We love our cats and dogs. We love playing outside with our kids and our friends. Because of all of this, we have to do the best we can to clean up our shoes and our pets’ paws before we go back into the house. The new Clean Step Mat can help in resolving this problem.

The Clean Step Mat is super absorbent. The microfibers of the Clean Step Floor Mat pull dirt and water right from your shoes keeping your floors in your house nice and clean. You can be worry-free when your pet goes outside and runs to the house first knowing the Clean Step Mat will protect your floors from the mud on your pets’ paws.

With the Clean Step Mat you do not need to worry about stained floors again. Just let the Clean Step Mat take care of the dirt and grime, and you can continue to play outside.

I have been looking high and low for a coffee table solution. The size and shape of my furniture doesn’t leave much room for a coffee table, but I need something for when I have a drink, a snack or want to put my feet up. I thought with all the choices for furniture that I would have found something that works for my space. I thought wrong.

After searching high and low, I finally found this Snack Table Ottoman. It will nest perfectly in the small space I have for a table or ottoman, I can put my feet up on a cushioned surface, or flip the top to use as a sturdy table. It has great bonus features as well. It’s on wheels so I can move it around the room or use it as an extra seat for guests, and it has a lot of storage inside for a blanket to snuggle with on chilly nights.

This ottoman was the perfect solution for my problematic space and even pulls double duty as storage and seating. Do you have any double duty furniture?

Everyone has one, but no one wants to admit it; the closet of “stuff”. Mine is my coat closet. Sure, I keep my coats in there, but if you part the coats and look into the back you will see a vacuum, a broom, two different mops, a bucket, a wood floor mop, and a cordless sweeper. If only I could force myself to use all of these tools as often as I should, my house would be spotless!

The problem is that when I want to get one tool, they are all tangled together. They fall over, fall out of the closet, I have to guess which handle belongs to which broom/mop/sweeper. Its far more difficult than it needs to be. But this won’t be a problem anymore with the 5 Slot Tool Holder. Just mount this on the wall and place the handle of any tool on the holder. The “magic” ball technology grips the handle and keeps it in place. I’m going to mount this on the back of the door of my closet door so all of my cleaning tools will be displayed and easy to reach.

Last night as I was walking home from work and errands that took entirely too long, and after a well-deserved mani/pedi, I ran into a friend of mine who reminded me of what is happening between now and 2 weeks from now…BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!

For me, this really only means more traffic during my morning commute—hardly a stunning change. For others it means getting kids up in the morning, after-school activities, and homework after dinner. For a friend of mine, it means being a student once again. He is going back to school and while maintaining his full-time job. He is not happy about it because in his words, “It’s not like starting 3rd grade when you get to shop for Trapper Keepers”. I guess shopping for school was more fun when we were young. Now everyone shops for new computers and laptop desks, and printers.

I think its safe to say that times have changed!

Recently, I have been on a mission to find alternatives to pasta. I like to keep the recipes that come out of my kitchen fresh, new, and different to keep from being bored. I also have been trying to eat healthier. With that being said, some of my favorite recipes include pasta and veggies – it’s quick, easy, it can be mixed up in different ways, and I like it.

Pasta and veggies is great. Generally, I’ll use whole wheat pasta, or pasta made with vegetables. One of my favorite recipes is actually using spaghetti squash as opposed to actual pasta. I love that the squash still gave me the pasta texture without all the carbs. I also enjoy not only the sweet flavor of the squash but how it takes on the flavor of whatever else I put in it as well. I would stick to using spaghetti squash to deviate from pasta when I could. But then I wanted to know about other ways to make pasta with vegetables and that is when I started research.

I found that people make pasta dishes with other kinds of squash, zucchini, carrots, broccoli slaw, and any vegetable they wanted. I learned you can make “spaghetti” by slicing the vegetable with a potato peeler or a spiral slicer. Perfect! There are recipes all over the internet like this one found on BlogHer. Now, all I need is the Veg O Matic to make cutting the rest of the vegetables I want to use in my “pasta” dishes just as easy as cutting out the pasta!

Keeping with Friday’s post of healthy meals, I’m trying to take healthier lunch options to work. It is so tempting to drive through a fast food chain or go to any place that serves not-so-good-for-you food rather than fixing something at home. Taking your own lunch saves a lot of money, but there is generally a fair amount of planning involved. Do you have the ingredients? When will you make it? Does it need to be heated? What food container am I going to put it in? Will I really want to eat this when noon comes? Shouldn’t lunch be simpler than this?!?

