Archive for the ‘Random’ Category

Do You Have Any Questions for Gabi Moskowitz, aka The Brokeass Gourmet?

by Lisa on May 22nd, 2012

BrokeAss Gourmet

 

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be sitting down with Gabi Moskowitz, author of The Brokeass Gourmet Cookbook and the blog of the same name, and I thought I’d ask all of you if you have any questions you’d like me to ask her?

I don’t know Gabi, but she’s coming to Chicago as part of her book tour and when the opportunity arose to meet her for coffee I couldn’t resist. Most of the bloggers I know are either fashion bloggers or frugal bloggers, so it will be fun to chat with someone in a totally different area. Of course I’ll be sharing the highlights of the chat with you!

Is there anything you’d like me to ask Gabi? I plan on asking her about her history, and some tips for people who don’t particularly enjoy cooking {ahem}, as well as any tips she has for eating good food when you’re on a budget. What else do you want to know? The sky is the limit!

By the way, if you’re looking for a fantastic cookie recipe, try these Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made them a few weeks ago, and you’d be surprised at how much more delicious and flavorful a chocolate chip cookie can be when you add a little bit of Kosher salt!

Update: The Cheap Sally Blogger Contest

by Lisa on April 24th, 2012

This post should have come earlier, and I apologize that I’m writing my update on how the Cheap Sally blogger contest turned out so darn late. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t write about the contest right after it ended because I was LIVID. I’m a pretty even-keeled individual and don’t spend much time being angry, but this contest brought out a lot of rage and angst.

Before I tell you why though, I want to – quite belatedly – thank each and every one of you that took the time to vote for me so I could even compete in the final stage of the contest. It meant the world to me that you would take the time to vote! I know many of you voted many times so that I had the chance to be the winning blogger, and I cannot say thank you enough. You are all wonderful.

Now, to the bad.  Pull up a chair. This is going to take awhile.

If you recall, Cheap Sally was looking for one person to win a one-year blogging gig that would pay $100k. From day 1 of the contest something felt off. The rules and wording of the contest were confusing and where I had thought it was a deal finding contest, that was definitely not the case. Each day everyone participating would be emailed an item. As it turned out, our goal was not to necessarily find the lowest priced item, but instead, we had to find the coupon that would give us the highest percentage discount. As someone who spends the majority of her day looking for discounts that least to LOW PRICED ITEMS, the contest was completely and totally illogical. Theoretically, the “winning” item on any given day could cost hundreds of dollars more than another item found but the most important factor would be the coupon discount. Nobody shops like this. (more…)

Etsy Monday: Fleur de Pamplemousse

by Megan on January 23rd, 2012

Ok, I am totally in love with this week’s Etsy shop for two reasons. One, pamplemousse, meaning grapefruit, is my most favorite French word ever. I just love how it sounds! Two, the shop is in Maryland, where I hail. Oh, and did I mention that she makes fabulous things? Check it out!

Fleur de PamplemousseFrench love pillow cover 

How adorable is this pillow cover?! I love the combination of the stone colored linen and the black print and lace. Ooo la la.

Fleur de Pamplemousse Gold love frame

Grey and yellow are my favorite colors. So I totally need this frame. Stat.

And I know Christmas is over, but how darling is this stocking!?

Fleur de PamplemousseLinen stocking

My husband and I just have stockings I got from the Dollar Store. These would totally make the perfect addition, as I love the rustic feel. Plus the natural linen color totally goes with any decor. LOVE.

 I hope you all love this shop as much as I do. I’m totally on a home decor kick. Plus I think these would make fab gifts for new homeowners! Happy shopping!

Merry Christmas!

by Lisa on December 25th, 2011

Whatever you’re doing today, I hope you’re doing it happily and in the company of loved ones. Merry Christmas to all of you celebrating, and Happy 1st Day of the NBA season to everyone! :)

While this is obviously not a recipe blog and I cook only a few times each year, I thought I’d share my very favorite dessert recipe. It tastes like something you’d get at The Cheesecake Factory, but even I can make it. Enjoy! (And enjoy it now before those New Year’s Resolutions begin!)

