Warning - Don't Sign Up For BMG!

Just a quick warning to my friends to not sign up for BMG, based on the horrible experience I just had about...oh 5 minutes ago. I decided to finally redeem some of my free CD's, so I added the 4 that I wanted and went to the cart to checkout. I selected the Free CD drop down list and selected that I wanted to redeem 4.

I clicked the Update Your Cart button...nothing happened. Hmm...I clicked it again...again, nothing happened. I guess there's a bug in the system? I didn't get any error messages. Well, maybe I'll click Submit Order, and I'll get a page where I get to validate my order looks correct.

I click the Submit Order button - I get "Thank you, your order has been placed and a confirmation email has been sent...yada yada." But wait, I wonder, how will they know where my order is going? Oh, silly me, I forgot that I setup the Express Checkout...and yet they still don't display the shipping address...why? That should be on the screen so you can confirm.

I go to my email...surely there the order has been updated so I'm not being charged for all these freakin' CD's. No...my order is still $60! Ouch...I just wanted to redeem my free CD's.

Ok, I'll call the company, I think. I search the customer service page...no phone number...listed...ANYWHERE! What the...? Luckily, I do a google search and find this site (click here). Here's the BMG phone number: 317-692-9200 (just in case the other web site ever closes or whatever). Coincidently, the site also has Columbia House's phone number.

So, I call the phone number and get someone on the phone who tells me that the CD's I ordered are "Premium Titles", which means that you cannot redeem them for free. Huh? How am I supposed to know what a "Premium Title" is? I don't remember seeing that these aren't available to be redeemed for free! "Click on the info button for the CD and it tells you there," she says. What info button? I never found one...I can only assume she meant this one - Sales Exempt:

After you click Sales Exempt, you get a little pop-up that says, "Already specially priced, not part of regular sale, or available as a bonus or free selection, or free with Music Points." Now, how on earth was I supposed to know I had to check that little link to see if the CD was ok to redeem for my Free Music?

Oh ok...my bad. Well, let me cancel my order, I say. No...can't do it. I ask to talk to the manager...still can't do it. I just placed this order, literally 3 minutes ago...I can't cancel it!? Nope. No can do.

FINE...I want to cancel my membership. But, you have 8 free CD's they say. I know that though...I just feel so deceived, and so tricked into spending $60 when I expected to spend $10, that I don't even want them. Much like breaking up with an A-hole who has some of your stuff at their apt...sometimes you just have to "cut your losses," as a good friend once told me. BMG could have easily displayed bolder messages to alert people that these CD's are not available to be redeemed for free, but instead, they try to hide this fact and trick their customers into buying CD's they don't want to buy. If I wanted to pay money for these CD's, I'd go to Best Buy, or a used CD store, where they are much, much cheaper.

It doesn't end here...

Well, I tell them I want to cancel my membership and update my shipping address since it's wrong. They say they can cancel my membership, but they can't update the shipping address. What? You can't just change the address? No can do. Why not? I just can't do it b/c blah blah blah...something about the shipping and billing address being different (which the order confirmation doesn't say). I mean, I understand if the order has already been processed ...or shipped...that you can't change the address, but it hasn't even hit the system yet! It's been 4 minutes! You can't change it? Nope.

FINE! BMG, you stink! I'm never using your service again, and I'm warning my friends!

Sorry for the rant, friends, but I do want to pass on what I feel is an important warning.

Comfort Food-Inspired Dinner

I'm getting ready for a craft show this weekend, but with all the eating out I've been doing lately, I wanted to make something simple, but tasty. I decided to try one of those recipes on the sides of the Campbell's Soup cans I always see. This is the chicken and rice bake - recipe on the Cream of Chicken soup can:


You stir the soup with water, rice and onion powder, then top with the chicken, then bake for 45 minutes. How simple is that? It was a real crowd-pleaser too...or an SO-pleaser, since I just cooked for two. I just served the chicken and rice with frozen, mixed veggies. I think the meal took about 10 minutes prep time total. per request of my SO, this one's going in the regular rotation.

