mangabanga's Profile

I bought my coffee table from a rug shop that was going out of business 7 years ago. I hassled the guy for almost an hour until he let me have it for $40 instead of $160.... He just wanted to get rid of me. I don't know who made it (it's beyond gorgeous, brass and glass) but I've seen identical ones at high end shops priced between $2K-5K. My father offered me a thousand dollars for it but I truly love it too much to part with it.

My other find was during my early days on Ebay... I used to intentionally misspell things to find auctions that wouldn't get much attention. I found a vintage "opel" (opal) ring, set in gold, from an estate sale that I got for $110. It's been valued at $15,000... the gold alone is worth almost $800 now but the incredible orange mexican fire opal is one of a kind.

Do a 1:3 ratio with salted water and use it to boil lobsters.

Re-gift it to people who will appreciate it.

I've had that bottle in my fridge for almost a year and never touched it. Seems like something I'd love though!

That picture has been my desktop for months now.... Lovely!

I have the orange Rachel Ray ones and I adore them. Easy to clean and heavy bottomed.... I supplement my set with Le Creuset and vintage Dansk.

I use up old bottles of beer to boil lobsters in.... just add water and beer in equal amounts and tons of salt, unbeatable flavor!

You don't have to dry it to use it for tea.... Just crush it fresh with a little lemon and sugar and pour some boiling water on top. There's a place here in LA that does fresh mint iced tea that's so amazing. It's also really good on fruit salad as well, anything with watermelon &/or pineapple. In fact... I think I had a pineapple mint salad in Brazil a few years ago that was amazing.

Make the batter a little thinner and do 'em up pancake style. I used to make them like that every year for my ex's birthday breakfast. :)

1. gin n tonic with Hendrick's
2. Dark and stormy
3. Blended margarita with salt
4. Pim's cup
5. Seven 7