I saved this recipe from a blog that is now defunct.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

1 roll of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 packages cream cheese (at room temperature)
3/4 cup sugar
1-2 cups chocolate chips

Press cookie dough on bottom of springform pan. When I use homemade cookie dough, I just spread enough to thoroughly cover the bottom of the pan with a layer as thick as a cookie. Thoroughly mix following four ingredients together. If the cream cheese is not softened to room temperature it will cause the cheesecake to be lumpy. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour mixture over cookie dough and bake at 350 degrees until done. The original recipe said the cheesecake should be done in about one hour but I keep checking it every 5 minutes after it has been cooking for 45 minutes. Usually it takes my cheesecake about an hour and a half to bake.

Happy Hanukkah!

by Lisa on December 20th, 2011

Jonathan Adler Menorah

Wishing all of you who begin celebrating tonight a Very Happy Hanukkah!

Incredible Dachschund Menorah from Jonathan Adler • $120

Chicago Blogger Shopping Crawl … And How YOU Can Win Gift Cards!

by Lisa on November 17th, 2011

This Saturday I’m doing something super fun: I’m heading on a suburban shopping adventure with a few of my favorite blogging friends here in Chicago. We’re going to be hitting up a couple of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, and bringing you some of our favorite picks for this holiday shopping season.

First, you might be asking why on earth we are heading out to the suburbs when Chicago itself is chock-full of TJ Maxx and Marshalls locations. The reason is simple – there are a million or so people that live in Chicago and we want to get out to the stores that are a little less picked over … and the ones we can’t necessarily go to any old day of the week.

Second, you might be asking who’s joining me!  The cast of bloggers includes:

Third, you might be asking why I’m letting you know now about our shopping adventure. It is, of course, because you all will have the opportunity to win prizes, too!
TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Nikia decided it would be even more fun to allow all y’all to track our stops (a total of 3) and join in on the par-tay!  So, we’re hosting a virtual giveaway at each location.
Here’s how it will work:
1. We, said bloggers mentioned above, will tweet out a photo at each store and provide our followers with the retail or “compare at” price.
2. The first one of our followers to guess the correct TJ Maxx/Marshalls price (or comes the closest) will win a $50 TJ Maxx/Marshalls gift card!
That’s THREE chances to win a gift card. I’m warning you though – you’re going to have to be really on the ball to beat out the followers of all of those other gals to win. ;)
In addition to the giveaways, we will be live tweeting our finds using the official hashtag #CHIBloggerCrawl. So, be sure to stalk our Twitter timelines Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. to be a part of the fun!
If you’re not a twitter-ite, I’ll be sure to share my finds next week.  And, of course, there will be giveaways galore around these parts with the launch of Thanks-Giveaway on Monday.  :)

How to Fix Your Facebook Page

by Lisa on September 23rd, 2011

facebook

You’re not going to see me complaining about the new Facebook.  I always kind of like the changes once I figure them out.  I’ve seen a preview of what’s to come when all of the latest changes are implemented, and let’s just say that some people are going to be freaking out.  Mashable has a great run-down of the Facebook changes.  Soon, Facebook really won’t look like it’s current incarnation at all – including the changes they just implemented.

While I don’t care about the visual changes, I CAN’T STAND when Facebook decides what I want to see on my newsfeed.  The point of Facebook is that you don’t have to interact with everyone, right?  So why should they decide what I want to see based on the 3 people with whom I regularly interact? For the past couple of days I’ve been wondering why only those three people have been showing up in my newsfeed, and then I remembered that Facebook thinks they know best.

If they’ve done the same to you, here’s how to get everything appearing back in your feed again – including updates from us!

I’ve seen a couple of ways to make your feed the way it used to be, but this is the one that made the most sense.  If you know of an easier way, please share!

 

Make an ‘Everyone’ list.

Go to your Facebook page and click on HOME in the upper right hand corner.

Then, on the left hand side locate LISTS. Click next to LISTS where it says MORE and click Create List.

Name your list.

Next, ‘Add Friends’ to your new list.  Add all the friends you want to follow.

Then, to find Pages, click where it says Friends on the top left and then click Pages. Click on the pages that you want to follow regularly.

Now, when you click on your new list, everyone should be there.

You MAY need to click on your new list in the left sidebar every time you sign into Facebook to see everyone and not just the people Facebook recommends.  Annoying!

 

Good Luck, everyone!

 

Thanks to MojoSavings for the tip!