Fun Ideas to Make Life Easier!

A co-worker just sent me this and I had to SHARE!!!! Check out these brilliant ideas!!!!

Ideas to Make Life Easier from Alderberry Hills  

Ideas to Make Life Easier

Why didn't I think of that?!  You'll be uttering those words more than once at these ingenious little tips, tricks and ideas that solve everyday problems.


Hull strawberries easily using a straw.

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes.

Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or computer screen with WD40.

Stop cut apples browning in your child's lunch box by securing with a rubber band.

Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets inside one  of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.

Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod in a  bowl. The concave shape amplifies the music.

Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.

Add this item to your beach bag.  Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?

Attach a Velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.

Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the floor.

Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a stocking over the vacuum hose.

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box  lid.

For those who can't stand the scrunching and bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.

Forever losing your bathroom essentials?  Use magnetic  strips to store bobby pins, tweezers and clippers, behind a vanity door.

Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes.  And you can find them in just about every  hotel.

A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy.  Magnets hold the plastic cups down to make them tip-resistant.

Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.

Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so much more fun and easier for kids to eat.

Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper bag.  Much healthier and cheaper than the packet stuff.

Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.

Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the  top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.

Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.

Use egg cartons to separate and store your Christmas decorations.

The above are not my pictures, this was a public email.

The Journey to 26.2 Miles Started this WEEK!

I've run on open fields in the middle of Arkansas, along the ocean on both coasts, along the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea, from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre Museum along the Champs Elysee...( going under the Arc de Triumph, around the crazy city streets of NEW YORK, the winding country roads in Wine Country, the isolated virgin beaches on islands in the Caribbean, on mountains trails in the states, or slippery snowy paths on the Alps, around historic monuments like the Coliseum in Rome to the drowning city of Venice... among milllions of miles in other places.

I've used my legs to tour every city I've ever visited....created unforgetable memories with friends all over...

In 2009 I ran my FIRST Half Marathon....NOW, this January, I will use my legs to tour 26.2 miles of the city that I grew up in, MIAMI; The Miami ING Marathon; January 29,2012.

As I'm writing this, I'm nervous...because it will mean that i'm committing to racing in 16 weeks...2x the furthest distance I've ever raced. I will be racing for one mile for every year of my life. I'll be 26.1 years old on RACE DAY =)

I have my training plan printed from Runner's World (SMART COACH)...and only the coming weeks will tell how prepared I will be for this race. The reason i'm sharing this is not only because I need to SHARE IT...to force me to COMMIT, but because I know that setting fitness goals for ourselves as moms is often difficult...since we have SO MANY VIABLE and REASONABLE excuses to NOT be able to get out for a run or get a 30-45min workout in, let alone a 10-15mile run. But I do think that Nico is at a place where he is ready to take on this challenge with ME, in the stroller of course...he's start training next year...=)

However...there are times when you have to JUST DO IT!

If any of you have been teeter tottering with the IDEA of doing a Half or FULL Marathon and want to join me...LET ME KNOW!! I can email you some great sources for training tips and training planning. It would be great to know of someone else who's in this process as well!

If you are in the process of training for a race, or have already completed a Marathon...please share your tips! I'd love to hear how you did it...and how you got over the straight up FEAR of committing to 26.2 miles!

Like with everything in life...no matter how long, big, or difficult an objective/goal/situation may seem, you'll get through it ONE STEP at a time....So TAKE THE FIRST STEP (STRIDE)!

Happy Training!

Cleaning Products that are SAFE for you, your home, and Your planet!

If you girls are anything like my mom, you only think something is clean when you can FEEL the CLOROX burning your nostrils. Growing up my mom hit up everything with clorox but I never could stand that smell or the smell down isle 8 at the Grocery store where all the cleaning products and detergents are--sealed...and yet it smells like there is a CONSTANT SPILL or LEAK from all the bottles.

The other day I met a mama-preneur who has her own BLOG: Eco-Licious Mama and works with Shaklee Corporation-who makes eco-friendly cleaning products.

Eco-licious Mama Educates and Empowers moms, families and communities on how to get rid of toxic chemicals and create a healthier home and Family!

Now what MOMMA doesn't want to do that?

