iDYE

iDye

OK so recently I have been experimenting with dye.  I have wanted to do this for the longest time but was so turned off by the process.  I do not like to hand wash anything larger than an intimate item.  I've always had a hard time with wringing items out and the whole messy issue just plainly turned me off.  I began to look for dyes made for the washing machine and came across Dylon Wash and Dye. When I found this dye I was soooo excited until I couldn't find the wash and dye version anywhere.  Ultimately I ended up finding it on EBAY international listing but was unwilling to pay the shipping cost.  Fortunately for me I kept looking and eventually discovered iDye.  My excitement came back full force and I was ready to do some dyeing. iDye was easy to find several places on line but because Joann Fabrics was having a sale on it I decided to purchase from them.  iDye is priced at $3.79 for 14 grams and one package will cover 2-3 pounds of fabric.

I decided to brighten up my bathroom by dyeing my ivory cotton reversible bathroom rugs, one ivory towel and two hand towels. I choose idye Sun Yellow.

I loved the results.  They came out brighter than my picture shows and completely evenly saturated.  I filled the washer with hot water, added the dye pack, added one cup of salt, then added my towels.  I then washed one cycle with dye, one cycle with soap and one cycle with soap and oxyclean only to clean the washing machine pipes.  This came out so well that I gathered all of my jeans and gave them a refresher with the iDye Navy.  My husband is even making request now!  Tomorrow I will dye an old white terry robe of his into a brand new navy terry robe.  I used one package for the three towels and I used one package for my two rugs.  This is the perfect way to shop your own closet. iDye has 38 different colors at Joann Fabrics.com so there are many different options.  I plan to buy several more colors because I want to freshen up my cotton tank tops before summer.
  If you are into renewing your items by dyeing them please let me know how you do it.  We can share ideas.

Have You Ever Heard Of FOREVER NEW?

Forever New

If there is one thing that I am known for and proud to be known for it's my ability to take good care of my clothes.  Every since the day I was leaving college and my Grandmother looked at my packed clothes and told me how well I took care of them while I was away I knew I was on a mission to keep up the good track record. I became so good at it that eventually I had several people giving me the same compliment.  What could be more satisfying than investing in good quality clothes and making them last a lifetime.  I always saw this ability as being financially savvy.
One of my secret weapons has been using Forever New Fabric Care Wash.  I love this wash and everyone knows that I love it because I've often given it as a gift.  I began using this wash on my lingerie because it is usually found in the intimate apparel department or lingerie boutiques.  Ultimately I expanded my use to my cashmere items or other garments that are delicate in nature or dry clean recommended.  The back of the container states:

Forever New is a pure, organic and biodegradable fabric care wash formulated to gently clean, brighten and promote longer life in all fine washables.. The natural base of citrus and sodas cleans then rinses completely from the fabric leaving no residue to damage fibers.

Elasticity and Residue

Ordinary detergents will leave soapy residues that deteriorate the fibers and elastic causing the garment to lose both it's LIFE AND "NEWNESS".  Preserving fiber-flex and maintaining elasticity with Forever New in all fine washables allow a garment to look and feel new longer.

Based on the containers statement I'm sure you can see why Forever New is  great for your intimates.  It just so happen to be great for other fabrics as well.  Because it cost $15 for a 32oz. bottle I tend to be very particular about how much I use and what I use it on.  I was once told by another fan of Forever New that she uses it on her sheets.  My general  rule for myself is to stretch out the use of one bottle for at least 3 to 4 months and I think that constantly using it on my sheets would shrink my overall time schedule so I can't commit to such a luxury.  I do however use it occasionally on a load of sheets when I have more than one container in my stash and I find it to be such a treat.  I really love the fresh scent and love to smell it in my sheets.  This is an overall winner in book.  I think it's a great gift because the average person will consider spending $15 on 32oz. of detergent to be a luxury, however $15 for a gift is not very expensive at all.  I like to give it with a mesh lingerie or laundry wash bag.

I Bought A Sur La Table Cookware Set!!

