A few of my favorites…

I’ve found over time, in reading as many blogs as I do, that often my favorite posts by other bloggers are the random ones… the ones where the blogger makes lists of some of their must-haves, whether it be products, ideas, other blogs, music, etc.  This past Christmas, I actually found a lot of cool gifts for loved ones this way. 

So, this post has been percolating in my mind for quite some time, and it may just make a regular appearance here on Sprik Space.  :)  Today, I want to share with you, in no particular order…

Quirky Cordies Cable Management System  ~$10

Maybe you keep a lot of USB connection cables on top of your desk like me?  You know, for the camera, the iDevices, the Kindle, the cordless mouse, etc. – naturally, they all accept different cables.  With this handy dandy little contraption, there’s no more cursing from my side of the office when a cable slips behind the desk… because it doesn’t happen anymore!  YAY!

 

Instagram

I’ve been a bad family blogger lately… but I’ve found an interim solution – Instagram!  If you have a smartphone, download the app – I highly recommend it for a way to quickly and easily catalog both the minor and major daily events.  Most of my photos are in the minor category, but it’s so much fun to take a quick look back – one of Connor’s favorite activities.  In fact, I may just take up Instagram-ing completely instead of writing up personal/family blog posts – we’ll see.  At the end of the year, I plan on having a book made, full of the Instagram photos I’ve taken.  Here are a few of my favorites over the last month: ( a – b – c – d – e – f – g – h – i – j ).  If you’re on Instagram and want to follow me, my username is sprikspace.  If you don’t have the app, you can follow my feed online here on Webstagram.  To make it easier on the grandparentals, I threw a handy-dandy button over in the left sidebar, too. 

 

Kuhn Rikon Ceramic Knives

Oh, ceramic knives, where have you been all my life??  I received a set these paring knives for Christmas… one of the best gifts my husband has ever given me!  So sharp, so non-stick… makes everything that I’m cutting feel like it’s just a stick of butter.  Love, love, love them.  I now want to replace every knife in my kitchen with a comparable ceramic knife.  And I just might!  ;)

 

This post on Momastery titled: “Don’t Carpe Diem” really spoke to me.  Amen!  (Maybe you’ve already seen it… can’t hurt to read it again.)

 

Teaching your child to put on their own coat

‘Tis the season that we can’t leave the house (which we rarely do anyway during RSV/flu season) without coats.  This video from I Can Teach My Child has been a real game-changer for us.  I love seeing Connor feel so empowered!!

 

 

Chemisettes by Anne

I meant to share this product with you during the warmer months, but keep it in mind for Spring and Summer to come…  I don’t know about you, but I get so annoyed wearing camisoles under some of my tops with lower-than-I’m-comfortable-with necklines, especially when it’s humid here in Chicago.  I hate to sweat and feel sticky, and wearing an additional layer, when all I really need is a few inches of fabric at the top, is typically the last thing I want to do… but have to do.  Somewhere I stumbled upon this product, a chemisette (think a dickey cami) and I’m sold!  I ordered several and consider them amazing.  They allow me to control how much cleavage I’m willing to show and they help me to stay cool.  (I know the picture looks a little funny, but if you ever feel the same way I do about those pesky camisoles, check it out!)

 

Tovolo Better Batter Tool and Silicone Cooking Utensils  ~$10-12

I received one of these bad boys as an early Christmas gift while I was doing my holiday baking… worked like a charm!  In fact, I’ve recently replaced all of my cooking utensils to a silicone/metal handle combo so that everything is dishwasher friendly.  (I don’t know about you, but I hate scrubbing the wooden-handled utensils… which shrink over time so the silicone piece no longer fits tightly.)  I found some good deals at Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table after the holidays to complete my set. 

 

Marilyn Tuxedo Round Hair Brush  ~$20

I have a bob, and a round hair brush is my go-to hair styling tool.  So, when my old one began to fall apart recently, I headed to Ulta and “splurged” on a new one... I’m sold!  I picked up the Marilyn Tuxedo 3” Round Hair Brush – it’s large, but it puts just the right amount of bend in my hair, without a defined curl, and gives me plenty of volume at the roots even without using any products (and I have fine, limp hair).  I especially like that the brush end has a flat top so it will sit upright on my countertop while I’m getting ready (just an important feature I was searching for).   The barrel is ceramic-coated, not metal (like a lot of the cheap ones are) and the bristles are natural boar, not synthetic.  I love this brush!

