Modern Art Canvas - KK

OK, it's time for my tutorial! (Bet you didn't think I'd get this up this fast.)

I decided I wanted some new art to hang in my new apartment and luckily I had a few blank canvas in my craft supply that I could paint. I knew I wanted something graphic and modern, so off to Pinterest I went.

What I found was this piece from the blog younghouselove.com.

I decided this design would work for me. It was colorful, not too distracting, but still had enough interesting details. 

I headed to Home Depot to get paint (and a few small items I needed.) Thank you to Christianne for telling me a few projects ago that you can get a little sample of any paint color for $2-3. This will last a WHILE! 

I decided I wanted to incorporate some yellows and grays and found three colors I liked. After running a few other errands, I went back to my basement and set to work following the instructions on the tutorial. 

First, I used a pencil and straight edge to mark off the columns.

Then I used the corner of a 3x5 card to randomly section off the lines and create the pattern. I used both inverted and ... what is the opposite of inverted?? ... angles to add more variety. 

I started painting and decided I should probably decide what color would go where. So I put a dash of color in each section. And this kinda turned into a color by number project. Except there were no numbers. 

For the first round of painting, I didn't focus too much on the lines and being precise. 

I missed pictures of a few steps here, but after my first color (light grey) dried, I used painters tape to cover any overlapping sections of colors 1 and 2. I then painted and let dry.

After THAT paint dried, I removed the painter's tape and reapplied (yes, I reuse tape. I'm that cheap.) where the 3rd color would overlap with the others. 

I could have been a lot more precise with this process. (I watched two movies while I worked on it...while doing a few other things and waiting for paint to dry.) But I wanted to move things as quickly as possible and undoubtedly cut a few corners. 

A look at my setup while waiting for the final layer to dry. 

I wanted to have a bigger piece so I actually used two separate canvases and designed them to hang side by side. I would have gone even bigger if I had the materials on hand. Here's one finished and another in the works. I could have done them at the same time, but I wanted to make sure the process worked on Canvas #1 first.

I also used the yellow paint to cover the canvases on the sides. These were previously painted black with lovely swirls some say resembled DNA. :P Here's what they look like on the wall. The lighting is horrible.

Some tips and thoughts:

I used a mechanical pencil for my lines, but it ended up kinda dark, and I had a hard time covering the lead. I would think a soft pencil that was lighter would work better.

I think it would look cool with thicker columns. Mine are just less than an inch because that's the width of the stick I used to measure. I'd love to see it done with 2 to 2.5-inch rows. Plus that means less work!

Again, I would have loved to go even bigger with the canvas size!

My first refinishing project

Hello everyone! It has been a long time since I posted...but that doesn't mean I haven't been crafting away. Well, at least for the past couple months. Goodness, it's crazy how many projects I've completed recently.

At the beginning of November I posted over on my personal blog about how I was starting this project. I finished it in just a couple days but have never shared it. So here goes.

I have a little corner in my basement apartment that needed some kind of shelf or tall desk. I needed some extra storage space for books and papers and something cute and decorative. I looked around for a couple weeks exploring some specific ideas, but when I found this piece at D.I. for cheap, I knew it would work.

The BEFORE shot (I had already taken off the first door before I remembered to take a pic.)

As you can see, the first step I took was removing the doors and hardware. After that, I sanded down everything. Since this was already in my house, I placed some old sheets on the carpet and did everything on that so there was easy clean up. 

When I was ready to paint, I first covered all the corners and edges with some deep red acrylic paint, just in case I wanted to distress it and have that color pop through.

Then I went about painting everything. My lovely sis (Sizzle!), informed me about purchasing that small jar of sample paint (see pic above) from the hardware store for $2-3. I even have a bit of the paint left over. Yes I did all the painting inside, on the above blue sheet. I would do one portion, allow it to dry, rotate the piece, and paint another section. 

And.... 

The end product (plus a little bit of Christmas decoration)

I initially planned on putting the lower doors back on, but the screws were stripped and I could never get those handles off. So Plan B, I made little curtains that could hide my storage space.  Ta-da!

That black and white pinstripe fabric matches some of my other projects: full-sized curtains, desk chair, recovering, and decorative pillows. I got a bunch of the fabric at Savers for just a couple dollars and believe me, I've made good use of it. I'll try to share those other projects soon! 

I LOVED doing this! It was cheap and super easy. Next I'm on the hunt for a good coffee table. Then I want to try refinishing some laminate pieces. 

FONTS!!

This week on Write. Click. Scrapbook. they have been featuring FONTS! You should check out my other blog for a post of "Font Conference"

As a scrapbooker, digital designer and...A GIRL. I love fonts, so reading this blog this week has been super fun. Where can you find fun, free fonts? Try the list below.

