Aug16

Zucchini Cobbler, it’s What’s for Dessert.

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Zucchini Cobbler, it’s What’s for Dessert.

Zucchini Cobbler??? Yes, I know, I was skeptical as well.  But when you are inundated with over-grown, giant, seedy zucchinis you get creative.  This time it paid off.

giant zucchini plants

I swear, I only planted 3 plants.

There is no off-switch on our garden this year.  Everyday we haul out more vegetables than a family of 10 could consume, let alone our little trio.  Cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, but the vegetable in particular that has been very productive, zucchini.  So much so that I have had to get creative with the recipes.  That lead to this revelation, you can substitute zucchini for apples, this brings us to my latest discovery, Zucchini Cobbler.

zucchini pile

The Daily Haul

ZUCCHINI EVERYWHERE

Desperate times have called for desperate measures around here.  We have eaten grilled zucchini, zucchini pancakes, zucchini bread, zucchini pesto pasta and zoodles until I frankly can’t stand to look a zucchini in the stem anymore.  So, I dug around in some old recipe books (yes, the paper kind, remember those?) and found a recipe that uses zucchini like apples.

I know, this sounds completely crazy, but you are going to have to trust me.  It tastes just like apple cobber!! Don’t believe me, grab yourself a whaler (that’s what we call them) and give it a try.

zucchini cobbler ice cream

Zucchini Cobbler a la mode

Zucchini Cobbler Recipe

5 cups peeled, seeded chopped zucchini

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups butter chilled

1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375.Grease 9×13 baking dish.

Place zucchini and lemon juice in saucepan, cover and cook on med-low heat for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg. Simmer 1 more minute and remove from heat.

In large bowl combine flour and 1 1/2 cup sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/2 cup of this mixture to the zucchini mix.

Press 1/2 of remaining crumb mixture into baking dish.  Spread zucchini evenly over crust. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over top and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake 35-40 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

 

 

 

 

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Aug13

Teen Stitch Fix Review- Back to School

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Teen Stitch Fix Review- Back to School

It’s August and almost time for back to school. Remember when back to school meant buying sweaters, corduroys and Trapper Keepers? No?  Possibly I am dating myself.  Well now the kids head back to school in the Summer rather than the Fall and dressing for the occasion can be a little tricky.  This is where Teen Stitch Fix comes to the rescue.

Stitch Fix porch

If you are new to the Mayhem (first of all, welcome) here are some links to my earlier posts about Stitch Fix  July Stitch Fix Review and June Fix Review .  This post is about my daughter’s latest Fix, you can read about her experience here Stitch Fix Teen Edition

What’s the deal with this Stitch Fix?

Stitch Fix is a subscription styling service, that, for a reasonable fee, sends you clothing based on a profile you create.  Purchase an item and the styling fee ($20) is credited towards your balance. You can also get a $25 credit if you use a referral link when you set up your profile.  Follow the link below and fill out your profile.  When you are ready to order your first Fix, you will have a $25 credit waiting for you on your account. Yep, honest to goodness free money.

Stitch Fix Referral Link for $25 credit

Let’s get to Piper’s back to school Fix because it was stellar.  Her stylist this time was, Wendy and she really set her up with some nice stuff.  First out of the box was this super cute, soft and lightweight plaid shirt and snappy shorts.

 

She paired these two items with a white tank top for a very stylish, potential first day of school look.  The shorts were also part of the this Fix they are navy blue, have an elastic waist and lace trim at the leg.  The fabric is a poly blend and nice enough to dress up or down depending on the circumstance. It’s a very all-American look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This fun, silver tassel necklace completed the look

bay to baubles necklace stitch fix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next out of the box was this cute, black knit dress.  Since dress code at Piper’s school requires shoulders to be covered, this dress will work as a nice layering piece either under the flannel shirt in this fix or the jean jacket from her denim jacket from her May Teen Stitch Fix.

knit dress stitch fix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, this sweater is the perfect layering piece to go from Summer to Fall.

Honey Punch sweater stitch fix

stitch fix sweaterSo cute.  This lightweight dove gray duster, has white stripes.  It is a great anchor piece that she can wear with over jeans, leggings or a dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be clear, this furball did not come with the Stitch Fix, he just wanted to be part of the photo shoot.  This is Percy, Piper’s cat. He showed up unannounced on our porch one day and is now one of the feline members of our family.

