Removing Sharpie from.. EVERYTHING

I dont know about you, but this has been the bane of my existence lately. My 2 year old seems to keep finding sharpies I didnt even know we owned..



Every color of these permanent pens have been on every surface of my house (and some places they are still there since there has been a lack of rubbing alcohol around..) So I have had 6 months to a year of experience trying EVERY TIP on the internet to figure out how to remedy my counters, closet doors, walls, cabinets, and even tile of my childs artistic expression.

I was really sick of EVERYTHING on the internet saying "Mr. Clean magic eraser" because I'm a holistic person, I like to Do It Myself.. and I just don't always have one around, nor the money to always have them around... so here is my gift to you!

Here's whats been working:

1. Clothes – hand sanitizer
2. Walls - toothpaste or hairspray (be gentle so the paint doesnt come off!)
3. Carpet  – white vinegar, or Dish soap mixed with peroxide.
4. Wood (and closet doors)  – rubbing alcohol, and sometimes toothpaste depending on the wood finish.
5. Cabinets (Mine are coated with that fake wood surface stuff...) - The ONLY thing that works is hand sanitizer!
6. Tile - Hand sanitizer or hair spray.
7. Dry erase boards - use dry erase marker, go over small sections, little by little and wipe off with paper towel.
8. Leather - Spray sunscreen (*Ive heard. This one I haven't actually tried it. Please lemme know!)
9. Plastic - Baby wipes! (Or dry erase marker) 

**SUPER TIP**

 Dry erase marker will remove sharpie from PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING (anything that I have tried so far, anyways) Only it is a looooong slow process and uses up a lot of marker and towels. Its still pretty amazing and worth mentioning.

This is a binder with a plastic insert cover with Sharpie that's been on it for months (and for some reason purple seems to be the hardest Sharpie color to get off)

Just scribble Dry erase marker on, and wipe with a towel!
MAGIC! 

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILED:
Alright, I admit it - some of these didnt work for certain things - like for some reason my sons closet doors. I dont know if its the paint on it or what, but I just could get it at all. One day, like an angel, a family member that worked at Ace Hardware brought me a magical product that changed that - and it came in single serve packages. It still took elbow grease, but now Ive been using it to get rid of anything that any of the above didn;'t work on. I found on amazon you can get a big bucket of it, so I may have to invest! Its definitely worth it!

Vegan Bufflo "Wings" (Cauliflower)

A friend of mine (And irregular author of this blog, Tiffany) posted that her boyfriend made her Cauliflower wings, on Facebook. This idea was so awesome to me that I did some research.

I found the following recipe at Daydream Kitchen:

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower 

Batter:

• Dash of Frank’s Original Hot Sauce, or whatever kind you like
• ½ c. white rice flour
• ½ c. water
• Pinch salt

For the Buffalo sauce:

• ¼ c. Frank’s Hot Sauce
• ¼ c. oil, canola oil works best
• Pinch salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together the batter ingredients in a small bowl. Dip the cauliflower in the batter until coated evenly then place on greased baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the batter hardens.
2. Mix together sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Once the cauliflower are done baking, brush them with the hot sauce mixture and bake again for a few more minutes, until cauliflower is crispy.
3. Remove from oven. You may want to add a bit more buffalo sauce to taste.

 Now Im not really that into spicy, so I touched it up a bit...

The initial batter that you coat the cauliflower in is similar to the above recipe in mine, only I put some cayenne powder, Paprika, and chili powder in it as well to really get that flavor into the cauliflower. Also, I used 1 whole cup of both unbleached flower and water. I had a big head of cauliflower! And I used Olive Oil instead of Canola oil... I dont know why exactly but Canola oil just doesnt feel healthy when it goes into my body like Olive Oil does!
I didnt have "Frank's" Hot sauce, but I did have tapatio... 
And I only added a few drops. Instead I made the sauce out of a little water, BBQ sauce (a couple of different kinds I had in my fridge,) More garlic powder, and a little butter.

