Music Monday: REM-- Everybody Hurts

So-- it has been a day. L and I did back to school shopping and birthday shopping. I did laundry, we were up early to get E to camp and then pick him up and then back to shopping to get his back to school shoes.

As I type this I am icing my jaw. Ouch.

All I can say is this has been significantly more painful than I had bargained for.

I stopped the big guns pain killer, as I am home alone with the kiddos. Tonight I am having another one. H is coming home.

It hurts.

Tonight it throbs.

Summer yarden

To say that the bulk of this summer has been brutal is not overstatement. We have had some epic thunder storms and unprecedented temperatures and heat index readings. Our grass has felt more like a Brillo pad than a lush green carpet.

I will give H props. He has tended his tomato plants and we are starting to see the fruits of his labor. We have had to water nearly every day.

While H is laboring in the yarden, some us prefer to laze around. This planter of catnip and the hostas are her favorite lounging spaces.

H has celebrated the few but mighty raspberries he has grown. We got some transplants last summer from a twitter connection. I will admit, those berries are very tasty.

H has invested in anti-deer netting

Last year I feared our blacked eyed Susans were all gone. This year we have a few volunteer-- on the opposite of the yarden. I don't ask, I just enjoy the flowers where they choose to flourish.

My glads have really, really struggled this summer for obvious reasons. H and I were laughing the other morning, it is funny how they bloom in shifts. Nice, but strange.

These were the first to bloom

Then these beauties (see the brown grass...)

and after last week's rain, these bright yellow ones joined us

For years this was tiny and low to the ground. This year it achieved bush status. I bought it for 99 cents late a few summers ago. I have no idea what it is.

Normally these guys wait until August-- but since August weather joined us in early July, they can be excused for being seasonally confused.

It hasn't been all joy in the yarden this summer. Our trees have taken it tough with the strong winds and we lost our beautiful titmouse. I assume he is fine, but his house was lost cause.

Apparently he did not have insurance and honestly, I didn't see anyway to put his shattered abode back together again.

I am hoping the increase in rain will get the yard greener again and keep the flowers coming well into the fall.

DIY: Dip dyed party dress

I tweeted at the time, if this works out I am taking all the credit and if it was a bomb, I was going to blame Pinterest.

I am pleased to say it turned out beautifully.

Finished dress

So here is the process.

Find a dress. I found this fun strapless number on the clearance rack at Old Navy. It was off white with white stitching. I loved the style of the dress and the stitching work. I also loved the price. It was marked down to $11. Not a huge loss if I ruined it in the dying process. I had tried to find something a a few local thrift stores, but I had very limited success.

Plain off-white cotton dress

Close up of the beautiful stitching.

I prefer to work with Rit dyes and in liquid form. The powdered ones are ok, but I get the best results with the liquid ones. I settled on Petal Pink.

I used alittle over half a bottle of dye and 1 c. of kosher salt.

Then I did some prep work. I measured the dress and decided how I wanted to layer the color. Then I used our drying rack and pants hanger and played with placement of the dye bath and the dress. This took a bit of time, but it was worth it in the end.

And yes, I am fancy. I use a trash can for my dye bath.

See the ring from the last time I dyed jeans?

So I created the bath, positioned the dress roughly 2/3 of the way into the dye bath and let it sit for 3 hours. Then repositioned the dress, so only a 1/3 remained in the dye bath and let is go for another three hours.

I removed the dress, let it dry for a few hours and then washed the dress in cool water. The remainder of they dye delicately tinted the top 1/3 of the dress, just as I had hoped it would.

I am left with a pretty three-toned pink frock, which I have worn a few times already and everyone seems to really like it. I have paired it with a pink necklace. Mom is probably rolling her eyes-- pink is not generally my go to color, but in this case I think it makes the dress just perfect. (Mom was a huge fan of pink.)

On a side note, I wasn't sure what would happen to the stitching. On the off-white dress, the stitching is almost lost, as it is white-on-white. After my efforts-- the beautiful stitch work really pops. I think that may be my favorite part of the dress now.

This is a totally easy fix for a tired old dress or a ho-hum frock on the clearance rack!

Total cost-- maybe $15 and about 6-7 hours of time. (well an hour of active time and about 6 hours of the dress hanging out in the dye.) When I wore this dress to dinner for my birthday-- I felt like a million bucks.

The adventure continues: Trader Joe's

Part 2 of my answer to Allie's cry for help when shopping Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

I have very mixed feelings about Trader Joe's. Once upon a time, I shopped there much more frequently. My problem with Trader Joe's is two fold-- their produce just isn't that great and their handling of gluten free information and manufacturing practices has been known to be suspect. When I ate nuts--  I was there alot, but now less so.

That said I do like their store. I do shop there. I think they are a great boutique grocery store.

1. They have some real hits and some real misses. In terms of the price to quality ratio, I think they fantastic. There is real value to be found at Trader Joe's.  For rice and soups and other interesting sauces, I think you can do well at Trader Joe's. Interesting cookies, crackers and chips-- wonderful. I go there specifically for their plantain chips and crunchy green beans. Both gluten free and yummy and reasonably healthy. L likes their seaweed snacks. E likes their nuts. In terms of dried fruit and nuts and mixtures, their selection is impressive and competitively priced. In terms of gluten free goodies-- well the selection is hit and miss.

2. Wine selection. For inexpensive, drinkable wine I think they have a respectable variety. One of my favorite Proseccos is at Trader Joe's. You can also but single bottles of beer, which is nice if you just want to try something new. Charles Shaw is very drinkable (aka 2 buck Chuck and is great for sangria.)

3. Hands down they have a great cheese and cured meat selection. High quality and tasty.It is prepackaged, but competitively priced.

