Adventures in Dishwashing....

As I sit here with my wet tank from washing dishes, I am wondering "WHY" didn't I change my shirt before blogging?!? So stupid. Anyway, in my thirtysomething years of life and my 9 years of marriage, I have just recently found the "secret" to washing dishes!!

For years we lived in apartments and houses (we've moved 7 times since getting married!) that didn't have dishwashers. Like any other inexperienced dishwasher, I always spent loads and loads of money on sponges. I would scrub the heck out of my dishes, and some how they would never quite get as clean and sparkly as I'd like. Not to mention they harbor bacteria and get really stinky really quick.

In my attempt to have spotless and crustless dishes, pans and the like, I have come to find that dishwashing requires a small arsenal of weapons in fighting those greasy, grimy, crusty and caked on foods. . . here are mine, in no particular order....

1.  The dish rag -  I thought, like many people out there, that the sponge got the dishes cleaned the best. Then one day I ran out of them and went back to the old school dish rag like my mom uses. I'd always wondered why she and my aunties always used them. Then I discovered WHY! You can get your dishes clean in half the time because it's bigger than a sponge, and you can clean the surface areas of dirty dishes faster and better. You then wash it and re-use it when it gets yucky. AND you save $$.

2.  The Product - For years I've used palmolive for hand washing and whatever I could find for the dishwasher but just like your hair, it's ALL about the product!! Someone once told me that Dawn was the best for hand dishwashing. I purchased some recently and I'm a dawn lover for life. In regards to the dishwasher, I thought that maybe it was broken because it wasn't quite washing the dishes well and so before calling the appliance repair, I decided to see if it was the dishwasher soap we were using called "finish" was the problem. I decided to get a trial size of the cascade with dawn (hey if it's good enough for the hand washing, it must be good for the dishwasher too)...and i was correct! It totally changed the cleanliness and appearance of my dishes!! I <3 dawn="dawn" p="p">
3.  The Stainless Steel Scrubbie - Do you have those weird brown stains on the bottom of your pans? Or have a hard time with those baked on foods in your pyrex dishes?!? For years I'd used elbow grease and the sponge to try and get it off with much failure. I was at Target a few months ago and decided to see what those pretty bling bling scrubbies were all about! I went home and it totally brought my old pans back to life! Not to mention its GREAT for tupperware stains and those dishes with the day old spaghetti sauce and dried curry on. No more long soaking!! yay!!

4.  The Sponge - In my dissing of the sponge, I do still use it - occassionally. The hard side is best for your non-stick pans. That's about it. I don't use it on really anything else.

5.  The Brush - Great for baby bottles and cups!

So hope you all will now have clean and sparkly dishes - I do!!

And yes, I am one of the few people who still use the dishwasher to wash dishes. . . some people just have it as decor, others use it for a drying rack, while one family I know uses it to hold snacks! LOL.

Happy dishwashing.

basketball mom...

Growing up I played basketball. You'd never really guess now, but I did play from 4th grade into mid-high school. And I played a little post college in church league. Well, maybe I should say you'd never guess then, either...I was horrible. No joke. I was the epitome of bad. I didn't shoot my first basket in a game until I was in 7th grade. I was basically in it for the social part - getting sanrio bags after the season was over, having sleepovers with my team, goofing off during practice and getting to go to tournament dances!! I somehow managed to make the frosh soph team in high school and even then, my benchwarming must have given me tendonitis, to only end my career as the stat girl for our team....But I had FUN! I may have been the benchwarmer but hey - someone's got to allow others to be the stars of the team! LOL. Thank goodness I other gifts. LOL

Fast forward 20 years....Kara says "mom I want to learn how to play basketball". From the parents I know who have kids who play, basketball is their life. They are in the gym every weekend and sometimes 3 times a week. I decided I didn't want to be one of those families that lived for basketball. Then today happened.

Thank Goodness my BFF runs her own basketball camp called "PMP" or "practice makes perfect" basketball camp. Knowing that Kara wanted to learn to play, I decided to ask J if Kara could come to camp to learn. She said "SURE!!" Phew. Someone who would actually be able to teach her how to play!! Mom sure doesn't have the credentials. And we actually have a basketball court outside in our backyard. . . I guess after this week, Daddy will have to start taking her out there!

Took Kara this AM to camp. Wow. She got out there and attempted to dribble and one push down, the ball rolled away. . . but she didn't give up, she tried and she ran over to the court and attempted to make baskets (but not very successfully) and would throw the ball and run after it. Not the greatest start but hey - it's her first day. They lined all the girls up and it seems she's as tall as the 7 year olds (she's at the end of 5)  - well, then again - they are asians - so maybe that's not a good comparison. LOL. Despite her lack of knowledge and skills, I have to say I loved being there watching her, encouraging her and once I left, I decided, I want to be a basketball mom!!

