Tips and tricks on enriching life simply including design, travel, style, cooking, crafting, re-purposing, and my favorite, saving money.

30 Before 30

Posted on May 16, 2012 by roxannehembd

So as I hit the 29 1/2 year old mark, I saw a post on someone’s page about “30 before 30.” Like, 30 things they want to accomplish before hitting the 30 year old mark. Now I’m thinking, what do I want to do before 30? Well, the truth is, I don’t have a list. I don’t. I don’t want to set myself up for failure and in 6 months be whining about how far I thought I would be by now… So instead I will come up with a 30 before 60 list. That’s a little more reasonable, right?

1. Get a Master’s Degree. (Hopefully by 40.)

2. Travel to Maine and eat a lobster. A cooked one.

3. Buy a house and fix it up.

4. Travel to Europe.

5. Learn another language.

6. Have some kids and teach them how to be awesome.

7. Be financially stable. 401K, health insurance, savings, all that jazz.

8. Fix my fading tattoo. And get another one.

9. Run a sucessful business.

10. Make a difference in the world.

11. Live in a town that i’m happy to be a part of.

12. Marry (Or just be with long term) the man I love and can’t see myself being with anyone else.

13. Throw an amazing dinner party, and have cooked all the food.

14. Be able to afford an awesome vintage car. Even if I have to fix it myself.

15. Go to an amazing flea market, and spend the day shopping.

16. Travel to Georgia, New Orleans, and be a total tourist.

17. Try a new hairstyle/ color.

18. Run a marathon.

19. Be happy with the physical shape i’m in.

20. Volunteer for a good cause.

21. Publish a memoir.

22. Take another road trip. One where I can enjoy the drive.

23. Have an awesome studio/ craft room.

24. Learn to love winter. Or better yet, not hate winter.

25. Have 20/20 vision.

26. Have happy, healthy children that don’t despise me. And be able to help them in college.

27. Take one day and ride a bike to a farmer’s market, buy fresh food, cook it, and be happy I did so.

28. See both oceans again.

29. Live life making wise choices.

30. Not regret a single thing.

Happy list making!

Making Sweet Green Tea

Posted on May 9, 2012 by roxannehembd

I was looking in the refrigerator this morning when I was making my eggs for something to drink, and seeing as how I haven’t grocery shopped in a while, there was nothing but month old chocolate milk, skim soy milk, and a 2 liter of root beer. Not exactly what I wanted for breakfast. I crave juice in the morning or some other clear liquid. Then a voice came into my head. Maybe it is all of the Billie Holiday I’ve been listening to lately. It said “make some sweet tea and keep it in the fridge.” Genius! I looked all over the interwebs, I didn’t want to mess this up. I took tips from a few places, (one from a site called Hillbilly Housewife) and here’s what I came up with:

You’ll need:

4-8 tea bags
2 qts of water
a 2 qt pitcher
3/4 cup sugar or 1/4 cup honey
a thirst for delicious tea

First fill a 2 Qt pitcher 3/4 the way with water and pour it into a pot on the stove. Bring the water to a simmer at medium heat. Add your teabags, anywhere from 4-8 of them. You can use black tea, or green. Or hey, get crazy and use some kind of mango/peach/pineapple. It’s your tea. I added 5 bags because I don’t like my tea too strong.

I have a varied collection of random teas to choose from…

…and as you can see my cabinet is in no short supply of teas.

This was my choice, because there were only 3 bags left in here. I added 2 of the Lipton Green Tea bags for extra oomph.

After you add the bags to the hot water, take the pot off of the heated coil and let simmer for 10 minutes. No more, or less. Any longer and you can let the bitterness of the tea seep into your mix and it will taste tart and not very good. Scoop those bags out and toss them without squeezing them, so your tea will be less foggy.

I set aside 3/4 cup of raw sugar for my sweetner. You can use 1/4 cup honey if you like. I like the raw sugar, since the regular stuff tends to a.) not be as healthy and b.) build up in my throat and give me a throat clearing cough like i’m trying to get everyone’s attention. Which I’m not.

Next you want to put 1/4 of a pitcher of cold water aside. Once your tea is done steeping, go ahead and carefully pour the hot tea into the cold water. It will keep the pitcher from getting all melty and break up the strength of the tea. You can then add your sugar of honey, and give it a good long stir till everything is dissolved.

And you’re done! You can go ahead and put it in the fridge to cool, or you can pour it over ice right away. That will dissolve your ice pretty fast, and possibly dilute your tea, so I suggest putting it into the fridge. This is my favorite pitcher to use, it has a built in stirrer! And, if you like Arizona Tea, you’ll be sure to like this tea as well. Perfect for hot summer days.

Happy Brewing!

Interview with Sandy Ranck.

Posted on May 1, 2012 by roxannehembd

This video takes place between myself and real estate agent Sandy Ranck of Shore West in Green Bay. She is trying to help spread the word on Practical Enrichment and my services.

Recycled Pallet Furniture: Take 2

Posted on April 12, 2012 by roxannehembd

I’ve posted before about Recycled Pallet Furniture, and I just keep seeing more and more awesome Ideas that I want to share. I also wanted to re-share the facts: that I thought these little wood platforms were re-used by companies over and over again, but little did I know, at least 150,000 of them are thrown into a landfill each year. Some are made of wood that are hard to work with, but some are made of good old fashioned oak. You can get tools to pull apart the pallets specially, like a large crowbar, or you can get a Sawzall and saw it apart nail by nail.

This outdoor table was simple, made with 2 fully assembled pallets, stained, and some casters were added.

I love this “love” headboard from Little Inspiration’s website. It seems simple too. Cut to size, attach along the back with vertical strips of the pallet, attach brackets for the wall, and paing saying of your choice to the front. I suggest purchasing a hand sander for this one.

This little cat bed is adorable. You can make a little dog bed too.

There is plenty of room for magazines (and oh, I have plenty) in this coffee table.

This cushioned and painted pallet ottoman from Apartment Therapy isn’t too shabby.

What? Wow. This would take a little more work, but it’s awesome.

I can see this bike rack working in the right kind of Urban apartment.

This is definitely an interesting application for wood pallets.

This movie theater setting for pallets is pretty awesome. I couldn’t find the link from Pinterest, just the picture. I’m guessing you would need 12 pallets, a bunch of futon mattresses, white paint, long screws, and tons of pillows.

Why not take some old pallets and turn it into a cool piece of wall art?

Next time you see a pallet on the side of the road, think twice, and create something awesome!

Happy Upcycling!

Daydreaming of: Rooftops

Posted on April 11, 2012 by roxannehembd

Ever since I was little I’ve loved the idea of sitting in a window late at night with a cup of tea and looking over rows of moonlit rooftops. I know you can only accomplish this from a higher level in a building, and typically in a bigger city. Maybe I should just do a painting of rooftops, and hang them all over the place, so I always have one to look at. Here’s a few of my favorites.