Last night I tried the Salad Chef and I love it! It has everything I need to prepare and store a delicious salad. The Salad Chef will wash and spin the lettuce and any vegetables I put in, includes two size chopping blades and a cheese grater built in the lid so you prepare your salad in the same bowl you take along with you—just switch from the cutting lid to the storage lid. The 19 cup capacity bowl is plenty large and shatter proof. This saves so much time and prep work!

Salad everyday? Boring! But the Salad Chef comes with a recipe book so I don’t get lazy and make the same salad day after day!

Welcome, weekend! I’m really looking forward to a couple of days off. I have a friend visiting from out of town, lunch with some friends and dinner plans this weekend. Despite having half of my weekend meals already planned out, I’m also going to try out a few new recipes that I’ve been putting off.

With fall looming–its so much closer than I want to admit—I don’t want to get caught in the routine of eating comfort foods all the time. They taste amazing and warm your body, but they often come loaded with extra calories. After being really active all summer, the switch to spending a little more time indoors and eating heavier meals can really take a toll on my waistline.

That is why I’m going to try out the Fat Magnet. Just pop it in your freezer before you start cooking, skim it over the top of a fatty dish for a few seconds, and the fat will be drawn to the magnet! I love this for several reasons; most healthy cooking lacks the flavor we’re really after, and I don’t like to diet or deprive myself. This is a simple way to cut a few extra unnecessary calories.

I can’t wait to try my new recipes and the Fat Magnet!

Last week I wrote a blog post about how to get through the 3 o’clock slump that many of us experience every afternoon in the office. In the post I shared three tips to keep your energy up throughout the day. Today, I’m adding a fourth tip; make use of the Candy Wizard!!

A co-worker of mine got the Candy Wizard for her gumball habit—something she picked up to stop the late afternoon snack attack. It is so much better than a plain candy bowl or jar—it’s a conversation piece. When I feel myself getting sluggish and I realize that I need a quick break, I take a walk down the hall to my co-worker’s office, hold my hand under the Candy Wizard and “magically” get gumballs! It gives both of us an opportunity to have a quick chat. It’s a small thing, but its amazing how shifting your focus for just a minute or two can really help you get through your afternoon and speed up your productivity.

It is summer time. And one of the greatest parts of summer is going away on vacation. Take advantage of the warm weather, slow work days, and time off with the kids! Vacation is great!

I am going on my first real vacation in over a year. I am taking a trip way down to Florida to visit my best friend who has lived there for way too many years for me not to have gone to see her there. My trick to making this an affordable vacation? Staying at my best friend’s house! People, vacations are expensive; fights are not cheap, hotel costs are out of control, and meals and incidentals will cost you hundreds!

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to getaway. In fact, you don’t actually have to go anywhere to getaway! I appreciate having responsibility at home and needing to stay close. A “staycation” might be just your ticket to relax without any of the vacation planning, costs, and hassle. Check out this link for ways you can enjoy your staycation.

For those of you lucky enough to be going away on a vacation far away from home, might I suggest a streamlined travel bag. This bag is a cross body bag so your arms are free to carry your luggage, children, pets, etc. It will keep your necessary items together and organized and ready for use. It’s a terrific carry-on bag with a place for your ID, passport, a book or magazine, credit cards, cell phone and pretty much anything else you may need for a flight (ear plugs to drown out the crying babies?!).

Whatever you decide to do, have fun and be safe!

Another weekend is in the books. I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I enjoyed mine. Sunday was a rainy day, but I was invited to see my friend’s new backyard. She and her husband just had their backyard completely redone and landscaped. There is a new deck, built-in planters, plants and flowers galore and in the middle there is a great big sundial. They had gotten the sundial years ago at an antique shop but held off on displaying it until they could have the backyard of their dreams. And may I say, it is amazing!

I really like the idea of building the yard around a featured piece, much like you might center your living room design around a piece of art or a favorite piece of furniture. While my yard is nothing grand–just one hop, skip and jump and you’ve covered the entire yard–I am thinking I will order one of these sundials for my garden area. It will be something pretty to look at all year and add something different to the space. And if or when I move, it is one piece of the yard that can come with me! My wheels are turning trying to think of other ways to incorporate features from my friend’s yard into mine. One step at a time though.

Do any of you have anything interesting pieces in your yard? I’d love to hear your ideas!