Alternative to Boxed Valentine Cards: Conversation Love Rocks!

by Lucky Red Hen on February 10, 2011

Oh! how I love to happen upon a blog that brings me joy! That’s how I found Color Me Katie (fun, colorful, happenings that she creates in her city and photographs to share), Another Lunch (think Bento box for kidlets) and Michael Naples (complicatedly simple still life small paintings almost daily).

[We announce the Monday Giveaway winner today, at the end of this post!]

Today’s side track brought me quickish, kidlet-friendly projects at Red Bird Crafts as well as a brief heart warming read about her Nanny Ruth’s legacy. Wish I was as diligent as Ruth about documenting  life so that one day it may be a treasure to those who read it. Some day, perhaps. [sigh]

When I saw her Conversation Love Rocks post, I just KNEW my daughter might want to make them instead of the Dr. Seuss Valentine’s in a Box we were going to buy. Surprise to me when my 11 year old son wanted to make them too! Psst, parents/friends at my kidlets school, please don’t spoil their Valentine surprise, mkaythanks :)

Our plan is to hunt for the perfect rocks this Saturday. My kidlets have already decided on what fabric they want to use for this friend and that friend. The 7yo has been creating poems, too! [squeal, she’s really good at it, but even if she wasn’t it’d still be precious!]

Thanks to our quilty neighbor down the street, Laura, for giving us free range on your scrap stash!

[Side note: Laura and I were at a service project Tuesday night, making lap quilts for some assisted-living elderly folks, when she tried laughing at me for stock piling the scraps. In my defense, we needed some big enough pieces to hand embroider each recipients name to make labels/tags for the quilts… but I DO love me little pieces of fabric/paper swatches. When we got down to it, she admitted that she, too, keeps little bits, figuring that one day she’ll sew them to each other to make a true Scrap Quilt. She offered to let us come pilfer through her stash whenever we want!]

And now, on to our Monday Giveaway winner of Elena’s 3-Day Green Smoothie eGuide is…

wait, I should also mention that
for the next 48 hours (until Saturday afternoon)
my Lucky Red Hen readers can use code
3DGSLUCKY
for 20% off the eGuide in Elena’s store

* AUBREY *

Congratulations, Aubrey! Send me your email (click on the envelope in the upper right of my blog) so Elena can get you your FREE eGUIDE… WOOT! I hope you like the smoothies as much as I do… actually, I’m going to go make one now for an afternoon snacky snack :) On hand I have apples, frozen bananas (always have those in the freezer), frozen blueberries, grapefruit, spinach, hemp seed and aloe juice. I haven’t used grapefruit before, don’t really eat it by itself, but it’s good for me and smells delicious so I’m going to give it a try!

P.S. Need a wall calendar (I remember one year going two months without a wall calendar because I couldn’t find THE PERFECT one; maybe you don’t have one yet or want/need another)? Like reading NieNie Dialogues? Next Monday’s Giveaway is NieNie’s calendar, brand new, never been used, still in celophane wrap in case you want to gift it to someone else! (I happen to have an extra one; this giveaway is in no way endorsed by NieNie or her peeples, in case I need to say that for some reason… and it will be shipped/delivered from me.)

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Desi & Lucy had the right idea: married couples get their own bed

by Lucky Red Hen on February 8, 2011

Nautilus Cottage, Rm 4, in South Africa

Desi (Ricky, really) & Lucy had the right idea… separate beds.

But did you know they didn’t ALWAYS have separate beds? A little trivia for you from IMDB.com:

Although they slept in twin beds throughout the entire run of the series, during the first two seasons of the show, 1951-1953, Ricky and Lucy slept in twin beds that were pushed together in the same box spring. Once little Ricky was born CBS suggested that the beds be pushed apart to diminish the impact of the suggested sexual history of Lucy and Ricky. The only time we see the Ricardo’s in two bed pushed together again is when they first move to the bigger apartment in the Mertz building, however, subsequently after that the beds are pushed apart again.

I’ve been saying it for years now, but my husband won’t agree to it. Last night (and the night before, and a few nights before that when I was sick, and… you get the idea) I shuffled myself down the narrow, dimly lit hall, passing the miniature lazy guarddog in the front room, through our pretty, glass paned, French doors, to the TV room sectional couch for some ZZZ’s. (Woah, that’s a lot of comma’s and I don’t know if I used them right. Sorry.)

