Think Spring!

At my local pharmacy today I saw this sign: "Think Spring" and they are right.  We are overdue for some spring around here.  

Spring is my favorite season.  I can't wait for the bulbs to bloom, the cherry trees to get pink and the forsythia to bring yellow to the roadside.  Oh and the lilacs!!! I can't wait for lilacs.  There is nothing that smells better. Up here in the mountains of the Catskills spring is being a little finicky. 

Today I inspected my bulb patch and found a hint of spring.  I'm so excited!

 MY CROCUSES ARE UP!!!!  I'm so happy.  Soon the rest of the bulbs will emerge, and I can garden.  I think I bought some purple crocuses too. 

See that green sprout?  That might be a daffodil!  We will have to see.

There you have it.  Spring is coming it will not pass us by.  The white witch is gone (I hope). 

We Have a Winner!

I want to thank everyone who entered my giveaway!  This was my first shot at this sort of thing and I am so happy about the turnout and great comments.  I will be sure to tell Susan to come over and have a look at all the great feedback

Using random number generator I got the number 3.  True story!  I was just a bit surprised myself. 

So the winner is .... (wait for it) ... Mary Ann of Handcrafted by Mary Ann Miller.  She is a very sweet person who was the first to comment about the giveaway.  As they say "the early bird gets the worm!!!"  Congratulations Mary Ann!

If did not win, don't worry you can still head over the Cloud 9 Bath & Body to take advantage of their spring sale.  Both the Cinnamon Coffee Beer soap and a Lemon Poppyseed is just $5!!!   The Mocha (my favorite) is only $3.  Be sure to take advantage of these great deals.

A Day in the Life of a New Vegan

Alright for the weekly WIAW I am showcasing my new eating restrictions.


Yup, Jeff and I are vegan (it has been three and a half weeks).  Just so you know, I don't only make vegan deserts, although that is all I have posted about.

So here is one day of my newly vegan life.

Breakfast:

 Everything bagel with vegan butter and raspberry jam (but no seeds, I hate that.  I guess I  have to go back to my old jam). 

Lunch:

It was an afternoon of leftovers.  The first is our vegan pizza (it was actually quite good) of portobello mushrooms, olives and basil.  The second part was leftover teriyaki tofu with mashed cauliflower.  Both were cold right out of the fridge.  I like it like that (and we gave up our microwave...long story).

Dinner

Veggie burgers with sweet potato baked fries with salad.  I love to dip my fries in mayonnaise (now vegan mayonnaise).  The burger is our usual but we had to replace the egg with flax (a trick we found online).  

Desert (what you didn't think I would skip that did you?)

Jeff's favorite home made chai with vegan creamer.

So there you have it.  One day of meals in my new vegan life.  As you can tell I am still eating well. 

I'm hosting a GIVEAWAY this week, so be sure to go here to enter to win $15 gift certificate for all natural soap. 

Cloud 9 Bath & Body {GIVEAWAY}

I started my blog back in January and I have grown so much.  I have made friends, and seen amazing things on this journey that is my blog.  So to celebrate all of YOU who read and comment (and those who don't comment too, I still like you) I decided to do a giveaway.  Through a mutual friend I met Susan from Cloud 9 Bath & Body who agreed to team up with me to do this giveaway.

Words cannot describe what this soap is so I will let you see for yourself.

This is a poppy seed and lemon soap with just a hint of lime.  The seeds help to exfoliate perfect for the warmer weather.

This Mocha soap looks amazing and you can't beat the natural cellulite fighting qualities! (I need this one)

The orange and clove pictured above (both shots) is just divine.  There is nothing better than the fresh smell of oranges, and the cloves will help to wake you up in the morning.  I just love the way this one is packaged.

The lucky winner will receive a $15 gift certificate and let me tell you, you can but a lot with that.

And for all those who don't win or can't wait to get their hands on that mocha soap (or any of the others), Cloud 9 Bath & Body is having a spring sale.  Tons of her soaps are on sale.  Hop over to her website and check it out for yourself, you will never want to buy a bar of ivory again.

Ok here are the rules of the game:
1) Follow my blog.  You must be a public follower of Designed by Chance in order to be eligible.
2) Hop over the Cloud 9 Bath & Body and tell me what you would buy (one comment).
3) Follow Cloud 9 Bath & Body the Blog for an additional entry (one comment).
4) Facebook or blog about the giveaway and get an additional entry (one comment each).

Leave one comment for each entry, either: shared the giveaway, visited the website, or followed Cloud 9 blog.  The more comments you leave the more chances you have of winning.  Either way, even if you only leave one comment, you MUST be my follower (because I love you and want to know who you are).  Also if you don't have a way for me to reach you please leave me your email so I can tell you that you have won. 

The winner will be chosen on Wednesday  April 6, at 5 pm using a random number generator.  Good luck.  Go forth and be clean!

Shower Curtain Fix-Up

I have been waiting months to get a new shower curtain.  Our old one was too dark.  But after all the searching I just could not find one I liked.  So I made my own.

I wanted a mostly white curtain with a touch of modern blue, and that is just what I got.


This is how I did it:

Gather Supplies:

Paint
Stencil brush
White shower curtain
Stencil
Something to protect your table

Mix Paint Color:
I used several colors to get the blue I liked.  I once had a classmate in art school who suggested I make my own colors and not just use the bottle colors.  That was one of the best suggestions ever.  This color has just a touch more depth. 

Stencil Curtain:
Lay the stencil on the curtain.

Apply pain to the end of the brush.  Then pat off extra paint on a scrap piece of paper.

Pat paint over the stencil, make sure not to have too much paint on the brush or it will bleed.

Remove stencil and let dry.  The results are amazing. 