 

IKEA Frost Clothes Drying Rack  ~$20

I’ve had this rack for nearly 10 years now… and it’s still as good as new.  I air-dry most of my wardrobe to keep it from shrinking shorter (I’m 5’9”) and this drying rack is a work horse!  It’s strong and sturdy and can contain an entire week’s wardrobe plus a few other pieces easily.  I recently spotted it again at IKEA, and knew I wanted to mention it here.  You can position it in a variety of ways, and when it folds down it can fit right behind a door, imperceptibly.  I probably would have purchased 3-4 of those wooden dowel racks in the same amount of time I’ve had this one rack.  It’s awesome.

 

Bar Keepers Friend  ~<$4

My big Christmas present was a whole set of pretty new pots and pans… they’re stainless and oh so shiny.  And I want them to stay that way!  As I’ve been learning to cook everything at a lower temperature, there’s been a bit of oxidation staining, and Bar Keeper’s Friend has been a miracle.  Just a little bit of powder and some water… a slight scrub, and my pots and pans are as good as new!  This inexpensive cleaning agent will also remove the rust spots on silverware that the diswasher leaves, and I’ve been told it should work on the stains our old faucets left on the bathroom sinks.  You should be able to find it in the cleanser section of your local store, or fairly inexpensively here.

 

The Head and the Heart

I first fell in love with “Lost in My Mind”… can you blame me?

And then I downloaded their entire album… they’ve all become my favorites.  I love listening to it while I plink away at the PC (writing this post, for example ;).  Only $5 for the entire album as an MP3 download at Amazon right now!

 

These guys

…are my absolute favorite!

They’re my whole world.

 

 

I’m so lucky they’re mine!!

 

 

Top 10

Right this very minute, I couldn't live without:

1. Connor's giggles
2. Yo Gabba Gabba
3. Drumsticks
4. My comfy bed
5. Air conditioning
6. Tivo
7. Brian's time off work
8. Connor's smiles
9. Pico de gallo
10. Unlimited long-distance

 

But, I could live without:

1. Cleaning bathrooms
2. All things Twilight and the surrounding mania (not.a.fan.)
3. Bugs and spiders
4. Baby constipation
5. Whining
6. Lingering dinner smells from the night before
7. Humidity
8. Yo Gabba Gabba
9. Brian's constant travel schedule
10. Obnoxious baby faux-hawks (these will be this era's mullet, mark my words) 

P is for Projects.

Spring always means projects around the Sprik house…  and it feels like we’ve been super-busy this past month getting a lot accomplished!

1.  Slowly working on the master bedroom re-do.  Our new furniture has begun to arrive, and so it was time to bust out some new accessories for the room.  The room will be very simple in design, fewer tsotchkes than before, and I thought a pop of color might be nice.  I’m not a huge fan of silk flowers, but darn it if those blue hydrangeas don’t make me smile every single morning since I finished arranging them.

2.  So the new dresser finally arrived in April (still waiting for the bed and nightstands)… we’re going from 2, down to 1 shared dresser.  This meant pulling items for donation, and reorganizing everything.  All of Brian’s socks are in a row, and he’s a happy guy.

3.  Strawberry freezer jam… 12 jars.  Yum!

4.   Besides lacking appropriate master bedroom closet space, this house doesn’t have a mud room.  Which is a real pain during Chicago winters.  So, we’ve set aside space in our junk room dining room for a mini mud room, and we just finished pulling it all together – coat rack, mirror, bench, baskets… {sigh}.

5.  The master bedroom closet was already small – it’s a walk-in, but it’s awkwardly shaped, and lacking in so many ways.  With the dresser depletion, we needed a space to store our too many t-shirts… by adding a row of shelving and losing some hanging space, we’ve actually made the closet seem bigger.  We have room for all of the t-shirts (& then some) AND you can turn round in a circle without your shoulders hitting anything.  It’s a Christmas miracle!

