Productivity Mojo
Heyyyyy 😀 How are ya? Hope your weekend is wrapping up nicely.
Flowers for the week:
“Pumpkin trees”!! So insanely cute.
When I saw that at Trader Joe’s in the flowers section, I thought they were fake.
Nope- real baby pumpkins (or pumpkin lookalikes?)
SO fun and Halloweenie.
We were animals today. The Pilot tackled the yard (mowed, edged, weeded) and cleaned out the garage, while I did the inside of the casa.
I also dealt with my nemesis… the kitchen sink.
It has horrendous water stains on it from who knows how long. The people who lived here before left some things in questionable condition (ie I don’t think they were cleaned.. ever), and the sink is one of them.
I’ve tried everything: baking soda, vinegar, Seventh Generation multipurpose cleaner, granite cleaner
+ lots and lots of elbow grease.
And the water stains remain….
Any tips, fellow clean machines??
Since we didn’t want to stop our productivity mojo, we ordered delivery from Renee’s Organic Oven.
I’ve waxed poetic about Renee’s pretty often, but it just makes me so happy that they have a mix of Pilot food
and Gina food.
Bella stood by the table trying to look as pathetic as possible, praying for a pizza of her own.
She got a bite of crust and a piece of ham from the Pilot’s pizza 😉
After everything was sparkly over here, I hit up TJs for our groceries for the week.
Now that things have settled down around here and we don’t need to make any major non-baby purchases (like a new couch, bed, washer, blah) we can direct our focus back to our budget and adding more to savings. All of the above groceries were only $91 and under budget, which is perfect since I still need a handful of ingredients for Wednesday’s dinner 🙂 Baller. I <3 Trader Joe’s.
I think the grillmaster might make an appearance tonight. He seems to only come out on the weekends, and I love not having to cook or wash a ton of dishes 😉
See ya in the morning with a new bfast idea 😀
xoxo
Gina
Something to do: Check out *this tool* to create your own personal mission statement. I found it via Britta’s blog and was so excited to create my own, as I’m a major goal, mission statement, visionary nerd 🙂
I am at my best when I am responsible for the success of what I’m doing, and when I’m doing something I love and am passionate about..
I will try to prevent times when I’m not passionate about my work, or feel like I’m being babysat or micro-managed..
I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can Interact with others.
I will find enjoyment in my personal life through Share the things I’m passionate about with other people.
I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as cooking, writing, dancing, organization, goal-focused and teaching.
I can do anything I set my mind to. I will open a health a fitness center for teens and young adults.
My life’s journey is I imagine myself accomplishing the goals I’ve set for myself (writing a book, opening a bakery) and also living for my family, helping to provide everything we need to live comfortably, debt-free, traveling often, full of love and happiness..
I will be a person who I’ll be surrounded by my entire family and friends. As a tribute statement, I’d just want to hear that everyone in the family felt like they were loved by me, that I supported them, and memories that we’ve had together..
My most important future contribution to others will be Kindness.
I will stop procrastinating and start working on:
- Become more involved with charity and volunteer organizations
I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:
- Inspiring others to achieve goals and the methods to accomplish them
- Always putting family first, showing kindness and love to everyone I meet
- Encouraging health, peacefulness and positivity
I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:
- Work out for my health and sanity, instead of purely physical results
- Continue to be thankful everyday for the gift of life and all of the blessings I’ve been giving.
- Remain focused, present and positive
- Continue to be a good friend to others, reach out to those who need me, and participate in as many events as my schedule allows, without overloading myself
That was fun, and I’ll be printing it out to add to my inspiration board 😀
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Love the personal mission statement idea… thanks <3
I love tjs I wish we had one closer!
That personal mission statement thing is awesome — thanks for the link!
I have no clue what to do with those water stains, but I will say that you can see major improvement in what you tried, maybe just keep plugging at it?
you always have the best inspiration/goal setting ideas! thanks for sharing : )
LOVE the PB Puffins! Our TJ’s purchases are scary similar- makes me feel like I must be doing something right! : )
Loveeeeee the personal mission statement! Must do my own. Thanks for sharing yours with us 🙂
Ps glad Bella got some ham and crust. She’s working that “Ohhh I want some” face! Haha
If it’s minerals from the water, try soaking a paper towel in white vinegar, lay it on the water stains for 20 to 30 minutes then rub and repeat until they wipe away 🙂 you may have to be persistent if they’ve been there a long time – hope it works for you!
Love the mission statement tool! Thanks for sharing. 😀
Shaklee Scour Off (non-toxic scouring paste made from cherry pits!) works magic on kitchen sinks! I’m completely obsessed with the stuff.