The League of Moveable Type

Dafont

Abstract Fonts

Font River

Web Expedition

Font Stock

Kevin & Amanda

Scrapvillage

Font Shop

Font Diner

Creamundo

Font Head

Smashing Magazine


I personally usually use dafont.com. I haven't seen many of these before, so I'm excited to try out some new resources. People often underestimate the power of fonts. Don't do that! Here are some excellent examples from Write. Click. Scrapbook. of awesome typography. (Because, yes, that's what we designers call it.)

I love the simple font, but how the title is embedded. Awesome idea.

The examples both above and below show great contrast in fonts and how to tie the font in with your photos or art.


I love creating font and word collages, but sometimes they are a little difficult to pull out. I think this example has a nice balance and helps effectively fill its purpose in this page.

What are your favorite fonts?

My fall-back font is London Between from Dafont.com.

New Music

Hey everyone!

So I can tell you right now that my life is getting CRAZY. Hopefully the craziness melds into something awesome, but I shall let you know as things evolve. Yes, I am being incredibly vague. But that's how it goes.

I've just spent the last 20 minutes listening to this new single by Kris Allen, last year's American Idol winner. I like it way better for him than his last single. (If I haven't ranted about this to you yet, that song was written by The Script and I think it sounds so much better when they sing it.) So, because I was pleasantly surprised, I wanted to share that with you today!



Next, because I've been so busy, there are sooo many things in my life that have simply been left undone. Sometimes that can be a bit overwhelming and it's easy to become frustrated with your inability to do EVERYTHING.

With that said, I'd like to share my learned importance of — making ones bed. I didn't grow up as much of a bed maker. It wasn't my thing. But last month I made the goal of simply making my bed every. single. day. For two weeks. I did amazing, and I loved the results. That simple task (yes, it is simple if done every day) helped keep me on top of all the many other things I had to do.

Unfortunately I slacked and the habit stopped. But, I had seen how much of a difference it made. So this morning, after an evening of being a little intimidated by some things I have to do this week, I woke up and made my bed. Even though everything else is pretty much a disaster, my bed is made. And I feel a little more able to accomplish...well, life.

Another music share: I've recently been listening to Train's latest album "Save Me, San Francisco" that came out last year. Here is "If It's Love."

Waking Up Music

A couple years ago I went on a search for an ipod clock radio—something I could set to play things off my ipod to wake me up in the morning. I admit I haven't used it entirely THAT much in the past while. This is mostly because I liked have the radio play and people talking to get me up in the morning.

HOWEVER, a couple weeks ago, the dj format on my regular station was abandoned, and the station plays weird music all the time. So I took this opportunity to use my ipod once again. I set it to play Jon Peter Lewis' album "Break the Silence."

That was a mistake. I LOVE that album, but it was a little too slow and made me want to just curl up in bed longer.

So I am now on a search for two things.

1) A new radio station with an interesting morning show in Utah. (I previously listened to 101.9. I'm not too picky, but it takes time to get used to a new format.)

2) Wake me up songs.
Yes, I want to create a playlist that I'd LOVE waking up in the morning to.

Send me your ideas please!!

Here are some that I've compiled so far:

(YouTube Links)

Waking Up To Love: Shanna Crooks (love her)

Greatest Day: Take That

Don't Stop Believing: Glee Cast

I'm Alive: Celine Dion

Tips for Job Success

I've kinda focused this post from a tangent from Jules' post on Monday. But I wanted to share this article from U.S. News about "Achieving Job Success." If you read my comment on Jules' post, you'll know I love the first sentence:

"Gone are the days of simply climbing the ladder"

These offer a lot of great tips for networking, searching for a job, preparing for interviews, patiently waiting out the process, accepting a new job, and doing well in your new position.

For those of you who don't know, I'm fascinated by this kind of information...it also all provides info for the content of the magazine I'm trying to start (HS2COLLEGE) about helping high school students prepare for life after high school (finding jobs, choosing a career, applying to college, etc.) So yay!

Online Networking:
Use resources like Facebook and LinkedIn to connect with people in your field. Just be sure to keep the unprofessional aspects of your personal life out of your profile. And remember that social networking is like a cocktail party: If you talk only about yourself and your accomplishments, you’ll bore people. Start a dialogue.

Networking in Person:
Shy? Don’t be defeated by networking. Set goals for yourself at networking events, and your skills will improve with time. Fortunately for you, being a good listener is an asset in networking, so make your introverted personality your advantage.

(I think online network is a great way to meet people you'll want to network with in person. Find people in your area. Find out about local meetups of people you've networked with online. These are great opportunities.)

Stand Out:
An important question to keep in mind as you write your résumé is “What did I accomplish in this job that someone else wouldn’t have?” Thinking about the answer to that will give you some great talking points for your interview, as well.

Be Discreet:
If you’re looking for a job while you’re already working, let recruiters know that discretion is key. You can use an offer to negotiate within your own company, but be prepared: Some employers do not take kindly to your interviewing with another company, and you could lose your current job.