6.  I’ve been wanting a whiteboard in my kitchen for quite some time, and while my mom was in town, I pulled it off… and I love it!  Using ideas from this post and this post, all I did was buy a large frame at Michael’s that coordinated with my home, buy a length of fabric to fit the frame size, frame the fabric, and hang it on the wall.  To secure the fabric on the inside, all we did was stretch and tape it to the included frame’s cardboard.  This way, I can change it out as desired, without anything permanent.  The frame’s glass serves as the whiteboard surface… it’s perfect!

7.  Connor’s toys were threatening to take over the family room, so we had to do something about it.  I really wanted something we could build upon, as our needs change/increase for toy storage.  We went with the Storagepalooza from Land of Nod – and it’s awesome.  When the time comes, we can purchase another unit to stack on top.  So great to have his little play area better organized, plus it’s stable enough that we catch him practicing his PT moves (pulling to stand) on it a few times a day. 

8.  This is just a close-up of the fabric I used in the whiteboard (#6).  Apple green, with a bit of texture.  I wanted to use a solid-colored fabric, not too dark, so it wouldn’t compete with lettering on the glass… what’s the point, if I can’t read the whiteboard, right?

9.  Another blanket for Connor… this one is one of my favorites, and I’m of the opinion that you just can’t have enough blankets.  Grandma Rogers whipped this up in a little over an hour (it took us longer to cut the fabric out and pin it together, than it did to sew it).  Chocolate minky with a basic cotton print on the other side. 

10.  My husband gets the new-car-itch more often than he should.  But, this time it paid off… we were able to cancel our old lease at the same time as the buyout equaled the value of the car, and jump into a new car purchase with a great deal… his timing was impeccable.  After a stressful week or so of haggling with car salesmen and the lies-they-tell-you-to-try-to-get-you-to-buy-the-car-you-didn’t-really-want-to-buy-in-the-first-place, we walked away with the exact vehicle we were planning on all along – happy, relieved, and feeling fortunate.

Coming up, we’re going to attempt this wall art project for the master bedroom… if it turns out, I’ll post it.

Gesundheit!

The dreaded flu season is nearly upon us.

And, we've been planning for it... another hibernation.

To prepare, Connor's had round 1 of 2 of the regular flu shot, and will likely begin his monthly RSV vaccination soon. (No, he won't be receiving the swine flu vaccine this year.)

Brian and I have plans to get our own regular flu shots in the next few weeks (both of us did last year, and the flu bugs skipped our house last season - we were exhausted, stressed out, and traveling to the hospital every single day).

I've tried to coordinate some in-home therapy for Connor through Early Intervention, but they've decided that he's right on track for his adjusted age, and there's no need. We'll reevaluate in a few months. (In the meantime, his private therapy is on hiatus come October.)

We'll be extra careful here, especially to limit Connor's exposure (we already spent 120 days too many in the hospital this past year).

Thanks to Mindi for posting this ever helpful greeting guide (as seen in the NYTimes).


So, if we just wave at you, or seem standoffish, it's nothing personal... we're just practicing germaphobes for the next few months.

Cartoonize yourself

Go check out befunky...
run, don't walk.

Somehow, I just
lost 30 minutes there.

But, this rendition
of Brian Connor
was fully worth it,
don't you think??

The jig is up

This is so, so true.

Yep, we're no experts here... far, far from it, in fact!

Besides which, I just call my dad or my brothers. ;)

(As seen on Lifehacker.)

"Shake it like a Polaroid picture..."

This will make you smile. Promise.

Senior Adult Choir: Hey Ya @ Yahoo! Video

(As seen on Word to Your Mother.)

That's it...

...we're trying out for next year's SYTYCD!
Enjoy!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Make one of yourself here.

One for you... and one for you...

According to all of the latest news reports, I was apparently under the false impression that it's difficult these days for consumers to apply and receive credit. It seems that credit card companies still think I'm a good risk, because I receive, on average, 4-5 new credit card offers every week.
Not.Kidding.

