2011 Recap and Resolutions!!

2011 was an exciting year full of scary but good changes! First, the biggest change was that we moved to NJ from NYC. We moved into a small lakehouse and had work done, well ALOT of work done on the house to get it ready for winter. It wasn't winterized and didn't have underground water that wouldn't freeze for winter, so that was one of our goals...and we did it! We had the house raised, went without water for 6 weeks, (and survived) and happily, oh so happily got water back!!!  Here is our house before and after some of the work we did on it.

Another change that happened, was I left my 10 year job working for the Mayor's Office of Film in NYC to teach yoga and attend Acupuncture school full time, my true passion. Its been amazing and words can't express how grateful I am to God, the universe and my hubby Martin for supporting me to be able to teach yoga, take care of the puppies and Martin and attend school for my Professional graduate degree in Chinese Medicine.

Next change, we got our new beautiful cutie puppy Corbin! He is a handful at times, and has so much energy but he is the sweetest (and softest) big puppy (he's almost 70 pounds at 6 months!) we could ever have asked for and we love him so much!)  and we're so glad that him and Lealu get along!! (that could've been a disaster)

We had the wonderful chance to go on vacation to Hawaii with my sister and her husband. We had so much fun, and hopefully there will be lots more vacations together!

Over the summer, my wonderful good friend Danielle married her soulmate, Kevin and my sister and I got the chance to be there for it!

Next my Gram and her companion Harry made their way up to heaven to continue on with their journeys:)

Its been a year full of change and love, more than I could've asked for. I hope 2012 will be a year of good changes. I would like to show so much gratitude and love to my husband, to finish work on our home and make this my last year in school (which means, taking my comps in January, my CNT course in March, signing up to take my license exam soon after and then finishing up my classes!) I have hope and faith that everything happens for a reason and I know that God and the universe wouldn't put me in this place without the goal of becoming an acupuncturist...so I keep that faith and hope that everything will work out with classes and that I will pass my tests on time. :)

Wishing you a wonderful New Years Eve, day and 2012 year!!!

Christmas Corner 2011

I slid the couch over to the side and made ourselves a little Christmas corner! Most of our ornaments from Brooklyn are still there, hidden somewhere under our bed I think, where Martin couldn't find them, so we were stuck with what we had here. No star on top, but I did make a little bow with ribbon! :)

I haven't been on here for a bit! Things have been busy but really good, my husband has put in the spiral staircase (I know he's awesome!!) and its almost done with all the steps. (I will post pics when its all done!)  Things are taking a bit longer because we are doing everything ourselves, but we are doing it! We are working on giving handmade gifts this year. For my aunts, we bought homemade quilts from my Mom, along with giving everyone handmade soaps. And the wine we're giving as gifts are from the local winery.  My aunts on my Mom's side, we're giving homemade welsh cookies (my Gram's recipe). I'll be putting them in a little festive baggy with a tag label that says "Gram's Welsh cookies".  I think they'll love that! Those cookies were a trademark of my Gram's every year over the holidays and I'm grateful that she gave me the recipe so that it can be continued:)  It was a little difficult for the guys, but we found a cigar store that sells cigars made in the USA, so we got some of those for my Dad. Its difficult to get everyone's gifts handmade, local and made in the USA, but its a start! Are you giving any handmade gifts this year? What are they?

House Update - err well it was Wednesday just a second ago:)

The house is coming along!! My awesome Dad came over yesterday to help me put in insulation. We used the good kind with plastic surrounding the insulation so there wasn't alot getting all over everything and that we would have had to breathe in, called John Mansville. It was alittle expensive but so worth it when I didn't have itchies all over me after! You might notice all the duct tape used to hold up the insulation. Usually people have wood studs up that they can just staple or nail the insulation into. We used metal studs, so there wasn't anything we could nail/staple into, so we used duct tape! My dad double checked with a builder first to make sure that was a good idea and they said yup, so we did it! Looks kind of funny, but whatever works! Now we move onto putting sheetrock up. With the sheetrock, we are going to nail the boards into the metal studs.  More on that in a few weeks after we actually do it! The stone is also finished!! We're so happy with how it came out, and the guys did a great job. They were from Pennsylvania, figures! Every person we've met so far from Pa knows how to do a great job on building house stuff without overpricing. Here are a few pictures!