Beware of Blunders:
The most common pitfalls in résumé-writing: not being specific about accomplishments, being too wordy, including a generic objective statement, and keeping college accomplishments on your résumé for too long. And watch the small stuff, like typos in your correspondence with the hiring manager. Tiny mistakes can mean the difference between an interview and a rejection.

Phone Prep:
If your interview will be conducted over the phone, keep your résumé and a list of talking points in front of you and a pen and paper handy to take notes. To make your voice clear and strong, stand up and smile while you speak. Some people find it helps to look at themselves in the mirror while they speak, but practice with a friend first to see what is best for you.

Interview Info:
Do your research on the company beforehand, and come prepped with a few questions. Ask for the name of your interviewer, and research his or her background online. Then, when the interview is over, send a thank-you note immediately.

Straight Talk:
When asked about your weaknesses, don’t pretend you have none or that your biggest weakness is “perfectionism.” It’s a good way to get an eye roll from your interviewer. Think about your weaknesses before the interview, and how you are able to overcome them, so you’re prepared for this common interview question.

Keep Anxiety at Bay:
The wait to find out if you got the job can be interminable, and it’s tempting to call and E-mail the hiring manager to check in. But a single thank-you note, and patience, are recommended instead.

Accept the Job with Class:
If you get the job, it’s tempting to celebrate your new move, but now is not the time to burn your bridges. Leave your current job with grace, and you’ll be able to keep your old coworkers in your network. Give notice according to your company policy, and volunteer to help find and train your replacement. Finish your projects, and organize all of your loose ends so your coworkers can take over with ease. Work up until your last day.

Negotiate Your Benefits and Pay:
Not sure what you’re worth? Check websites like Glassdoor, PayScale, and Salary Scout to find out the salaries of comparable jobs, and use that information to negotiate your starting salary.

Get Off to a Good Start:
For your first week of work, be sure to ask questions and pay careful attention to the company culture. Get an outline of your boss’s expectations for your first month in the job. And remember these four tips to make you an invaluable asset to your company: Be überreliable, outer directed, common-sensical, and bottom-line oriented. Thinking about the big picture will help you move ahead.

Post Prudently:
If you have a personal blog, tread carefully. First rule: Never write about work. You also shouldn’t use work time to blog. Consider password-protecting your blog so that only your selected audience can see it.

Play Nice:
When you get frustrated with your boss or coworkers, look inward. Changing your own behavior can stop a boss from micromanaging, and showing more appreciation can soften a difficult coworker. Share credit when a project goes well, but don’t avoid the blame when a project ends poorly.

Stand Out:
Before you ask for a raise, ask for more work—even the work no one else wants to do. It shows your employer that you can handle greater responsibility. Then, overperform.

Organization Week

Hey readers! Happy Wednesday. Lately I've been really motivated to clean out and organize everything—my pantry, my room, my desk, my drawers, etc. I suppose the Spring Cleaning Bug has bitten!!

Well, it just so happens that over on the blog Write. Click. Scrapbook., it is organization week! So I've loved the extra inspiration. Monday they featured a CRAZY organized craft room. And Tuesday they featured other rooms, like pantries, linen closets, fridges, bookshelves. I've not a naturally organized person, so this is pretty intense. But it definitely offers motivation!!

Here are some of the small things I've done lately to help me be a little more organized. Plus you'll get an embarrassing sneak at my craft closet that desperately needs focus!!

I got these cute mirror/hooks at a boutique a while ago, and I had forgotten about them. But I recently hung them in my bathroom to use for elastics and headbands. Somehow I have a ton! I could just never find them before.



I got a cute basket to sit on my toilet. I don't have a lot of under-cabinet space, so I use this basket to hold my hairdryer, straightener, brush, comb, and usually my everyday makeup bag.

This is a fun alternative to a magnet board. I got these strips at IKEA for 99 cents, but I haven't seen them lately. I use them to display important documents and fun notes that I like to keep.



I love these little plastic organization boxes. I use them in my desk drawers, bathroom, and dresser. I also use tiny hair elastics to keep the cords tidy in this particular drawer. Um, so my phone charger is not currently tidy. Ooops, I just use it too often, haha.

Just a look at my top drawer. It doesn't look overly organized but I put all of my note cards here and have another plastic box.

AND....
Yes, this is the next area I need to tackle. Whew, it will be intense.

I'm turning into a coupon nerd...

...who neatly assembles her purchases and snaps pictures because she is just so excited about what she saved.

Yes, I've always been a bit of a deal finder and clearance shopper. And my mom used coupons quite a bit growing up. But I am personally just barely starting to immerse myself into it...and it's so fun. I was actually at Target this morning and the two people in front of me in line where chatting about couponing. The first lady, who was checking out and had handed over her stack of coupons was responding to the second lady who, as she watched the total owed get smaller, said something like, man, I should really be doing that. Lady one said she was just getting into it because her daughter did it and said it was actually just a lot of fun.