I've recently discovered a new way I can give back to the credit card companies, by taking advantage of the Postage Paid mailers they send with each offer. And, since it is now officially the season of giving, I'd better get cracking!

Go here to learn how you can use those prepaid mailers to send return packages to the oh so generous credit card companies and other junk mailers. I'm thinking rocks... or bricks, even. Maybe I'll just collect the offers from each company for a little while and return them back to their creators for recycling (with some additional weight, of course). The heavier the better, I always say! Plus, it'll help keep our postal costs low (with more money going to USPS from the offending companies)... which is what we need in this current economy. Do it for America.

Dysfunctional is the NEW functional

To help you better understand your family this holiday,
please consult the following flowchart:

(Soundtrack found here.)

Just one of the many services we offer here on Sprik Space.
You're welcome.

(As seen on Word to Your Mother.)

"I'm not as crazy as you are..."

Maybe we're going about this baby naming business the wrong way...

"For Pete Wentz and wife Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, the decision to give their son the middle name of Mowgli came down to a simple bear necessity.

"'The Jungle Book was something that me and Ashlee bonded over. It's a cool name,' the father of Bronx Mowgli Wentz, born last week, told Ryan Seacrest on his radio Tuesday."

I thought the whole point was to hope the name you chose might keep your kid from getting beat up on the playground.

Silly me.

That's it... We're naming him Richard.
Everyone will call him "Dick" for short.
That's got a nice ring to it, don't you think?

Eating humble pie

We didn't get to see the game out here in the Midwest, and from what I saw of the final score, it was a doozy!
Not sure what went wrong, and I'm not a big enough fan to read a game dissection...

But, way to go Utes!
Thanks for the cool million! ;)

Because I can't resist...

Trigon classics

Too cute! Why haven't we seen more of this kid??

Happy Halloween!

Have a
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Dear Trick-or-Treaters,

Seeing as how you only rang our doorbell 3 times last year, and I had even been coerced into buying the good stuff (chocolate) by my husband (instead of handing out the leftover Tootsie Pops from the year before), I'm not too concerned that we'll be missing too many of you tonight. I know it looks like we're home (that's the idea), but we'll do right by you next year. We are counting on you to be lazy - cutting through the planter beds, rather than using the sidewalk - so, we put in a stepping stone just for you - USE IT. I really like the bushes just the way they are. And, oh yeah... please don't get upset and leave a trick for us... otherwise, next year I'll be handing out unwrapped candy corn and pennies for UNICEF.

Happy Haunting and BE SAFE!
The Spriks

In the closet

Today I get to finish cleaning out my closet... since 90% of what's in there doesn't fit me right now. Along with all other types of housework, this has to be my least favorite chore! But, I've been spilling out into two other bedroom closets for awhile now, so drastic action must be taken!

I'd put it off for another day, but I promised Brian that it would be at least one thing I'd take care of this week... and the bedroom looks like a tornado hit it right now. This interferes with my usual activity of eating bonbons and watching soap operas taking it easy and trying not to vomit... so we'll see how long I last!

If he's lucky, he'll come home tonight to a clean and sparse closet... and if I'm really ambitious, some of these delicious goodies (with regular flour and a real egg, of course). If they turn out, I'll have to post my modified recipe.

Wish me luck, because I'm going to need it!

(And if you see any more posts from me today, I obviously had a really hard time staying motivated am a closet-cleaning powerhouse! ;)

A better option for November

Have you heard the news yet?

Go HERE to see the news coverage of this very exciting event!

Hilarious!

Just in case you didn't see this on Dooce yet...

"Turn up your volume and wait for her to smack the pole."



I know you love me even more now for showing that to you!

Eye Candy?

Mindi's hilarious take on the latest International Male catalog is posted here. She must have worked for the J. Peterman Company in a past life. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone when you become a regular subscriber, too!

I'd like to thank...

First things first, I'd like to thank Mr. Al Gore for inventing the internet. Without it, I wouldn't be quite so entertained or informed.

Secondly, Mr. John McCain deserves kudos for creating the Blackberry. Without mine, I'd never be able to stay caught up on my junk e-mail and blogs while waiting at the doctor's office.

What do you think Mr. Barack Obama will be taking credit for next week?