Frugal Friday - oatmeal cookies from scratch!

I was craving the homemade smell of oatmeal cookies the other day. I thought, I can either go to the store and buy some fake smelly thing or really make some oatmeal cookies. I got to town and started baking. How hard can it be?? I have to be honest, I'm not very good all the time with following directions when it comes to baking. I usually end of putting alittle too much of this or alittle too much of that. I got the ingredients together and it didn't seem too challenging, but with baking, it never does and it always is! Here are the ingredients -

3 cups instant oatmeal (I used regular old fashioned instead of instant because thats what I had, I thought I'd just try it and see what happened, this was where I went wrong I think! when you use instant, the oats absorb less water than with regular oats, with regular, the cookie seemed alittle too dry, like sconie instead of cookiey)
1 cup warmed butter
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp cinnamon (I love cinnamon and may have put more like 2 tsp in there! I know, I'm bad with sticking to the recipe with this baking stuff!)
1tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup sugar (I used about a 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of agave sweetener syrup)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Mix all dry ingredients together in one bowl. Then mix all wet ingredients in another bowl.  Pour wet into the dry bowl. Mix together. I had some fun and mixed with my hands:)

 Take mixture and roll into cookie balls and then flatten. Put into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.

 Let cool and taste! they were yum but like I said above, alittle more like a scone than a cookie:) Just need to have them with jam I guess.

Happy Friday to you!!!

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HOLIDAY





Happy Holidays!!!!

Fright Fest - Halloween 2011

This was a fun Halloween weekend! (aside from the foot of snow we got turning our work in progress aka the house into a winter wonderland!) I have to say, even though dangerous at times driving through snowy scary hills etc, the lake and trees looked so beautiful! Before the snow happened, we went to a local Halloween festival called Fright Fest. Its a really cool little festival located near the Renaissance Festival by us that we've been to a few times before. But this year, it was eerily spooky (don't know if I used that or spelled it right!) I guess with all the scary stuff in the world, the people who organized the fest decided they had to spook it up about ten notches, cause I was even alittle scared! and I didn't even go into the haunted house! From a girl skipping around in a dress, with a bloody knife hiding behind her back, to a green faced goblin man jumping at a fenced cage making rattling noises! I took some great pictures, so you could see, and when I clicked enhance, so you could see the picture better in the dark, all these little orbs showed up. Scary! check it out!

House Update Wednesday!

This week is proving to be a beautiful one! Its been chilly in the mornings but sunny in the afternoon, which is really nice! I'm a bibliography away from finishing my 20 page paper for school in points and the way points are used in the three styles of acupuncture and we have stone!! (see below)

we are also having the pellet stove delivered tomorrow, and this weekend, thanks to the help of our awesome families, we're putting in the puffy stuff that goes in between the wall and the sheetrock, and the sheetrock!!! then next week, we're going to work on the tile and ordering the spiral stairs, that because of lack of funds, we've decided to take on ourselves! how does that go? creativity is the mother of necessity? something like that! hopefully we'll have the house done and ready by the holidays!!

Frugal Friday - its apple season!