I actually have to agree. I have a lot of fun. It's really kinda lame, but I love coming home with all my bags and being able to say I only paid .25 for each item, or that I got paid $2 to take it all home with me. So it's fun reading the blogs, looking through the coupon ads, matching up the weekly ads, and venturing out with a specific list. It's actually made shopping so much easier for me.

Sooo, I'm sharing some of my purchases from the past couple days.

Smiths: Starting today they have a 5 for $5 promotion of select Quacker cereal and oatmeal. That makes them $1 each already, which is great. But add in a $3 of 5 coupon (found in Albertson's or associated food store ads) and you get each for 40 cents. My store didn't include the True Delight oatmeal, otherwise with coupons I would have got 5 of those FREE.

Target: Right now, buy 5 Special K get a $5 gift card. Priced at 2.39, add in a $1 off coupon, plus the gift card—the cereal is 40 cent each. I got these Shout To-go for .99 each (I had one .55 off coupon) and will submit the 3 for a rebate that gives me $5 back. So I make about $2.50 on that.)
Rite Aid: The best thing is that they already had contact solution for free after a 7.99 rebate. But my store also was selling that solution with a get one free one attached. So I got TWO for free. I had coupons that made the Post cereal and Puffs Free. A Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupon for Tampax, plus a $2 off coupon, plus a $2 rebate. Then The Mini Wheats were on clearance for 1.12 and I had $1 coupons, getting them for .12 each. I also used the store $5/25 purchase coupon. So I paid about $8 total and will be getting $10 back in rebates. Nicely done huh?


Walgreens: This was only my second purchase at Walgreens. I had Register Rewards to use and needed some detergent so I thought I'd get it there. I also found Pantene Pro-V on clearance for 2.29 each, used a $3 of 2 coupon, getting each for about 70 cents. I got the shavers for .99 and the detergent for $3 and the Twizzlers (for my party tonight—oh yea it's my birthday :)) for $1 each. These are all not fantastic deals but because I needed them right then, it was good. I used 7.50 of rewards and paid $3 and got an additional $1 reward back.

Well that's it from me today. I am officially 24 and will be celebrating with friends tonight. Hope you've enjoyed.

-KK

Financial Literacy Month

Yes, that's right, apparently April is Financial Literacy Month. Where do these things come from people???

But I like the topic, so I don't mind so much. Well, I found this article today on Make More Cents that talks about educating your children on money—which I think is SO important.

Throughout college (even today actually) I was often amazed at how many of my friends didn't have any concept of or experience with managing money. They didn't pay their own tuition or rent, didn't buy their own groceries or books. Their parents were supporting them and sending them little sums of money however often for whatever need.

I don't think it's wrong for parents to pay a child's way through college. But I do think that child has a bit of a disadvantage when they are suddenly thrown into the "real world"—especially if they've never taken any chance to educate themselves when they didn't need to.

So that's why I enjoyed the Make More Cents' post about important steps in educating children about money.

As the blog states:

Use our age-based plan as a guide and create a teaching curriculum for the month of April. Give your kids the financial literacy, personal finance and money fundamentals to ensure their success.

Just some excerpts:

Ages 3-5

• As they learn to count, teach them the difference between pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Playing “store” with children, using real change to buy things, is a fun way to teach them the value of the coins.

Ages 6-10

• Start your children on allowances, teaching charity, discipline and goal-setting. Keep allowances reasonable and the process simple. Allowances can be linked to chores or spending/saving responsibilities.

Ages 11-15

• Involve your children in family discussions around budgeting and goal-setting for large purchases. Studies have shown that family financial discussions are critical to having financially confident children by the time they are 18.
• Expose them to more complex financial terms and concepts, such as the stock market, IRAs and saving for college.

I especially think this second one is so important and one that is often overlooked. If I haven't said it on here yet, check out the book, "I Will Teach You to Be Rich."

Ages 16 and Older

• During this period, kids need to acquire the basic skills to live independently — managing a checking account, using ATMs and credit cards properly.

Obviously I am not a parent and there is a whole lot of financially stuff that I haven't even started to become aware of. But I do think that too many parents shield their children from finances, saying they are too young or too irresponsible. It is better that they learn how to manage money when they are young, rather than waiting until they are, for example, done with college and suddenly struck with rent, utilities, car payments, food bills, student loans, credit cards, etc. I can't imagine how overwhelming that would be to someone—many of my friends—when they hadn't been eased into it.

Just some random thoughts I thought I'd share. What are you thoughts about learning to take care of finances? What has worked for you? How did you learn? This stuff fascinates me so I'd love to learn.

signing off --KK

Happy Wednesday

Happy Wednesday. It's KK here. I am glad it's already the middle of the week. Whew. Only two more work days after this. Then it's a nice, relaxing weekend. Yes, I am excited.