This was definitely a 5 for 5 Fix, but what was the financial damage?  Actually, not bad.  As those of you who have read these posts know, I give her a budget of $100, anything over that she has to pay for herself.  The total cost of this Fix was $196, with the 25% discount for buying all 5 items, and the styling fee credit of $20, the final cost was $127.  This meant she only had to work a few hours at my office and she had 3 new cute outfits to head back to school in.

I hope you enjoyed this Stitch Fix Review, if you would like to give it a try for yourself, click through the referral link above and set up your profile.  When you are ready to schedule your first Fix, you will have a $25 credit on your account.

 

 

Aug8

Odin, Aussiedoodle Extraordinaire

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Odin, Aussiedoodle Extraordinaire

If you follow this blog, you already know about our Corgi, Winston. If you are not familiar with his work, check out this post Winston, Not Your Majesty’s Corgi  Now it’s time to meet the newest member of our Crew, Odin Kirk Nicely.  Odin is an 8 month old Aussiedoodle, who has never met a toy he didn’t like and is always ready for action.

Aussiedoodle

That Face!

It all started tragically enough when we lost our beloved dog, Loki.  We were all beyond sad and the prospect of getting another dog seemed impossible.  But, Winston (aka Super Corgi) took the loss especially hard; and, had what I swear was a bout of hysterical deafness.  He appeared to be suddenly deaf. Loud noises which used to send him into high alert now elicited no reaction from him whatsoever.

We took him the vet only to be told there was nothing wrong with his ears, except for the not working part of course. We thought maybe he had been deaf for a while and Loki served as his hearing ear dog, but we just didn’t know.  It was clear, like us, Winston had a huge void in his life, so we decided it was time to start the search for another dog.

This is where the cheese gets a bit more binding.  My husband, for some reason unknown to me had his heart set on a Vizla, a short-haired, hunting dog.  My daughter wanted, again for some unknown reason, a Bearded Collie, a long-haired, herding dog.  You could not choose two more divergent breeds of dogs if you tried.  OK Mom, you’re up. Go ahead and try to please everyone.

Bearded Collie
Vizla

Enter the Aussiedoodle.

I began researching, trying to find any rescue groups that might have either of these types of dogs, no luck.  I looked through Petfinder daily looking for something that might please everyone.  Finally, I found a Australian Shepard puppy from a hobby breeder, that coincidentally lived 5 miles from my mother in rural Ohio.  So I called my mom and asked her to drive by to make sure this was not some horrible puppy mill.

An hour later, my mother confirmed this was just a lovely small farm, with several happy dogs that greeted her when she pulled in the driveway.  I texted the lady, only to find that the puppy was claimed a few hours earlier. However, she had a standard Poodle that was going to have Aussiedoodle puppies in a few months. Interesting.  So we had a family meeting and decided we could be the kind of family that would have a Doodle, and reserved one of the puppies.

Fast forward to December, when I received this picture.  Cookie had her puppies, 4 girls, 4 boys. A big pile of cuteness.

 

Puppies!
More Puppies!

A week later we chose boy #4 to be our Doodle.  We named him Odin, as a nod to our beloved Loki.  If you don’t get the reference, I suggest viewing, Thor: Ragnorak, a fine film, both entertaining and educational (sort of).  His middle name is Kirk, according to my husband that is for Captain James T. Kirk.  If you ask me, it is for my favorite Gilmore Girls character.  Plus, we all love the actor, Bob Odenkirk, so it works on many levels.

Remember when I sent my mom to scope out the joint?  Well, guess who else got Doodle fever and adopted boy #1,  a fine lad who is now named Sherman.  Sherman was the largest puppy in the litter and has grown into a giant goofball.

A few months later, this little family reunion happened in my living room. There is nothing cuter than two 3-month old Aussiedoodles.

Aussidoodles

That’s a whole lot of adorable, am I right??

Odin may be grown now, but he is still all puppy.  He has been through puppy training class, and will be heading back to school later this month.  His bark has not completely developed yet so he has what can only be described as a dog scream. It is very jarring when he decides to make an impromptu announcement.

I will not go so far as to say Winston was thrilled to have a new puppy to care for, but he dutifully adopted Odin as his apprentice and showed him the ropes.  Amazingly enough, his ability to hear returned, shortly after the little black and white menace arrived. Miracles do happen.

Corgi Doodle sleeping

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A few weeks ago, Sherman came for another play date.  This time it poured rain all day, but they did not let it dampen their fun.  They ran, they rolled, they wrestled for hours without stopping. It was exhausting just to watch.  After 20 minutes we abandoned them in the backyard and sought shelter in the house.  About an hour later, we looked out the back door to see this ridiculous scene.

wet aussidoodles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed Odin’s story, thank you and have a nice day.