I love our neighbors here. One woman especially is always so nice and brings us apples from her orchard upstate! Our apple trees haven't been so abundant this year, so I was so excited when she brought us a bag! I knew we wouldn't be able to eat all those apples before they went bad, and in the spirit of apple pie's everywhere, I made one apple pie and then made an apple pie filling for later. I thought about canning it...but I got nervous about it and decided to just freeze the filling for later. I've been talking about learning to can for awhile and every time I think about doing it and get ready, I get too nervous and back out of it. (this weekend, I'm really going to do it. I'm going to can pears on Saturday. No fear!! :) Buying or picking apples during apple season can save alot of money and preserving them in different ways can save alot too. First, I peeled about 5 small apples, and chopped them up. I put them into a pan with alittle water, about 1/2 a stick of butter, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, and about 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. I cooked this until the apples were soft. Afterwards, I let the apple mixture cool. Once the mixture was cool enough to put into a plastic freezer bag, I scooped it into a freezer bag for later. The way I make my apple pie is to take this mixture, add it to a graham cracker crust (we love the lightness of graham crackers crusts), with some apricot preserve and cranberries on top. I cook it for another 20 minutes.  This is the perfect way to save homemade apple pie filling for the holidays! If you are a busy lady with work, and/or with children, and you have some free time to bake and not so much free time when you want to bake, this will help! :)  You can also use this filling for an apple crumb. Just place the apple filling in a baking dish, add 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar with 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Yum!

Happy Frugal tip Friday! Hope you're having a great one!

RIP Steve Madden sandals & Happy Pet Wellness Month!

Did you know October is National pet wellness month? When I was told it was pet wellness month, I had to let you all know.  Our pets are very important to us, they join our family and become a part of it so fast, shoe chewing tendencies and all. I've had my share, this past weekend Corbin tackled a shoe of mine that I loved while I was away at the Harvest Festival Craft Fair in Cape May NJ selling homemade soaps that my Mom and I make. I was very upset but I thought about it and after hiding my other shoes (we don't have too many places to hide them as the house still isn't ready downstairs), I thought, this is just a pair of shoes, yes they were one of my faves and they were totally cute (they were platform Steve Madden sandals with leather straps and leather lining on the base so that my foot just slid in so nicely, anyways, right back to the point), I love him and my sandals were just a thing. I can always replace the sandals (hopefully maybe I can get them on sale since they are not in season right now) but I can't replace his cutie, furry, soft face. Both he and Lealu are our pups forever and so special to us and just really cool puppies. So in honor of National Pet Wellness Month, Martin got them each a bone, not the ones with the raw hide which can hurt their tummies, but the real ones with the marrow inside (yuck, they go nuts over it). There is a great site that I was told about where a Pet Nutrition Center just began, called PetMD.com where pet owners can get all cool snippets of information as well as ask questions to veteranarians about what is healthy for your pet in regards to food, vaccines, anything really. You an also take a Nutrition Quiz on the site as well. Check it out! Its kind of like webmd but for animals!  In addition to the PetMd.com site, there is a dog food that I was told about called New Hill's Science Diet Ideal Balance. I'm interested to try it just based on the facts about the food. Our puppies are great with either Holistic or Purina One Beyond, other types that we tried that do not have so many natural ingredients and whole foods have given them the worst diarrhea, so I'll start them slow with alittle bit to see how they like it. If it doesn't work with their system, we have to stick with what works.  Here are a few facts about New Hill's Science Diet Ideal Balance -

• Offers natural ingredients and the power of advanced nutrition 
• Meat-first formula – first ingredient is fresh chicken 
• Contains whole grains, fruits and vegetables 
• No corn, fillers or artificial colors 
• Noticeable improvement in skin and coat in 30 days
• Not too much, not too little – just the right balance of natural ingredients for the best nutrition for your dog
• Available for Puppy, Adult and Mature Adult (two-three sizes per lifestage) 

They sell the Science Diet Ideal Balance at Pet Specialty stores so maybe they'll have it at Petco. Cost is not bad either, with the price between 9.99 to 39.99. Holistic can run up to 50$ for a large bag. 

I'll let you know how they like it! Hope you have a great Monday!

I was given a sample to try from Science Diet Ideal Balance. I don't know how Lealu or Corbin will do with their dog food, but after I give them a little, I'll make sure to let you know!

I had to share this video! frugal tip to come...

this little girl is an amazing singer! Gifted is all I can say.

House Update Wednesday - wordless!