I don't know why, but I also decided to make sugar cookies...from scratch. I used a Fanny Farmer recipe to make these:


They didn't really flatten and smooth out quite like I thought they would, but they were darn tasty! Looks can only count so much...as long as it tastes good, I don't care!

Easy Shrimp Dinner

My SO and I have a favorite shrimp recipe by Rachael Ray - 4 Minute Spicy Garlic Shrimp. It's super simple and super delicious. Although, I did forget the fresh parsley. If you try this...def don't forget the parsley!

Since the shrimp are so easy to make...especially since I got easy peel and my SO was sweet enough to do the peeling for me...I decided to make something special for the side. Using new baking ware, I made scalloped potatoes and just steamed broccoli for a nice, healthy side. Mmmmmm!

Vintage Book - Under the Lilacs

Lookie what I found thrifting:

Under the Lilacs - a book by Louisa May Alcott. I guess since I never read Little Women, I didn't realize this was the same author. I just figured I'd found some random, obscure vintage book, but I guess this one is actually pretty famous. I read a couple reviews on Amazon, and apparently people who like Little Women will probably also like this book. I suppose the fact that this book is written by the same author would make one gather that conclusion, but you never know.


Anywho, I'm not sure exactly how old this book is, but it's about to fall apart...lol. However, I love the vintage binding and the darling drawings throughout. I wonder if the new version still has them? (the images, of course, not the binding)

"Orange and Maroon Effect" day

Remembering the victims killed this past Monday and their family and friends for Virginia Tech's "Orange and Maroon Effect" day

Cottage-y Fabric

Ahhhh...my lovely, always covered dining room table. Here you see it completely covered in a plethora of pink and turquoise. The flowers are for a craft show booth display - I always have lots of flowers in my jewelry displays - and the fabric is to make my first quilt. Yea...not sure when that's going to happen, as hectic as things have been around here, but one day, these lovely fabrics are going smack dab into a handmade quilt...par moi! I got these fab, plastic turquoise plates from Tar-jhay this past weekend...I think I'm going to try to work them into my display, as well, especially since turquoise is my "official" business color. :)

Easter Dessert

Forget Easter dinner...after having given up dessert for Lent, I baked a cake instead of a chicken and booooyyyy was it tasty!


To offset all the cake I knew I'd be eating, we just had a simple chicken dinner on Sunday, but tonight, I decided to splurge a little bit. Not to mention, I just happened to be on the side of town with a Fresh Market, so I had to take the opportunity to get a nice big piece of steak:


I also made garlic-y, herb-y mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. I used a creamy cheese, like Rachael Ray uses all the time, and toasted baguette slices to enjoy the leftover cheese spread. Mmmmmmmmmm! Top it off with a nice glass of red wine, and I'm pretty satisfied with the start to my week! :)

My Pink & Green Swap Goodies Are Here!

Yay! My Pink & Green Swap goodies are here! Check out all the cool stuff I got from my swap buddy, Christina:

Super cute teacup, adorable, porcelain egg-holder, yummy candy, pretty pink tin bucket, craft goodies, party napkins, fun fabric remnants, unique teapot, adorable handmade pillow with button accents

It's all so wonderful! Thanks Christina for doing such a good job! I love it all! Now, I just hope you like yours as much as I like mine!

Thrift Jackpot!

I hit the thrift jackpot this weekend! I found lots of "firsts" to add to my thrift collection, like this apron:

After seeing everyone else's awesome vintage apron finds all the time, I was starting to wonder if I would ever find any. This weekend, I hit up a new Goodwill, and this one was so nice, clean, and best yet - organized! All the fabrics, scarves, bedding, and other fabric goods were all nicely hung up, so I thrifted quite a few nice fabric finds.