But by then, I was awake enough that it’d take me another hour or more to fall asleep. And I hadn’t been to sleep yet (even though I crawled into bed at 10pm). It was 2am ish (Yes, I use “ish” as it’s own word. On my blog, you will find several made-up words; 1) as an unpredictable connector, and 2) because I talk like that in real life.) and I felt just as tired as I did at 10pm.

You know how much stuff a person could get done in four-plus hours of solitary awakeness?!? No kids, no husband, no noises in the neighborhood. But when you’re lying there assuming you’ll be falling asleep in the next few minutes, you don’t realize you could just get your back end up out of bed and accomplish something other than conquering another Angry Birds level (pesky helmeted pigs).

Instead, I Tweeted my dilemma:

  • Who’s idea was it that married people had to sleep in the same bed? I want to punch that guy in the neck. #desiandlucybeds
  • Why does the snoring spouse get to stay in bed while the awoken spouse shuffles to the couch? #im2nice
  • King size blankets are never wide enough for adequate cocoon-style coverage. #breezy
  • Good thing about sleeping on my couch: raindrops on the skylights. #natureslullaby
  • Men: how do you keep your underarm hair from being tugged when you move your arm forward and back?

Alright, so the last Tweet had nothing to do with sleeping arrangements. But it’s a perfect example of how my brain works when it’d rather be sleeping. Argh. And I have been doing much better about not waking in the night to potty, so I’ve actually been sleeping through the night and avoiding insomniac episodes (My tip: I get all my fluid intake in before 5pm and try not to drink at all/much later).

After all that complaining, at least my family let me keep sleeping. The kids whispered (they must have, I didn’t wake up) and tiptoed getting ready (the italics make those words quiet, huh?) Daddy, the wiggly blanket hog snorer, got the kids off to school (“Thanks, Daddy!”) And the dog snuck up on the couch with me where she would be content to rest until I woke and NOT bark at the noises and people outside.

We have a semi-public walking/horse-riding trail directly behind our backyard. It’s awesome annoying when people literally high up on their horses don’t look away when we make eye contact.

I won’t tell you why they should watch where they’re going instead of peer into our house. (But if you know me at all, you know why.)

P.S. Don’t forget to enter this week’s giveaway!

P.S.S. My Green Smoothie this morning almost made me gag. THAT’S NOT USUAL and I’ll tell you why. I should have added frozen blueberries (I have them, just forgot to pull them out of the freezer) or at least some crushed ice. It was too room temperature and frothy. See, that goes to show you that you shouldn’t give up on GS’s because of one bad batch. ALL my others since the beginning (there were a couple that were so-so) have been refreshing and delicious. I promise ;)

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Despicable Me Minion Treats & FREE Giveaway

by Lucky Red Hen on February 8, 2011

[edit: I wrote this yesterday on my fancy smart phone with my index fingers but it doesn’t look so smart now that I can’t get it to post and have to REWRITE all that work. Hmf.]

My SIL’s bday is today (Sunday; I’m barely getting this post written before midnight [11:58pm], so I hope this counts as me remembering her; especially since I’m writing this on my phone and I just realized I can’t upload the picture from here)… happy birthday, Britanny :)

Last Sunday, the extended family celebrated the February birthday’s at grandma and grandpa’s house. We had another obligation with the youngest, so our oldest (and the Feb. birthday boy) got picked up by his aunt and uncle to enjoy the bday festivities without us. He said he didn’t care that we weren’t coming, since he’d be getting gifts and have Carte Blanche dessert without his sugar-intake-police mom there to decrease/monitor his portion :p

They had yummy dinner, watched Despicable Me on the big screen, and partook of miniature, edible minion’s made by Britanny (she says she found them on the internet somewhere).

The base is a Twinkie (you know those things NEVER deteriorate naturally, hurl); the blue is dyed frosting; black licorice whips for the mouth, goggle straps, and hair; sour, gummy worms for arms; and Sweet Tarts for goggles.

We shared them with some dinner guests. ED couldn’t stop laughing when we presented him his dessert. He has had only ONE Twinkie in his whole life and didn’t remember what it tasted like! That’s probably for the best, don’t cha think?