I am so excited to show you this! My awesome Dad came up to the house on Columbus Day, (which was his day off) to help us finish the siding! How awesome is he!? He showed us some cool stuff, and not only showed us how to put up siding last year, but taught me that when finishing siding at the bottom, its best to have a piece of J-channel along the bottom (this will help separate the siding from the stone we're going to be getting in a few weeks, hopefully if everything works out). You can see the radon pipe, that big white pipe is now going straight through the roof, when the radon guys installed it, they made it go around the roof. We thought it would look better just going up through, so Martin got the tools and fixed it! He did an amazing job! Thank God for men lol. I think its something in their brains that know how to do this stuff instinctively, like how women just know how to multi-task. You can see Lealu and Corbin below playing, she looks kinda mean but I promise she's just defending herself. Poor girl gets pushed around when Corbin plays!

 Here is a gorgeous view of sunset on the lake. We were driving to dinner over the weekend, and pulled over to take this. Gorgeous, right!?

Corbin's funny face - wordless

Corbin's funny face! Poor guy will be getting neutered next week:( 

Frugal Friday - harvesting herbs!

Its getting cold outside already! Today was beautiful and sunny but with a chill in the air. My nice neighbor brought over some jam for us. She makes like everything herself, its amazing! (she doesn't make soap though, so I gave her a mint soap!)  When she came over she mentioned that she was beginning to harvest her vegetables and herbs. She picks the herbs, washes them and cuts them to put into a freezer bag and then freezes them for when she wants to use them later during the winter. I had never thought about harvesting herbs!  What a great idea and I figure this could save lots of money on buying dried herbs throughout the winter. I took a look at the herbs that were growing and decided to leave the herbs that were going to seed or would go to seed so that the seeds would be free to come up next spring. The herbs that I know die off throughout winter are the rosemary and parsley. The mint already went to seed, so did the cilantro, the basil and the sage. Here is a picture of the rosemary and parsley-

I picked most of the herbs

washed them and trimmed them, bagged them in freezer bags and labeled them.

Now all you have to do is freeze and use when you're ready to use, just open and take a few pieces out to thaw and place back in freezer for the next time!

Happy Frugal Friday!!

Do you have a frugal tip you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you!
Email me at simplefrugalista@yahoo.com!

House update Wednesday - all words! :)

Good news! We received our certificate of occupancy! which means we can legally be here and all the inspections have been approved. This is a huge relief!

Our well water systems contact came through and installed a water softener along with another filter to clean the water and another system to bring up the Ph of the water. We also had a test by the town for the water to see the bacteria levels and all is well! Good enough to drink, and its great because its well water which means no flouride or chlorine.

We are in a standstill right now with a staircase because we are working on putting studs up, and then insallation can happen and then sheetrock and then the floor, and finally after that the stairs can go in...hopefully. We need them in before the winter though because we have to make sure the pipes downstairs stay warm. Hoping we get more nice sunny days like today!

Sometime soon I'll be painting the front deck and back stairs with water repellant stain so that should keep the life of the wood for longer.

Thats pretty much it for right now with the house! I can't tell you how great it feels to be taking showers and to be brushing my teeth and washing my face knowing we having good water! I feel like the richest person in the world lol.

I hope you're having a great week!!

Autumn - Changes Poem.

Leaves are falling in yellows, reds, oranges coloring covering the ground, as the golden sun finds its way through branches.


Apples burst from the trees, the smell of the freshest air.


The lake is still, quiet after a loud summer, she takes a deep breath. All is silent as she sends the remnants of children’s laughter and motor boat engines through the light ripples in the waves to the shore.


The trees have had their time to grow, the grass has been green, the earth has been spent.


Time to take a break. Time to put on your sweater and your knit scarf with a good book and a cup of hot tea. Time to wander and wonder through a new story. Getting comfy, getting warm, ready for the cold to come. Sitting by the low fire. 


Crunching through the leaves, she visits her rosemary, she wishes good luck. 


Feeling time through the seasons. Hear the earth weeping. Her time is growing to a close, and she must let go. Let go of the summer's breeze, the warm sun on her back, as she lay curled up under the mountain. Its the fall. The fall of leaves, the fall of light, the fall of the carefree summer. The seeds begin to burrow under the soil until Winter leaves fall to protect from the cold. Animals gather food and make their homes strong. 


