Monday, June 25, 2007

Garage Sale America

As a girl, I remember occasional weekend mornings when my mother would get this odd glint in her eye and ask, "Want to go to a few garage sales?"

Though the prospect of rifling through other people's junk never held great appeal to me, my mother made the experience a treasure in itself.

We'd grab the local paper and make our way down windy back roads to every nearby yard sale, tag sale, garage sale, and estate sale, certain to uncover plentiful diamonds in the rough. Hours later, we'd return home, famished, with a trunk-full of curiously thrilling finds that no one but my mother and I found valuable.

With memories like these, it's no wonder I jumped at the chance to review a new book by Bruce Littlefield called Garage Sale America for the Parent Blogger Network.



It's been years since I've allowed myself the time and self-indulgence to go "hunting," but after reading this handy and informative guide and drooling over photographs of the author's tremendous finds, I have my motivation. I feel that old familiar sense of excitement and, dare I say, titillation. With the expert advice contained in Garage Sale America, I'm primed and ready to score myself some grade A junk - er, treasures.

Littlefield gives readers practical Do's and Don'ts in the art of buying and selling, and points out where and when to find the best deals in the land. He provides valuable insights about collectibles, as well as how to "re-purpose" items and display them with a designer's touch.

In this age of rampant materialism and fascination with all things shiny and new, Littlefield's recycle/re-use/re-purpose message is as refreshing and eco-friendly as a cloth grocery bag.

Countless bargain treasures that can be "new to you" are sitting in a dust-covered box in someone's driveway right now. What are you waiting for?

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Don't Miss This Journey!

Big travel plans this summer? Maybe you'll be hitting the streets of Chicago, Manhattan, or Washington D.C.? Perhaps you'll travel up the East Coast from Cape Cod to Boston to Maine? How about Philadelphia or San Francisco?

You can visit any of these places from your very own living room courtesy of author/illustrator Martha Day Zschock and her incredible Journey Series of children's books (published by Commonwealth Editions).



Martha, a former elementary school teacher on Cape Cod, came up with the idea for her Journey Around series of books after searching unsuccessfully for books to teach her students about the region. And thus, Journey Around Cape Cod and the Islands was born.



The series has grown to include all the places I mentioned above, with plenty more to come.


Parents love these books because they capture the essence of a place, with interesting historical details and fun trivia. Kids love to look at Martha's beautiful paintings, and especially to search for the hidden bird on each page.


If you're looking for educational, keepsake books to acquaint your children with a city or state, or books to help them remember their fabulous vacation this summer, look no further.

I know I won't. (Guess what book I'm bringing to BlogHer in July!)



You can read more details about Martha Zschock and her wonderful book series here at Martha's identical twin sister Heather's website. Heather, a phenomenally talented designer/artist herself, designs the layout for all of Martha's books. The two have co-authored several books together, and Heather has amassed an enormous library of her own creations that you can see on her website.

Quality books by quality people, folks. I know you'll enjoy them as much as I do.

Friday, June 1, 2007

TrueBlue is TrueLove

TrueBlue Blueberry Juice how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.




I love you...
chilled, in a glass
frozen into popsicles
mixed in salad dressings and sauces
blended in fresh fruit smoothies and milk shakes
shaken into cocktails
straight out of the bottle.

There is nothing not to like about TrueBlue Blueberry Juice.

The blueberry-grape blend I sampled, with thanks to Dan at TrueBlue, contained no high fructose corn syrup and no artificial flavors. I like that in a juice - especially one I'm serving to my children.

Most fruit juice products on the market provide little health benefit whatsoever, but with blueberry juice, you reap the benefits of the incomparable blueberry - an antioxidant powerhouse that may well prevent cancer and slow the aging process.

I shared my TrueBlue Blueberry juice with as many people as I could find: neighbors, friends, relatives, random passersby.

Not one of them had anything negative to say. Not one. They walked away from the Dynamite house with big smiles framed by purple-stained lips.

Because there's nothing not to like about this juice.

So where can you find it? It depends where you live. Check out this map to find a retailer near you. In Connecticut, I was pleased to see that TrueBlue products are carried by Shaws and Big Y supermarkets, among others.

You can also find nutritional information, product specifics, recipes and so much more on the TrueBlue website.


In the meantime, I'll share one little recipe that my sister and I concocted over Memorial Day weekend, though admittedly, we eye-balled the proportions. This should be close enough, but of course, you should modify amounts to suit your tastes.

Blueberrypolitan
2 oz. absolut citron
2 oz. TrueBlue Blueberry Juice
1/2 oz. Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice
Stir with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with lime wedge.

Enjoy!