Aug6

Winston, Not Your Majesty’s Corgi

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Winston, Not Your Majesty’s Corgi

As you may already now, our family cares for a well curated domestic zoo, which currently consists of 2 dogs, 3 cats and 5 chickens.  This is the story of the elder statesman, Winston the Corgi

Welsh Pembroke Corgi

Isn’t he handsome?

Winston is a Welsh Pembroke Corgi who came to us as a rescue. His story begins when he was purchased as a puppy at the Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio, probably on a whim.  I can only imagine how freaking adorable he was as a puppy.  As it turns out, whoever purchased him was not prepared for a dog with separation anxiety issues.  Especially one with the destructive power of gang of hooligans.

This destructive behavior landed our hero in a shelter.  From that shelter, he was taken in by a kind woman who runs a breed rescue group for Corgis and Bernese Mountain Dogs, which is a really odd combination.  We found him on Petfinder when we were looking for a companion for our other dog, Loki.

Corgi

Loki and Winston, the dynamic duo

Winston has, what we call, oversize canine boldness.  Basically, there is no off switch on the Corgi machine. He attacks everything he does with the bold confidence of a dog three times his size. He loves to eat, go for walks and meet new people.

This boldness has caused him problems over the years. Such as the time he overheated and had to spend a night in the hospital because he would not stop playing.  He loves to herd things, dogs, cats, chickens; people are his favorite especially young ones.  His exuberant herding has caused him to blow out the ACL in both of his stubby back legs, resulting in two surgeries to repair the damage.

Corgi in a cone

Post-Op Corgi, still on guard duty.

Winston is full of energy, until he isn’t, then he fully enjoys his naps.  We often find him in his favorite sleeping position, white side up.  Because of his short legs, he looks like road kill when he sleeps. This position is doubly disturbing we he sleeps at the bottom of the stairs, because it really looks like there has been a terrible accident.

upside down corgi

White Side Up

Winston is now the elder statesmen of our household.  In his senior years he has taken up new hobbies, such as hiding chewy bones in furniture cushions, under bed pillows and in the dirty laundry and then obsessing about them.  He still enjoys wrestling, although he as adopted a sit and spin method to conserve energy.  Finally, he loves being a farm dog even though the chickens kind of creep him out.

Corgi garden

Gardening is his life

Thank you for taking the time to meet Winston, I hope he has brought a little spark of joy into your day.

 

Jul30

My Summer Evening Skincare Routine

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My Summer Evening Skincare Routine

As we have already established, I am a fan of a good skincare routine. I am equally a sucker for articles about what other people use to care for their skin, which is why I read every article I see about other peoples skincare regimes. I also read every “what’s in my purse” article, and I don’t know why, it’s like catnip.

Here is a post about my current morning routine. My Summer Morning Skincare Routine.  My definition of a good skincare routine means it’s easy, effective, affordable and nothing smells weird. Let’s talk about end of the day skincare for a bit.

First off, not to get too personal, but one thing you need to know about me is that I am a night showerer.  I would love to say I do it to wash the cares of the day away, but truth is I am fairly lazy and like to sleep as late as possible, so I ain’t got time for no morning showers.    So whilst I am in my evening shower, I wash my face and use the following products.

Cleanser

I have two cleansers that I use interchangeably, Cetaphil and Cera Ve.  These are two brands almost every dermatologist recommends, so I generally base my decision on the price variable.  If it’s on sale, or I have a coupon, that’s the one I get.  Just as an aside, I would also give a shout out to Noxema, the cleanser of my youth.  If you have oilier skin, there is nothing nicer than the gentle tingle of the product in the bright blue jar.

CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser  or Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser

 

 

Serum

After drying off, I use the same serum I use in the morning Buffet from The Ordinary line.  This stuff is fantastic, and is about the most reasonably priced serum you will find out there.

 

The Ordinary Buffet Serum

 

 

 

 

Eye Cream

Everyone needs a good eye cream, I alternate between Mario Badescu’s Glycolic Eye Cream in the warm months and their Dermonective Eye Cream in the cold months.

Mario Badescu Glycolic Eye Cream

 

 

 

Retiniod

Seriously where are you going to find a Retinoid for $21?  The Abnormal Beauty Company, that’s where. Crazy right, but it’s true and it works really well.