I must admit that I have backed off from those days when i'd anti-bacterial everything and everyone within a mile radius of my son...but now that he's a little older (almost 2) and a lot stronger, I've back up a notch. I still clean and disinfect, don't get me wrong....but not as much as I used to...and not nearly as much as MY MOM still does---WITH CLOROX!

When talking with Rachel, she mentioned stuff about Palmolive dish soap NOT actually being good for you like the commercials used to say and that doctors can test your urine and find traces of the detergents you use since they seep into your system<---CRAZY.

There were a couple other facts that she gave me that made me start thinking:

• 150 chemicals in the home have been linked to allergies, asthma, birth defects, attention disorders, cancer and other illnesses...
• women who work from home have a 54% higher cancer rate than those who work outside the home. According to a study by the EPA, this is caused by the "out-going" of hazardous chemicals within the home and contributes to higher cancer rates.
• this is one of Oprah's favorite things
• The Cleaner of the WHite House and NASA use their products
• They have products (non-toxic, plant based cleaners) that outclean 11 national Brands.
• To get the same amount of clean as one 16-ounce bottle of Basic H2 (one of their products), you would have to spend: Nearly $482 for the equivalent of all-purpose cleaner, $12,250 for the equivalent amount of window cleaner, and $144 for the equivalent amount of degreaser....THAT's A LOT of SAVINGS!

I know this may seem a little extreme, you might not give hoot about how they clean they White House, and like me you don't think that you've ever spent that much money on cleaning products anyway!....but it made me wonder:

What kinds of things don't I know about the things I have in my home that I wouldn't really miss if they weren't here and might actually be able to SAVE MONEY by switching it for another product?

I am really not selling you this product or endorsing it. I am just letting you know what I came across. I am going to set up a meeting with this ECO-LICIOUS MOMMA and see what other stuff I can learn and find out. I encourage you too, to look around your home and ask yourself:

Could there maybe be a better way to clean that is safer for my me, my home, and as a nice bonus...for the planet (which I want to preserve for my grandkids to enjoy one day)?

If you are interesting in finding out more info:

Contact Racheal Terracino at 714-493-9224

or email her at: embraceyourlife@yahoo.com

If you do try these products, let me know what you think of them. If you have other eco-friendly ways of cleaning your home, please share us with rest of us!

Email those tips to valeria.rodez@gmail.com with: MMHE in the subject line.

Happy Cleaning!

A CLEAN fix to sneaking a workout into your LAUNDRY day

As with everyday, there are way to many things on the To-DO List from the second you wake up. If, on top of the usual stuff, your child threw up the night before....then add a couple hundred more things to that list.

Well that's how my day got started... I realized that my 30 minute run was going to be quickly pushed into the "i'll get to it later" pile since I had vomited sheets, crib guard, carpet, my clothes, Nico's PJs, towels plus the rest of our week's laundry to do thismorning before "working" for a couple hours on my book and then picking my son up from Daycare! Just writing that sentence made me tired.

But the reason I am writing this post is because I got a BRILLIANT IDEA... It's probably not new or earth shattering but it was a simple fix to my problem! I decided that since I needed to wait 30 minutes while the clothes washes before putting it in the dryer, I was going to go for a 30min RUN! And so I DID; a quite lovely run, I might add. 32 minutes later I changed the clothes into the dryer and came home to continue chipping at that To-Do List (aka- write this post).

SIDE NOTE:Now I know some of you may be wondering--why did you GO do laundry? Those of you who have the luxury of having an in-home washer and dryer, you don't understand, but for the rest of you how have to pick a LAUNDRY DAY to walk your stuff over to the laundry room and wait for 30 minutes then change your clothes to the dryer and wait an hour to pick up your clothes, fold them and then walk back to your apartment....THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO INCORPORATE SOME EXERCISE INTO THAT ROUTINE!

If running isn't your thing, there are lots of other options for you. In my article: Take 10 minutes for yourself on Examiner.com you can find some other options like short workouts from a BootCamp4 Moms site or even a list of 10 minutes of ABS that you can do.

Let's face it, we have to make our health a PRIORITY...which is hard-I know. But if we don't take care of ourselves, how are we going to take care of our families?

So next Laundry Day...

Get those workout shoes on and go get your sweat-on!

