It's that time again! The topic of today's luxury is having your sheets laundered and pressed. It sounds kind of ridiculous, but trust us, it's divine.
Your bed is the most important piece of furniture in your bedroom. That's a fact. If you doubt me, sleep on the floor tonight, sans bedding, and let me know how you feel in the morning. Want to know how to make your bed an even more magical place? Have your sheets professionally laundered and ironed.
In order to make this mission a seamless one, you will need to have two sets of sheets. Hopefully, you do...if you don't, go buy a second set. We're not in college anymore. Adults have at least two sets of sheets and none of them should be tshirt material! While it is ideal to change your sheets every week, let's assume you do it every two weeks. This gives you two weeks to bring your flat sheet into your cleaners and pick it up. It is pretty pointless to have your fitted sheet ironed, so don't bother with that one; just do the flat sheet. What's the difference between the two? I have included a glossary of terms at the bottom of this post.
2 tips for taking your sheets in:
1. Always ask for your sheets to be hung on a hanger rather than folded after they are ironed. No point in folding a freshly ironed sheet up. It will just get creased and defeats the purpose.
2. Never pay more than $7 a sheet. That's just crazy. I live on the Westside of Los Angeles and pay $3 a sheet.
Here's a little Bedding 101 for you:
Fitted Sheet: This is the sheet that goes over your mattress and mattress pad. Yes. You must have a mattress pad.
Flat Sheet: This is the sheet that goes over you and the one you should have laundered and ironed.
Comforter: Your big thick blanket that goes over the flat sheet.
Duvet: The quilt or comforter that goes in the duvet cover.
Duvet Cover: The slip that goes over the comforter...hopefully it's pretty!
Pillows are confusing. To save time and confusion, refer to this picture.
Ironed sheets, our tip of the day. Try it and report back. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Everyone these days has guilty pleasure shows. Some keep their love of the Kardashians under wraps (not me). Some people don't admit to much of the Bravo programming they have on their DVR (again, not me). And some will claim they never even heard of a show, only to probably be the shows biggest fan. I own my TV watching, so I don't shy away from saying that I love crappy TV. But, it wasn't always like this.
In my later teen years and early twenties I had three shows that I was obsessed with: Bug Juice, Flash Forward and Ready or Not. I think I shared this love with a few super close friends, but that was it. These shows were amazing, but I was probably too old for them. Most of my shows back then centered around characters that were older than me. Beverly Hills, 90210. Friends. Sex and the City. All of those shows depicted characters that I was supposed to look up to. Yes, Kelly Taylor was a role model! Donna Martin scared me straight out of drinking on prom night. Rachel Green made me think I could live in New York on a waitress' salary and get a job at Bloomingdale's by sending a printed resume through the actual U.S. Postal Service. And how depressing is it that I am now older than the cast of Friends was back then. They were SO OLD to me!
Back to the point at hand. I wasn't supposed to be watching shows about 13 year old's when I was legally allowed to buy cigarettes. Now that I'm all grownsed up, I'm confident enough to share these amazing shows with you. Awesomely enough, you can watch all of these shows via YouTube. You're welcome.
Bug Juice
I never went to sleep away camp. This is one of the greatest regrets I have in my life. I was too much of a pussy to leave my home for more than a night. LAME. My adventurous streak sent me to day camp...all the way in Malibu! Totes far away. Not! I totally just brought back "not".
Enter Bug Juice. I must have been in my late teens when this show premiered on the Disney Channel. I was immediately obsessed. Why was I watching the Disney Channel at 19 years old, I don't know. And sadly, this was way before the days of DVR and even before the days of being able to see what you were watching without having to go to the TV Guide Channel and wait for the scroll to show what was on. I actually made a point to watch this show at a regularly scheduled time.
Bug Juice is the true life adventures of pubescent teens at Camp Waziyatah in Maine. The show centered around a girls cabin and a boys cabin and all the early teen drama that happened. Was Lauren going to pass her swim test? Were Stephanie and Connor going steady? Was camp counselor Luna going to teach them how to make candles? I was glued to the TV!
The best part about Bug Juice though was the theme song. It's really a model for how to live life and I think we should always take time out of our hectic lives to remember the prolific lyrics. After all, bug juice doesn't come in a jar, bug juice comes from who you are. Amen.
