Looking for a way to earn some extra money? Being a TSG Consultant allows you to take your passion for food and share it with your friends while having fun. You can earn extra income with a flexible schedule and enjoy discounts on fabulous TSG products. With TSG, you can grow your business at your own pace. You decide how much you want to earn. The more you do–and the higher leadership level you pursue–the more you earn. Since Two Sisters Gourmet is a fairly new company, this is a great time to get in on a ground-floor opportunity.

Two Sisters Gourmet offers you five ways to earn:

• Lead party experiences
• Conduct Fundraisers
• Collect reorders personally or through your website
• Sponsor and support new Consultants
• Develop a team and become a Two Sisters Gourmet Leader

I would love to help you build your business. Two Sisters Gourmet offers great hostess and customer incentives that don’t come out of the consultants’ pockets. Additionally, consultants earn business credits on party sales. The business is really easy; everything is laid out for you through online training and in the Welcome Kit. Although Two Sistes Gourmet is a new company, it offers many of the benefits of a more established company–benefits like fabulous incentives (trips, cars, jewelry), 24/7 ordering on your very own website, and fabulous training and support.

If you’re interested in this ground-floor opportunity, feel free to check out my website. I’d love to have you on my team!

If you are looking for a way to bring a little gourmet to your everyday cooking, look no further than Two Sisters Gourmet!  Many of us are looking for ways to cut costs; by purchasing just a few items from Two Sisters Gourmet, you can cut your fast food and restaurant expenses.  Many people make a run for the drive through or reach for their carryout menus when they’re too tired to cook.  Two Sisters Gourmet enables you to take a few items from your pantry and whip up a delicious, quick, and easy homemade meal for far less than you’d spend at the local takeout place.

For example, just the other night I was feeling a bit tired and didn’t want to go to a lot of trouble for dinner.  So, I pulled out some thinly cut pork chops, rubbed them with a little of Two Sisters Gourmet Peppery Herb Rub, threw them in the pan and cooked them ’til done.  While they were cooking, I put a little of the Blackberry Cherry Pepper Conserve into a microwave safe bowl and heated it just a bit.  I threw together a salad (thank goodness for those bagged salads!), and voila, dinner was done.  I plated the pork chops with a bit of the conserve on top as a sauce.  Sooo good, let me tell ya!  And it tasted like I went to so much trouble.

Another quick and easy dinner option is to whip up some Asian noodles.  Boil up some spaghetti, defrost some frozen stir fry veggies and toss in some chicken (in a pinch, use rotisserie chicken, or those chicken strips that come already cooked).  Pour over some of Two Sister’s Island Ponzu Dipping & Grilling Sauce, or some Peanut Ginger Marinade.  Your family will think you were in the kitchen for hours; no need to tell them it took all of 10 minutes and cost very little!

It’s that time of year…Spring, bunnies, chicks, lambs.  Time to start thinking about how to fill those easter baskets and what to get for that special teacher.  Here are some great items to get you started.

Up first are a couple of items from one of my favorite online stores:  HearthSong…  Both of these retro items will be the highlight of any child’s Easter basket:  

Each of the old fashioned papier mache eggs are filled with 14 German chocolates…yum!  The hollow candy eggs are made using HearthSong’s Peek Inside Eggs Kit.  Each kit makes two eggs.

Plum Party has a couple of items for those of you who would like to make Easter cookies, but aren’t necessarily the baker-type.

How cute is that Easter Cookie kit in the little painter’s can?  It comes with cookie mix, frosting mix, special Easter sprinkles, and a paintbrush for applying the icing. The Easter Cookie Coloring Kit comes with 4 cookies and 2 edible ink markers.  Fun!

Finally, if you’re in a crafty mood, Family Fun is the place to be.  I took a look at their Easter crafts, and my favorite is shown below.

I have to admit, I’m totally guilty of going overboard when it comes to holiday themed clothing. When I was teaching, I had an excuse to buy those goofy holiday themed sweaters for myself…said I was dressing up to make the kids smile. Really, I just love the holidays! Now that I’m staying home, I dress the girls up for the holidays. Let’s face it…kids can wear that stuff and still look adorable. Not so much for me… Here are some of my faves:

The Gap has quite a few different looks. Here are a couple…

The Children’s Place has a few cute options too.

Target doesn’t disappoint with a variety of adorable choices.

Last up is Gymboree. The outfits at Gymboree are by far my favorites, but are also quite pricey. Each outfit is around 80 bucks. Maybe there will be some left on the sale racks after Valentine’s Day and I can score some cute looks for less for next year…just buy a size up from this year and we should be good to go.

