So Fresh and So Clean Party!

I apologize now for the OutKast song that will now be playing in your head for the next 24 hours. (At least.) Buwahahaha!

So it’s time for a new kind of party at TDC. I’ve told you before I’m a bit of a weirdo (which you know on many different levels). I like to clean. It makes me feel good. I mean, again, if I could go shopping or clean the house – I’d probably pick shopping. But if it were laundry or cleaning – hands down cleaning. My favorite part of it is vacuuming – but more on that later. ;)

First of all – a few of the products I use constantly and love. (No, I’m not getting paid for any of these. I just love em!) I told you about my love of the green Shaklee products last weekend. They are quickly replacing most of the products I use because I really do love them and they WORK. There are still a couple others that I use and love for certain areas, mostly because of their ease of use.

I use Clorox wipes for ev.er.y.thing:

Counters, sinks, baseboards, window sills, toilets (eww!) – I use them constantly. We get the ginormous packs of them at Costco or wherever so I can keep one or two on each floor of the house.
I guess you can use them on mirrors too, but I haven’t tried that. Mostly because I think of this commercial every time I think about trying it. Ummm…that commercial totally grosses me out. I mean, I’m not even kidding. Ew.
Speaking of mirrors – this Pledge stuff is fanfreakingtastic:
I use this one for anything I need to dust – even electronics (spray the microfiber cloth, not the electronic!). It’s also awesome on mirrors, window and stainless steel. It’s hard to find cleaning products that work well on stainless well.
Anyone else ever tried olive oil on their stainless? I saw that on HGTV last year and gave it a try – HUGE mess. Didn’t work for me.
I have, however, had luck with using newspaper to clean windows. It’s crazy weird, but it works. No streaks, no mess on the windows. There is, however, a mess on your hands, so I stick with paper towels and microfiber clothes now.
Umkay, I’ve mentioned I detest laundry, right? Oh yeah, I guess so. (With a burning passion, in case you didn’t catch that.) Well, this weekend was spent decluttering and organizing our master closet. It looks AMAZING!! (Sing song voice.) Although, it took doing about 12 loads of laundry to get it the way I wanted, which just about put me over the edge.
There is a product for the laundry we starting using a few months ago that I LOVE. It at least makes the whole job just a teensy bit easier. Those Bounce bars that you stick in the dryer ROCK my WORLD! Awesome! You just stick it on the inside of the dryer:

When it is worn off, you will start to see the word “replace” --

When that shows you just slide it out and slide the new one in. They work! Maybe it’s the lazy in me, but skipping the step of grabbing a dryer sheet (or two) is awesome. Our last bar lasted at least three months – I bet it was more like four. I think they’re about four bucks.
Has anyone tried the Purex sheets? The ones with the detergent, softener and dryer sheet in one? I’ve always wondered if those work.
Finally – my two favorites. I love to vacuum because my vacuum sucks:

BIG TIME! Oh my heart goes pitter pat when I see you, you Animal. I LOVE TO VACUUM! The Dyson is one of the best investments we’ve ever made in our house – I highly recommend it.
One of my girlfriends got one a few years ago, and was going on and on and ON about it so I finally borrowed it. Um. Helloooooo AWESOME! It wasn’t even two weeks later that I went out and got our own. I even vacuumed with our (decent) vacuum before I went to the store on that glorious day and then vacuumed the same room again with the Dyson when I got home just to see the difference.
Uh, I don’t know if it was good or bad that the canister was FULL. Good that this purple little guy SUCKS. Bad that we had been living with a vacuum for didn’t for so long. With three cats, it’s a necessity in this house.
It is an investment. I got ours years ago when we used credit cards – which we don’t anymore. ;) At the time I think it was about $350. I always said I would never in a meeeellion years spend that much on a vacuum and yet again I have eaten my “never” words.
My other vacuum I love – the Shark dust buster. Perfect for those quick trips around the hard floors – especially in the kitchen. It’s powerful enough to pick up the trail of crackers the Bub leaves behind and also for all the cat hair around this joint.
Love it!!:

Yes. Oh yes. I took a picture with my sweet little Shark. It’s that awesome. I lurve it.
Because the Dyson was jealous:
Oh my word, I am SO glad my husband did not walk in on that picture. He would know for a fact I have lost my mind. I was laughing so hard I was crying when I looked at that picture after I took it. Ha! That’s me with no makeup, hair up after a day of decluttering. Ahhhh yes…bliss!
Now share your cleaning gems with us! Great organizing and decluttering tips are welcomed too! Anyone find an easy way to clean out the oven? Know how to fold a fitted sheet? Let us know!
Only links to your post will be accepted – not to your blog. Right click on the title of your post, copy, then paste it into the linky. Have fun! You can add to the party till next Sunday evening. (The linky is being touchy -- come back soon if it doesn't show up for you.)