Philip picked her up and he said she got whiny when he got there...who wouldn't be whiny after 6 hours of basketball! So i made a call to J and she said Kara got to play in her first 5 on 5 today! yay! When I got home I asked her how it was and she said "mom, I got way better by the end of the day" so that was really encouraging for both of us.  It doesn't matter if she ends up being good, or the worst player on the team. What matters is that she's willing to play and have fun. Apparently one of the other dads was asking about her, apparently he's starting a new team! SIGN US UP! LOL. . . maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be in the gym all the time...I could begin a new social life as a Basketball Mom. =) 

Tea party part deux

We baked today especially for the tea party and Kara even got dressed up! The dolls got their hair styled and it was fun!

land of the dolls...

For the past few days, kara and i have had a lot of time together since she's been sick at home with strep throat. Normally I'd go stir crazy being at home so much but its actually been a very restful, productive and fun time together. We cleaned the house, did all the laundry and played with her dolls many times.

Did you know that Armor-All spray works wonders on doll hair?!? yes! It does! Spray far and just a little...but it really works well! LOL. Lots of barbies and disney princesses got their groove back today because of this great car stuff! Its for plastic and vinyl so .... it also works wonders on tangly doll hair! 

This is a pic of Kara with her American Girl Kanani Doll - from her last birthday.  The first time I heard about these dolls a few years ago, I freaked out because of how much they cost but she REALLY wanted one, and I wanted to get it for her but at the time, it was really not feasible for us. But! One of her GREAT Aunts got her a Journey Girl doll called Callie and she loved it...then another GREAT Aunt and Uncle got her an American Girl doll for her birthday and it was so sweet! Now Callie had a friend to play with!

After the initial feelings about these dolls wore off, I decided that I'd rather her have something really nice that she would love and play with for a long time rather than some junky toys that will get tossed to the side in a day or two. I LOVE that she loves these dolls. WHY? Because it enables her to use her imagination, to learn about manners, care giving and it allows us to spend precious quality time together that we will never forget. It enables me to teach her lessons through the dolls and we were even able to talk about how she felt about going to Kindergarten next week. Turns out she's not too scared, she said "it's ok, you might be nervous but you'll be fine after a few days" - whew. Got all my anxiety washed away! (well, we'll see when the day comes! LOL)

So...I'm planning a trip with her to the American Girl Place for her birthday at the end of September. She is a great kid and I'm so glad we can spend time together doing girlie things. =) We're also planning a doll teatime with her new auntie Joy when they come to visit next weekend. THAT will be fun!! Anyone else want to join?!?!

Here's a picture of her two BELOVED dolls, Callie (Left) and Kanani (Right)

And cutest ever...here's her birthday wish list. bday is Sept. 30!

(editor's notes regarding birthday wish list: Blue Princess (is a guitar?!?), Amer clothes is AG doll glothes, high heels refer to wedges, and 18 doll bed means a bed for Kanani) LOL.

Blessed.

We have returned from camp! Although I wanted to blog while I was there, it's way easier to do it on my computer...from home. Anyway, it was an amazing week of fun, fellowship and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit! I went as an adult camper and did serve on the worship team as well as with crafts. It was fun to hang out with my 5 year old daughter and her friends. They are so cute, I love being a mommy to a little girl! It's so much fun.

The past few months have been amazing. I've had an outpouring of God's blessing and grace in my life spiritually and it's been so cool because Philip has had the same thing too. Actually I should say my spiritual growth has been a result of his spiritual growth. For the first time in our marriage I truly feel that he is spiritual leader in our family. It's so exciting and I'm so glad I'm his wife. We're not perfect by any means but God is definitely growing us as a family and as individuals. Please pray for us! We need it so much.


He just started blogging today...and he's a great writer! Read his blog, especially the Long Version. Philip Sakanashi. I'm so blessed to be your wife. I love you! psakanashi.blogspot.com


Exciting things on the horizon for us!!

Birthday Gift Card Haul and Retail Therapy

As I was in desperate need of some alone time, retail therapy and not to mention I had a good amount left on my Nordys gift card, I went over to Nordstrom Rack tonight.  They recently got a shipment in, so I knew there might be at least one or two good things. I know the Nordy Anniversary sale is on weds but I wasn't too impressed with the early access that I got. . . so off to the rack.

I immediately found a great Michael Kors chiffon hoodie with short, drawstring sleeves in a tyedyeish blue. Very cute, summery and good enough to wear to work or on a casual day. Original price $110, got it for $24.

