SACKS FIFTH 25% OFF YOUR ENTIRE PURCHASE!

If your husband tells you you don't need to spend more money on clothes or shoes... tell you are actually saving him money! 25% to be more exact. This one you can't miss!

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BREAKFAST IN BED - WHO DOESN'T LIKE IT?

If you are bringing breakfast in bed for anyone, put attention to the details. Please, no disposable plates! I was impressed by my dear husband and kids' choices! From the plate to the arrangement of the food. Beautiful & delicious! They really put their hearts into it. Literally! THANKS!

(Pictures taken with my brand new Nikon D5000! Thanks again!)

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HOW TO REMOVE THOSE WHITE HARD WATER STAINS

The one change I did not like when I moved to Texas was the quality of water. If you have hard water where you live - and more than 85% of American homes do - you hate the white stains hard water leaves on any surface, right? The stains are caused by the excessive calcium and/or other minerals in the water. Well, forget about all those expensive products you buy! I have tried many and they don't really work. The solution is in your pantry and, besides cheap, it's green: vinegar and baking soda. Spray the vinegar (which is acidic) on the surface and let is sit for about 5 minutes. This step is important! The vinegar has to first soften the stain, be patient! Then, pour the backing soda on top of the vinegar  and watch for some bubbling action! Wipe with a wet cloth or sponge, or for hard to reach corners, like around your faucet, scrub with and old tooth brush dipped in baking soda. Repeat until stain is gone or any time they come back. You will not believe it! Even the most stubborn stain will be gone!

In my house we buy at least, the 5 Pound bag of baking soda because we use it in so many different ways! It is amazing! It is not only cheaper but much healthier than chemical products! Want to find out what you can use baking soda for? Try one of the books bellow and have a healthy living!

Baking Soda: Over 500 Fabulous, Fun, and Frugal Uses You've Probably Never Thought Of



Sodium Bicarbonate: Nature's Unique First Aid Remedy


Try it and leave me a comment if this has worked for you!

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MAY I SUGGEST A FEW MOTHERS' DAY GIFTS?

I usually do not post personal pictures on this blog, but for mothers day I thought I had to... Me and my wonderful kids! Well, getting back to business, if you are going to "suggest" a gift to your husband here is a list of a few you can pick from. I am not suggesting flowers, chocolate or chocolate strawberries, cards or jewelry, as I am trying to be a little more  creative. Although of course, we all like those too! Some are very expensive but other are free! Nowadays everyone is trying to keep cost low and in truth what really matter to us is to feel loved. So maybe all your kids or husband can do is do stuff for you like you do for them the rest of the year... Whatever you do or get, just be happy and that IS possible if you chose to be happy without carrying a mother flag for that one day! Remember this is not a day to get things done! Take the day to enjoy yourself!

• A gift basket like above (a gardener's basket, fruit basket, baking, spa, wine and cheese, magazines/books, green mom, picture frames, essences, scrapbooking, etc)
• No cooking, doing laundry or chores on Sunday or the whole weekend.
• Breakfast in bed, take out for lunch (unless you like crowds) and eating out for dinner.

• A massage or facial or both! 
• Gift certificates from your favorite stores.
• Hubby going away with the kids the whole day while you relax doing whatever you like (in the jacuzzi, reading, chilling with a glass of wine, gardening, shopping, photographing, painting, or all the above!)

• A jewelery box like the one above (I LOVE this one! If you have the box, you need to fill it up!)
• A new bicycle, new running shoes, Yoga accessories or whatever your favorite sport is.
• A camera or camcorder.

• A key chain like above
• A retreat trip (nature, spiritual, Yoga)
• Anything personalized, like the suncatcher bellow.

• Dinner for two!
• Hubby taking your car to be serviced for an oil change, tire rotation and detailed car wash. Say goodbye to the cheerios that manage to survive under car seats!
• A hot air balloon ride or tandem skydiving! Oh yeah!

• A Panini Press like above.
• A sawing machine.
• A Breville Citrus Press or Juice Extractor like the one bellow

• An Apple iPad. If hold it, you want it!
• An outing to the zoo, the park or a town nearby you like to go for the day or weekend.
• Fair Trade, Sustainable Wage, Handmade African Baskets like the one bellow.

•  A car!!! Why not? Don't you deserve it? ;-)

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THE MOTHERS DAY GIFT I WILL LOVE TO GET!

I was at work the other day creating awesome mothers day gift baskets and a coworker asked  me if my dear husband is good at giving gifts...

Well, when he wants he is! 

Does he usually gives you anything for mothers day? (her husband doesn't "because she is not HIS mother!")

Well, this year, I didn't give him a chance! I texted him two weeks ago saying: "Mothers Day is May, 9th and I know what I want".