Speaking of Twinkies… how about a 3-DAY GREEN SMOOTHIE EGUIDE for our Monday Giveaway?!? Well, not actually smoothies, you make them yourself, but a intuitive guide to Green Smoothie’s from my friend Elena at her Eat Healthy, Be Happy blog. She won a FREE BLOG HEADERlast week from my wondrous blog designer, The Blog Fairy, and wanted to pay it forward. Paying it forward is what all the cool kids are doing ;)

Here’s my experiencewith Elena’s 3-DAY GREEN SMOOTHIE CHALLENGE eguide. WARNING: your smoothie doesn’t have to look so green (I swear it doesn’t taste green), but it does in the beginning when you’re learning about the program and following her recipes. The bright green coloring has been replaced by purple hues since I’ve been using red, blue and purple colored fruits. Spinach in the raw/uncooked form tastes like nothing, so you’re tasting the banana, apple, orange and whatever other fruit you use instead :)

Trust me.

The 3-DAY GREEN SMOOTHIE EGUIDE Giveaway Rules:

  • Internationally friendly giveaway (it’s an eGuide, so it will be delivered via email)
  • Leave a comment on this post with your feeling about Green Smoothies
  • The winner must claim their prize by coming back this Thursday and sending me an email so I can forward the info to Elena
  • For extra entries, you can subscribe to Elena’s newsletter and/or subscribe to her blog RSS feed as well as subscribe to mine :)

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Announcing the Winner of a FREE Blog Header from The Blog Fairy… and the Flu

by Lucky Red Hen on February 4, 2011

Winner!

Announcing our winner!

Want the good news or the bad first?

Ok, the bad… I’ve been down with the flu, thus the lack of post yesterday and today.

The good news… we have a winner of a FREE Blog Header from The Blog Fairy (thank you, Blog Fairy!)

Some more good news… I’ll keep having giveaways (who doesn’t want something for free?) Since we usually don’t look forward to Monday’s, the last day of the week on the favorite-day-of-the-week list, I think I’ll deem that day as Giveaway Monday! Woot! So you can look forward to Monday’s by coming here and entering to win something fo’ FREE! Wee!

You ALL are winners, in my eyes, but we can only have ONE winner for the FREE Blog Header and that is Elena of the upcoming www.Vega-licious.com site (it’s not up yet, but here’s her old one.)

Elena, send me an email to claim your prize and I’ll give you instructions on how to redeem it. Congrats!

Love,
Lucky
XoxO

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Anjelah Johnson (Beautiful Nail) at the Snoqualmie Casino

by Lucky Red Hen on February 1, 2011

This YouTube clip of comedian (which I like to pronounce com-E-DEE-ann instead of com-e-de-un, kind of feminizing it) Anjelah Johnson is a riot. Drea and I quote this set all the time. Maybe we should come up with our own jokes, but why reinvent the wheel, right?

  

My SIL’s aunt (THANKS, Linda!) invited four of us the day before the show (she bought the tickets for her and her kids a long time ago but didn’t realize until the night before that it’s a 21yrs and older show since it’s at a casino… woops! for her and yay! for us).

Lucky girls ready for Anjelah Johnson

The casino parking lot was PACKED (we shuttled to the parking garage), but it wasn’t for the show. People ACTUALLY go to this casino to hang out, drink, gamble, eat at the restaurants, and dance in their clubs. What?!? Really? I mean, I KNOW what a casino is for (my dad works in a casino), but I didn’t realize SO MANY people would drive all the way out there for that. The cigarette smoke alone, gag. Another thing that got me was the music in the club… 80’s pop (which I like, but it’s the leading theme for a dance club? Huh.)

Sisters-In-Law, but really friends

Little tidbit about my younger years… there are some families, like us, that reserve at least one night a week as Family Night. We turn off our phones and the TV and spend time together. Our kidlets look forward to this and are quick to remind us if we happen to space it. They love it. We love it. Growing up, my family would lay out a craps board and we’d bet with poker chips. I was pretty good (practice, practice, practice) and did alright when we took a family trip to the Peppermill in Reno. The best part about being a girl at a craps table? Old guys like to share their money with you with NO STRINGS ATTACHED (cute flick, by the way). Word.

Seat neighbors

What I don’t get about a comedy show… people on the front row getting up constantly to fill their drinks. It was SO distracting. Why pay front row prices if you’re going to spend a quarter of your time getting booze? Maybe you should arrange for bigger cups; or bring your Camel Back as your flask. Sit down!

Anjelah Johnson at Snoqualmie Casino 2011

If you have a chance to see her, do it. She did NOT disappoint (you know how you see a movie preview and find out later that the ONLY good parts were in that preview because the rest of the movie sucked? Yeah, she’s not like that.)

P.S. The other thing you should do? Leave me a comment, especially on yesterday’s post so you can have a chance to win a FREE Blog Header. The winner will be announced Thursday!