I also found my first vintage tin! Lookie! Ooh, and a vintage, cottage-chic style floral pillowcase...

Isn't it adorable? I also found some pink fabric napkins - a set of 4, actually.


I also found these awesome fabric thrifts - a purple/yellow/white/green tablecloth and a set of 3 placemats in a yellow color that almost matches the tablecloth. Also, a sheer table runner, which I think I'm going to use for my booth displays when I do craft shows.

I think I'll be visiting that Goodwill every weekend now!

"Normal" Dinner

See! Sometimes I make normal, "lazy-day" meals:

I just don't normally take pictures of them...lol

I fed me and my SO for less than $10 with this meal - Barbeque baked chicken, mac & cheese, and steamed broccoli

Cheap and tasty...always a good combo! Even you bachelors out there can make this (Nic-Nic - you readin?) ;)

Bead Shopping

I went bead shopping today with one of my friends who also makes jewelry. We spent nearly 2 hours perusing hundreds of thousands of different kinds of beads, and it was so much fun! I wasn't supposed to buy anything b/c I did my accounting for my jewelry biz and I didn't make a profit last year :( but I just couldn't resist. If you've ever read my other blog, then you'd know I'm quite the shopaholic. I probably should have just not gone, but now that I'm back home with my beautiful beads, I'm glad I went.

Here's what I bought:



Coral, amazonite, freshwater pearls, citrine, garnet, chalcedony...oh the beautiful beads! For anyone who hasn't been to a bead store, you may not know that the beads are usually sold on strands, temporarily strung onto fishing line or string...just in case any of you were thinking the beads looked like jewelry already. :)

These are pendants made with actual butterfly wings:


Now to decide what to play with first. Which strand(s) would you like to see made into jewelry first?

Designing Wedding Jewelry

One of my favorite friends from college (and sorority sister - my "little sister" actually) asked me to design her wedding jewelry. How exciting!? I love to design wedding jewelry! I've even designed some for another close sorority sister last year (click to see pictures). Anywho, after receiving pictures of my friend's wedding dress, I was off to the races!

Here's a picture of the wedding dress beadwork:


I got my bead board ready:

Pretty messy, eh? I try to keep it clean, but I like to have my different ideas and future jewelry designs laid out, or at least coordinating beads paired together. Perhaps the chaos adds to the creativity factor? I like to think so. :)

I decided to do a couple designs and let her pick her favorite. Here's one pair of earrings in the works:

I get my sterling wire on a spool, and I have to cut off little pieces and hand-wire-wrap the beads to each other using the wire pieces. The wire on the left is cut and half-looped - the one on the right is fully-wrapped.

Then, I just add earring components, and TA-DAAAAAAAAAAA!

Three beautiful bridal earrings to choose from! Can you guess which one she picked?

Yummy Salmon Lunch Out

My co-worker and I went out with a candidate the other day for lunch. We went to an uptown restaurant that is famous for it's seafood, and now I know why. It was one of the warmer days of spring, so we got to eat outside on the patio, which was, luckily, covered by a roof. It seems that eating outside is so much more pleasant when you're under something that can block the direct sunlight. Too much direct sunlight and I'm just sweating instead of enjoying my meal. My preference is to eat outdoors, under a roof or umbrella, with a light breeze....oh yea!

I had tangerine dusted salmon with potatoes and wilted spinach. Yep, I said "tangerine-dusted salmon." Have you ever heard of such a thing? Let me tell you, if you ever see this on a menu, I highly recommend it. The salmon was perfectly cooked, and with every bite, I enjoyed a hint of sweet, citrus. Delicio-So!

Vintage Pyrex Mixing Bowls

Lookie what I finally got! My Pyrex mixing bowls are here! Aren't they gorge?

I can't decide if I'll actually use them or not, but for now, I am merely satisfied looking at them...

...I'll probably use them though...

...as Janis Joplin says, "If you got it today, you don't wear it tomorrow, man."