Is there any job on Earth harder then ours? Though the more gratifying, it is not only hard, but THE most important job! We are raising the future of this world!

I learned my lesson that Christmas when I told my husband "don't worry about me honey, I know we are spending a lot with gifts for the kids"... And he said OK we will not buy anything to one another. Of course I was just being nice and polite! I bought him 3 gifts, one from each child to give and one from me! OF COURSE THERE WAS NO BOX FOR ME! "But sweetie why did you say "no gifts?" BECAUSE I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD FOLLOW IT! Well it was the last time I said that! He is an awesome husband and honestly I don't need anything because he does let me buy whatever I want... and he may show up with a gift out of the blue, but he is just not good at celebrating dates!

Since last Mothers Day I laid in bed until 10am waiting for breakfast... I "the kids" may bring breakfast to my bed..."Honey, I let you sleep longer, so you could rest!" I WASN'T RESTING, I WAS STARVING! He DID made a delicious brunch though, bought gifts with beautiful wrapping paper with my favorite colors! Yeah! Impressive! Anyway, this year I already told  him what I want! Besides the gift, breakfast in bed, take out for lunch AND dinner! I will "let" him spend the WHOLE day with the kids and I will do something I love! I will show you later!

Since photography is one of my passions, on the top of this page is the my gift: the Nikon D5000! Bellow are a few pictures of me five weeks before I became a mom  for the first time and could get gifts for it! And at the bottom of the page, the pictures I was taking on those pictures if that makes sense!? Location is Cozumel, Mexico and "Yes" I traveled to Mexico 32 weeks pregnant! (and it was AWESOME!)

So, what are you going to get? If you have similar situation send a gift "suggestion". It works better right after you made your husband happy that night... You can also say, "I know it is difficult to pick something, so I can help you!" See, I got a lot smarter hum?

Read "MAY I SUGGEST?" for ideas of gifts from $0 to thou$ands!

Pictures by Daniela Cohen.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE PROPERTY OF THE ARTIST AND ARE PROTECTED BY THE UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.

YOU MAY NOT COPY, PUBLISH, OR OTHERWISE USE ANY PHOTO WITHOUT THE SPECIFIC WRITTEN PERMISSION OF DANIELA COHEN.
Copyright© 2010. All rights reserved.  
 

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NEW KIDS JUICE, with veggies and less sugar!

This new juice from Apple & Eve makes it easy to add more veggies to your bundle of joy! It is tasty, attractive and besides carrots (full of Beta-carotene, a Pro-Vitamin A, good for our eyes!), it has only 9 to 10g of sugar per box! That is at least half of other brands including the "100% fruit juice" ones! You should give it a try!

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TRADITIONAL BRAZILIAN PARTY CANDY, YUM!

These are trademarks at kids birthday parties in Brazil: "brigadeiro" and "beijinho de côco" or chocolate candy balls and coconut kisses. All my friends know  they are part of my parties! They are pretty easy to make, it just takes time to roll them, but the effect is worth the work. Besides they are amazingly delicious! Say goodbye to your diet!

Chocolate Balls (brigadeiro):

• 1 can of Nestlè condensed milk
• 4 tbsp unsweetened chocolate powder
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter + butter to roll the balls
• chocolate sprinkles to coat

Coconut Kisses (beijinho de côco):

• 1 can of Nestlè condensed milk
• 100g coconut powder + some to coat the balls
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter + some to roll the balls
• cloves 

(Do not buy sweetened American coconut. You will need to use pure coconut, dry and powdered. If you have a Brazilian store nearby or a grocery store which offers Brazilian products on their Internationl isle you will can find it. Or you can find it at the Indian section at your supermarket too. In Texas we have Fiesta where I find mine at great part with Indian products.)

The preparation is the same for both:
In a sauce pan add the condensed milk and chocolate or coconut. Mix well BEFORE, then heat the pan at medium flame. When warm add the butter. Keep mixing until it starts to thicken. It will get more watery before it thickens. Don't stoop mixing and don't try to use high heat to speed up! It will burn the mixture! When it starts coming of the bottom of the pan, it's ready! Turn off the stove and place it on a buttered shallow pan (glass or metal) until it cools. Once it is completely cool, it is ready to be rolled.
This process is simple and easy, but it can get messy. It is WAY easier if you have two people. One to roll the balls and another to coat them. First open the paper or aluminum cups you will use to serve. (I am lucky enough to have someone bring to me the tiny cups above, I never found them here). Use the smallest cups you find. Place a thick layer of the coat (chocolate sprinkles or coconut powder) on a plate. Spread butter into hands and fingers and roll the balls into your palms in circular motion. Then coat with the coconut or sprinkles. If you don't  have a helper, make a few then coat them, wash your hand and start again. A helper will save you the constant hand washing! You can use color sprinkles too, like I did above. For the coconut kiss, decorate with a clove in the middle, but remove it to eat.

