secretpicnic's Profile

If you fill it before you pour, you have to be really careful and/or give it a few minutes to filter first! In my little office of 3, we've lost track of the number of times we've had to sop up giant puddles after one person has filled up the Pur pitcher, and another person unwittingly pours a glass before the water is filtered down, causing the lid to fly off and water to go everywhere.

I didn't think much of the pre-school next door (by that I mean 7 feet away from my windows), until i moved in and discovered the joys of screaming children all day.

Also, there is a shocking amount of noise that travels from the footsteps of my neighbors above, and I can hear word for word conversations from next door. It's infuriating!

Both of these things would have affected my decision to rent, had I realized them in advance.

Love the idea. Sometimes I'll do a little "breakfast buffet" of a bunch of small portions of whatever is in the fridge - a couple of eggs scrambled with cheese, avocado slices, toast or tortilla warmed up, hummus, baby greens, yogurt with fruit and honey, a small bowl of oatmeal, etc - and we'll just nimble on it with tea and coffee to start the day. It's worked well to get my anti-breakfast boyfriend to like to eat breakfast. It feels so much healthier and more well-rounded of a meal than just making pancakes or something, plus makes it easy to stay on top of using up random foods that are hanging out in the fridge.

I'm visiting my sister in Copenhagen right now, and she has this type of bedding - 2 small duvets on a queen size bed, with no top sheet or additional blankets like shown above. She said it's just what they do here, so it's the only kind you can find in the stores. I think it's pretty cute, actually! She has a white bottom sheet with charcoal gray duvets and pillows. It looks very simple and clean. The versions shown above with the extra blankets look a bit odder to me.

I got really excited when I saw this post, because I'm about to have to buy a new mattress and have been doing tons of research. I was hoping for some tips or advice on brands or models or something to help me figure out "what mattress is right for me". This was really general and didn't really give me any new information, but I suppose it would be helpful if you're truly just starting out, although I think a more accurate title might be "what (type of) mattress is right for you". Also, what about latex mattresses?

I've been using Nature's Miracle clumping formula for a few months with my new cat. I think it's made from corn cobs but haven't had any problems with bugs as others mention. It works well and smells fine, sort of lavender-y. I previously tried World's Best and was very unhappy - the smell of it (which was not pleasant to begin with) mixed with pee pretty much smelled like vomit.

I had to figure this out on the stainless fridge and stove in my new house recently. Since I'd never had stainless appliances before, I splurged and bought special cleaner ( Method stainless steel cleaner)... Except it didn't work. At all. It was very frustrating, and I tried it several times in case I didn't follow the instructions correctly. There were as many if not more streaks afterward.Then I grabbed the Mr. Clean magic eraser that was sitting and it worked the first time, almost no effort. Followed by a wipe down/buffing with a clean soft towel, there were no streaks at all. Yay!

My boyfriend and I just moved into a new home which came equipped with a central vac. I also think it's awesome. The unit is in the garage on the bottom level (of 3 levels) and vents outside. 'm not sure how great it would be on carpets, but it's a snap to clean our hardwood and cork floors, and seems to work just as great upstairs on the 3rd floor as everywhere else.

But yeah... the hose. Unwieldy beast. I'm trying to come up with a hose caddy of sorts to make it easier to transport. Right now it's just in a box, which is fine, but I'd like something to keep it a bit more organized and make it easier to find the attachments. Does anyone have any ideas?

I moved into my first dishwasher-equipped house right after this recent Re-Nest post: http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/test-lab/product-review-3-ecofriendly-dishwasher-detergents-test-lab-111572

I went with Method tablets along with white vinegar, which seems to get everything clean. Granted I've only been using this for a month now, but so far so good.

There have been two times where I've noticed some residue, which seemed to not happen when I used just a bit more vinegar (maybe a half cup total).

This is great!

There's a similar program in Seattle that I've signed up for -- http://www.growingwashington.org/foodbox. They're partnering with offices in the Seattle area to be pick up sites (and if 5 employees sign up there's a discount.) You can also choose a pick up site from dozens around the city, or even ask for your house to be a pick up site and get free delivery. They're also one of the few that lets you choose all the items in your box every week!