Cleaning the stove tops

I think cleaning the stove tops is the worst part of cleaning the kitchen.  It's greasy, it's sticky, and just plain difficult to get all of the grime off.  I scoured the shelves looking for something that would make it easy to clean without all the scrubbing and effort.  Well, I found just about the best stove top/oven cleaner out there.  Cook-top cleaner is AMAZING!  I just squeeze some onto the stove top, leave it for a few minutes, wipe it off and voila!  Clean stove stop! I found this wonderful product at Wegman's.  I'm not sure where else they sell it as I haven't seen it at other supermarkets.  If these pictures don't convince you, you may have to try it out for yourself!  Let me know how it goes!

Best cleaner ever!

Don't have to put too much liquid on the surface.

Spread the liquid on all areas of the surface and let it sit for a few minutes.

Wipe away with a warm cloth and dry.
Result: perfectly clean counter tops!

Here's to clean counter tops!

Eliza

Honeymooning in Australia

My husband and I decided that he would plan the honeymoon and I would take care of all the wedding details.  During our many conversations we had discussed possible locations for our trip.  We knew that we wanted to go somewhere that neither of us had ever been and it had to be a once-of-a-lifetime destination.  After much deliberation, we finally chose Australia.  Let me tell you, neither of us was disappointed.  We decided to go for two weeks and try to hit different parts of the country that we wanted to see. 

We ended up staying one week in Sydney and one week in Port Douglas.  We left for Australia the day after our wedding and arrived in Sydney 21 hours later.  The plane ride was quite the trip, but in the end it was definitely worth it.  Our first stop was Sydney.  Port Douglas is a beach town so we wanted to leave the relaxing part of the trip to the end.  Sydney is such a beautiful city.  We enjoyed every minute of it!  A week is more than enough time to explore the city and take in the sights and sounds.  While in Sydney we were able to:

·         Take a tour of the Sydney Opera House

·         Climb the Sydney Bridge

·         Take a day trip to the Blue Mountains (Australia’s version of the Grand Canyon)

·         Spend an afternoon at Bondi Beach

·         Enjoy dinner and fireworks at Darling Harbour

·         Pet Koalas at Sydney Wildlife

·         Eat kangaroo, crocodile, and barramundi

·         Use the Hop-On, Hof-Off bus as our tour guide and transportation

·         Visit the largest fish market in the southern hemisphere

·         Shop at Paddy’s Market (largest open market in Sydney)

After our week in Sydney we flew to Cairns, where we were then transported to Port Douglas.  The trip to Cairns was a 2 hour flight north, and another 45 minutes by car to Port Douglas.  Port Douglas is a small tourist town right on the beach.  We stayed at the Paradise Boutique Hotel.  Our room was oceanfront, and simply amazing.  We stayed in Port Douglass for another week and we were able to cover quite a bit of land around that area.  I would definitely recommend staying in Port Douglas as opposed to Cairns, which is a big tourist destination.  In Port Douglas we were able to rent a car for two days for around $100AUD and took a few trips to Cairns.  While in Port Douglass we were able to:

·         Ride in a hot air balloon

·         Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef

·         Relax on the beach

·         Eat deliciously well (more kangaroo and crocodile) YUM!

·         Explore nearby towns, including Mareeba and Kuranda

·         Drive through the outback

·         Enjoy a 7-course dinner in the rainforest (Flames of the Forest)

·         Take a day-long tour of the Daintree Rainforest

·         Pet and feed kangaroos

As you can see, we were really able to make the most of our trip.  We soaked up as much Australian culture as we could and we had a blast while doing it.  We would definitely like to return to Australia and check out some places we missed, such as Melbourne and Brisbane.  I will say this, if you are planning on making a trip to Australia, don’t go for less than two weeks, and be prepared to spend quite a bit more than your average vacation; everything in Australia is more expensive than in the U.S. None the less, Australia is a great place to visit and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested.  Check out some of our pictures, maybe they will inspire you!

Happy travels,

Eliza

Koalas up close at Syndey Wildlife

Sydney Bridge.  We climbed all the way to the top!

Bondi Beach

Blue Mountains

Darling Harbour

View of Sydney Tower from Darling Harbour.

Darling Harbour by night.  Home of the largest IMAX theater in the world.

Breakfast :) Pot pies are extremely popular in Australia

The Outback

Must be careful of crocodiles and Sting Rays when swimming.

Swimming area in Cairns

Port Douglas

My husband feeding a kangaroo.

Daintree River meets the ocean.