(The size of the balls and quantity of them will depend on the size of cups you find, thus the size of balls you are making. For mini cupcakes paper cups, you will get about 30 chocolate or 4o coconut balls for each recipe.) If baking for a bigger party, you can double or triple the recipe with no change on the results.

TIPS: If you do not like chocolate or coconut (some people ARE crazy!) you can do a white ball just with the condensed milk. If you LOVE both, try coating the chocolate balls on coconut! Yum! For a themed party use colored sugar to match the theme!
These recipes can be made up to 10 days to 2 weeks in advance. Freeze the rolled balls into a container and place them on the cups the day before the party. If baking up to a week before, just keep it refrigerated.

Bom Apetite!

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Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, near San Antonio, TX

Living in the ever growing Houston area? If your kids love animals and a trip to the zoo, you must take them to this safari in the Texas Hill Country. It is located between San Antonio and New Braunfels, two nice cities to visit as well. Natural Bridge and Wildlife Ranch is open 362 days a year and has the safari, a petting zoo, a learning center and some other animals, but the highlight is the safari per say. You drive your car among the animals on a 4 mile loop and then you park to see the rest. We spent over one hour on the safari only. There are about 500 animals representing 40 different species. At the gate you will be offered a CD which will "guide" you. We didn't like it much, as our pace was different from that of the CD, besides we were so excited by all these beautiful different faces coming to eat out of our hands that we didn't want to pay attention to the CD (they recommend throwing the food on the ground, but yes we broke the rule and we loved it!). I do recommend the book though because it explains all the animals they have. You get some food to feed the animals included with your admission, but you have the option to buy more if you want. There is a "grill restaurant" but it actually has snacks and a lot of unhealthy choices (everything is fried!). I recommend you bring your lunch if you prefer to eat healthy. They do have a coupon for the restaurant on their website. If you are staying at a hotel in the area, you can find coupons on area maps or brochures.

I had never seen so many different types of deer and antelope (like the one above), cattle, bison, ostriches, zebras and many others! The animals look really healthy and are quite friendly. They will come to your windows to eat because they know you have food! We were crazy enough to feed even the bison from our hands (I had never seen one up close, they are HUGE!), but again this is not the recommendation... we are just a weird family that would go to any zoo before going to an amusement park! So ... we , had to know who had a soft or rough thong, who had  a pale pink or black mouth... 
Get the camera ready before you start and if you have a sunroof you will be able to get awesome shots from the top! If you can make a video you may get lucky and get the nosy zebra below! Have fun!

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The Art of Botanical Arranging - FREE class at Pottery Barn

Don't know what to do after church next Sunday? Need an excuse to have a nice brunch and spend time with a girlfriend? Need to brighten up your room to welcome the warm season? My favorite spring change in the house is bringing new flowers and botanicals indoors, with real and "I can't believe is not real" plants,  and gardening outdoors!

Pottery Barn has free decorating classes every month! The next theme is flower and botanical arrangement. Classes will be held the next two Sundays, April 25th and May 2nd. You can bring a vase and flowers and they will show you how to arrange them. Click here to  RSVP to your local store.

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MAKING PAPER AIRPLANES WITH YOUR KIDS

Who didn't enjoy playing with paper airplanes as a child? Well, I did!

Klutz is a company that creates activity books and other great stuff for kids 3 to 103. You can find this book online for around $12. Forget about expensive toys! My son got this book for his birthday last year and has had a lot so much fun since! We make airplane races almost everyday! Thanks Margie! It comes with 40 beautiful colored paper sheets and it teaches step by step how to fold 10 different paper airplanes. When you run out of paper, just buy letter size scrap booking paper! I love it because it promotes creative play, hand coordination (you will have to help your child depending on the age) and we can play indoors or outdoors! It is an affordable gift that will provide months of entertainment for your little ones and yourself!

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WOODEN TOYS YOUR CHILD WILL LOVE

When I grow up plastic was something new. Back then, the picture above would look like something very futuristic. I remember well the time when my parents had to take used empty glass bottles to the store in order to buy soft drinks! Do you? Well in only 4 decades we've come a long way from that as now there are about anything made of plastic and most kids playrooms are filled with toys made from plastic (mostly made in China). While you can teach your child about the environment and the importance recycling, there is nothing better to do to our earth then to buy less plastic and more wooden toys! So, here are several alternatives for wooden and other eco-friendly toys manufactures or resources we love in our house! All of them are easily found online.