Girls’ weekend

Well HELLO there! I’m back, I’m back! It was a whirlwind of a weekend, for sure. We had a BLAST in the city that never sleeps. I’ve told you before how much I adore NYC, and this trip was special because I brought two friends with me who are now in love with the city as well.
It is now my mission to make every single person I know a NYC lovah. :)
We were there for three days, which translates to about 300 pictures. I’ve seen it all a million times but I never tire of the sights.
It was HOT, but it was a beautiful, sunny weekend. Times Square was hopping Friday afternoon:

We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square (to the left by the Bank of America and Kodak signs above). We used to stay there ALL the time – in my opinion it’s the best spot in the city for a tourist. We don’t stay as often anymore because the room rates have gone up so much – ours was $350 a night!
But divided by three, it was way affordable for a Times Square view!:

Geez, I am SUCH a goober.
That first night was the main reason for our trip – the last NKOTB concerts ever (at least that’s what they say now.):

There is something really special about going back in time like this – we felt it at the concert last summer and at this one as well. You are in space with thousands of women, all who grew up having so many of the same experience you did. And when you get together again 20 years later, there is such a wonderful feeling of camaraderie that is so sweet:

Of course, just like last year’s concert, we followed the instructions on our tickets and DIDN’T take in our cameras. WHY do we listen and follow rules? WHY?!
Um, every. single. person. had their cameras. We had our camera phones.
Translation – crapola pictures:

Actually that one isn’t so bad. ;)
Radio City was a an absolutely fantastic venue – amazing! Even though our seats were closer last summer, this seemed more intimate. At one point Joe and Jon came up to the side we were at:

Of course I ran down there. :) I may or may not have been screaming. I will never tell.
Back in the day, Jon Knight was my fave – something about that tall dark and handsome – I married one of those. ;)
So I figured this was going to be the closest I would ever be to him. But I was WRONG my Squeezies!!
After the show, we went around the side of RCMH and found a gaggle of women and decided to see what we could find. There were many large men walking around with walkie talkies, and barricades up everywhere.
We waited around for a while and then were about to take off, but I had a FEELING. A white van pulled up, and all the sudden there’s SCREAMING and who walks out but Jordan, his son and JON.
This is the part where my eyelids flutter and hearts fly out. :)
The crowd rushed them, of course, and the bodyguards were SERIOUS. (I don’t blame them.) I pulled back a bit (I was about five feet from the van) and then my smarty little head was a thinkin’ – and I realized they would pull out and have to drive away, so I ran down the street about ten yards and waited.
I’m smart. :)
And as the van drove my way, the gaggle ‘o women came with it, but I was in the perfect spot to put my hand right on Jon’s window as they drove away.
And he LOOKED at me. And smiled. SQUEAL!!! :)
Let’s ignore the fact that there were women all around me, umkay? Whatev.
Did I mention, I didn’t have my camera?! Good Lord, when will I learn?
So I walked away a happy camper. I checked one off the bucket list folks.
The next day I took the girls to Ground Zero (more on that in a later post!), Little Italy, and Chinatown and the shopping commenced! HA!
There is NOTHING like the shopping in NYC – the variety of stores is one thing. The street vendors (especially in Chinatown) are another.
Want (cheap, really cute) earrings?:
   Pendants?:

Blingity bling?:
 
Purses and scarves?:

Belts?:

:) Those New Yorkers are funny.
The prices are great, and you can usually get them down even more if you try. Some of my favorite jewelry pieces are from NYC – they are the cheapest I own and they’ve lasted years.
I thought of you all as we walked down 6th Avenue and saw M&J Trimming. You’ve NEVER seen such a selection of buttons:
That was just one wall!
Nailhead trim:

Ribbon:

And trim:

Isn’t that insane?? It was GORGEOUS! :)
If I had only thought to bring my fabric swatches for the office redo, I would have had it made!!
Oh my goodness, we smooshed a LOT into three days – I can’t even begin to tell you all of it! Well, I could, but I got 14 hours of sleep in four days, so I need to get to bed. :)
We truly took in the sights and had a blast – our last night there, we were up till 5:30 a.m.:

That’s me at 5 a.m. See the sun coming up in the background? CRAZY!! (Notice the pic of Sean Hayes to the right? We saw that show last month and this time I came within feet of him as he left the theater that night!)
We weren’t even that tired – there’s something magical about New York City. It has my heart.

That’s the view from the Top of the Rock, all the way up there…

:) Sigh.
I love you New York!!
I am so glad to be home sweet home though – and looking forward to getting back into my crafty mojo with a fun item I got last week.
And I’ve got a little surprise for you tomorrow! Whoohoo! Stay tuned!