Well I have just a couple things to share with you today.

I finally got around to actually HANGING UP the magnet board I posted about a while ago. Yes that's right. Until now, it has been leaning against the wall in the corner of my room.

I had some clips and a metal wire, so I superglued the clips and just wrapped the wire around it at the appropriate length. I didn't want to worry about cutting the wire, plus if I ever need to rehang this is need the wire for a more important whatever, I can simply unwind it and re-use.




Sorry I don't have great photos. I still can't find my camera memory card. I need to get on that. :P So yes, these are from me holding my laptop up and hoping it frames the image.

P.S. This is the first time I've actually used my own hot glue gun I purchased at Walmart. In the process, a strip of glue dripped out on my finger!!! I kinda just stared at it for a few seconds because--what was I supposed to do, I couldn't touch it!! Then I jumped up and ran to the bathroom where I washed it off. But it was too late. It turned bright red, later was a big blister, then started to look like a deep cut that was healing over. Let's just say I'm going to need to be more careful dealing with hot glue.

I've also been doing some spring organizing. I have this big lamp that doesn't work so I'm using it for decoration. And it's been great for hanging necklaces on.


PLUS, this weekend there was a church yard sale across the street from the gym. So I stopped by and found this cool stand for WHAT?? 25 cents!! So I will have to strip it and paint. I'm thinking a bright color since I do so much black.

I can't wait until there are more yard sales on Saturday mornings!! Hopefully that will motivate me to complete some projects and also to get up early on Saturdays!! :) Yay Spring.

Making the most of your time

Time. Sizzle talked about it yesterday, and it's crazy how quickly and how slowly it can go by at times. But that is what it is. Usually we all have millions of things to do, but either don't prioritize well or don't find the time.

I've recently just passed the hump of a busy, busy time for me. So today was my first day in a while where I haven't actually had things I NEEDED to accomplish. (There is however, lots I SHOULD accomplish.) But I took this day to relax a little (plus I'm sick :P) and read some magazines and such after work.

The April issue if Real Simple came in the mail and, guess what, this issue is all about TIME. So I'm sharing some of the time-saving tips they offered. Now when I finally get to hop into the world of getting things done again, I'll have tips to help me out.

Make a wish list. Write down all the activities that you long to do more of―whether they’re things that make you happy, relaxed, sane(r), or all three. Rank the items in order of importance to you, then pick one or two to focus on. (Once you get the hang of this system, you can address the rest.)

Schedule a quick and brainless task first. This lets you cross off something right away and start the day feeling accomplished.

Shortcuts for Everyday Tasks

Keep a Journal

If the last entry in your diary is a cryptic scribble from 2003, stop writing and start printing―e-mails, that is. Since you’re probably already summarizing your life in e-mails to your friends and family, print them out and paste them on the pages of a blank notebook, suggests Oriah Mountain Dreamer, author of What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul (HarperOne, $22, amazon.com). “It’s like my yoga teacher once said about working out: ‘All you need to do is stretch for five minutes a day,’” Mountain Dreamer says. “Of course, once you get going, it feels so good, you’ll wind up doing more.”

Catch Up on Current Events

Nobody likes being out of the loop. Here's how the people who bring you the news get up to speed.

• I do a quick scan of CNN.com and AssignmentEditor.com, which allows you to access any newspaper in the country, and I read the Wall Street Journal's "What's News" section, says CNN's Paula Zahn.
• I put C-Span on in the background while I put away dishes or pay bills, says Mark Halperin, the political director of ABC News and the editor of The Note, on the network's website.

Beauty Shortcuts

Dry Nailpolish: Dunk your hands in a bowl of ice-cold water. "The cold water freeze-dries polish, sealing and hardening it quickly," says Belinda Rivera, a nail specialist in Austin, Texas. Allow nails to air-dry for two minutes, then submerge in ice-cold water for three minutes, which is enough time for the polish to harden completely.

Blow-dry hair from underneath, starting with the underlayers. "If you start drying your hair with the top layer, you end up scooping up wet hair from underneath and pulling it through the brush, rewetting the layers that are already dry," says Inez Gray, owner of the Habitude Salon and Spa, in Seattle.

Themed Parties—Alice in Wonderland

Last week Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland premiered, so my friend Marie thought it would be fun to theme her birthday party after the movie. She asked to have the party at my place and though I didn't get to help much, the theme worked out pretty well!! Soooo, in case you have a party looming in the near future, consider a Wonderland theme!

The main feature was labeling all of the food and drink with signs that read "Eat Me" and "Drink Me."





The drinks were little water bottles with assorted food coloring dropped in. Yes, the drinks were randomly placed throughout the apartment, and these were in the bathroom.

The main decorations were about four decks of cards worth hanging from the ceiling and on the walls.

It helps if you have awesome people who dress up: Alice and the Queen of Hearts. (We also had the Mad Hatter.)