Using NotiFINDER.com to Find Things Faster on Craigslist

Noifinder.com can save you time and money by sending Craigslist post to your inbox once you answer a couple simple questions about what you are looking for!

We all know that children can help you run up HUGE tabs when getting clothes and toys that you know they will grow out of and stuff on some shelf before you’re already back in the store again. So by now you probably have learned that getting used things Craigslist is the way to go. However Craigslist takes forever to sift through the different posts under the different topics, which sometimes makes the experience more agonizing than helpful.

Well fret not more.

I am proud to say that my husband, Peter Flores and our friend, Ashish Patel created an incredible and FREE tool to help us all navigate through Craigslist, Notifinder.com.

It allows you to set up a search with specific criteria in 4 simple steps!

First input your location. Here is Los Angeles we have a couple sub-locations to choose from when creating a search:

los angeles - all california

los angeles - westside-southbaycalifornia

los angeles - SF valleycalifornia

los angeles - central LAcalifornia

los angeles - san gabriel valley california

los angeles - long beach / 562california

los angeles - antelope valley

After deciding what your location is, type in what you are looking for. As you start typing, you will see a pop-up letting you know how often a new listing is posted. This will help you gauge if your search is too broad, too specific, or just right.

Next determine if you would like to know right away, once a day, or once a week about posts that match your search criteria.

And last but not least add your e-mail, sit back, and wait for the Craigslist posts to arrive at your inbox! Once you get what you wanted, you can just unsubscribe with one click.

I know you might think it’s too good to be true, or that I'm a little biased but you just have to try it once

and you’ll be hooked. Simply check Facebook and other sites like these, Killer Start-ups, AppScout,

Techie Buzz, to read about how people all over are using NotiFINDER.com to make their lives easier.

Techie Buzz said “With an easy-to-use interface, no hassle of signing up for an account and a dead

simple idea, NotiFinder is one of the most useful Craigslist tools on the web.”

What are you waiting for? Sign up for a search and find out for yourself just how simple and time-saving NotiFINDER.com really is.

Happy NotiFINDING!

Continue reading on Examiner.com Using NotiFINDER.com to Find Things Faster on Craigslist - Los Angeles Motherhood | Examiner.com

Take 10 minutes for Yourself

Taking time to workout is often seen as a LUXURY, not a necessity, and it often one of the first things to get bumped off the list when things start getting too busy with the hectic-ness of endless “Things to do” lists; getting home from work, making dinner,and all the other things that fill our lives. We sometimes forget to make a little time for ourselves!

Here are a couple suggestions that won’t take too much time:

1. Find Short on-line workouts.If you only have 15--20 minutes to sneak a workout in, you can find some great workouts on-line that Tami Tyson from The Tyson Method, has created that get you feeling stronger in those little bits of time that you do have. For $20 a month you can access the 20 min workouts. There are new ones posted every single day.
All you need to do is join the members site as a VIP member to gain access them. You can test one out on the sign up page to see what it is all about. Your chances of continuing working out are so much greater if it's only 20 min a day compared to doing it in excess. Tami and the Tyson Method’s goal is to make working out and staying fit a lifestyle change forever for the women who participate with them in the different programs.

2. Run an errand. Look at your list of things to do and see if it’s possible to either BIKE or RUN any of the errands on that list. You will avoid traffic and looking for parking, plus you might even get a TAN all while getting some exercise in. If you have a child in tow, they might enjoy biking to the local story-time or music class.

3.Take 10. Finally if you just have a couple minutes, drop to the floor at home and pick 10 of your favorite abs. Try doing each abdominal exercise for 1 minute. Before you know it, you’ll have done 10 minutes of ABs and you’ll be ready to move on with your day!

Here are a couple suggestions:

1. Plank
2. Bicycle
3. leg raises
4. Verticle leg cruch
5. reverse cruch
6. crunch with heel push
7. Oblique Twist
8. Flutter kicks, also known as scissor kicks
9. V-hold
10. Cross-Over Crunch

Hope these suggestions encourage you to take a little time out of your day to sneak some WORKOUT time in for a healthier, stronger, and sexier YOU!

Continue reading on Examiner.com Take 10 minutes for yourself! - Los Angeles LA | Examiner.com