4. Quality food and focused on convenience.(They have improved their shelf tags. It is easier to find what is Kosher, Vegan and No Gluten Ingredients. This is a major improvement, which I have noticed recently.)

• NO Artificial Flavors, Colors or Preservatives
• NO MSG
• NO Genetically Modified Ingredients
• NO Artificial Trans Fats
• Sound good? Look for 'Trader Joe's' on the label.

5. Dairy products and soymilk-- a nice selection and a reasonable price.
 
I think this is what sets them apart and makes them worth the trip. They promise if it carries their label-- it is free chemicals and is NGM. This is important to me. Sometimes I want a Dosa. And let's face it, I am just not always up for the process that is DOSA making. Their dosas are free of weirdness and very tasty. The kids like to have "snack" items in their lunches from time to time. I can feel good about what I buy at Trader Joe's. L likes some of their frozen Mexican and Asian items-- like burritos and pot stickers. Their frozen veggies are always tasty and high quality.

Given my food restrictions, when we travel we often look for a place with a kitchen or kitchenette. We also google the nearest Trader Joe's. I am not always up for cooking on vacation, so Trader Joe's is a good place to get healthier than average convenience items.

6. The coffee is decent and reasonably priced. Want fun flavored beverages for a party, their selections is nice. (H and I were big fans of their coffee back in the day when we were drinking coffee.)

My advice is to go at an off time and just look around. The stores are small and cramped. They cram in as much as possible. I don't think of Trader Joe's as a grocery store per se. You can get interesting things there. For example-- some of their spices are fun and different. You cannot get cumin there. They are a great place to go, to find something different to spice up your packed lunch routine. Write down the items that appeal to you or surf their website and create your own list template. I think this will make the trip to Trader Joe's less overwhelming. Also, do check out their taste testing center. They do a great job of feature their items and giving you practical how-tos. New products will be featured on end caps-- look there first.

Having a party, they have some great frozen items which make great party foods.

Have a chocolate addiction? Let me say they have a impressive variety of chocolate covered yumminess.

My latest addiction-- the bag of fruit leather end pieces-- the leftover bits from those perfect rectangles you get in single serving packages. Yummy. Great pared with dark chocolate.

And their all purpose spray cleanser. Non-toxic and it works. I have used that for years.

I think the trick is-- don't think of them as a grocery store, they are more of a foodie adventure playground.

In a word-- Ouch!

So I purposefully did not tell very many people about my trip to periodontist. Why? Cuz I really didn't want to know about anyone's experience or their sister's cousin's husband's horror story.

The fact is I had some moderate to severe receding of the gums, lower front and around the very far right molar. I have known this for a few years. Actually we have been watching it for 10 years now. In the last three, watching it get alot worse. Last year, I should have done something about it, but mom was very ill and dying and I just couldn't go there.

This spring, I had two consultations, picked the doctor I liked best and then had to figure out a week, where H was home to take me and I could have a peaceful weekend to rest up.

On purpose I did zero research and listened/read zero first hand stories. Both doctors were very clear about what they intended to do, the best course of action and I just did not want to hear anyone's horror stories. I also did not try and check it out on You Tube. My dentist had been clear in his referrals and was very candid about what he thought would need to be done. Both periodontists gave me written information. I made an informed decision, but skipped the possibly inflammatory stories.

Beside the gum grafting procedure, I had a frenectomy on the lower lip as well. My doctor felt that the lower frenulm was causing some of the gum pull, which speeds the erosion.

I elected to have these procedures with just the local. I do not react well to the drugs used to knock you out and having never tried the gas, I wasn't sure how that would go either. I have no allergy to Novocaine, so that is what we went with. Boy howdy did I get the mother load of Novocaine! I lost track how much she was injecting me with.

I won't lie, being awake and watching her sew gum tissue together in the reflection of her glasses was not fun. I closed my eyes. Twice my mouth started to "wake up" and I was not a hero, I went for more Novocaine. I think there was an impressive amount of blood involved too.

It really wasn't fun, but it wasn't horrible either. It took about an hour.

One of the amazing things and something that put me at ease going into the procedure was that she called in a RX ahead of time for me to pick up. H and the kids went to lunch and to play in the park while I was under the knife and came back when I was done. We came straight home and I took my painkillers and antibiotic. No waiting at the pharmacy. I loved that she was proactive and so focused on my convenience and comfort.

I will say I wasn't lying when I posted this to my facebook page about 25 minutes after getting home--->

• • I never thought I would say this-- but I have discovered something that hurts worse than natural childbirth! Way worse. Way,way,way worse...

Honestly as I was thawing out, boy howdy that hurt, throbbed. I was shocked how much it hurt. It took a little while for the pain pills to start working and ice helped, but it hurt. So much more than I had expected. This is the downside to Novocaine. It does not slowly fade, it is zero to 60. I have a high pain tolerance. I do. I birthed an 8 pound baby with no drugs. I labored with a Pit drip and birthed a 7.5 pound baby, no drugs. This dental procedure, hurt like a bitch before the pain pills kick in. It is a pain like I have never felt before.

If you are curious about the the process I found this blog post which sums it up nicely. My stars I hope she is right when she says it isn't that bad the next day. I have managed some carrot, orange ginger juice and a good sized chunky monkey shake. Sipping water also seems to soothe and keeps that dry mouth feeling at bay. I made myself some lentil soup and veggie broth and thawed some homemade apple sauce. Soft food will be the name of game for at least a week.

There is a chance the graft won't take. That is something I just don't even want to think about. I am not sure I am up for trying this again. Then again listening to her go over the dental implant information as the Novocaine took effect, let's just say that route doesn't sound any less painful.

Cross your fingers.