And, just because I love her, and she loves to be in my photos here is what was hiding behind my new curtain:

 Rhea snuck behind the curtain....

 ... and poked her head out at the end.  She is such a cutie.

Come back tomorrow for a giveaway!

Blog parties:

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Housewives vs. Feminism

Some time last semester I found out that my classmates at Graduate School (at a very liberal school) referred to me as the-one-who-changed-her-name.

You see the July before my fist semester I married my best friend (corny but SO true).  I went the completely traditional route, white dress, diamond ring, and I took my husband's name.  You see my family growing up had many different last names - its a complicated story - and it was very important to me that my own family to all have the same name.  Jeff was not interested in changing his, and I didn't mind changing mine, so I took his name.  Somehow to my classmates this became my defining feature.  

Clearly there is some judgment here, but I see the same judgment all over the place.  For example, when a woman says they are a housewife.  Most people do not approve of this choice in life.  There is a sense that the woman is giving something up.  To be a feminist does one have to give up all that is feminine? 

I am a feminist.  I believe that women deserve equality and that they deserve to make their own decisions.  That means if they choose to change their names, get married in a white dress or become a housewife there is nothing wrong with that.  There is also nothing wrong with women who choose never to have children or who put their careers first.  Every women must do what is right for them.


I find myself contemplating this silent war, feminism and housewives.  So often feminism and homemakers are seen as incompatible.  Housewives get the bad end of the stick.  After so much women fought for in the second wave, the housewives, the women who chose to be housewives, to stay home and raise the family, are looked down upon by others.  Not all people do this, but there is always this element, this underground sense that being a housewife is not "feminist" enough.

I am here to say that if feminists really want to fight for equality and the right to choose, we have to stop looking down on women who make decisions with which we might not agree.  We have to embrace the choice to be a  housewife with the same respect as a woman who chooses to be a lawyer or a professor.  There is so much judgment among women, but if the second wave taught us anything it is that women need to support each other.  We need to stop judging.

I was just going to write about how women deserve to be respected for all their choices, but that name calling at my school really got to me.  I didn't realize how mad it made me.  Writing this blog, I feel that my life, and my choices are on display, and usually that is alright, but sometimes it gets to you.  You know?  I wonder who all is reading this, and what do they think about me.  Are they calling me names behind my back?  People can be do mean sometimes.  So if you're not a feminist, or you hate housewives, fine, but remember to try to not judge once and a while and maybe you will realize that the person you are judging has a soul as well.

That's why I love this blog.  The ladies I have met here are all kind, sweet and nothing but supportive.  I can be as feminine as I want and get nothing but kind words.   I can escape from the competitive and judgmental world around me and create a place with beautiful things.  Thank you all for that.  I will be hosting my first giveaway this week for just this reason.  To that you for supporting me.

P.S. My first giveaway has just been posted.  Be sure to head over here and sign up.

Binding Binder

Does having a binder mean you are bound to use it?  I just made a family binder but it is like a rabbit hole, to more you make the binder the further you go down the hole.

After my binder was finished I found Jen's helpful household maintenance list (oh good more chores).  They seem like a good idea (and it's so cute), and we are new homeowners so I printed it out and will put it in the binder ... but it occurred to me that I am just making more work for myself.  I know this is stupid, and I know the list is a good idea but I am strangely feeling more and more bound to this little binder. 

All that aside I made the cutest binder just check out these great shots.

I used the templates from Word, it was super easy.  I even made a label for the side.  It was fun.  I used the rainbow theme throughout.

Here are the dividers:

The dividers are in rainbow order, and alphabetical.  Rainbows make me happy.  It reminds me of some of my favorite moments of childhood reading The Magical Rainbow Man and His Journey of Love and pouring over the amazing illustrations.  (I love that book, I have to get a copy).

OK back to the binder... I used many of the free printouts Jen posted on IHeart Organizing, and made one of my own.

The cleaning list I wrote about here was very boring to look at, so I jazzed it up.  Using the rainbow theme, I made little check boxes with the dates for the next year.  I love how it turned out.

Here are the subjects, and the pages I included.
1. Auto - Jen's auto log
2. Cleaning Schedule - I made this one myself (I probably can't give it out because the writing is not my own, sorry guys)
3. Emergency Numbers - This has a Emergency Contact List (I found on online)
4. Grocery List - I downloaded The Ultimate Vegetarian Grocery List from www.grocerylist.org, and printed out several copies.  It's great. I get lost in grocery stores and find myself wandering around aimlessly, this list has the items by isle.
5. Future Plans- Here I have the Weekend Wish List, and Jen's Gift Giving Plan.
6. Schedules - It has Jen's Important Dates list and the previously mentioned household checklist.

Now since we are talking about binders I want to show you my simple recipe binder.

I have it organized by meal, and if you use your imagination you can see this one has a rainbow too. 

The cover is simple white, with a little label on the side (nothing too exciting).

I have been cutting out articles from magazines, and just love the "10 things to do with..." two page layout from Real Simple each month.  I have them in a special section.  They area  great way to find a new, easy, quick recipe.

I also have all the recipes in protective sheet covers, so when (notice I say when and not if) I spill food on them, they clean up well. 

I have other binders all over the house.  A wedding binder, a craft binder, a party binder, several teaching binders from my history teaching days, and three huge binders with articles form Graduate school.  I'm beginning to think maybe I have taken this binder thing too far. 

Upkeep on my new home is important, so I really should not feel too bound by my binder, it is not the poor binder's fault I have so much to do for the house.  The work has to be done whether or not I have a binder to remind me.  The moral of the story is, use the binder don't resent it (and maintain your home). 

My first GIVEAWAY has just been posted.  Be sure to hop on over and sign up.  Go HERE!