Note: since I first posted this, several folks have written to tell me that baking soda works just as well.

We drink a lot of tea around here. Good, strong Persian tea or the occasional blend from the Roswell Tea House (mmm mmm Magic Moon and Anti-Aging blends). While I love the tea, I hate serving guests tea in stained cups. I used to pour a little bleach in and swish it around to remove the stains but wanted to find a less, uh, toxic alternative. So I Googled it and found a super simple suggestion that really works. Simply dump a little sea salt in your mug and rub it with a damp rag. Those stains rub right out.

I once rang the bell for the Salvation Army. It was freezing and I was standing outside of a Kroger in one of the wealthier neighborhoods in Louisville, KY. I was young and surprised at how many people looked right past me. I wonder if I just halfway expected the “rich” to be rude because that’s a societal meme, or if they really were. Looking through the foggy lens of memory, I have no way of knowing, do I?

Growing up, my mother made a huge deal about Christmas. Too much, perhaps. She worked so hard to make everything perfect – in her estimation – that she ended up exhausted and in bed most of Christmas day. We would have been perfectly happy to have “less than perfect” in order to spend a little more relaxed, quiet time with her. Still, I appreciate the passion and energy she put towards creating “big” holiday rituals and memories, even if I do not share the desire to do things quite so “big.” Although, I suppose I do have a bit of a “go big or go home” attitude at times. This year, I couldn’t go big so I did nothing. We put up no decorations. Too tired, too un-moored (between houses, as it seems), the baby’s too little to notice. I yearn a bit for some twinkly lights . . . But we are preparing a feast and friends will be joining us today, and more in the days to come, including a visit next week from one of my best friends from high school. I am beyond excited to see her and meet her children.

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday.

My friend, Gabe, rarely posts status updates (he’s a lurker) but he put up a bit of the funny today:

I think that free WiFi on Delta and drink vouchers qualify as a Christmas miracle.

So far, this blogging experiment has been a lot of fun. It gives me a place to share all my random research (I really do overthink things!); and every once in a while you all tell me it was helpful. That totally makes my day. It also gives me an outlet for some creative expression — something you’d think I’d get a lot of in my day job (marketing) but since I run the business, I don’t do much of the creative stuff any more. So thank you for allowing me to write the ultimate self-indulgent blog. I get to brag about my baby, ramble about the house we’re building, and share tips and tricks about this and that and those.

For the rest of the year, I will be adding new blog posts (I can’t help myself!) but I’ll also be re-posting some of the ones I thought (or that you told me) were the best of the year. This is the bloggy way of recycling.

Merry merry!

Phil again!

Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we’ll be seeing six or seven.

Here goes Phil again:

I have decided that everyone in the family is getting Burger King gift cards for Christmas!! Nothing says Happy Birthday Jesus like a flame broiled whopper!!

Last night, my husband and I went to his office party which was at a Maggiano’s in a mall. To get to the restaurant, we had to walk past ZGallerie which had signs pasted all over the doors advertising 30% off everything in the store. Another store closing! (Just this location, thank goodness; there are still two other locations in Atlanta.) I squealed and pulled Chris in the store. We were planning to buy their Linear Strand chandelier for the new dining room. 30% off would be even better! They had one left – hanging up high – and we snagged it up, along with a very cool piece of horizontal art that will make a perfect headboard in the guest room.

We actually fell in love with the Cellula Chandelier from DesignWithinReach (Design “Out of” Reach, my husband says) years ago but never wanted to fork out $2,600 for a chandelier. One day, I saw the Linear Strand – a decent knock-off at ZGallerie – for a mere $349 and the decision was made. Bonus points to us that we got it on sale last night.

Here’s the Cellula ($2,600) from DWR:

And the Linear Strand (reg. $349/on sale for $245)  from ZGallerie:

Now, up close, I can see a difference in the two certainly, but not a $2,300 difference! What do you think?

While I’m on the subject of knock-offs — or bargain hunting — last week, we were shopping for sinks and faucets. We’re going pretty basic throughout the house except the powder room and the master bath. In the powder room, we want to make a statement. Not sure what kind of statement yet, but we were thinking of doing a cool mosaic backsplash and painting the walls a bold or dark color. Then we saw this mosaic sink and went gaga. We went even more gaga at the price ($1,700 and up). That’s just stupid.

So I came home and Googled it and guess what I found? Pretty decent-looking mosaic sinks at Overstock for $250-350. That’s more like it! (I was actually thinking of making one myself because I used to do mosaics as a hobby but for $250, I’ll let someone else have the hand cramps.)

Let’s hope my bargain hunting luck continues. We have a whole lot of house to go still! Today, we’re going to look at appliances. The builder needs to know our choices so they can size everything right in the kitchen.

Have a great weekend!

Since we recently moved into a smaller house (while we build the new house), we did a lot of purging of stuff we don’t need or use. Not surprisingly, a lot of the unused stuff was baby gear. I remember when we were pregnant, friends and family gave us so many hand-me-downs that it looked like a baby bomb went off in the house. Lucky me, I have a friend, Catherine, who is a professional organizer so she helped me go through it all. But she’s not a mom so we did keep a lot of stuff we just weren’t sure about.