• Plan Toys (puzzle shown above, cutest wooden mini dolls)
• Haba (specially good teethers and baby rattles)
• Hape International (bamboo, stylish car shown bellow)
• Melissa & Doug (known for great wood puzzles)
• Educo (Hape subdivision)
• Maple Landmark (made in Vermont, USA)
• Kid O (from Switzerland, toys and great design furniture)
• Adena (has some Montessori materials)
• Montessori Services (all Montessori materials)
• Eden Home (everything green, including toys)

Or if you have a handyman in the house this book (bellow) has 50 easy to build projects to make your own toys!

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FREE DECORATING CLASSES AT POTTERY BARN

 

Everyone loves Pottery Barn style and most of us would like to be able to decorate just like the pictures of their catalog, right? Well, what a lot of of people don't know is that your local Pottery Barn offers free decorating classes!

• Go to potterybarn.com
• Scroll down to RESOURCES and click on "store events"
• Choose the class you want to attend and RSVP by calling the store nearest you.
• Have fun!
  

MY FAVORITE DISHES WITH LEFTOVER ROTISSERIE CHICKEN? #1

You buy that delicious rotisserie chicken everyone loves, only the day you buy it! What do you do? I will give you many easy and fast options, but one at a time.  Since the chicken is already flavorful and cooked you will have dinner ready in no time!
Today the recipe is STROGONOFF. This is a traditional Brazilian dish of Russian origin.  Don't ask me how a Russian dish ended up on Brazilian tables! In Russia and here in the US the creamy color and consistence are achieved with sour cream. In Brazil we use Media Cream.  In my house this is the #1 favorite dish and I cook it every week!

INGREDIENTS: (amounts will vary depending on how much chicken you have)
Some Tomato Sauce (seasoned)
2-3 tbsp Ketchup
Sliced Mushroom (from jar)
a sprinkle or two Paprika
1 can Media Cream

First remove all leftover meet from bone. Discard any fat and skin. In a large skillet add chicken and enough tomato sauce just to coat the chicken. Cook over medium heat, mixing, until the sauce starts to dry. Add about 2 or 3 tbsp of ketchup, mushroom and sprinkle a little paprika. Turn off heat and stir in the Media Cream. Serve over rice with potato sticks on the side.

Vegetable suggestion to pair the dish? Arugula Salad or Garlic Asparagus. Enjoy!

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THE GREEN CARD EVERYONE NEEDS!

 

Not exactly "that" green card, but hey, this one you can use all the time! For a thank you note, birthday wish, sympathy, thinking of you card, get well soon message or a love note!  Couldn't be greener! Made by Idea Studio Design. If you speak Portuguese check the designers blog, it is full of inspirational design and craft tips!

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HOW TO CLEAN YUCKY SIPPY CUP STRAWS

Do your kids like to drink anything other then water on straw sippy cups?

You  may use them to train your baby to drink from a straw or maybe you like them for car trips. They are indeed practical!

The problem is if you do not wash the straw right after each use,  a black residue builds up inside it, right? Well, that is bacteria and fungi that feeds on the sugar and fat residue from juice or milk. Yuck! I know! If you baby does the sign for dirty when he grabs his sippy, then you know you have to do something about it!

The solution? Dr. Brown's, the maker of Natural Flow baby bottles,  makes a cleaning brush for the straw of its Natural Flow® bottles! You can find it at Babies R Us and Amazon.com. A cartoon with 4 costs U$4.49. It fits perfectly any sippy cup straw.

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BEST HI-END HOME THEATER SPECIALISTS

Last week I had friends visiting from Brazil with a mission: to buy a sub woofer for my friend's new apartment. So we went on what became an afternoon trip to a few electronics stores. My friend knew exactly what he wanted, so I thought it was going to be fast. At  8pm when our journey ended , I knew everything one could  know about sub woofers.

First, we stopped at one of a large store where a kind gentleman helped us and answered a few questions we had. The store did not carry the brand we were looking for, but he made a strong recommendation for another brand.

My friend wanted to visit Sound World, a hi end home theater boutique, which my husband had found on the internet. Mr. Viet Tran, what a gentleman! He was right, his store is hi end! Completely out of our budget, but certainly exactly our dream! He did not bother when we told him what he was showing us was way above our interest. He spend at least an hour sharing all his expertise. He is extremely knowledgeable and professional. There, we heard the purest sounds we had ever heard before.  Then, he recommended us going to Sara International and talk to his friend Mr. Aaron McAllister  who carried the brand we had decided to get. He called the store to see if he was there and if they had the item and even printed a directions map! 

Mr. McAllister was as knowledgeable and kind as Mr. Tran and also spent over one hour explaining facts and demonstrating technical details we would never get at the big stores. His price was competitive, but his costumer service wasn't. Well, I mean we would never get better customer service, unless we are talking about Sound World!

So if you leave in the Houston area and need a custom home theater  you know where to go, if you leave away, you will have to give them a call. I am positive they will help wherever you are!

Mr. Viet Tran - Sound World

Mr. Aaron McAllister - Sara International

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