Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Create a Must-Have Cleaning Kit

8:20AM Tamar Weinberg | If keeping a cleaner household is on your list of things to do for 2008, you might want to get started by building up a must-have list of cleaning equipment. Real Simple magazine suggests 22 items that belong in your cleaning kit. You’ll need an easy-to-tote caddy that can store all your wares, which should include disinfecting wipes for counter tops, squeegees for shower doors and mirrors, spare toothbrushes for hard-to-reach crevices, and a microfiber duster for your blinds, paintings, and anything that accumulates dust. Additionally, consider adding baking soda, vinegar, all-purpose cleaner, and dishwasher liquid as each of these cleaning solvents can help remove mineral deposits and other dirt from a variety of surfaces throughout your home. What’s in your cleaning kit? Feel free to let it out in the comments. 22 Items You Need in Your Cleaning Kit [Real Simple] More »

New Year’s Resolutions: Yea or Nay?

8:00AM Gina Trapani | The New Year is almost upon us, a time of relentless weight loss product commercials and self-improvement talk. Personally, I love to make resolutions. That said, hitting the gym on January 2nd is a nightmare, and you can work on improving yourself any time of year. So before we hit you with a barrage of New Year’s resolution posts, we want to know: Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you’re viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser. Two years ago almost 65% of you were all “Bah, humbug!” about resolutions. State your case on resolutions this New Year in the comments. Photo by Joe Shlabotnik.

Choose a Charity at CharityNavigator

7:36AM Gina Trapani | Tomorrow’s your last chance to donate to charity in 2007, and if you don’t know where to find the charities that are doing the best job for the cause you care about, check out independent evaluator Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator rates organisations based on their efficiency and capacity, and categorises them by cause. If you’re looking to be a smart donor this holiday season (and get a sweet tax write off), Charity Navigator’s got quite a few resources of interest, like the Top 10 Practices of Savvy Donors and 6 Questions To Ask Charities Before Donating. How did you decide what charity to support this year? Let us know in the comments. Highest and Lowest-Rated Charities [Charity Navigator] More »

Ideal Ways to Store Fruits and Vegetables

7:00AM Tamar Weinberg | Have you opened your refrigerator’s crisper drawer lately? If not, chances are that the fruit and veggies you’ve stored in there may be moldy. Perhaps, according to the Unclutterer weblog, it’s better to look for more ideal options to store your perishables. For example, you should put tomatoes in an aerated basket out of direct sunlight, but not in a refrigerator because refrigeration causes tomatoes to lose their smell and taste. Additionally, you can store corn in the freezer, but lettuce should never be frozen. Contrary to popular belief, you can refrigerate bananas too. The skin might darken but the fruit within is safe to eat. It’s much better to put apples on the refrigerator shelves rather than in the crisper drawer so there is proper air circulation around the fruit. In the end, the Unclutterer blogger decided to do without the refrigerator crisper drawer altogether. Uncluttering Your Refrigerator’s Crisper [Unclutterer] More »

Fun Ways to Live Longer

6:20AM Gina Trapani | Living healthier and longer doesn’t have to mean salads and treadmills. Behaviour expert Mark Stibich recommends a few “fun” healthy additions to your habits and diet, like drinking red wine, eating dark chocolate, smiling (even when you don’t want to), sleeping enough, and having more sex. These sound like New Year’s resolutions that are easy to keep. Fun Ways to Live Longer – Have Fun While Aging Healthy and Living Longer [About.com Longevity] More »

Clever Dinner Table Decorations

6:00AM Tamar Weinberg | Are you celebrating New Years with a nice dinner party? Dress up your table with affordable and elegant centerpieces or table-settings that show some creativity. Take a vase and fill it up with hand-picked flowers. Use colorful tablecloths. Repurpose your holiday ornaments and scatter them throughout the table. Light a candle or two. Make art with napkins: Cloth napkins are not at all expensive, but lend a real elegance to a table. You know you’ve officially grown up when you have these at a dinner party. Learning how to fold a napkin is a simple way to lend a cool, elegant look to your table, or you can simply roll your napkin and tie a few inches of ribbon around it in a bow. It really doesn’t take too much cash to add a little decor and spark to any meal and your guests will appreciate the added effort to make the meal feel just a tad more homey and welcoming. 7 Inexpensive and Chic Table Setting Ideas [Start Cooking] More »