Red shoe diaries

See the spring outfit I’m thinking about on my Spinning Wheels blog. It all began with THESE cute t-straps.

Sweet ’stache, bro

What’s Cracking Good — Mustache May 2009

Friday is the first day of the month of the mustache.
Some even refer to the month as Mustache May. My husband is one of those people.

He is about to embark on his fourth year of Mustache May, meaning he spends the month with a mustache,  takes pictures of it, and converses with other mustaches around the country/world.

Here’s how it works:
- Starting May 1, he’ll shave to a mustache. Just a mustache.
- Every day (or most days) during May, he’ll take a picture of aforementioned mustache, and post his photo on MustacheMay.com.
- He’ll spend hours each day looking at other pictures, ranking them, discussing them.
- Someone will be named King ‘Stache, and we’ll discuss whether or not the title was merited.

Friends will be made. Amusing photos will be taken. My husband will be (relatively) happy.

I love May.

Hole-y leafs: Getting rid of garden pests

I knew this time would come, but I didn’t think it would be so soon!

Pests have entered my garden.

Everywhere there are tell-tale signs… a.k.a. holes in my leaves!

Obviously I can’t have that…so I embarked on a pest control plan I read about online: Organic Insect Repellent.

Here’s how I made it:

1) Combined two bulbs of garlic and a chili pepper with 1 cup of water in a blender.
2) Strained the mixture to remove the solid particles.
3) Poured the strained mixture into an empty milk jug (or other gallon receptacle),  filled with water, and shook.
4) Put 1/4 cup of the mixture into a spray bottle and filled with water.
5) Sprayed the mix onto my plants (at night, so they didn’t burn).

NOTE: I might try it on a test plant first. We’ll see how they work on the little buggers…

Summer R&R (rubs & relaxation)

What’s Cracking Good — Summer spa-ing

For the past 2 years I’ve sampled new spas during Arizona Spa Girls’ Summer Spaaah Series.

Local resorts, day spas and other wellness locations around the Valley host events providing mini treatments, product demos and a look at a possible new relaxation destination.

For $25-40, it’s an affordable treat in an otherwise long, hot, broke summer.

This year, I was hoping to try out the Alvadora Spa, which is only available to guests of Royal Palm Resort. I can’t justify a room just for rubs, so I’ve never been. But alas…I was too late. Alvadora is booked solid!

There are, however, openings for Joya Spa at the brand new Montelucia Resort, Spa Avania at the Hyatt in Scottsdale, and Agave at The Westin Kierland.

I’ve already signed up for two alternates. I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss out on cheap spa-ing goodness!

Shopping Etsy: Jewelry

Etsy is home of some amazing finds. It’s also chalk full o’ crrrrap! Click on the jewelry link and you’ll get a listing of 44,000+ pages.

Who has time for that!

The following are some of my favorite Etsy jewelry pieces…and sellers.

1) Plank Ring, $8
2) Red Rose Mini Earrings, $28
3) Tri-colored Leaf Necklace, $32
4) Fox & Forest Studs, $42
5) Victorian Wedding Bracelets, $50
6) Vintage Rhinestone Hair Comb, $78
7) Vintage Goldtone Chain Necklace with Gorgeous Vintage Locket, $38
8 ) Carpe Diem Pin, $18
9) Sprout Open Bangles, $200
10) Garden of Joy Agate, $19
11) Yummy Hot Dog Necklace, $13
12) Loved Ones in Copper, $42
13) Flower & Leaves Sterling Silver Bangle, $66

Stores:

Run like the wind!

What’s Cracking Good – iPod Shoes

Lance Armstrong congratulated me today on my longest workout ever.

No, we’re not exercise buddies, but he is in my iPod.

Two years ago my husband got me Nike + iPod running shoes and the iPod Sport Kit…and I never used them. Not even once.

Now that I’m working from home, I have NO excuse for not exercising. I hate it.

Running is pretty much at the top of my exercise-hell hierarchy, but it does have it’s merits, number one being…it’s over quickly. So, I dusted off my Nike + shoes, plugged in my iPod and went for a spin.

You can set your workout by time, by distance, or by calories (UGH!), and set your iPod the same way you would without the whole shoe component. A nice voice interrupts periodically to tell you how long you’ve been going. The display shows how fast you’re going, and how long you’ve been. If you do well, iPod shoes congratulates you on a job well done.

I just learned that you don’t even need to get special shoes to use the iPod Sport Kit. There’s a gadget you can attach to any running shoe You do, however, need an iPod.

Nike + iPod Sport Kit, $29

Nike + shoes

iPod Sport Kit Sensor Holder, $6.99

No Mojo

Several years ago I visited New York and discovered Tasti D Lite frozen yogurt.

It seemed like every other NY corner offered a cup of 80 calorie frozen yogurt goodness…in my favorite flavor, peanut butter!
More often than not, I partook. I probably gained 5 pounds in diet yogurt that trip.

Since then, I’ve stopped eating dairy, and my frozen dessert options have dismally slim. So when I heard  Mojo Yogurt has non-dairy flavors, I visited the Biltmore location to check it out.

The serve-yourself yogurt joint was plenty crowded on a Saturday afternoon. Bunches of kids lined up to serve themselves big cups of yogurt in about 10 different flavors, including “Mojo Original Tart” (Pinkberry-esque?).
The topping section was mayhem. They only had one non-dairy offering: Mango. I have no interest in mango.

On our way out, we overheard a transaction: $14.97 for 2 cups of yogurt.
Now that’s some hefty yogurt.

Mojo Biltmore
2502 E. Camelback Road
Phoenix, AZ 85016

Mojo Tempe Marketplace
2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway
Tempe, AZ 85281

Mojo ASU
350 S. Mill Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281