So if you’re about to be a new mom, here are a few things you can probably live without (although everybody is different) or that will have surprisingly short shelf lives.

Monitor. Yeah, I said it. We had two sets and never used them. They baby sleeps in your room (but not in your bed) the first few months. When we moved him to his crib, his room was right across the hall and we could hear him. Even if we were downstairs with the TV blaring, we heard him if he woke up. Babies are plenty loud.

Wiper Warmer/Bottle Warmer. If you get them used to warm wipes or warm bottles, you’re hosed. Try and do room temperature as often as possible. (If you have a refrigerated bottle of breast milk or formula, warm it up just to room temp. I have a friend whose 13 month old still wants her milk HOT because they warmed her bottles up too much when she was an infant.)

Receiving Blankets. Most of them are too small to use as swaddle blankets. They’re too tiny to really wrap the baby in the stroller. I suppose you could tuck them around in a car seat. But here’s the deal: you’ll get about 20 and only use those teeny tiny ones for a month or two. Get some bigger blankets you can use for swaddling.

Mobiles. I thought it’d be neat to have two mobiles – one for the crib and one for the changing table but our mobiles didn’t fit either. We rigged one for the crib and it was useful for a few months. This is one of those short shelf life things. Once they’re sitting or pulling up, you have to remove it from the crib so they don’t pull on it and get tangled up in it. Get a mobile but don’t spend too much on it! And make sure it’ll fit your crib.

Diaper pail. We used it at first but they do get stinky when the babies get bigger. And when they’re tiny, their diapers just don’t stink that much. By around 8 months old, we gave up on the diaper pail. We take the stinky diapers to the kitchen trash. (But first we wrap them in a glove \which helps keep the stench in.)

There are many, many other things, I’m sure but these are the ones that come immediately to mind. How about you? What were some things you found you could totally live without?

We tried to get a shot of our son in a Santa hat and winter-y pj’s for our holiday card. This was as good as it got. It’s a bit dark and the hat is cut off but you get the gist. He’s such a busy baby that we have a hard time getting him to sit still for pictures. Imagine that! Anyhow, I put some of the “outtakes” in here, too.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Ever since we started Gymboree, my son has been one big snot monster. He had his 2nd cold in as many months last week that has now turned into an ear infection. Poor baby. As we reach for the softest tissues or “snot rags” as I call them, (check out the adorable little monster swipers from FrankAndMe on Etsy), I realized it’d be a lot faster to put a bib on him and swipe the cascade of snot with the bib. (This only works with the soft cotton infant bibs, not the slick bibs used later for messy eaters.)

You may remember that I’m very PRO bib, especially if you have a spitter or a drooler (teething); mine was both. He’s got most of his teeth in now and doesn’t spit up all the time like he used to so the bibs had been sitting in the drawer. But I’m busting them out again! Soooo glad I didn’t pack these away in a fit of “organization.” (Who are we kidding? Those fits are TOO few and far between!) I, of course, have a ton of Zutano bibs which mix and match well with his clothes.

So that’s my lame little tip. Hang onto the bibs. Use them when your munchkin has a cold. Works for me!

This is part of the Works for Me Wednesday series, hosted by WeAreThatFamily. Go there for more tips!

From my friend, Alicia:

URGENT FACEBOOK UPDATE: As of today, Facebook staff will be allowed to eat your children and pets. To turn this option off, go to settings, then privacy, then meals. Click the top two boxes to prevent the employees of Facebook from eating your beloved children and pets. Copy this to your status to warn your friends!

From my friend, Phil, who is quiet in real life but really lets it rip on Facebook:

Every so often, I like to stick my head out the window, look up, and smile for a satellite picture.

For me, it is impossible not to be seduced by Nigella Lawson’s words — whether in print, on television, or like today, in person. I literally sit down and devour her cookbooks like they’re novels, giggling along the way at her witty observations. So it was a given that I’d be at her book signing in Atlanta this afternoon. (That it was at my neighborhood Border’s was a bonus!) She took questions from the audience. “Will you have time to try out some of the local cuisine while you’re here,” one man asked. “Are you mad?” She replied, “The first thing I do when I get to a new town is plot out when and where I’ll be eating.” (If you’re curious: she ate at The Watershed, which she proclaimed one of the best places ever and Bones.)

Have you ever watched her TV show? If you get it in your area, I highly recommend it. It’s a cooking show that your husband will watch with you because she is, um – let’s just say it – hot. In a very unfussy way. Which describes her cooking and entertaining philosophy perfectly: unfussy.

Her new cookbook is Nigella Christmas and would make a great gift for any of your foodie friends!

Adam is a wise-ass. Always has been, always will be. His Facebook status:

“Jobless Mom Makes $81/Hr (Online)” Wouldn’t that mean she has a job?

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.