some tips. and tricks.

01:  If I find myself at Target with one of the boys {i.e. in a hurry} I will put a shopping basket in the back of my cart.  I mainly do this when I know I am purchasing a lot of smaller items  {toiletries, birthday cards, cleaning supplies, etc}.  That way when I go to check out I can just place my basket with all of the small items in it directly onto the little conveyer belt.  Usually by the time we are ready to check out and leave one of the boys is had enough of Target and one of us is about to have a meltdown {usually me of course!}  Using a shopping basket helps to cut down on the time I spend schelping items from my cart to the check-out counter.

  

02.   For  the last couple of months my hair has been looking pretty blah.  I am pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that I have had two babies within the last 2.5 years.  I think my hormones are still tying to regulate.  

One day I stumbled upon a post over at the PW.  Ree was talking about how her hair had changed and she had been rinsing her hair with a vinegar+water concoction to remedy the situation.  My first thought was," Hmmmm vinegar?  Won't I smell like a pickle?"  And my second thought was, "Well if the PW does it then it must be ok."  So the next time I washed my hair I tried out the vinegar rinse.  In between shampoo and conditioner I rinsed my hair with the vinegar+water mixture.  And you know what?  It left my hair feeling really clean, lighter, and shinier than before.  Since then I have been doing this about 1-2 times per week.  I would recommend using conditioner after the vinegar rinse or mixing a small amount of an essential oil into your vinegar mixture.  Both will help to eliminate the pickle smell.  For my vinegar rinse I use a large nalgene bottle {32 oz} and use one part warm water and one part distilled white vinegar.

03.  I have started keeping a swiffer duster in the glove box of my car.  Whenever I find myself in the car and have a few minutes to spare {the pre-school carpool lane, waiting in the drive-thru at Chick-fil-a, etc.} I bust out my duster and give the interior of my car a quick wipe down.  Of course I can only reach the front seat but still it's nice to have at least that part of my car clean and tidy.  {If you thought my post on bills, mail , and recycling was dorky I am sure you are loving this.  ha!!}

p.s. Apparently my topiary has gone international.  Click here and scroll down a little ways.  I really hope they aren't making fun of me in Italian.   Thanks Katie for the translation!! :)