I also got to make cake balls again—and they were a huge success. Everyone was talking about them and I had to tell several people the secret of how to make them—considering this was only my second time preparing them, I've found a lot of little tricks that work.

I know I posted this before, but I'll just add some quick tips because I can't find the post.

Most recipes are pretty simple. Just use any cake mix and any can of frosting. Cook the cake, then scoop it in a bowl, and stir in frosting.

Scoop the mixture into balls and lay on a waxed cookie sheet.

Here is where I RECOMMEND to FREEZE the balls. I personally left them in the fridge overnight and for most of the next day, but they warm up quickly and are much easier to work with when solid. I'd stick a bunch in the freezer while I was chocolate-dipping others.

Last time I had a hard time covering the balls in chocolate. This time I melted the chocolate (both melting and chocolate chips) on the stove on low and that kept the chocolate from hardening and/or burning. If the balls are solidly frozen, I'd suggest rolling them in the chocolate with a toothpick. Otherwise, go ahead and stick them in the pan and cover them and pull out with a spoon.

For more Alice in Wonderland party ideas see this site, http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/mad-tea-party-ideas.html, or this site. http://www.ehow.com/how_2067026_throw-alice-wonderland-costume-party.html

Finding New Music

Hello everyone—it's KK here. Sorry I'm a little late this morning. Unfortunately my internet cut out last night so not only could I not post on time, I also couldn't look up and reference the things I wanted to post about. :(

Time to pull a bit of a switcheroo!

I'm going to take a little more of a music focus for the next couple weeks (although I'm not guaranteeing anything). I LOVE listening to new music and since I work at a desk all day, I have several online sources for my music. I talk to people about music all the time, and there's one question I always get:

How do I find new music?

Here are a few suggestions if you want to either explore musically or find new sources to buy music. A couple months ago, my old favorite, Imeem, shut down, so I had to resort to some of the options I used before. Let's take a look.

Lala: This is my new favorite site. I love discovering new music and I always try to buy songs (legally) once I know I love them and want them to be part of my selection. Part of the reason Imeem got shut down was because it let you stream pretty much any song and album by any artist...without any limits. *For those who don't know, "streamed music" is music that is played over the internet. You don't actually have it on your computer and can't put it on your iPod and such.

Lala takes a more "legal" approach, and I think it's a great deal. For about 10 cents, you can purchase the ability to stream any song how ever many times you want. (about $1 for any album) Since I'm at work all day, this is a great option for me. Also most homes these days have really strong internet connections, making this option really easy to use.

Lala also lets you actually purchase songs if you decided the streaming isn't enough for you. It will then substract whatever you paid for the streaming fee from the purchase price.

I love this option because I can pretty affordably have access to so much music—all legally!

Emusic: This is another option for purchasing music. Although they don't feature the most popular hits and artists, there are tons of options to explore on this site. Most of the appeal in this site is from factoring in the free downloads they offer. I don't currently have a subscription but am tempted to go back for a month and then cancel again.

You pay a low subscription rate ($6-$15) and get to download a certain amount of songs a month. Since the artists are *more* unknown, I like to browse and pick out what I would purchase before I sign up again. It's easy to opt out too. (I've done it a couple times obviously)

Some suggestions that are available on this site:
Matt Nathanson
Eric Hutchinson
Zumba Fitness
Matthew Perryman Jones

Amazon: When it comes to buying music, I prefer Amazon over iTunes. Maybe I just like being a little different. But Amazon is a tad cheaper, and always has tons of deals to explore. EVERY DAY they feature a Deal of the Day, which offers an album for anywhere from 99 cents to maybe 4 bucks. I've seen LOTS of great finds here. Every month they feature about 100 albums in a variety of genres for just 5 dollars. They also have tons of free downloads to check out.

iLike: I originally linked to this through Facebook, which I think is a great idea. It allows you to share with your friends what you like and to see their choices as well. Additionally LOTS of artists, especially the up and coming, offering free downloads. In my experience this has been a great incentive to listen to new stuff and potentially discover something amazing. (I love free stuff!) My favorite find is actually now one of my top three overall artists: Debra Arlyn.

Myspace Music: When Imeem went down, a new and improved Myspace Music stepped in to fill its place. No, I am not a fan of Myspace for anything other than listening to music. Most, if not all, musicians of any sort have a Myspace page with a couple tracks to listen to. This is a great opportunity to listen to songs from an album you don't have, popular singles, even songs that haven't been released yet. Myspace also has a "Friends" section, which often directs you to musicians with similar styles or who your favorites have toured with. Browsing friends of friends is a great option to broaden your music selection. Myspace is also now offering the ability to make your own playlists and options to listen to whole albums.

Project Playlist: I used Imeem for almost all of my playlist creations, so this site has become my new source. It's not my favorite, because there are lots of songs missing from its database. But it's a pretty simple option for creating a playlist to post on a blog or Web site...among other things.