Flash Forward
Before he became a respectable actor starring in such works as the INCREDIBLE Six Feet Under and Alpha Dogs, Ben Foster, to me, was Tucker James, best friend of Becca Fisher. He was adorbz. Now, less so, but let's not dwell on that.
Flash Forward was about two best friends, Tucker and Becca, who were in middle school. They each had their respective same sex friends, but it was all about Tucker and Becca. The IMDB page describes the show as being about how the two narrate the ups and downs of middle school while comparing it to moments from when they were little. True.
I'm not sure how old I was at the time, but I remember spending one New Years Eve watching a marathon of this show and I had never been happier. I can't believe I just admitted that. Pound sign: Keepin' It Realz.
Like most Canadian teen shows from the 90's, Ryan Gosling makes an appearance, so you ladies out there make sure to keep an eye out. Also, a creepy TVphile, (aka me), will also notice that Becca's sister is played by the girl who played Cher on the TV version of Clueless.
Ready or Not
I love me some Bug Juice, and I really like me some Flash Forward, but Ready or Not...well, Ready or Not is beyond special in my heart. I can't really articulate it, which is unfortunate for someone trying to write about it, but sometimes words just cannot do your feelings justice.
Ready or Not is about Amanda and Busy, who are of course, best friends. Amanda is the girly one. She loves clothes and boys and writes poetry. She's also Jewish. Score for the Jews. Busy, real name Elizabeth, is the tomboy. She loves to play the drums and skateboard. Amanda is an only child while Busy has three older brothers and comes from a large Italian family.Opposites attract obviously.
This show captures those awkward early teen years so perfectly. Some of my favorite episodes involve Amanda stealing a sweater so she can look like the popular girls. Amanda and Busy throwing a party while parents were out of town and them buying non-alcoholic beer to look cool. Busy's dating life with boys, which made me chuckle because it was so obvious she was a little lesbian. There was even an episode about anorexia! But those don't compare to my favorite episode where BUSY GETS HER PERIOD!
In the episode, Busy is having a tough time. She's really moody. I wonder why? While playing the drums in her orchestra class she complains of having a stomach ache and runs in her white pants to the bathroom. In there she finds two of the popular girls and explains to them that she's bleeding between her legs and must go to the hospital!! No, Busy, you just have your period. Calm down.
The episode is just everything I want in a "my first period" episode. Amanda is jealous that Busy has her period and she doesn't. Busy refers to her period as the curse. Busy's mom is out of town and her dad has to go buy her pads. Upon her return, Busy's mom tells her it's a blessing. It's just such quality TV.
Last Christmas, oops, I mean Hanukkah, I purchased the entire series that someone had recorded and then transferred to DVD. I felt like the transaction was a little sketchy, but it turned out fine. It was amazing revisiting this series. Amanda and Busy grew up so much over the course of the years...and I guess I have also.
Again, this was a Canadian show...so keep your eyes open for a young Ryan Gosling.
ONE last thing. The theme song for this show rivals that of Bug Juice. It's full of life lessons. I'll post it here for you. Again, you're welcome: Ready or not - Can't wait another day - A little in shock What'll your mother say? But here we go anyway Now I'll see what you got Give it your own style Give me a little smile Everything's better now When we go Ready or not. Now, keep in mind this was before Google, so I didn't know what the hell they were saying. "A little in shock" - I thought they were saying A Ritalin Shot? At the time I thought the idea of getting a shot of Ritalin was brillz. I have included the first 10 amazing minutes of Busy's Curse. If you don't take my advice and watch the whole series, at least do yourself a favor and watch this 10 minute clip. Enjoy.
So...that's my little confession. And you want another confession? If these shows premiered this year, at the age I am now, I would still watch them and enjoy them just as much, because I'm shameless and don't care. I watch Downton Abbey. I love The West Wing. I think it's all about balance people. BONUS!!! Someone on YouTube was amazing and made a "Where are they now?" video of the campers and counselors of Bug Juice. These little babies are now lawyers and mothers and fathers and it was such a great YouTube find. It's very reminiscent of the Six Feet Under finale when you find out what happens in the future...but real!!!!!
