Spring Cleaning 101: The Definitive List Of Things You Need To Do To Get Your House In Order

From www.innerstitch.blogspot.com

    Today is bright, sunny, and springlike here in the Pacific Northwest, and I've been cleaning my booty off. While doing so, I compiled a list of things that are definitive to getting spring cleaning out of the way. They aren't fun, but they have to get done. To help ease your pain, I've started this article with a hot guy sans shirt vacuuming. Here's the list.

1.) Clean out the refrigerator and freezer. It's one of the most hated jobs ever, but, if you haven't eaten the leftover Thanksgiving turkey by now chances are slim to none you'll ever eat it. So get the gloves and the scrub brush out and get to work tackling the fridge and freezer.

2.) Dust under the couch. Dust bunnies build up under there, and now's your chance to get them before they take over. Again, not fun, but it's very necessary.

3.) Polish your utensils. They will thank you after the harsh few months they've had being used all the time as you threw your holiday parties.

4.) Dust Everything! Yes, this means pick up all the little chachkies and everything else and give everything a THOROUGH CLEANING!

5. Last but not least, clean out your closet. Get rid of all the old things you don't wear anymore and make room for your spring/summer wardrobe. It will help you out tremendously in the months to come.

COME BACK TOMORROW FOR THE TOP 5 ALBUMS TO LISTEN TO WHEN DOING SPRING CLEANING!

Getting Crafty: Turn DVD Cases Into Notebooks In A Few Easy Steps

  Today is crafty Friday, and I thought I'd share with you a very simple and creative craft that will help you get rid of some of your old DVD cases. We all have those DVDs that bored us stiff the first time around, and we don't want to go back for a second time. Well, this is the perfect solution for you. I got it from my friend Alex (pic comes from her Instagram), and I'd thought I'd pass it on to you guys.
  All you need is some stationary paper or any paper that you fancy for that matter, glue, a piece of Velcro, and some kind of paper. You can use sticky notes, or a three ring notebook.
  First, you want to take your glue stick and put a layer of glue on the corners of each side of the DVD box except for the side that it opens on. Then you will take the stationary paper of your choosing and stick it to the box, causing the boring title and pics on the box to disappear and transform into a beautiful outer shell for your notebook. Then you can glue different stationary paper on each side of the inner case. Next, you take a piece of double-sided Velcro and rap it from the upper edge of the right flap of the notebook (aka DVD case) to about the 1/4 of the way down the right hand side of the notebook. You can then attach a small notebook at the bottom of the Velcro. The Velcro that lies between the notebook and the edge of the DVD case can come in handy for a place to store your pen. See picture above for better idea of what I mean. Last but not least, you can stick a pack of stick it notes to the other side to write down important things and reminders for yourself, and that, my friends, is the last step. I  hope you can understand my directions because, in all honesty, I'm not always the best at giving directions. Have fun crafting, and if you need any clarifications in what to do ask me in the comments' section. Thanks for reading. (P..S. There's nothing more to read. Had blogger issues and only way I knew to fix it.)

Adventures In Gardening: This Means War!!

    I come to you again to tell you about my crazy adventures in gardening. To be honest with you, I come to you extremely angry at a certain somebody who is making my adventure a little on the hard side...my resident mole!!!!!! So, let me start by going back to last spring. I had a beautiful patch of tulips that added color and charm to the side of our home (See pic). Some of the blooms were even brought back from Belgium by a friend of mine and my partner. While the rest of our gardens are nice, the tulip bed was our pride and joy. We spent many a day looking at the bright and vibrant colors, but now that thrill is no longer there.

Last Year's Bounty Of Tulips That Was Ruined By A Mole

   Instead, we have a patch of nothing. You see, last summer and this fall we had a mole that kept wreaking havoc on our tulip patch. It wasn't a big deal though. We would push the dirt down and go on with our day. The winter came, the mole went away, and we thought nothing of it. That was until we went out to check on the tulips, and all we got is a hole bunch of NOTHING. Let me just say we are ANGRY. The mole, by its awful actions, has caused us to declare war on it. So we have got an arsenal of traps and tricks to try to get the darn little creature to go away.
    Here's a brief summary of our strategy. We set a LOT of mole traps of all shapes and sizes to find a way to get rid of the pesky little animal. Spindles are placed strategically around our yard to try to shoo the mole away with their vibrations. We have a pitchfork handy if we need it, and we mean business. Well, I don't think neither of us could be able to do the deed with a pitchfork, but I don't want the mole to know that.
   Also, we have been researching away at what to do when a mole comes back again to protect our flowers. I don't know what we're going to plant there, but we've researched what to do if we plant bulbs again. So here's my advice to you if you want to make sure that your flowers stay safe from those pesky little creatures out there.

1.) You can cut out the bottom of a coffee can, bury it just below the ground, and plant your bulbs in the center of the can. This prevents the moles from being able to reach contact with your precious bulbs and will hopefully preserve them for years to come.
2.) Use chicken wire. Like the coffee can, planting your bulbs between chicken wire will prevent the moles from getting a hold of them.
3.) Finally, you can cut down on moles by planting garlic around your gardens. I haven't done this personally, but many people say that it has worked for them

   These steps will help you in protecting your treasured plants from all of God's creatures who are met to pester us. I know I sure will be implementing these tactics when I plant next years bulbs. In the meantime, I am going to have a battle on my hands to make sure the little mole doesn't come back, and I'll let you know about my adventures in gardening (and any more battles I have with my resident pest) in the meantime.