She lifts her face to that last ray of bright sunlight streaking through the branches. Feeling for a last bit of warmth. Something to hold onto until the Winter leaves.

Has it already been 3 years!?

Frugal Friday - Expert on Cars talks how to save $ on purchase of a Car!

(via)

Today I'm so excited to welcome Sean to guest blog about saving $ on cars! Its one of the purchases that are super difficult to make especially when you want a good car thats not going to break down but don't want to spend an arm and a leg for it. M and I are talking about one day getting one those babies above, how cool are they!? Growing up, my Dad purchased most of our cars used and fixed them up for us, and I always remember anything that went wrong with them, he would just amazingly be able to fix. I think that kind of stuff is built into dads:) Sean knows a large amount about cars as he works for an automotive company. He blogs over at cash for cars, a company that helps people sell a used car! Thanks Sean for stopping by!

There are various ways you can learn how to save money on a car. At times, you need some time to make the best purchase. When you save enough money for a car, you must follow a few simple steps that will prepare you for your purchase.


Certain times of the year like the holidays are the best when you want to secure a really good deal on a car. Also, waiting to buy a car is highly recommended because you will get a better price. It is also a good idea to shop around at different dealers.


Another way to save money on a car is to start saving as much of your money as you can now. If you need a car in the future and you do not want to buy one now, start saving. Tighten your budget and save a certain percentage every month. Besides, you may be paying for certain items every month that you do not even need so it’s smart to analyze all of your spending habits. It is also advised to use Kelley Blue Book so you can see if you are receiving a fair price.


If saving money on a car is your goal, then your first priority should be function and not appearance. Spend money on a dependable car that is put together well instead of spending a large amount on a vehicle that is designed well but does not give you reliable mileage. Many people who want to save money on a car choose to buy a used car that is just as effective as a new car but costs much less. Also, a new car’s value will depreciate a great deal right after you buy it, so a used car will be a very good option especially if you want to sell it later.


When you save money, you must learn to be practical. In the midst of buying a new vehicle, it is smart to keep your old one as long as you can. Low trade-in values will make you lose money when you trade cars in a short amount of time. You have to rely on a good, quality car for a long time, so you have to invest well.


People who want to save money on a car have to keep their options open and be ready to analyze all kinds of options. Look at a complete comparison of different types of makes, models, and dealers. Even though doing all of this can be very tedious, it will improve your chances of saving money and you will go home in the car of your choice.

Happy Frugal Friday!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

House Update Wednesday - new deck!

I hope you're having a great Wednesday! I think I need to do alittle acupuncture to take away the monster headache I have from dealing with construction stuff but other than that things are good. We still have water (having water at any time is just wonderful) :) Today our carpenter came who is just awesome and he  finished the permanent back stairs and finished putting in the rest of the windows. He'll be here tomorrow to put in the doors and then he is done with his work with us! A great company that I got from the inspector came to put in a radon tube. A radon tube is for radon that might come out of the ground, and if it does, instead of going into the house, it goes into this tube and outside. Sounds alittle scary but hopefully we don't get radon. I spoke with a stone mason who came by with sample and to do some measurements. We another possible stone mason coming tomorrow, so that we can get a few different prices. If there's any advice I can give on working with contractors is to shop around! I spoke with the stone mason today and just by me saying that we are meeting with someone tomorrow, he dropped the price alittle. A-w-esome. Next thing is tomorrow I have to order a ton of pellets for heat this winter (we are only using pellet stoves) from Home Depot, pay the carpenter for all of this work and call the inspector to set up a time to meet for final inspection. How exciting is that!? I never thought we'd reach final inspection, but its here and I'm so grateful:) Here are photos of the house so far -

new front deck!

new permanent stairs in the back!

                                                here is the radon tube -

as I was cleaning off some chairs to bring on the deck that we had left outside all this time we were doing work on the house, I found this little guy, I promise its not one of those fake halloween spiders,  and...well that chair is still outside and I won't be moving it:) and it won't be coming onto the deck until M sprays it with a hose to make sure mr. spider is gone. I literally screamed and Corbin puppy ran over to save me lol.

isn't that like the biggest scariest spider you've ever seen!!??