Welcome to Bundts of Steel's new series called Life's Little Luxuries: Simple Suggestions for Treating Yo Self. Every now and then BoS will bestow upon you a simple tip or suggestion to either make your life, or the lives of your loved ones, a little bit better.
Enjoy!
Volume: 1, Issue: We have a million
Warmed Plates
There's this episode of Gilmore Girls where Lorelai and Luke have just started dating. They are in his diner and he brings her and Rory their breakfast. Setting the food down, he proclaims, "Hot plates!" to which Lorelai turns to Rory and says, "See?? He called me hot plates. He sooooooo likes me."
Why am I talking about this? Well, to start, it's so I can complain about how awful Luke is. He's just the worst and the fact that he and Lorelai ended up together rather than Lorelai and Christopher ruins Gilmore Girls for me- which is why it will always be my number two favorite show.
The other reason I bring this up is to highlight our first LLL tip: Warmed/Hot Plates. It's sort of a no-brainer once you think about it. Restaurants bring you hot food on hot plates so that the food stays warm longer. If you put hot creamed spinach on a cold plate, your hot creamed spinach turns to lukewarm creamed spinach in no time. While completely edible and probably delicious, it would have been better on a warmed plate.
This is such a simple task that takes no effort and minimal time. If your oven was already on while you were cooking and now off, simply put your plates in and close the door until you are ready to plate. If you didn't use your oven, set it to warm and put the plates in. Again, this isn't rocket science and takes less than five minutes achieve a lovely and luxurious warm plate.
The guests at your dinner party will be impressed and your normal Wednesday night meatloaf will taste just that much better.
Seems strange in Southern California today with our sunny skies to imagine that our friends and family on the East Coast have just suffered such tragedy. Seeing so many pictures of power outages, severe flooding, and knowing our loved ones haven't even realized the worst of the damage to come is pretty devastating. Today is a time out.
Flooded subways
If you have a few extra bucks to spare, take a minute to donate online with the Red Cross, or you can donate $10 by texting REDROSS to 90999.
Stay safe East Coasters, our thoughts are with you!
I've had my share of manicures and pedicures that run the gamut from the cheap nail place on the corner to high end spas on vacation. It's one of my favorites indulgences to partake. I love a massage even more, but that I'm stingier on treating myself to. Hint hint, facials too! I've had only a handful of nail treatments that stand out in my mind as "excellent" and ladies and germs, I have another one to add to this exclusive list of top notch pampering indulgences. It should come as no surprise that Burke Williams would treat a girl right from her head to her toes and while I had previously been treated to the delight that is their massage experience, I finally discovered what lies in the secret pedicure room and now I'm left daydreaming for more! Clearly I don't have pictures of this as that would impede on my priority of relaxation and melting into the chair, but I can paint a picture for you of what makes the Burke Williams Pedicure so outstanding and special!
1- A three person pedicure room. Ladies, and well healed gentlemen, you know it's not relaxing when you walk into a nail salon with 30 stations. Imagine the privacy of only two other people. It's soothing and lovely. Simply lovely.
2- When you sit down you are given this soft cloth full of warm oats to drape over your neck and just when you thought that felt oh so delicious they drape another larger towel sized one over your body so your lady bits don't poke out of your spa robe.
3- The spa foot tub. This is not an ugly plastic one, oh no, it's iridescent and glass and shiny- again, it's lovely. A little dates as it may be, but it's lovely none the less! The water temperature is perfect.
4- Sophia. That was my girl and she was an angel sent to Burke Williams from heaven to gently care for my soles. She had the softest touch, even with a file and callus remover(not that I need that!) that usually causes me a slight cringe- not in Sophia's hands. Her foot massage melted away my stress which as of late has been piling up.
5- Paraffin. MMMMHHHMMM. I love a little trip into the paraffin dip. Hot, a little too hot, but not painful. Paraffin= softness.
6- Nail polish trays. Sophia kindly asked me my preference in color and then brought over trays of color that might meet my standards and I selected OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark as we are no stranger to one another. Her polish application was also impeccable. Thank you Sophia!
7- Good magazines. Harpers Bazaar and House Beautiful.
This was a gift certificate from friends for my birthday and I have to say- boys, you done good! This was a real treat and I have to say with the pedicure being $50, it's not out of the question to make a repeat visit. Ladies- who's with me??