 

The Ordinary Retinoid 5%

 

 

 

 

Night Cream

I found this face cream when we went to France and I fell in love.  It’s kind of hard to find, but they have it on Amazon.  It is a little pricey, but is a luxury I allow myself.  This cream is light, smells really good and absorbs quickly into the skin.  I truly love it.

Fragonard Royal Jelly Face Cream 

 

 

 

Hand Cream

The gold standard of hand creams is L’Occitane, I should know since I have tried everything on the market.  I request this from my mom every Christmas.  My favorite is the Vanilla, but it only comes in a small tube.

 

L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream

 

 

 

Lip Balm

This is probably my favorite DoTerra product.  Lord knows I have purchased enough of it.  They have 3 flavors, original which is orange and peppermint, tropical and herbal.  My favorite is tropical.

 

DoTerra Lip Balm

 

 

 

 

That’s it for my summer evening routine.  I would love to hear about what products other people use and love.

Ciao for now,

Dazey

 

***Just so you know, this is not a sponsored post, but it does contains affiliate links.  If you use one of the links to actually purchase a product, I may receive a small commission on the sale.  If that is an issue, you can simply search for the product by name and purchase it from any other source, I am just happy to share my experiences with these products.***

 

 

 

Jul24

Thred Up, My Experience

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Thred Up, My Experience

Anyone who reads my posts knows how I feel about Stitch Fix, spoiler alert, love it, here’s a link to one of my Stitch Fix Reviews if you want to know how much June Stitch Fix Review But when I talk about Stitch Fix, I notice a lot of confusion with Thred Up, the fashion resale website which I also use. Here is a review of my Thred Up experiences.

stitch fix thred up

Stitch Fix-clothes, great graphics, comes in a box

People are always confusing Stitch Fix and Thred Up, I think it’s because they both deal with clothes, have amazing branding and use a kicky greenish color in their logos.  But the two companies could not be more different.

Thred Up-clothes, great graphics, also comes in a box, I see the problem

Stitch Fix is a wardrobe service which sends you new clothes every month to try on and possibly purchase.  Conversely, you send gently used clothing to Thred Up, in return they either give you money or credit which you can use to purchase other used clothing on their site.

I have used Thred Up several times now, and I feel I have enough experience to give an honest review. The first time I used Thred Up, I was on a full Kondo inspired purge of my closet and had just heard of the service so I gave it a try.

 

 

 

If you are not familiar with Thred Up, this is how it works.  You request a clean out bag on their site and in about a week you receive this adorable polka-dot bag in the mail.  You then proceed to fill up this mammoth bag with gently used, name brand clothing and mail it back to the company.

Thred Up clean out bag

Seriously, this bag holds a metric ton of stuff

The bags will fit A LOT of clothes, a warning, your postman/woman may not love this, it can get really heavy.  You might consider taking it directly to the post office, because if you work in an office like me, and leave it with the other mail, the brightly colored bag is not exactly discreet.

Once Thred Up receives the bag, they process it and send you an email outlining what they accepted and the assigned sales prices.  They may pay you upfront for some items and take others as consignment sales.

You will immediately have credit in your account for the upfront items, or you can request PayPal credit or a prepaid Visa card.  With consignment sales, you can monitor items and either adjust prices or reclaim an item during the 84 day consignment period. If you reclaim an unsold item within 14 days of the end of the consignment period, you pay the shipping costs, if you don’t, Thred Up owns it.

How my Thred Up Bags fared.

In November of 2016 I sent in a bag stuffed to the gills.  I remember it took a really long time for them to process it, but when they did, I received $73.45 upfront and I was thrilled.  After paying the $6.99 shipping fee, I had $66.46 to play with.

I used that credit, plus a 20% coupon code, to score a Tomas Maier (former head of Bottega Veneta) red leather handbag that retailed for $850.00.  It was a great trade and I was very happy with my experience. That bag is still in my handbag rotation.

Bag Number Two

My second bag was in January 2017.  Again, I packed up a big green and white bag with some of my best used stuff and sent it on its way.  This time the processing was much quicker, but the upfront payout was only $36.80.  Some of the items went to consignment with potential sales of $58.64.

By the end of the consignment period all but two items had sold, so I ended up with $91.09 in total sales.  After paying the shipping fee, which had increased to $9.99 by then, because giant bag, I netted $81.10. Not too bad, I was really getting the hang of this Thred Up thing.