I hope this was interesting and that you can start exploring all that's out there in the music world—not just what the DJ chooses to play on your radio station. If you have questions, let me know....Also, be sure to share any exciting finds!

- KK

Some healthy swapouts

Happy Wednesday, it's KK here.

I've shared some recipes in the past, but we all have certain turn-to items that we always have to have around. So I thought I'd pass along some of these great product swaps that you can use to make your everyday food choices just a little bit healthier!

These are from my favorite—Hungry Girl. She has great tips and great recipes. Perfect for someone who wants to eat great-tasting food without the guilt!

Longtime HG fans may know ALL about these, but for the newbies out there, here are some of the products we CANNOT live without. Check out HG's TOP ATE Ingredient Swaps...

1. Instead of Fatty Ground Beef... Ground-Beef-Style Soy Crumbles PER SERVING (1/2 - 2/3 cup): 60 - 80 calories, 0.5 - 2.5g fat, 230 - 270mg sodium, 5 - 6g carbs, 3g fiber, 0 - <1g>POINTS® value 1* We can't imagine life without this stuff. Not only is it SO much lower in calories and fat than real ground beef, but it's also WAY easier to work with in small quantities. Does your snack or meal need a protein boost? Add in a scoop of soy crumbles. Nuke for a few, add a little seasoning (we like a dash of taco seasoning), and they're ready to go -- no browning, crumbling, and draining an entire package required. We love both Morningstar Farms' and Boca's versions equally, so grab whichever you find. And click here for a slew of HG recipes utilizing the wonder crumbles.

2. Instead of Carb-Heavy, Calorie-Packed Pasta... House Foods Tofu Shirataki Noodle Substitute PER SERVING (4 oz.): 20 calories, 0.5g fat, 15mg sodium, 3g carbs, 2g fiber, 0g sugars, 1g protein -- POINTS® value 0* Another product that straight-up changes lives. It's AMAZING that an entire bag of these noodles has only 40 calories. (Yes, it is totally acceptable to consume two portions at a time.) Use 'em to make HG's 99-calorie fettuccine Alfredo or the lightest lo mein this side of reality... or any of our other freakishly good noodle dishes! Sure, there's a slight period of adjustment while you get familiar with the texture and how to prepare them properly, but follow our tips and you'll be fine!

3. Instead of Boring and Caloric Cream Cheese... The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Cheese Wedges PER SERVING (1 wedge): 35 calories, 2g fat, 260mg sodium, 1g carbs, 0g fiber, 1g sugars, 2.5g protein -- POINTS® value 1* Maybe it's the giddy farm animal on the package, maybe it's the conveniently wrapped individual wedges, but we're betting that the #1 reason people like these cheese wedges so much is -- HELLO!? -- the taste. They're delicious, not diet-y in any way, super-creamy, SO decadent... We could go on all day about these things. We spread them on light English muffins. We mix them with those Tofu Shirataki noodles. We drop them into mugs with Egg Beaters. WE. LOVE. THEM.

4. Instead of Bland Skim Milk... Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze PER SERVING (8 fl. oz.): 40 calories, 3g fat, 180mg sodium, 2g carbs, 1g fiber, 0g sugars, 1g protein -- POINTS® value 1* Sure, skim milk is fat-free and low in calories. It's also kind of fun-free and low in flavor. Our "milk" of choice is this particular nondairy, unsweetened almond beverage. It tastes AMAZING and is VERY versatile: terrific in recipes (including those that call for light vanilla soymilk), over cereal, in your coffee, etc. And it's one heck of a dance partner. (Kidding! Just making sure you're paying attention.)

5. Instead of That Scary Stick o' Butter... Brummel & Brown PER SERVING (1 tbsp.): 45 calories, 5g fat, 90mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g fiber, 0g sugars, 0g protein -- POINTS® value 1* Hands down, the best-tasting, creamiest, and most buttery spread out there. Want to know more cool stuff about it? It is made with nonfat yogurt, has NO trans fats, has half the fat and calories of actual butter, and works perfectly anywhere you need buttery goodness. What's not to love? We even adore the shade of blue on the tub! WE LOVE YOU, BRUMMEL & BROWN!!!

6. Instead of Crammed-with-Fat-and-Cholesterol Eggs... Fat-Free Liquid Egg Substitute PER SERVING (1/4 cup): 30 calories, 0g fat, 115 - 120mg sodium, 1g carbs, 0g fiber, 0 - <1g>POINTS® value 1* Short of your Easter egg decorating, this stuff can be used pretty much anywhere you need the power of egg. It's convenient and, unlike real eggs, low in calories with no cholesterol or fat. Plus, you'll never get eggshells in your omelette! We use this for SO many things -- our egg-mug recipes, faux-frying, baking -- that we literally don't know what we would do without it. "Crying" would probably be on the agenda, though. Egg Beaters Original and Better'n Eggs are our top picks!