Music Monday: Sebastian Castro Is The Ultimate Gay Warrior In "Theban"

    YouTube sensation Sebastian Castro made waves with his hit "Bubble", but now he's back with a unifying anthem for gay men around the world. In "Theban", Castro strips down with a bunch of other warrior guys and belts his anthem about being part of the big gay tribe. The title of the song is a reference to The Band Of Thebes, which was an all gay Greek army back in the day, and the video is made even more awesome by the fact that it features a lot of half clothed men hunting and doing other warrior related activity.  The song itself  has a cool electro feel about it, and it will get your week started off right. Enjoy.

Adventures In Gardening: Spring Cleanup And The First Blooms Of The Year

    Spring has sprung here in Oregon. Oh my gosh, it even hit like 70 today. This has sent tons of people running out to stores and nurseries to pick up potting soil and little baby plants and get to work getting their gardens ready for the spring and summer ahead of us. Seeing all the people go out and get ready for spring encouraged me to get working on my garden. Unfortunately for me, I am from the country so I made the mistake of filling my garden the first year here so there's no planting for me.

Daffodils aka hope spring is coming 

  That doesn't  mean I don't have work to do. I live near the gorge, where we get tons of heavy winds that blows leaves all over the place. So, I had the job this week of cleaning up the flower beds of millions of leaves that had fallen over the winter.Well, that's a stretch, but it was a lot. Being one of my least favorite jobs to do in the yard, I almost quit several times as I picked up leaf after leaf, loaded them into my wheelbarrow, and rolled them to my compost pile. Things weren't made easier by  my succulents, which were hidden below a whole lot of leaves. They break easily, and so I had to be even more careful pulling the leaves out from on top of them. I started at around 3 in the afternoon on Thursday and ended around seven that night. Then I went for round two doing three hours of work on Friday. By the time that was over, I needed a nap because it was pain in the butt, but somebody had to do it!
   My efforts were not without rewards though, as we got some of the first blooms of the year. All of our daffodils came up, and a single crocus showed itself. This hopefully means winter has been put to bed here in the Northwest, and it will force me not to mentally fuss about doing work in the yard. How about you? Has spring sprung in your neck of the woods? If so, what's your least favorite thing when it comes to gardening? Tell me below.

Watch: "Annie" Trailer Previews Box Office Wreck

  Does Hollywood know how to leave anything alone? From awful remakes of "Footloose" and "Dirty Dancing" to other, even worse, remakes of Hollywood classics, the industry is famous for turning something brilliant into something HORRIBLE. They've done it again this time with "Annie", the classic tale of an orphan girl who befriends a billionaire, originally portrayed by the one and only Carol Burnett. While the idea alone is enough to make anyone cringe, the fact that Cameron Diaz is set to play the grumpy Miss Hannigan makes it even worse. As you can see in the preview, Diaz just doesn't nail the part one iota, and it leaves me to hope that Jamie Fox and Quvenzhane' Wallis as a billionaire mayoral candidate and Annie will save this movie. Watch the preview below and tell me what you think.

Rupaul Recap: Who Got Sent Home On "Rupaul's Drag Race" Last Night?

   Last night, Logo aired the second episode of "Rupaul's Drag Race", in which a second set of contestants entered the competition to see who would be America's Next Drag Superstar. This time, Bianca Del Rio, Milk, Courtney Act, Joslyn Fox, Darienne Lake, Magnolia Crawford, and Trinity K. Bonet took their turn in the competition. After the introductions, which featured Bianca Del Rio reading the other queens to filth, it was time for the girls to get down and dirty in a slumber party themed photo shoot with the pit crew. To be honest, I must say that they got the better photo shoot challenge since it seemed to be a heck of a lot easier. Nevertheless, Trinity K. Bonet took home the prize for best photo.

(From www.dragofficial.com)

   Her prize, identical to the prize in the first episode, was to designate boxes which each had a party theme. The queens had to use the boxes to create couture looks. In the workroom, Magnolia Crawford bitched about her ho down box, Joslyn Fox used her whole box, and Milk decided to wear a beard on the runway. Rupaul questioned most of the queens looks, and Bianca Del Rio threw some more shade.
   On the runway, Trinity looked like a futuristic princess. Bianca looked like a tropical dream (and won the challenge), and the judges applauded Milk for being herself. The judges said Joslyn did too much for one look and Courtney Act relied on her body, but it was Magnolia and Darienne who fell into the bottom two. After the lip sync, in which Darienne crushed Magnolia, Magnolia was sent home. This left the remaining queens to go back to the workroom to find the girls from last week being overly dramatic while filing their nails. Credits rolled, and we were all promised that it would be super dramatical next week when we pick things up. By the way, I know that's not the world.
      So what do you all think about this season? Did you find these queens a heck of a lot less annoying than last weeks? Who do you want will win? Share your opinion below.