Bag Number Three

The third time I used Thred Up was in February of 2018.  Having had two great experiences I gleefully filled up another bag and sent it in, I was after all, a Thred Up pro at this point.  The processing was lighting fast this time, however, I was shocked when the upfront payout was only $14.50.  Not to fear I still had a potential $51.33 in consignment.  Everything was going to be fine.

Not so fast there cowgirl. This time I was not so lucky. Despite adjusting my consignment prices down several times, I only received $23.03.  My total on that bag was a disappointing $37.53.

Bag Number Four

Determined to rebound, I put together a more curated bag which I sent in May 2018.  Following the guidelines of what they were looking for, I was sure this bag would do well.  Cue the sad trombone music.  On my last bag I got zero dollars upfront and potential consignment sales of $27.40.  So far one item has sold and my portion of that sale is $4.68.  Super disappointing.

It is entirely possible the items I sent were neither the brands or quality they are looking for, but I doubt it.  I was pretty careful not to send dated or excessively used items. In fact, some of the items they rejected were new, brand name items, with the tags still attached.  So I am not really sure where it all went wrong.

Bottom line, I will probably not be using Thred Up again. Since I strongly believe in the concept of fashion resale, I would not go so far as to discourage others from trying this service. However, I think in the future I will take my items to thrift shops run by local charities and try to keep the money in my community.

Have any Thred Up experiences to share?  I would love to hear other people’s stories.

 

 

Jul18

My Summer Morning Skincare Routine

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My Summer Morning Skincare Routine

It goes without saying that I am not a very girly-girl; and, clearly will never be mistaken for a super model, so makeup is not really my thing.  However, I am all about skincare products.  I am a total sucker for articles about what skincare products other people use, so here is a review of my summer morning skincare routine.

When it comes to my skin, I have been fortunate to be blessed with good genes.  They come from my mother who easily passes for 10-15 years younger that she is. I am always searching for the perfect skincare routine, one that is not too complicated or expensive, but is effective and easy to stick to.

Since I have very fair (practically translucent) skin, I don’t tan.  Instead I burn, and when the burn subsides, I don’t get cute freckles, I get big, weird blotches.  Sunscreen is an everyday thing for me. I use it in my moisturizer, foundation and the mineral veil finishing powder, so with all my layers I figure I am at about an SPF of 750. Aside from that, here are the products I am currently using each morning.

Morning Skincare Routine

oil of olay micellar water

Wash with Micellar Water– I found micellar water when we went to France last year.  Apparently, the water in France is full of minerals and hard on the face. So the French, in all their international wisdom, developed this water with microscopic oils that attach to dirt and dissolve it without drying out your face. It’s fantastic.  Plus, it’s  also great for lazy people like me who hate to wash their faces in the morning.

 

My favorite is Oil of Olay Luminous Advanced Micellar Water

 

 

morning skincare buffet

Apply Serum–  I started using serums when I read somewhere that it was like a multi-vitamin for your face. For some reason that really struck a cord with me.  I am currently using and loving products from The Ordinary line by the Abnormal Beauty Company.  Their products are no nonsense, affordable and very effective.

My favorite serum is The Ordinary Buffet

 

 

 

morning skincare the ordinary

Apply Eye Treatment– Under eye puffiness can be an issue for me in the morning.  I found this great product that has green tea extract from The Ordinary Line and it works phenomenally. A couple of drops and you look wide awake in about 10 minutes, it’s like an espresso for your skin.

My favorite eye treatment is The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

 

 

 

skincare routine cerav e

Apply Moisturizer and boost Sunscreen– Oh moisturizers, I have tried a few but never actually fell in love with any of them.  Right now I have settled on a collagen based product, but it only has SPF 20, so I mix it with a few drops of a drug store brand moisturizer and it seems to do the trick quite nicely.

My moisturizer cocktail consists of CeraVe AM Moisturizing Lotion and Mario Badescu Collagen Moisturizer

 

 

 

morning skincare rosewater

If I am feeling fancy I will top all that off with a spritz of Mario Badescu Rosewater and Aloe Facial Spray I don’t actually notice any difference, but it smells nice and makes me feel pretty and really isn’t that what all this is about.

Got any favorite products you love?  Let me know in the comments, knowing me I will probably run out and buy them.

Just so you know, this post contains affiliate links.  If you use one of the links to actually purchase a product, I may receive a small commission on the sale.  If that is an issue, you can simply search for the product by name and purchase it from any source you prefer, I am just happy to share my experiences with these products.