Sur La Table

I have needed new cookware for the longest time but kept waiting until I could figure out which cookware to buy.   My husband came into the marriage with a really great frying pan by Faberware and every since that time I have been pretty convinced that I definitely would be purchasing that brand.  Over the last year I began to get more aggressive about finally finding what I wanted and needed and began scanning the internet looking for the best choice. For me the things that make me feel really good about purchases that I make is the perfect combination of great quality with a low price.  Now this can really be tricky sometimes because basically I need the item to be on sale and if you wait too long the item or color you want can sell out before you get it.
One thing that I was indecisive about was whether I should buy great cookware one piece at a time or pretty good cookware as a set.  I kept running into a wall because I couldn't find the right price for the quality I wanted.  Eventually I decided to be a little more open towards considering other brands but was totally underwhelmed until I went on ShopNBC and found Sur La Table Hard Anodized Nonstick 10-Piece Set.  I probably would not have paid too much attention to it because I didn't recognize the name but the picture of cookware was just beautiful.  Lucky for me it was on ShopNBC because you know from my previous post about how I love these shop at home channels/sites with all the customer reviews and the easy pay systems and even better for me still was the fact that it was also on sale.  Now the one thing that I can often get on these channels/sites are an introductory price or free shipping but a sale from $249.99 to $144.09 is EXTRAORDINARY especially with the $400 retail price.
I do realize that in life you can't get everything you want but somehow the fact that I couldn't get easy pay, or rather value pay is what ShopNBC calls it, took a little bit of the wind out of my sails.  I then decided to really research the cookware a little more before making a decision and what I  found just made me want it even more.  Every site that sold this cookware had great reviews for it including the Sur La Table site.  Their site also had really great photos of the cookware especially the ones that had food it them.  The more I looked through the site at the quality of the other merchandise and read all the statements on other sites by people who were familiar and loyal to the brand the more I forgot about the Faberware.
Ultimately I decided to keep an eye out for a better sale or value pay and then one day, maybe 3 weeks later, I decided to check on ShopNBC and it was on value pay.  Unfortunately there was only one set left.  Obviously I wasn't the only one checking on this set especially at 4 value pays of $36.02.  I bought that set as fast as was humanly possible in fear the whole time picturing someone on the other end trying to buy these out from underneath me.  It felt like Ebay..  Because sometimes in life you do get what you want I was able to pick up that last set.  Normally when you buy something online a message will come up right away letting you know that your purchase was complete but just because my heart was waiting to beat again the screen just got some weird glitch.  I had to log out then log back in again to see what happened to my purchase and thank goodness for me it went through perfectly :-)
I know this post is a little long but I just got a little excited because it was like I living it all over again :-).  A week later we received the cookware set and they are gorgeous and substantial. Not that I'm an expect but the quality seems excellent and for some reason paying the $36.02 just makes me feel that the purchase was an even better deal.

Amazon

I love love love my set and because when the Sur La Table store was created it was "inspired by classic French cookware and techniques" I tend to feel a little more chic when using them. Also the big wow for me is knowing that Julia Child has shopped there and had a book signing there for her The Way To Cook book. Although the deal is gone at ShopNBC you can still get the same set that I have at Sur La Table on sale for $149.96.  Although this deal does not have value pay it's actually a better deal because you will receive free shipping whereas I paid $16.99.  Sur La Table also have several locations if you prefer to take a closer look.  If you live in New York City there are locations in Soho, Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen.
 If you decide to try these please let me know also if you have a great cookware set that you love as much as I love these let me know about them.

Jacks Stir Brew Coffee Is Delicious

If you are a coffee drinker I have a great coffee for you.  It's Jack's Stir Brew Coffee.  I happen to love coffee and I'm pretty sure it has every thing to do with the little ritual that I had with my Grandmother when I was a child of drinking a little Sanka and watching the stories (Soaps).  I get a real warm comfort from a good cup of coffee especially when I drink it on the right day at the right time. As an adult  I have been known to call my Grandmother on the phone many days to have a cup of coffee together making the hundreds of mile distance between us seem like nothing.
  I'm pretty sure that this love of coffee is what compelled me a few years ago to Google where to find the best coffee which is how I first discovered Jack's Stir Brew Coffee.  I looked over this list and noticed that one of the places was in New York so I decided to stop by and see how good the coffee really was and guess what?  I loved it.  It was a cold day and the perfect time to sit down and have a cappuccino and  it was delicious.  Right then and there I fell in love and the reason wasn't only because of the taste either.  Jack's Stir Brew is organic and fair trade which is important to me and I then found out that the beans are shade grown (traditional method - taking longer for the full flavor and aroma to develop) and then Jack's stir brew the coffee for even more rich delicious taste.  Whats not to love.  If you're going to drink coffee why not drink a better quality and  less contaminated coffee where the people that are on the production end are being paid a fair price for their work.
Every since I walked into Jack's that day it has been the signature coffee of my home.  The only thing that I do not love about the actual shop is that it is very small with limited seating so I can never find a seat.  I now only go to the shop to buy my bags of coffee. Whenever you buy a large bag you get a free cup of coffee which I just love and you always have a choice of buying the beans whole or having it ground for whatever brewing equipment and filters that you will be using. One the biggest reasons that I decided to do this post is because I just so happened to stop by their site and found out that you can order online now, which I could swear you couldn't do before.  So now that I know everyone will have the ability to purchase the coffee I thought that it was a good time to tell you about my favorite coffee.  The cost is $15.95 for 1lb so use it precisely and remember to enjoy every moment.  
If you have had this coffee before or decide to order it please come back and let me know what you think about it.  

Sorry:-(

OK....so I know that it has been way too long but I really had a year last year.  I mean  ......REALLY.  However it's a new year now, by the way HAPPY NEW YEAR!,  and we are well into in it and I am ready to get started.  I did not want to start posting again in January because I would really have been compelled to make plans for the new year and if last year taught be nothing else it taught me that life can be so unexpected doing things day by day can just as well be a credible way to live.
The good news is that I have SO many post to do.   I am really excited because I have been enjoying so many of my little "luxuries" that I have been wanting to tell you about it and now I can.  I have a lot to go over with you and hopefully you have some things to inform me about as well.

Thanks for sticking with me.