Then I went upstairs to the shoe dept on my quest for tall shoes (remember?) and found the most amazing Charles David espadrilles. Granted they are 4-1/2 inches but when i put them on, they have this elastic banding around the foot so you are able to walk in them very easily and they are SO comfortable, I had to buy them. Then the decision making came in. Nude or Black? UGH. I ended up getting them in black but am contemplating going back and also getting them in Nude since I have wanted a pair of nude shoes and the way the black ones are make them look very different. Original price: $109.95 - Rack price: $39.95. What do you think? Should I Get the nude ones too? OH MAN, they are so cute on me. LOL Here's a video of them I found online, with someone walking in them! http://video.heels.com/shoe-video/charles-by-charles-d-thrice-beige . Here they are in black:

Cute dressed up or down.

Anyway that was the last of my bday gift cards....

I hope to see what some of you get this week at the Anniversary Sale, since I KNOW you will be checking it out!

What's going on this week....Little K's speech therapy, big K's dentist appt (pray for her! cavity and possibly needs a root canal! UGH). Work, getting ready for camp!!! WOOHOO.

My new obsession.

Thanks to my mom, I was recently able to try gel nail polish. That was amazing. Two weeks of shiny, frenchly manicured nails! Amazing. Bummer is that I can't afford to get it done on a biweekly basis! To remedy my realization I wouldn't be doing that on a regular basis, I had my eye on those Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail thingys for almost a year. . . then I gave in and tried it. My life has been changed!!!

These things are amazing! They stay on for up to 10 days and come in all sorts of patterns, and there's NO dry time!!! NO peeling, No chipping, just gorgeous nails with these crazy sticker thingys that look amazing. They also come with a cuticle stick and nail file/buffer. The glitter polish ones look like I actually put the latest ones on yesterday morning, 30 mins before I left for work and I had gorgeous dressed up nails!!!

See my thumbnail in the corner of this pic?? Super cute!

I'm currently obsessed with trying to find them on sale...I found a jackpot at Target in San Dimas, so we are going to be doing them as a craft at our church camp next week! SO much fun!! If you've been wondering about trying them, just DO IT! They even have a trendy "ombre" one!

Here are the designs we found at Target...

Just a Tip if you are going to try them....you MUST do them according to the directions or they won't stay on as long as they say. Also, the funky patterns look better on short nails than long ones. 

Happy Manicuring!!

Meet Shellie and Tylar

OK so I decided a few weeks ago that I no longer want to be the mom who only wears flat shoes - don't get me wrong, they're comfy, easy to deal with and you don't really have to worry about tripping.  In the Pre-K2 era of my life, I lived in nothing but wedges and platforms and the occasional flat sandal. The Post-K2 has consisted of ballet like slippers with no support, flip flops and the evil of all shoes, converse. (My apologies to all you pro-cons...but they are HORRIBLE for your feet).

This lifestyle has made my legs look short, stocky and at times I even look like I'm standing in a hole. With a long torso and short legs, my 5'2" stature on a good day was horrendously shorter by wearing said-flat shoes. My feet lacked style and flair and my lack of foot care gave me the ugliest feet on the planet. So it has become my goal to nurse my poor babies back to health and beauty with the help of you tube and a martial arts master, they are slowly becoming prettier. And yes, I said it, "a martial arts master." Dry, cracked heels are no fun and I know this is TMI but my secret sensei (secret because he doesn't know it) has given me the tools to rehabilitate my feet. I found this guy on the internet who does some sort of martial arts and apparently people who do it have horrible feet, so he's done this video on foot care. Here's what I learned and how i've applied it to my own feet:

Tools:

All cotton socks - athletic socks work amazing. Don't use any sock with polyester or acrylic, they will make your feet drier. I use thorlo socks - yah they are expensive but they work REALLY well.

During your shower, take a pumice sponge or foot file and use hair conditioner on it while you scrub your feet. Dry them well and smooth on neosporin on any cracks or areas that might start to look like they're getting bad.  Then on top of that, slather on a generous amount of regular Vaseline. Add socks. Yes, it might be hot at night time but trust me, it will help.  When you wake up in the morning, take your socks off and you'll see the healing begin. NO joke. It starts after one time.

That same morning: Take Nude color first aid or athletic tape (I've found this works great - it sticks to your skin for days and is waterproof. It even gives you a bit of cushion!) and tape it to your heels, balls of feet, sides of feet. Leave this tape on for at least 24 hrs up to 2 days.

REPEAT this for about a week. Seriously, in 1 week your feet will be completely healed.

That said....I did this, but then the second week, I stopped for 2 days and my feet began to get dry again. So, this is again, for me, an act of discipline I need to consistently do.

Fast forward to tonight! Mom and I decided to go to Nordstrom to use my birthday gift cards. With my new goal of working my way back to wearing wedges and my rehabilitated feet, we decided to go shoe shopping.

And, we really made the shoe guy WORK! It was fun, we tried on all kinds of shoes and tonight, my rehabilitated feet were gifted with two new friends.... Shellie and Tylar.

Shellie

 

Tylar

Happy Saturday!
Mama Kara <3