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WELCOME to the LAUNCH of LUCKY RED HEN blog … and giveaway

by Lucky Red Hen on January 31, 2011

bookmark

Don't you LOVE free surprises?

Boy howdy I’m excited! Are you? You ARE? (fist pump) Yesss! I knew it.

Are you here because you want to win the giveaway? No? You’re here because you love me and want to see me happy that you’re here? Yesss (another fist pump)! I AM happy you’re here. Muah!

Let’s start the launch by sharing my favorite book and reason for the above photo. However, before I tell you what my favorite book is, I must disclose to you my thoughts, exactly…

I’m not a good reader, you see, I prefer being out of doors.
Oh, I mean, I can read, of course.
And I’m not suggesting you can’t read out of doors, of course.
I wish I read more, but there always seems to be so many other things to do.
Yes, that is exactly what I meant.
Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennett ~ Pride & Prejudice

Many years ago, I saw a book review in People magazine that intrigued me then a week later my friend Ashley suggested I recommend it as my pick for the next BookClub. It’s hard to recommend a book to ardent book club women when you DON’T READ.

I was/am a beginner reader. I didn’t/don’t have a favorite author, genre, or series like other ladies. Most of the books I’ve read have come as suggestions/gifts from friends who know me, not Book Club lists or Oprah’s Book Club.

Speaking of OBC, I swore off her recs midway through House of Sand and Fog. Even though I finished it (hard for me to stop a book/movie cold turkey; I need closure), I wish I hadn’t started it. SUPER well written (coming from someone who doesn’t really know what that means exactly, except that the book MADE me finish it), but so incredibly depressing, leaving me feeling a bit depressed. Maybe I care too much, and it seems silly that it’d be over a book character of all things. You’ll find me crying at commercials or when I see a stranger be kind to another.

*ahem* Wait a minute. That’s not the direction I was going. Boo hoo. Cut it out.

Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl (NY Times Restaurant Critic and Gourmet Magazine’s Editor in Chief) is my all time favorite read. It’s her story about how she grew up to appreciate food, from when she was a wee one to college. It’s funny and there’s recipes. The next book Comfort Me with Apples continues the story. Now I’m reading the third, Garlic and Sapphires, which is where I discovered the cute owl card/bookmark. It’s like there was a sticker on the outside of the library book saying… FREE PRIZE INSIDE! Sweet! Free is right up my alley.

Now I’m trying to think of what free prize I can leave in it. Wonder if the person who left the owl was the first to do that, maybe it was an accident and they didn’t mean to leave their bookmark in it, or they were paying it forward from someone who did it before them. Who knows, but I like it!

Speaking of FREE PRIZE… I know you want to win a $65 value custom Blog Header from The Blog Fairy(the reason I am blogging again/today)! Maybe you’re in need of more than just a header… that’s ok, just pay her the difference! Check the available services and the waiting list on The Blog Fairy’s website. Here are beautiful examples of some of her Blog Header designs:

To enter the giveaway: leave a comment on this post with your blog address/link and that you’d like a custom Blog Header. If you’re not entering the giveaway (maybe you already have what you need, don’t blog, or want someone else to win), please leave me a comment anyway. I’d like to know who came to see/read me. And, everyone, come back tomorrow and the next day! The winner will be announced this Thursday (that’s the day F.R.I.E.N.D.S. aired on TV, and I like friends).

Thank you, Blog Fairy, for making all my dreams (and a lucky winner’s) come true!

P.S. You have a light hearted, happy ending book recommendation for me?

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Brand New Blog Design: Launching on Monday

by Lucky Red Hen on January 28, 2011

So how do you like my new look?!? Isn’t it FABULOUS?!? Why am I over using punctuation marks?!?

The Blog Fairy has been slaving (while I’ve been sipping lemonade and watching her bust a move) and now it’s my turn to perform… EEK! Actually, I’m very excited to share with you (really, YOU, I’m glad you’re reading this, thanks) and connect with nice people all over the globe! The GLOBE, people! How COOL is that?!? Ack, there I go again with the punctuation.

This morning the design was finished so I’m going to take the weekend to tweak (we imported all my archives from the [say in a fancy voice] other blogging site, some didn’t come over quite right), edit (the photos are wonky sized/aligned), and prepare for the good stuff (how about a little video?)

