Things to do before I die

Part 1. I'm sure there will be more later.

Learn to play the piano
Hike the Camino de Santiago
Visit Bhutan
Learn how to draw

word watch: razz

To razz -- to make fun of someone.

From "rasberry tart" which is cockney rhyming slang for "fart"

It comes from making a rasberry sound by blowing air through flapping lips -- or, in less refined circles, a farting noise.

Ben told me this last night, so I'm sure I should credit some blogger, but this was the only one I found.

The Hot Oven Father's Day Dinner

Without much planning, I ended up hosting a 7 person dinner party on Sunday for my husband, father, father-in-law and the women in their lives. I kept it simple, but ended up with a smart approach that I may do more often. Basically, I heated the oven up really high and never turned it down. (So often you can't bake too many things because one thing calls for 350 degrees and another for 400, etc... this dinner didn't.)

From the oven's perspective, these were the courses:
at 480 degrees:
1) No-knead bread (45 minutes)
2) Oven Roasted Asparagus (45 minutes)
take out when done, then turn oven on to broil (500 degrees) and cook
3) Oven Broiled Filet Mignon (20 minutes)

With all those long cooking times, I had plenty of time to make a picturesque but easy ceasar salad (take apart 2 heads of romaine carefully, rinse, arrange 4-5 spears of romaine on each salad plate, drizzle with homemade ceasar dressing, then shave parmesan with a vegetable peeler over each salad).

Dessert after such a hot meal? Ice Cream. Specifically an impulse buy they were sampling at Costco (the whole meal was from Costco, actually) called PJ Madison's, an organic gelato that was incredibly yummy.

"Retail Me Not" for Online Coupon Codes

Is everyone else like me? Do you search for coupon codes the moment before you finalize an online purchase?

I just stumbled across a great new web 2.0 site for finding those coupon codes. They aren't paying me to endorse them, but then again, they just saved me $12 so maybe they are!

The site is Retail Me Not -- cute huh?

You can shop by site or by tag. Each coupon code is rated as "works or doesn't" by users -- you don't even have to log in. They are displayed in descreasing success percentages -- so the first one or two should be the most likely to work. There's also comments on each code, so you can find out the "gotchas" before you use them.

It's so well done I fear for the demise of the online coupon code.

Did I mention you can get email notifications when new codes are posted for your favorite stores?

2 new business ideas

What I do in my spare time -- generate business ideas.

1) "Beauty Camp" -- Summer daycamp for tweens that teaches them personal grooming, hair, makeup, etc. I would have loved to learn these skills at that age (heck, I still would!) This would be a perfect income supplement for an independent hair stylist who can block an entire week out of her schedule. I may even mention it to mine.

2) Buy a ShopBot CNC Router, let people CAD up designs for it, and produce on demand for a fee -- based on the fact that the creatives at 3 Ring Design all wanted to design their own desks (follow the link, it's really good), I think there are people out there (like me!) who'd love to get their hands on one but couldn't affort the $12K and up pricetag.

Showering Babies, IV

The last post on this topic, I promise.

For the 3rd baby shower in month, I decided to go for a category I do better than most: Books. Here were my book picks for the mother-who-has-everything type of person:

A one year subscription to Cookie Magazine ("All the best for your family" aka Vogue for Moms)

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer Parenting advice books are a bit risky, but this mom-to-be and I are similar enough in perspective that I think it will work. I sent along a gift receipt in case it doesn't.

First Book of Sushi (World Snacks) The parents are big sushi lovers, and really, reading in the first 6 months is more about the parent anyway, isn't it?

Things that just work.

One of the benefits of being in my 3rd decade is that some things, at least, I've got figured out. I was thinking about this in the shower the other day -- that I've stopped experimenting in certain categories because I'm so pleased with the solutions I've found. So... drum roll please.... here's my "things that just work" list for personal grooming.

1) Shampoo and Conditioner. Generic/private label version of Pantene Pro-V. I'd tried any number of fancy salon brands, some of which really dried out my hair. This one just works.

2) Dentek Floss Picks. Anything you can use for less than a month that improves your dental "scores" for gum disease.... These take the yuckiness out of flossing your teeth and you can floss while reading (or driving or playing... any amount of multitasking that doesn't require speaking or both hands)

3) Shaving cream. Don't bother, just use the cheap conditioner from your shampoo and conditioner in #1. Added bonus -- one fewer bottle sitting on the shelf in the shower.

4) Clearasil Daily Cleanser. The only acne wash I've found that successfully keeps me from having zits. Anything else and I'm almost guaranteed one or two a month.