That's one of my favorite song lines, quotes, whatever...I interpret it as - Life is too short to save the best things for later, when tomorrow may never come. I guess that's kinda depressing, but perhaps a better way of phrasing it is that you should live each day to the fullest! Yea...that sounds better. Anywho, that may or may not have been what Janis meant with her song (or live rant during a song), but I like my interpreted message, so I'll stick with it.

Wear your favorite outfit today...use your best china for every day meals...break open that bottle of wine you've been saving...whatever. Life is too short to not celebrate the everyday. :)

Weekend at Mom's

Ok, so I didn't spend the weekend with my mom, but I did spend the weekend with my fiance's mom. I love hanging out with his mom b/c she loves a good thrifting trip just as much as I do, so we hit up JoAnn's for some craft goodies and home decor, then headed to a local consignment/antique shop to see what finds we could get our hands on. I got this awesome cake plate:


I don't think it's antique, but it's so cute, who cares? A fair price too, marked down 50% to $9, eh?

We even got some quality time with not only his mom's dogs, but his sister's dog too. He looked so cute curled up in the armchair, I had to snap a quick shot. He opened his eyes to see what was going on, but quickly fell back asleep...awww


We even got home with enough time for me to make a nice dinner to kick off the new week - Beef Stroganoff:

Sweet Strawberry Banana Snack

My parents are pretty healthy eaters, so growing up, we had lots of fruit and "fruit bowls" for snacks & dessert. I haven't been eating nearly the amount of fruit that I should be lately, but after a recent visit home, I was inspired to start keeping more fruit stocked at my home. So far, we've been eating lots of apples & oranges, but on a recent trip to the grocery store, I decided to switch things up a bit by picking up some fresh, slightly green bananas and some strawberries, which were on sale! I decided to re-create one of my mom's fruit bowls and sliced up the bananas and berries, topped with a sprinkle of sugar, and enjoyed! Mmmmmm...so good and good for you!

Do you see that cute little Strawberry Pitcher in the background? I found that a month or so ago and rescued it from Salvation Army. I actually think it may be handmade! Instead of a production stamp on the bottom, I saw what appeared to be a hand-etched stamp:

Norma
W
1980

Can you believe it was only 79 cents? I can't wait until this summer when we go strawberry picking and I can serve all our hand-selected strawberries with some handmade-pitcher-poured whipped cream.

Stop & Smell the Roses, Mister

While walking from building to building in uptown today, I couldn't help but notice all the lovely flowers outside. I simply had to stop and snap a couple quick shots...I hoped no one would think I was crazy, but I figured, if anyone asked what I was doing, I'd simply tell that businessman, "Just stopping to smell the roses, mister."



Afterall, there's more to life than just running from meeting to meeting - from work to home. There are those little times during the day when you can just enjoy the simple things.

Sunday Afternoon Snack

On a spring/fall weekend, when the air is perfect (not too cool, not too hot), I love nothing more than to open all the windows & the door to our back porch and relish in the fresh air. Noshing on some yummy snacks doesn't hurt...

Cheese & crackers and easy iced coffee

Any coffee fans out there? I have the simplest recipe for a delicious iced coffee drink. Someone told me about it a looooong time ago...I can't remember who, so I don't know where to send the credit, but whoever you are...thanks for sharing! Now I'm passing on the recipe:

Easy Iced Coffee:
1 teaspoon instant coffee
sweetener of choice
milk
ice
about a 1/4 cup of water

Heat the water in a microwave-safe container (preferably a Pyrex or something easy to pour from) until the water is boiling. In the meantime, in a tall glass, add the instant coffee and as much sweetener as you want. Add just enough of the boiling water to dissolve the coffee and sweetener (a couple tablespoons or so) & stir. Once the coffee and sweetener are dissolved, fill the glass with ice, then fill with milk and stir to combine. That's it! Enjoy!