A few more ideas for Valentine’s Day.

If you have a toddler, check out this Valentine’s set from Fisher Price’s Little People. It’s $15 and includes 3 figures, a table and chairs, flower stand fence with removable flowers, a mailbox (it really opens!) and some pretend valentines to put inside. The set also includes 6 Valentine cards.

Next up, a gift for the ladies. Check out the Key to My Heart key chain. You choose how many dangles you’d like, what words you’d like on each dangle (maybe your kids’ names?), a Swarovski crystal for each dangle, as well as a charm for each dangle. You can select little picture frames as your charms for an extra charge. There are tons of combinations available (math has never been my strong point!). It comes in a pretty heart-shaped box, ideal for gift giving. The two dangle key chain is $56.

Finally, what would Valentine’s Day be without candy? Head over to Hershey’s. They have a variety of personalized gift options available. My favorite was the Sealed with a Kiss Tower. It comes with Reese’s hearts, kisses, miniatures, and a personalized chocolate card. Yum! And if you’re tired of Conversation Hearts, check out Jelly Belly’s new Conversation Beans. Jelly Belly’s sour flavors come with romantic sayings printed on them…how sweet!

I can’t say enough great things about Carole Peterson’s music. I originally found out about her from a friend who lent me a CD. After listening to it, I immediately went to the website and ordered a copy of Sticky Bubblegum. Unfortunately, I then lent my copy to a different friend and never have gotten it back. Grandma saved the day by sending us Tiny Tunes and Highly Usable Music, All Year Long. And Vivian received Stinky Cake for her birthday this year. So now we just need to replace our copy of Sticky Bubblegum to have the complete Carole Peterson set.

So, what’s the big deal, you may be asking….kids’ music is kids’ music. So wrong! This is fun music that TEACHES! The songs are kind of old school in that they are just her and some simple accompaniment and sometimes you can hear kids singing along with her. It’s kind of like having a really fabulous preschool teacher right in the room with your child. As she sings, your child will learn to follow directions, develop his or her gross motor skills, play with phonics, and just have a good old fashioned good time. If you click on the link to one of the CD’s, you’ll be able to hear samples of the songs. I guarantee you’ll be hooked. She’s just great. So pick some up for yourself, or give a few as a gift. That just gave me an idea…I think I’ll pick up a few copies to have on hand as birthday gifts. Also, if you have a child in preschool- first grade, any of these CD’s would make a great teacher gift. Happy listening!

Today I’ll be writing about some items that I’ve found that have made my life easier or simpler in some way.

SAVE SOME SPACE!

My mom bought me this set of collapsible measuring cups…I love, love, love them! They fold down completely flat, thus taking up far less space than your average measuring cups. Yes, it’s the simpler things in life that make me happy. I plan to get the colanders next. What will I do with all that extra cabinet space?

SAVE ON STYLE

I got a set of Temp-tations ceramic ovenware for Christmas and I can’t wait to use it. I really don’t need to save it for a special occasion…it’s affordable ovenware designed to go from oven, to the table, to the freezer. It’s even microwave and dishwasher safe! It looks like a million bucks and most pieces come with their own rattan trivet and iron serving basket. This set has 16 total pieces and is less than $45.

SAVE YOUR NECK

I don’t own this yet, but saw it today on QVC (do we notice a trend here?). It’s a mirror that opens out from both sides so that you can see all the way around your head without holding up an extra mirror. It means you can see what you’re doing back there while drying or styling your hair. Hubby can see his neck and shave it easily. It also has two lights and a 5X magnifying mirror. It attaches easily to most surfaces with suction cups or mounting tape (included). It folds fairly flat when not in use. It’s $31.10.

SAVE YOUR SANITY

The Magellan RoadMate has to be one of the nicest presents my husband has ever bought me. We recently moved to a new city, and this little baby has really helped me find my way around. In addition to your run-of-the-mill directions, it also provides points of interest. For example, while on the road, I could search for the nearest restaurants. I could even type in the name of a restaurant and it would tell me where the next closest one was and how to get there. Best of all, it recognized the traffic jam we were in on I-95 and offered us a detour. Although I doubt we saved any time, we felt better because we were actually driving instead of sitting on the highway. I’d say I use my RoadMate at least 2-3 times a week. I love it! If you belong to Costco, check their site for prices. They currently have a special on these.

