Heeeeeeeeere's Rocky...and Hopefully NOT Bambi

Welcome to Wild Kingdom...in small town Massachusetts.

Do you notice his stare going right through me?

And a few hours later?

Completely empty.

That masked robber has eaten us out of [bird]house and home.

In other news, I'm hoping this tip from my friend Nancy will allow the Hostas in our yard to not be eaten by Bambi.

You're intrigued, aren't you?

This is two bars of Irish Spring soap - each cut in half. 

This is a pair of old pantyhose- each leg cut in half. 

This is homemade deer repellent.

I tied each to the back of a Hosta plant.

Now we wait.

And hope we don't see Bambi and her gang munching on the Hostas.

Do you have homemade "remedies" that will stop raccoons from eating bird seed? Or stop deer from eating Hostas? Do share.

Retail Therapy

Knowing that John was going to be working a good part of this long holiday weekend, I decided it was the perfect opportunity for some retail therapy.

To level set expectations (how do you like that newfangled corporate terminology? ::sigh::), the term "retail therapy" means shopping to make one feel better. In my case, it's generally an "alone" shopping trip.

I can take as long as I want.

I can try on something three times if I feel like it.

I can look through a clearance rack of what others might think is "crap" and be totally OK with that.

I'm no stranger to shopping/retail therapy.

Legend has it that when I was five or six, I blurted out to my Nana, "My Mom says CHARGE IT!"

So, yeah, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Over the past few years, my love for shopping changed. While I still loved going to stores and browsing, it was mostly looking for things for the house, for G., or John. I'd gained weight and I didn't like the way that any clothes looked on me, not to mention that I was in a size range I'd never seen before.

After doing Weight Watchers and keeping the weight (or most of it) off for a while and going back down to what I consider a comfortable size, I started to reacquire my love for clothes shopping. Having been super busy, I haven't had much time to devote to the art. (Yes, clothes shopping is an art in my book.)

Back to the beginning of this post -- John was going to be busy, so I was going to be busy, too-- shopping!

I started on Friday night by going to our local TJ Maxx. You know - that place where you get the maxx for the minimum and you're a Maxxionista for shopping there?

I got a few things for G.'s birthday (which I won't post here should she be lurking) and then I got myself what I consider to be two "hip" tops. (Probably calling them that is making some of you shudder.) They're "young-looking." (in my book). When I was heavier, I just wanted something to cover me. Now I'm OK with my arms showing!

Here's shirt #1 (excuse the wrinkles/bad lighting):

It's a bit light, so I'll probably need a white tank top to go underneath (unless you fashionistas out there have other suggestions!)

Here's shirt #2 (again excuse the wrinkles/bad lighting):

In case you can't tell, it's navy. Navy blue is really my color. I'll plan to wear this with white capris/shorts. This one's a bit sheer, as well, so I'm undecided on what to wear underneath. Do I try to find a navy tank? Help!

I had to bring my car in for service on Saturday morning and I got a free loaner car. Coincidentally, the dealership where it was being serviced is right near a strip mall with Special Thoughts Outlet Store (smaller scale Big Lots) and HomeGoods. Ahhh...HomeGoods...my safe place...lol.

I bought G. some stuff at Special Thoughts for her birthday and then wandered into HomeGoods, grabbed a carriage, and spent almost two hours in there. There's so much to see in there -- even two hours is not enough!

I'm always on the look out in HomeGoods in the girls' room section for purple stuff for G.'s room. Her hamper broke a week or so ago and I'd been thinking I'd have to order a new one from eBay because I can never find a purple one in stores. Wrong!

It's much more adult than her last hamper (this one screams "teen" to me, while the other screamed, "little kid.")

The other purchase was something I'd wanted for a while. At our nephew's fiancee's bridal shower, they had various drinks in glass urns/beverage dispensers with spigots and I LOVED the way they looked. When we have holidays at our house, we use a punch bowl and while I know it's tradition, it's not my fave. So, I figured if I could find a dispenser I liked, we could alternate. I got this for $24.99 (and I had a $25 gift card, so free!)

After HomeGoods, I headed to Stop & Shop for a few "luxury" grocery items. We generally shop at Market Basket (a super duper discount grocery store) and so often we don't have a lot of variety when it comes to brands, flavors, etc... I browsed Stop & Shop just like I would any store! I picked up some funky flavored powdered drink mixes, some salad dressings, and some cheese sticks that we can't get at Market Basket. (I know how to live, don't I?)

I went home for a short break after this and waited until my car was done. I brought my freaky loaner car back and then decided since I was close to Danvers (shopping mecca around here), I'd do some more!

I headed to Burlington Coat Factory and spent a good hour there.

Again, more stuff for G. (although I did try on a ton of stuff.) I only left there with these for me:

These may look like your ordinary run of the mill flip flops, but these are Clarks. Clarks make super comfortable shoes (although not always at the "height" of fashion) and when I found these flip flops I knew I had to try them on. As we all know, flip flops aren't generally super comfortable, but these are! I might even go back and get another pair in another color! Not bad for $19.99!

Next I headed to TJ Maxx (a different one than Friday night) for my last purchases. They were the icing on the shopping trip cake!

My photo will not do it justice. In fact, my photo sucks.

It's a dress (I rarely wear dresses!) with blueish/navyish stripes and a cute pair of navy sandals with a little fake bling.

I love them.

So, take a lesson from my book -- retail therapy is the BEST therapy!

Recipes for the Non-Rocket Scientists

You're probably going to read this post and think to yourself:

"Self? Why did she even bother to write a post about these two 'recipes?' What does she take me for - a dummy?"

Because really-- who can't make pork chops with cream of mushroom gravy and egg salad (not together) without recipes?

Me.

I LOVE recipes.

I love following them to a tee.

Now I just need to learn to be able to stray (ever so slightly) from said recipes.

Enough about me!

First up, my Nana's "recipe."

My Mom gave me this little notebook with family recipes and I cherish it!

And there you have it.

Not rocket science, but pure deliciousness.

P.S. Use Minute Rice.
P.P.S. As the cook, you should always serve yourself the piece of meat that was cut open to ensure appropriate level of doneness. (You can thank me later for that little nugget of etiquette.)

Next, egg salad.

Yes, I said egg salad.

And not just any egg salad, but perfect egg salad.

The Pioneer Woman is one of my latest obsessions. I watched all of the latest episodes On Demand and have gotten her cookbooks out of the library.

I wasn't able to find this online anywhere, so I photocopied the recipe and put in my newfangled recipe binder. (This whole midlife cooking fascination, just well...fascinates me!)

Pioneer Woman Perfect Egg Salad

1 dozen hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup mayo
1-2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp white vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

• Chop the eggs. (This alone is a diversion from my normal egg salad making, as I generally mash the eggs.)
• Add mayo
• Add mustard
• Add Worcestershire
• Add vinegar
• Add salt & pepper
• Mix
• Et voila!

The mustard, Worcestershire & vinegar give it a nice kick!

If you're looking to get out of the egg salad doldrums, this is your recipe.

See?

Not rocket science!