Frugal Friday - a wreath for every season

Wow its amazing how fast the time is going! Its already Friday and almost halfway through September, just crazy! In celebration of our house getting water, and just in getting all this work done, I went to Michaels a few weeks ago with the intention of buying a pretty wreath for our front door. That intention ended quickly as I noticed all the signs on fully decorated wreaths, 29.99, 39.99, so I decided to buy the elements and make our own! I found a great stick wreath on sale for 4.99, along with flower/beaded garland that came in a circle on clearance for 3.99 each. I purchased 2. I wrapped both garlands around the wreaths, sticking the pieces in between the twigs. It looked alittle plain, so I found some old red ribbon from last Christmas and wrapped that around the wreath, alternating going on the inside and then the outside. The best part of this wreath isn't the low price (although the sales at Michaels are awesome), its that instead of having to buy a wreath every season, you can just change the ribbon! So for the holidays, I have red (its alittle early for the holidays but for Halloween you could even use orange ribbon!) for Spring you can switch it to a lime green and for Summer maybe a lavender or an eggshell color! Here is a photo of the wreath getting ready for the holidays:

Total spent - 13$

wreath - on sale 4.99
2 garlands on clearance - 3.99 each so 8 total
ribbon - you can just whats laying around or you could probably find some at Michaels or your closest dollar store!

Happy Friday! brrrr its already starting to get chilly! Where did the summer go??

House Update Wednesday - update*** we have water!!!

Today is the day, hopefully, I'm praying, that we will get water!!!! The plumber is just getting back from vacation but he knows that we are desperate and have been out of running water now for 6 weeks so he is making it a point to come today to hook us up! The well guy will also be here to test the water to see what kind of filter we'll need (whether its hard water or soft). The builders are here to to finally finish (thats right finish!!!) their work with us. I am so excited. Its been a long 6 weeks. Last week they did the sonnet tubes, which allow for the carpenter to build the front deck and the back stairs and landing. They are buttoning up (thats a construction term lol) the cement block where they had the steel beams coming out of when they lowered the house down, so the downstairs will be ready to start with sheetrock but before we can do sheetrock, first we have to put these things up called metal studs. Today Martin took an emergency day off of work and him and his Dad are putting those up. His Dad and him are amazing working with electric so they are also working on that so that we can get the well working once the plumber comes. Crazy amounts of planning, seriously you couldn't pay me enough to be a contractor!  So now I'm waiting here with Laura my MIL, for the plumber, drinking chai's:) We're even using real mugs and crossing my fingers that we'll have the water to wash them after lol. We have the windows and doors delivered but the carpenter has another job he wants to finish before he finishes ours, and so it goes...so we're waiting for either Thursday or Friday for him to come and finish the stairs, the front deck, and install the windows. We found a great electric heating fireplace that we might be using for heat downstairs, we have to start thinking of that because, I can't believe it, but its almost October. Here is the progress in photos so far.

This is Buddy, my FIL, starting work on the electric box.

landing check, stairs are off because the sewer pipe was exposed for plumber, and wasn't backfilled.

 will be our new doorway oneday! coming along...

 downstairs...coming along with the new floor.

 front of house with sonnet tubes in, ready for the front deck.

 window wells installed on 2 windows where the grade of dirt is high.

hopefully I'll be taking a shower...maybe shedding a tear or two tonight:)

*** Update! We have water!! the plumber came and surprised us while we were taking M's dad to dinner, and he worked until 8pm!! He gave us the greatest gift of running water! I gave him the biggest hug and thank you!! I'll be happily washing dishes and taking a shower tonight:)

ps did you know that you can cook using just foil!? Last night we cooked broccoli with cheese and olive oil, with chicken and sweet potato all in foil. So you can survive without water,  even though it probably didn't taste as good as if I had cooked in a dutch oven or something. At least if we are ever stuck in the woods, I won't panic without having running water, or maybe I will...lol.