Aborigine Show at Flames of the Forest Dinner

Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef

Guacamole Recipe

My husband and I have been on a health kick for a few months now, mostly because we want to lose weight, but also because we want to try to have a healthier life style.  One of our goals is to eat more fruits and vegetables.  The vegetable part has been more of a challenge for us.  This week we decided to try including avocados into our diet.  We sliced them into sandwiches and salads, but one day I had a craving for guacamole.  I decided to use the last to avocados to make my own guacamole recipe.  Let's just say that my guacamole was a hit because my husband and I ate it all in one sitting!  Check out my recipe:

Eliza's Guacamole

Ingredients:

2      Avocados (ripe)

1      Tomato

1/2   Cup Red Onion

1      Lime juice

       Olive Oil

       Feta Cheese

       Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1.  Peel avocados and place in a bowl.  Make sure to keep one the seeds for later.

2.  Chop tomato and onion.  Make sure that it's super fine, almost into a puree.

3.  Mix tomato and onion in a bowl.

4.  Squeeze the juice of one lime in with the tomato and the onion.  Let it sit.

5.  Mash the avocados in the bowl.

6.  Mix the tomato and onion mixture in with the avocados.

7.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil into the mixture.

8.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

9.  Place the avocado seed you saved into the bottom of the serving bowl.  It will prevent the guacamole from getting brown.

10. Place the guacamole into the bowl you will serve it in.

11. Sprinkle with feta cheese on top.  You can even mix some into the guacamole if you'd like.  

The feta cheese and guacamole give a great combination of flavors, especially since the feta cheese is salty.

  

Enjoy,

ELIZA

Cleaning your Rings

I don’t know about you all, but I NEVER take my rings off.  Well, that’s a lie, I take them off when I put on lotion or swim in the pool, but I immediately put them back on when I’m done!  I sleep with them on, shower with them on, I workout with them on, I even wear them to the beach.  Because I wear my rings through just about everything, they tend to accumulate some residue in all the little creveces and lose their shine.  We all want our diamonds to sparkle every second of every day, and in order to do that, I give my rings a little TLC every few weeks.  When my husband bought the rings, the jeweler told him that we could bring the rings in for cleanings every few months and they would polish it up and make it like new.  But what do I do to preserve the sparkle in the meantime? 

Well ladies, the secret is in Connoisseur’s Jewelry Cleaner.  It is unlike any cleaner/polish that I have ever used.  It comes in a little red container and inside the liquid cleaner is a little tray to place your rings and other jewelry, as well as a little brush to srub away any residue.  The bristles on the brush are so little that they let me get under my diamond to brush away anything that accumulates under there.  Connoisseur has a line of cleaners designed for every type of metal and stone.  I use the “Precious” cleaner which is to be used on gold, platinum, diamonds and other precious stones.  They have another cleaner that is used for silver.  You can find the cleaner at any place where they sell jewelry cleaner, and it’s pretty inexpensive.  I even found some at Walmart once. 

The container contains instructions for cleaning, which I follow, but with one little difference.  The container tells you to drop the rings into the container and let it sit for a few seconds, then brush the stones or metal.  It then says to rinse the rings with warm water and dry with a towel.  That will definitely put the wow back into your rings, but I add one extra little step.  After I brush the diamond with the cleaner and the little brush, I use a warm, wet cloth to clean the rings one more time before I rinse them in warm water and dry them off.  Sometimes the brush can miss a few spots and I want to make sure that my rings are as clean as possible!

Depending on how dirty your rings get, will ultimately depend on how often you clean them, but I usually try to clean my rings every 3 weeks or so.  Just remember, you don’t want to over do it.  It’s normal for rings to get dirty at times J  

Happy cleaning,

Eliza

The Wedding

It all began on a sunny day at the end of April 2011 when my then-boyfriend decided to pop the question.  Once we were officially engaged the wedding planning became my one and only priority for the next six months.  All of us ladies know, whether we admit it or not, that we have all thought about our wedding at some point or another.  By the time my husband and I got engaged, I already had a pretty good idea of the type of wedding I wanted, as well as the colors along with some other non-negotiables.   I won’t go into the all the details and headaches of wedding planning(we'll leave that for another blogger), but I did want to share some of my wedding pictures to give you all some ideas.  Our wedding was on November 5, 2011 and it was a perfect fall day for a perfect fall wedding.  Our colors were red and gold and I remember spending hours looking for ideas online and not coming up with much.  For anyone who is interested in red or gold, or both, here are some ideas!  Also, if you are looking to have a wedding in Northern Virginia and like what you see, please let me know and I can post a list of vendors.

The Dress



Bows for the pews of the church.



View from the back of the church.  Notice the flower arrangements on the alter.



The Venue



Cocktail hour on the back patio.

1952 Bentley for the newlyweds.

Guestbook frame, card holder and pictures of us growing up.

The Tables

Sweetheart Table

Inside the Venue

The Cake

Until next time,

Eliza