Lemi-shine will get it right off! It’s by all the other dishsoap. It’s in a green/yellow round bottle.
That pizza looks really good!
I have used little razor blades to scrape water stains off my granite. It is super easy and doesn’t require much elbow grease or cleaners! Think of it like when you scrape the stickers and glue off your car windshield from registration and inspection stickers – the razor blades take it right off!
I’m so jealous of Trader Joe’s goodies. We don’t have a TJ’s anywhere near Vermont.
Yummm, now I want pizza!!!
Do you eat the Puffins or does the Pilot? I’ve been thinking about getting those.
Your pizza looks yummy!
I love TJ’s too– I totally want some mini-pumpkin trees! How festive and cute!!– also, you can’t beat the prices 🙂
Glad you had a productive weekend! We had one over here too.
We have water stains like that, too and they’re stubborn! You can try Lime Away – that works for rust and hard water stains. My husband used a razor type scraper around our faucets and just scraped the build up away. Gross, but it worked. 🙂
I see the “Strawberry Walks Into a Bar” cereal bars in your stash – are they any good? I saw those there and thought about picking them up for my son, but didn’t know what they are like.
And I saw the pumpkin trees, too! I thought they were so cute!!
I was going to suggest Lime Away as well, because that looks like mineral deposits from the water. Elbow grease and vinegar works as well, but you have to be really persistant. For a one-time usage thing, I wouldn’t think anything of it (as long as I was in a very well-ventilated room and had gloves on). Once the mineral deposits are gone, wiping it down regularly helps a lot 🙂
Thanks si much for sharing that personal mission statement maker! So cool… whatta great way to boil down goals & reinspire yourself.
ps- The TJ’s mini-pumpkin tree totally looks like heirloom tomatoes! haha. So jelly of your TJs purchases, my hubs is stationed in Germany, so TJ’s in sight wahhhhh 🙁
Those baby pumpkins are blowing my mind!
Water stains are the worst! Vinegar is usually my go-to, it does almost anything! The other products that I am aware of to clean the lime and calcium build-up is not the most “natural” stuff on the planet. You will have to let us know if you find something!
I get those same water stains on my granite countertop… Just use a razor blade to scrape it off. You can also use a mixture of half windex half water to make your counters shine!
Mr. Clean magic erasers work wonders on water stains, among other things. =)
I agree!
I was going to suggest a razor blade too. It does look a LOT better already. For the faucet, I usually just replace them when they get bad, but your’s looks pretty high-end already. I’ve tried all the chemicals and never had great luck.
I bought a water softener earlier this year, for maybe $800 installed? LOVE it. They say it removes 100% of the calcium and other gunk from your water. My fixtures have build-up from before, though. But my dishwasher is like night and day. It works so much better now.
In previous relationships I always found eat with the guy tough! They get away with eating more… unlike me! I love that you get separate entrees that suit both of your diets (actual “diets” aside).
Ok I know it sounds crazy but use lemon juice! Buy a big jug (Sam’s club, Costco, sometimes Walmart) take a spray bottle spray, spray, spray, wait 15min. then wipe off! I leaned this trick on How Clean Is Your House? For hard water stains in the shower. Works wonderfully =)
Do you have something awesome to do with the butternut squash? I have one that I want to cook tomorrow but don’t think I’ve ever cooked one. I do lots of acorn squash and spaghetti squash, but the butternut was too cute to resist!
You guys are animals! I love to save money on groceries too! I am going to work on being more in the moment. I am way to much in the future all the time.
That is SUCH a cute little pumpkin tree!!!!! OMG!!!
My TJ’s does NOT have those. I was there today and was standing in front of the store taking pics of all their flowers/plants so 100% we don’t have those in San Diego 🙁 or I would be all over it!
It always shocks me, too, the level of cleanliness (or lack thereof) that some people live in. Not that the water stains are horrible, but they would bug me too. I would try a granite cleaner, especially made for granite and see if that helps…
Your photos are really sharp and clear and vibrant today…love em!
Are they “pumpkin-on-a-stick”, aka “ornamental eggplant”? http://parkseed.com/pumpkin-on-a-stick/p/51648/ We’re trying to grow some in our garden now.
I totally thought that those pumpkins were plastic at first glance. I saw these pumpkins this weekend called fairytale pumpkings that looked exactly like mini versions of Cinderella’s pumpkin coach!
Um. I had no idea baby pumpkin trees existed. This is something I need to see for myself!
