the colors were too intense or too “off”. Nothing was quite right.
Then I happened to pass the Rimmel display and noticed these Lasting Finish by Kate (Moss) lipsticks. One tube caught my eye. The Number 08. I opened the tube and the color did appear slightly dark but I took my chances. After all, what’s one more lip color that doesn’t work?
Well. At under five bucks, this lipstick is an absolute winner. The color is everything I’ve been looking for. It’s a subtle mauve/rose. Almost a caramel but not quite. It’s beautiful! Although it doesn’t last the eight hours that Rimmel says it does, it lasts a long enough time for me to be happy with it. That’s all that matters!
I’m so pleased with this winner of a lippie! It just looks so wonderful and very mature woman flattering!!
This is a great lipstick that will be sticking around in my collection for a while. I’ll have to get back to Walmart later to grab a couple more tubes because with my luck, Rimmel with discontinue it!
And speaking of “stick” and “sticking” (what a segue), I had quite the interesting occurrence on Friday with my KitchenAid stand mixer.
I was mixing bread dough. Now—the recipe I have calls for mixing the dough about ten minutes. Fine.
And while the dough was mixing, I decided to be pro-active and prepare all the ingredients for the pound cake that I would also be baking that afternoon for Bonaparte. The counter was full of the proper ingredients and I was feeling rather good about myself for being so prepared.
Ingredients for the next batch…like ladies in waiting I have cake makings in waiting!
When the dough was finished, I released the lock, lifted the dough hook, and proceeded to take the dough out and place in another bowl to proof.
Dough mixed and ready to proof. This happens on a regular basis!
But something happened. The bowl of the KitchenAid mixer was stuck to the base and wouldn’t release. I tried for ten minutes to rotate the bowl with no success.
Why did I feel as though I was reliving this scene from A Christmas Story?
At this point I was starting to panic because panic is what I do best! Nothing worked.
Too bad I didn’t have any paper bags in the house or I could have done this to get rid of my panic.
I went online and discovered that this, although not common, does happen. KitchenAid’s suggestions are to apply hot compresses to the base of the mixer where bowl meets mixer. After ten minutes, apply another hot compress. A half-hour later the bowl didn’t move at all.
Next suggestion was to apply Mineral Oil. Thank God, my innards sometimes need a “push” and I get that push by swallowing this stuff. I applied the Mineral Oil to my constipated bowel…er…bowl. Nothing. Nada. That bowl wasn’t going anywhere. I could not move my bowl.
Mineral oil was next. It may move your bowels but didn’t move my bowl!
I knelt down on the floor, blessed myself and prayed to St. Jude. Either ol’ Saint Jude was too busy dealing with other prayers from impossible cases to hear me or he just wasn’t feeling the love for me! My prayers went unanswered.
This guy and I are old friends. My entire LIFE is one hopeless case. I got him on prayer speed dial!
I decided to call the KitchenAid hotline. By this time, I was seething. All I could think of was my first KitchenAid. The one I had for over 30 years and literally used until the motor blew. I wanted it back. My current mixer is two years old and the quality doesn’t even come near my first one.
The suggestion from Becky at KitchenAid was to take the mixer, place it on the floor and straddle it with my feet.
Might I add that this freaking thing weighs a ton!
By doing this I could provide the strength to release the bowl. I complied. Now understand, I’m no weakling. I’m a pretty strong broad. I could not release the bowl.
I was unable to take a photo of what I did next. Better though–it looked X-rated! Use your imagination. Your DIRTY imagination. That’s right!
What happened next is a true account. Bonaparte arrived home from work. He saw me in this compromising position with my KitchenAid and the look on his shocked face shocked me. It was as though I was caught cheating. Cheating with a piece of equipment that was certainly not an “adult” toy!
Let’s just say my Frenchman was even more shocked than this mime guy!
“Qu’est-ce que tu fais!!!!!!???” “CASSIE!!! QU’EST-CE QUE TU FAIS!!!!???” He was so upset at the sight that he forgot he spoke English! I had never heard my reserved and refined Frenchman scream so loud!
He almost became ill at the sight of me with my KitchenAid!
After he finally regained his composure from both the sight of me looking like I was giving inappropriate lust to my KitchenAid and seeing the mess on the counter, I explained what happened.
He took the mixer from in between my legs, lifted it, placed it on the counter and with two swift moves, the bowl released.
I think I heard my little KitchenAid ask for a cigarette after that physical encounter with me! It is now at rest.
I was at a loss for words. However, I would rather believe that my request to St. Jude was delayed and He answered my prayer at that exact moment when Bonaparte twisted the bowl.
By the time we sat down to our Friday evening aperitifs, we were able to laugh about this most “sticky” situation. And the bread was baked and his pound cake was baked and all was well!
Later on, I found out that someone filmed a YouTube video on how to release the stuck bowl to your KitchenAid. And here it is. As a public for you and as proof that this does, in fact happen!! This video is great!!