Vintage Flower Frame

I went to my first estate sale this weekend...unfortunately, I decided to sleep in, so I think all the good finds were gone by the time I got there, but I did manage to find this pretty little vintage flower frame (says made in Italy on the back) for a mere $2:

I put it up on top of a shelf in my living room along with some other fun opaque white glassware I've found at random garage sales and Salvation Army - mostly Salvation Army - there seems to be a lot of this white pieces there.

Also, I don't think this is a painting...looks more like a decoupage or something, which is why I'm calling it a frame...I don't know what else to call it! lol

Anywho, this little frame is just adorable...I'm glad I was able to find something worth taking home from the "leftovers".

Italian Chicken Soup

I was watching Food TV this weekend and saw the easiest recipe on Paula's Home Cooking with Paula Deen for a delicious and healthy soup - Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup. It looked so simple and yummy...I simply had to try it for dinner tonight:



This soup couldn't have been simpler. The ingredients to this one-pot wonder were simple and affordable and the soup turned out mighty tasty.

See the pretty green glass bowl? I got that this weekend at Salvation Army while I was on a quick thrifting trip on my way back from tennis.

Oh, and the garlic bread is a 30 Minute Meal recipe by super simple recipe diva Rachel Ray - basically heat olive oil, butter and crushed (not chopped) fresh garlic over low heat for 10ish minutes. Slice some nice crusty bread and broil till toasted. Brush oil mixture on bread and serve. I believe Ray Ray's recipe also features parmesan cheese and parsley, but I don't always have those on hand and it tastes pretty good without. Just be sure to keep an eye on the bread if you try this! That broiler works fast!

Finished! Phew!

Yay! I'm finally done with my duvet cover! Phew...what a relief! Now I get to take back my living room, which was being used as the only place big enough where I could lay out my entire duvet cover pieces while I was working on it:


I was kinda going for a sophisticated tropical look in my bedroom...but now that I'm looking at it, I wish I had gone for more of a cottage-y look. Oh well, at least the duvet came out a lot nicer than I thought it would. It's no Pottery Barn, but not too shabby for my first attempt:


A better look of the "patchwork", though I couldn't quite get a good shot of it as I wanted:


Alrighty then...on to some new projects...maybe some paper art or new jewelry designs...hmmm?

This Is the Project That Doesn't End...

Ever heard that song "This is the song that doesn't end...yes it goes on and on my friend...some people started singing it not knowing what it was...and they'll continue singing it forever just because...(repeat)"? I feel like I'm experiencing the same thing with this project of mine. I decided to make a duvet cover...for fun, of course. It was fun at first, but it's been darn hard to make. I don't have a large cutting area to lay all the fabric I need out for a full/queen size duvet, so it's been tough. Anywho, my latest obstacle was button holes. I had never sewn a button hole on a sewing machine before. I put it off...and put it off, and just let the duvet fabric lay across my living room floor for a few weeks before I worked up the courage to try it out. It was sorta like one of those things you did in school, like when you had an assignment to write a paper, and you'd just wait and wait and wait to do it. Sometimes, they say, you're supposed to just write something...anything down to get you started. Well, either way, I took the plunge and it turned out to be a lot easier than i thought it would be.




Look! I did it! After all that procrastination, I found out that sewing buttonholes is actually kinda fun!

Vintage Fruit Painting

I found this vintage fruit painting at a flea market several weeks ago. While the painting is quite cute, I really only bought it b/c I read that Marha Stewart's people are collecting vintage fruit paintings (I think it was in their January issue). So, eat your heart out, Martha....lookie at what I found for only $1:

Coincidently, I found the jadeite sugar shaker on Ebay. The olive oil bottle is just from our local hardware store. Yep, I said hardware store...it's one of those little mom & pop shops, much like the store Daisy Cottage has.

I do have to admit, the more I look at this little painting in my kitchen, the more I like it. :)