Traveling: Family Style

I hate hotels, I can't ever fall asleep or feel at home or relax.  They are just so crowded, noisy, impersonal, and uncomfortable (at least the cheaper ones in which we can afford to stay).  I much prefer to stay with friends or family, or the next best thing: renting one.  I'd much rather stay in someone's spare bedroom than even the poshest hotel of my personal experience, well maybe not my husband's aunt where the cat pees everywhere, but that would be the only exception.  Even better is finding a whole house/apartment/condo to rent.  We've done this several times now, often for the price of a bad hotel we get a whole condo to ourselves with multiple bedrooms, a full kitchen, and even laundry.  It is especially nice when traveling with young kids.  Have you ever tried to get a baby to nap in a hotel?  Or tried to hang out with said baby when she won't nap?  It's nice to spend part of the day hiking or sightseeing and then come home for a homey meal and a nap and then off to more adventures in the evening.  I was a little leery at first, but we've had great experiences with many of the rent my house/apartment/yurt/cabin/sofa websites and won't hesitate to do so again!

Let there be shoes (and a place to put them!)

It is ridiculous how many shoes are needed for just 6 feet and how much clutter it causes in the entryway.  I was in desperate need of a shoe rack but really not interested in spending $50 for something of cheap construct and tacky design.  Instead I borrowed a few bricks from the stack outside and found a few scrap pieces of laminate in the basement.  My grandmother has a bookshelf made by stacking bricks and barn wood, I adapted the technique for our shoe dilemma and it works great!  When we remember to use it...

Preserving flavorful weeds in 60 seconds or less

If you've ever found yourself with too many fresh herbs (store bought or home grown) this is the idea for you!  Dry your herbs in the microwave.  The results are surprising.  I've been air drying basil, which takes about a week and gives you a khaki green result.  This is actually green green and takes a couple minutes.  A good thing too, as most herbs seem to grow like weeds, and in the case of mint, they look like it too!

Wood cleaning magic!

I'm not usually a garage sale fanatic but today I happened upon a set of four solid wood folding chairs, well made and solid pieces but the wood was dusty, dirty, ugly and dry and when you tried to fold or unfold them they were a good exercise in arm strength.  My husband sort of looked at me like I had wasted $20 on the lot, but we desperately need extra seating for all the people he invites over for dinner all the time so I took a gamble.  Not having any commercial stuff to clean, lubricate, or restore wood I resorted to google and came across this article. 3/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup vinegar?  I had that, why not?  The chairs couldn't get any uglier!  I did add a few drops of lemon juice just for a nice smell and went to work.  Wow!  The chairs are clean and happy and actually sort of pretty (in a folding chair sort of way) and actually open and shut without fuss or noise or trouble.  Just like magic!