7. Instead of Fat-Heavy Sour Cream... Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt PER SERVING (One 6-oz. container): 90 calories, 0g fat, 65mg sodium, 7g carbs, 0g fiber, 7g sugars, 15g protein -- POINTS® value 2* To be fair, this stuff is much more than a swap for sour cream to us. It's perfect for 2-ingredient recipes, a key part of our creamy scoopable salads, and delicious as a snack (with a bit of sweetener mixed in). It ALSO happens to pack the creaminess and zing of sour cream with the added bonus of lots of protein for very few calories and no fat. And it doesn't have that weird, not-quite-right taste of fat-free sour cream. There are other fatless Greek yogurts around, but Fage's stuff is the best.

8. Instead of Carb-y, High-Cal Potatoes... Butternut Squash PER SERVING (1 cup cubes, raw): 63 calories, 0g fat, 6mg sodium, 16g carbs, 2.75g fiber, 3g sugars, 1g protein -- POINTS® value 1* Even if we were JUST talking about using these instead of potatoes to make our amazing Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries, they'd make the list. But this orange squash is capable of so much more. With about half the calories of standard spuds, the taste is VERY comparable to sweet potatoes. Consider swapping it to make sweet potato pie... and some luscious home fries. Or get crazy and put it into stews and latkes and pot stickers... B-nut squash can be used almost anywhere a regular or sweet potato can be used. AWE-SOME.

Cafe Rio deliciousness

Anyone who knows me knows I am in LOVE with Cafe Rio. While my obsession has become less severe in the past year, I still get excited when I have a chance to partake of the food. If you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying this tasty treat, make it a priority to visit one of their locations in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, or California.

While I do have access to the restaurant, my friend and I had decided to start cooking together every so often, and decided to start by trying out some Cafe Rio recipes. And let me say, it was AMAZING!

We made the famous sweet pork, rice, beans, and cilantro/ranch salad dressing. And we finished everything off with an AMAZING tres leche.

Cafe Rio Pork

Recipe

2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours.

Cilantro/Ranch Dressing

This is where things really got interesting for us. You see, we are both young, single professionals and don't exactly have complete kitchens. So, we did not have a blender for completing this recipe. So we made due with my trusty Magic Bullet. We mixed everything together in a bowl first and then divided the recipe into THREE cups to mix separately. Yes, we were determined to complete the recipe even though we didn't have the right equipment.

Recipe
1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (the store was out when we shopped, so we got Buttermilk, which worked fine for us)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime

Mix all ingredients together in the blender.

Chopping up the tomatillos

The mixture before we added the cilantro and before we separated it into the Magic Bullet cups

The lovely separated and ready to mix dressing—Magic Bullet style

Cafe Rio Rice

Recipe
1 c. uncooked rice (traditionally it's white, but we used brown rice)
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

Cafe Rio Beans

Recipe
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice (we couldn't find juice so just used sauce, so our beans were a bit thicker than normal, but still delicious!)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

For our tortillas, we put a little butter in the pan and toasted them and melted cheese on them. We used green leaf lettuce and each tore up pieces for our own salad. I also had a big bag of tortilla chips, so we crumbled those to top our salads with a crunchy touch.


And now...DESSERT!!

Tres Leche Cake

This is actually where we ran in to a few problems. Haha! We'd been cooking for a while already, and silly us, we kinda assumed we could make dessert last and let it cook and such while we finished up dinner and ate.

NOT THE CASE!!!

We really should have read the directions better before hand (really, read on :P), but the first think I noticed is that the cake needs to cool for about 4 hours. At least. We just decided to go ahead and we'd eat the dessert a bit later that evening.

The next problem came when the first part of the recipe asked for 6 egg whites. We didn't know we needed the yokes later, and kinda threw them away. Yes, we were wasteful, I'm sorry. But two steps later, we realized the mistake. Luckily I had enough eggs so we took the yokes from 6 MORE...but this time saved the whites because, yes, I eat egg whites regularly.

We were a little impatient and put the cake in the freezer to cool faster...we just left it in a little too long so it wasn't DELICIOUS until it thawed a little and the milk mixture started goozing. Yum!! I unfortunately did not get a picture of this amazing delight.

Recipe
6 large eggs, separated
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream topping:
1 14-ounce can evaporated milk
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and set aside. (I used a smaller rectangle pan & a muffin tin, b/c I wanted individual cakes for presentation)
In the bowl of a mixer, beat the egg whites on low speed until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually with the mixer running and peak to stiff peaks. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after the addition of each.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and add to the egg mixture, alternating with the milk. (Do this quickly so the batter does not lose volume.) Add the vanilla. Bake until golden, 25 minutes.

To make the cream topping: In a blender, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream and blend on high speed.

Remove the cake from the oven and while still warm, pour the cream mixture over it. Let sit and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.