Will you please come back and see me next week? I hope I don’t have to BRIBE you, or something ;) Ok, if I HAVE to bribe you, I’ll have a give away on Monday… from The Blog Fairy… and it’ll be FREE… and you’ll WANT it… bad. Unless you already have it, then you won’t need it but will you want it (click if you want to watch a Batman Joker fan video my BIL’s made).

Come back ;)

XoxO

P.S. I don’t know what I’m doing… totally winging this. Wish me luck!

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Green Smoothie Challenge

by Lucky Red Hen on January 22, 2011

Doesn’t THAT look YUMMY?!?

Alright, maybe it doesn’t. If not, it’s probably because you haven’t TRIED ONE yet. (I’m right, aren’t I? …pause… I KNEW it!)

My vegan friend Elena got me started on these. She has a 3-day Green Smoothie Cleanse program that’s designed specifically for newbies, beginners, reluctant veggie consumers, whatever you want to call yourself. And since I’ve known Elena (and her handsome chocolate hubby) for three years and have eaten with her to know she has good taste, I gave it a try.

The idea is to ONLY intake Green Smoothies for 3 whole days. If you’re hungry, have a smoothie. If you’re snacky, have a smoothie. If you’re munchy, lay off the “herbs” and have a smoothie. Oh, and you should drink water throughout the day as well.

Day 1 (a Sunday; also family birthday celebration at the in-laws; also bad day to start a new eating program)
Green Smoothie for breakfast, before 9am church
Water from the church fountain (an actual water fountain, not like one outside with a cherub spewing water decoratively)
Green Smoothie for lunch, after starving getting starving home starving from church starving about 12:15pm
Water from my wicked awesome Aladdin insulated, lided cup (Costco 3-pak for $19)
Took Green Smoothie ingredients to in-laws for dinner, instead got overtaken by ham, mashed potatoes, corn and salad (declined dessert, or did I? Can’t remember.)

Look, I’m not PROUD I flubbed, but I did it out of necessity. The ham MADE me eat it, like a ninja. At least I had much smaller portions than I usually have, so I think that’s a plus.

Day 2
Lasted ALL day ONLY partaking of the Green Smoothie goodness
However, it was HARD (because I was lazy) and I had to plead with my FB friends to remind me why I’m doing this. Most were encouraging: You can do it! Some weren’t so much: Loser. But who couldn’t use a good ribbing? (Edit: The person posting the “Loser” comment later changed it to “You can do it!”)

Day 3
Green Smoothies all day but ate dinner with my family

Day 4+
WHAT?!? “Day 4 of a 3 day plan,” you say? Yes, I’ve kept going and figure that these are SUPER healthy for me and WAY better than a bowl of cereal in the morning (which does NOT satisfy me anymore) or crappy lunch. So I’m continuing to enjoy my Green Smoothies and crave them if I go all day without one (didn’t have one at all yesterday and by the evening that’s all I could think about eating).

In conclusion… (don’t I sound fancy for not being fancy?) I whole heartedly recommend trying the Green Smoothie plan. Whether you do it for 3-days completely (you’re better than I) or just substitute one meal with them (do it for breakfast; get your fruits and greens to start your day healthy), you WILL feel better about what goes in your mouth.

Oh, the spinach part. You can substitute whatever dark green, leafy plant you’d like: kale, collard greens, arugula, bok choy, chard, etc. The spinach, I find, is the least tasty in raw form (pre-cooked, as fresh from the fields as possible, hopefully organic) and makes a great green to add to smoothies if you don’t want the green taste.

My various Green Smoothie ingredients (serves 1) so far consist of:

  • 1.25 frozen banana (a Costco giant bunch is under $2; I buy two, peel and quarter before separating them on a cookie sheet and sticking them in the freezer; they brown just a titch, but not as much as you’d think; when frozen, I pour them into a huge Ziplock bag)
  • giant handful or two normal handfuls of organic baby pre-washed spinach
  • 2 cups of assorted fruit (this is winter, so my fruit options are minimal): mango (gooey), frozen mixed berries, freshly sliced apple, orange, pineapple
  • 1 T hemp seed (Omega 3 and 6, and protein; kind of has a nutty flavor)
  • splash/1oz. of Aloe Vera juice (George’s Aloe Vera is virtually tasteless and has LOTS of health benefits)

P.S. Depending on what I add to my smoothies, they’re not always green. Sometimes they’re brownish (when using the dark colored mixed berries). When that happens, I put it in a dark red cup to mask the look.

Next on my agenda… getting The Blog Fairy to make my blog more visually pleasing. PLEASE. It’s so drab :( Plus, she’s pretty.

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