SAVE YOUR SOLES

I have had problems with dry feet ever since my first pregnancy. Something about the whole baby process has taken its toll on my tootsies. I tried many creams and lotions and was disappointed in them all. Until I found Kerasal. It rocks! My feet are back to their old pre-baby condition (if not their pre-baby size….sigh…). I love this stuff and I think you will too.

As you will soon learn, my mind works in strange ways. The past couple days, I have been reminiscing about the 80’s. Not sure why…Maybe it was the fact that I bought my brother this Pinky and the Brain set for Christmas.

Technically, Pinky and the Brain aired in the mid-90’s. But buying him that box set started me thinking about other 80’s cartoons. That, in turn, led me to this site:

They have listings for tons of TV shows you’ve probably totally forgotten. Many of the listings even include a clip of the theme song. Aahhh, Shirt Tales, how I’ve missed you.

So then I started remembering middle school and how my math teacher insisted that we learn to add and subtract using binary because it would be so necessary in the future. Fast forward to 2007: never used it once. Ever. But I do remember learning to write a basic program in 6th grade, and I found this totally funny t-shirt:

So, at this point, I start thinking, hey, what are some other 80’s things I can write about so that people can do a theme gift, or have other 80’s gift giving options? Here are two more items for your perusal:

First up, an Atari 2600 Plug and Play Keychain.

You have three choices…each is a keychain and is actually playable. Games include your choice of Asteroids and Millipede, Centipede and Yar’s Revenge, or Pong, Breakout and Warlords. They’re 9.99-14.99 depending onwhich you select.

Next up is Rubik’s Cube in two versions. Original and over the top. The cube is currently enjoying a renaissance, but I remember when they were “totally awesome” the first time around. Anyway, if you want to kick it old school, try this one from ThinkGeek.

Finally, if you want a totally sleek and modern take on the Rubik’s cube (and have an extra $155 burning a hole in your pocket), check out this baby:

It’s made of solid chrome and has inlaid leather tiles. I guess those tiles won’t peel off like the old ones did…

I hope you’ve enjoyed this stroll down memory lane and peek into the inner workings of my mind. If you aren’t scared off, I’ll see you back here tomorrow. Who knows what I’ll find to write about…

I seem to find my best ideas when I’m not really looking for them. Like a few days ago I was searching for something on Amazon and I stumbled upon this cool Lullaby series, Rockabye Baby! They take favorite songs by artists like Tool, Coldplay, Nirvana, or Metallica, and play them baby lullaby style. I wasn’t sure whether it was really cool, or maybe just a kind of bastardization of what used to be cool music, so I asked my musically-hip brother (a Full Sail graduate, thank-you-very-much). He’s still in his 20’s and doesn’t have kids yet, but he thought they were pretty neat. Anyway, that got me thinking about a theme gift using one or more of these CD’s.

How about a CD (or two or three) and a cool night light? Rosenberry Rooms has one of the most exhaustive collections of cool night lights I’ve seen.

Throw in a SwaddleMe baby swaddler, and you’ve got a great sleep-themed gift. The SwaddleMe takes some of the difficulty out of swaddling a baby. It has velcro patches which allow you to swaddle baby without the tricky tucking.

Have a restful New Year, everyone!

The family and I spent yesterday driving from North Carolina to Florida.  The drive should have taken us about 9 and a half hours.  The traffic was so heavy, it took us 14 hours!  Crazy…  Anyway, the girls were really good in the car.  This is thanks to our DVD player.  The biggest hit of the drive, was this Blue’s Clues DVD.  The girls loved seeing some of their favorite episodes on DVD.  I loved that it was over three hours long!  Cha ching!  That meant three hours without me having to dig around the car looking for a new movie and then swapping the DVD.  I bought mine at Wal Mart for less than 12 dollars.  You can check the one near you, or buy it online.  I checked Amazon, and Wal Mart’s cheaper…

I passed the time in the front seat listening to podcasts from the Splendid Table.  I’m new to the whole podcast thing, so the hubby made me several CD’s of podcasts.  The Splendid Table is basically a magazine type show devoted to foodies.  People call in to the host with questions (what do I do with lemon balm, what foods should I have at my 50’s themed party, how can I recreate this chestnut soup I had in Paris) and host Lynn Rossetto Kasper does her best to answer them.  She also interviews people about food related topics and sometimes has food related news stories.  It really helped pass the time and I was so grateful to have something to listen to without having to search through the stations.  If you’re into food and cooking at all, check the site out.  You can find out when the Splendid Table broadcasts in your area, or download a podcast.

Gotta keep this short since I’m trying to spend time with the family…will post more tomorrow.  Hope everyone had a very happy holiday!