I don’t know if you can use this on granite countertop, but I love Scrubbing Bubbles. It’s the only non-natural cleaner I use but it might work to at least get the cleaning started. 🙂
Those “flowers”/mini pumpkins are too cute 🙂 And I’m on my way to build a mission statement as we speak 😀
That personal mission statement idea is amazing! Writing down stuff like that always makes me feel so motivated and empowered. Thanks for the link! 😀
Those pumpkins are so cute! I thought they were fake until you mentioned that they were real. I want some! I laughed at the picture of Bella. Chase is always at his most pathetic when we’re eating pizza. Except that he’s tall enough to rest his head on our thighs and gaze soulfully up at us, drooling. Yuck!
Loving the baby pumpkins!!! I want them!
I think the little pumpkin tree is adorable! Love it!!
I’ve gotten those hard water stains before. Easiest thing is to get CLR. I bought a small spray bottle of it, sprayed, waited 5 minutes, wiped it all away. It’s the only thing that gets it perfectly clean – I am sick of scraping and scouring with the scrubbie to get the water stains removed!
Good luck!
Try CLR for your water stains. Pour some on (undiluted), let it sit for a few minutes, then clean it with a toothbrush. We have really hard water where I live and this trick always works!
Mr. Clean magic eraser’s work on everything. Got the grease off my stove hood that nothing else took off.
Get yourself a bottle of CLR, those stains will disappear like magic!
http://www.jelmar.com/CLRbasic.htm
Hi Gina –
I recently started following your blog, and wanted to share with you how, foremost – you are an incredible inspiration, and I am touched by the love you and your husband share. These qualities are rare…
Not only do you have a amazing outlook on life and self – but you desire to share that gift with others – FAB!
Congrats to you on the soon to arrive little bundle of joy…although you already have one – Bella 🙂 (fur child). You guys are going to be stellar parents…
In closing Gina – I truly believe “you get what you give.’..Thank you for giving so freely, and lovingly to those you know and those of us who follow your blog.
Natasha – An ex-pat from Cali – relocated to Nova Scotia, Canada
ps – We make killer smoked salmon in this province!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you get those water stains off, please tell us how! My sink has similar (although not as bad) ones b/c our water is horrific (really hard, lots of calcium in it). Vinegar works for all the other water stains in the house but the sink ones are the worst and it never comes fully clean.
CLR is best but Lime Away might work as well. We have water off of a well and we get those too. They are a pain!
Your pizza looks awesome! Yummmm!!
Can’t get the mission statement link to work. I’ll keep trying. I’d love one of these for my blog!
this will sound crazy but go to a hardware store and buy a pumice stone or brick. I have hard water stains in the toilets from our well water and I scrub the porcelain with the pumice. something about the level of hardness of the rocks that keeps the pumice from scratching the porcelain. just check at the store and make sure it is safe on granite. best of luck!
I cannot wait to do my own personal mission statement, thanks for sharing! I’ve done my own versions of this in the past, it’s awesome to look back when there’s a rainy day!
It’s not the most friendly of cleaners, but try Lime-A-Way from the hardware store/grocery cleaners aisle. It’s pretty killer on the tough stuff methinks.
I’m not sure if this will work on granite but it for sure works on hard water stains or any other tough stain in the sink or on the faucet. Mix 3 parts cream of tartar with 1 part hydrogen peroxide and scrub like crazy! Works every time. (I think you could also sub lemon juice for the hydrogen peroxide but I’ve never tried it that way). Hope this helps!
I’m planning to do a post on it later this week, but I discovered (from my mom) this weekend that using a little bit of olive oil on a paper towel is THE way to clean your stainless steel. I’ve used Bar Keeper’s Friend (also amazing) and countless stainless steel cleaners, and nothing has gotten my stainless steel as clean as the olive oil did. I was shocked at the results!
i think the baby pumpkins might be branches from a persimmon tree?
you might be right- they look a lot like tiny persimmons
Okay, I absolutely love love love your personal mission statement – you’re such a goal setter and that is incredible 🙂 my boyfriend is the same, and i think that is one of the reasons he is so successful in his work…he knows what he wants and finds a way to get where he needs to be! So inspirational. I also love that you are so true to yourself and your passions in your work…and place your family and loved ones at an equal importance. <333 Awesomeness 🙂 xyx
Those little mini pumpkins are too cute!! I’m having a hard time believing that Halloween is really right around the corner but those might get me ready! And I love the idea of writing a mission statement! What a great way to really focus on your goals and reflect on what you really want! Thanks for the idea!
Those pumpkin trees are so cool!
Not sure if someone already guessed this, but the ‘pumpkins’ look like persimmons to me maybe? I’ve never seen them that small, but they could be underripe. Either way, adorable!