amers230's Profile

Thanks everyone! I'm actually heading out today and am sooo excited to try everything you've mentioned!!!

your bathroom is the bathroom of my dreams. bookmarking and (hopefully) totally stealing in the future lol.

Craig's List is great for buying large quantities at once (people selling off all of their kids books, etc.) The Amazon marketplace usually has pretty good deals too, although shipping for books is I think $3.00.

If you're near a Borders, sign up for their (free) membership program and you'll get one or two coupons emailed to you a week, usually 33% off one item but sometimes 40% or 50%. It's perfect for those books you can't find in thrift stores or want a brand new copy for.

goddessisin and madampince - yessssss thank you!!!!

GretaGrace - I'm not an expert in any truly relevant areas (I'm not even that great of a cook lol) but off the top of my head, why doesn't he lobby Congress for more subsidies for farms growing real food and not the factory farms growing crap for HFCS. He could lobby the USDA and dept. of education for better regulations on school meals. They're the ones making the decisions, not the people making the meals in school kitchens. He could focus more on going into actual homes and community centers to teach people how make tasty, cheap, and healthy food (like he did to that one family, only on a greater scale). Kids spend more time at home than they do in school once you factor in holiday and summer vacations, that's where real change is going to come. Obviously I was exaggerating when I said there were a million ways to improve people's eating habits, but a sensationalistic show that doesn't even air at a time when kids would be watching (I mean really, why not air the show at 8:00 or on a weekend if they truly want kids to see?) doesn't work for me.

That being said, he's not hurting anything (except maybe the feelings of the lunch cooks) and it seems like a lot of people disagree with me. That's fine. I didn't like the show and I honestly don't think it'll do anything, but I'd be absolutely thrilled if I was eventually proved wrong.

this is what i use (a hold over from my years as a banquet server) but i'm sitll terrible at it. i always seem to twist it down on an angle and then destroy the cork while trying to get it out. practice makes perfect though, guess i'll just need to keep trying :)

oh god, storing my jewelry is currently the bane of my existence. i need it to be displayed somewhat or else i never wear it, but i could also really use the room it's taking up on my dresser. right now i have my rings and earrings in a tiny black fabric jewelry with everything else sitting on a black serving tray from target. it works for now but it's a bit of a "messy" look, which sometimes makes my eye twitch. also, nothing i have is valuable so it works now but if i ever get anything worth something i'll have to re-evaluate the situation.

i read tom's blogs on bravotv.com after each episode and he said that laurine was sent home because she had two strikes against her - the front of house and the lamb (it was her idea even though kevin executed it, and she served it after she saw it wasn't cooked right.) jennifer only had one real strike and the judges were impressed that she was steaming clams to order even if they didn't turn out that well. so that's why laurine went home, not because she'd been performing worse all season but because she screwed up more things that jennifer.

tapping the sides several times with a knife or spoon usually works for me. i'll have to remember this though, i'm terrible at opening jars.

I don't see why it wouldn't work for you, and really as long as you like it, who cares what others say? That being said, I'd stick to a similar "theme" for lack of a better word. Maybe only do pots and pans and store everything else in cupboards? Also lay them out on the floor first to find the arrangement that works the best.