You may need to leave it in the oven even longer, until crispy!

Add some ranch or bleu cheese for dipping and a side of celery and my day was much better!

In the end the taste was AWESOME. I love it, but I do suggest doing a second or third layer of the sauce before taking it out of the oven. I could use some more bbq flavor, but not to knock it at all! It is delicious and great for toddler finger food with an added bonus of being super healthy and vegan!

And this is an awesome new way for me to get veggies into my 2 year old!

What if money didnt matter?

The Narrator of this video (Alan Watts) was an inspirational man who died in 1978. Google him for more info. I love what he says in this video, and I love his voice =)

Russell Brand And the Westboro Basptist Church

I'm sure you've all heard of The Westboro Baptist church and the graphic hate they spew on streets across the country.

Russell brand had them on his show Brand X the other day, and my heart sang.

Watch this:



Russell did such an excellent job. He starts the interview making sure they are comfortable and scolding his audience yelling "DON'T BE MEAN DON'T BE MEAN!" He is incredibly polite as well as logical to make these people feel comfortable and attempt to have an actual conversation with them.

They even bring him a sign saying "Fag pimp brand" and he explains that this just means (in his country) that he gives away cigarettes, lol.

I love the love that he displays, consistently, ensuring that he does love everyone. God condemns us, as put, "because he can."

My favorite part is probably the "Heaven or hell game." Madonna, Tom Hanks and Mahatma Gandhi are going to hell.

Then he brings in some very respectful gas and trouble ensues...

In conclusion, I love Russell brand a LOT. I just really liked him before, now he's at the top of the list.

Hypnotherapy and Life coaching

Benefits of Life Coaching and Hypnotherapy together

There is a lot to say about affirmations. Whether or not you believe in the universe or god calling the shots and taking care of you there is obvious and scientific evidence that supports the benefits of focusing your mind to accomplish goals. Both Hypnotherapy and Life Coaching deal with affirmations as goal setting techniques to help both your conscious and subconscious mind achieve a reality that best suits them. Who doesn’t want their dreams to come true? With each of these modalities this goal is easily accomplished by helping you do the work to achieve your own personal bliss. Separately they are both very beneficial and cause profound growth, and together they tale the healing process even further.

Life coaching is is easily confused with traditional therapy. Coaches should not be giving advice or telling the client what to do. A coach asks powerful questions to help the client bring awareness around an issue they have been dealing with. Coaches have the fundamental belief that all people have their own answers within themselves. A coach does not simply listen, they really hear you. Life coaching is more individualized so each client resolves their own issues in their own perfect way.
Hypnotherapy works with your subconscious. You will be brought into a trance, which is a dream-like state of mind that before you sleep, but deeper than waking consciousness. As with life coaching each client will take their own particular adventure that is not lead by the therapist as much as guided. Hypnotherapy is very useful with sealing affirmations and ideas into the deeper parts of your mind so that you can unconsciously unlock the doors to the life of bliss that perfectly suits you.

Together any client can be sure that they have been heard and that wherever the path takes them it will be exactly what they need to progress further. Each are perfect separately, but together both the conscious ad subconscious mind of a client are sure to be covered, and goals become as easy as just going through life as you did before – only now your direction is chosen and authentic. Your unconscious motivation to succeed in whatever area is best for you is sealed and mobilized while your conscious mind is confident and ready to take on day-to-day tasks as well as new adventures that will help you achieve your bliss. 

If you want/need more information on either check out my website (Melodyinyourhead.com) and click what you want to learn about!

Quick and easy Pore scrub

I just tried this. It literally took 2 minutes and my pores are immaculate!

This is the recipe I used, but it made way more than enough for one cleansing so I saved the rest in a small tupperware for later.

1Tablespoon Baking Soda and 1/4 cup milk (the fattier the better.)
Mix together then rub on problem areas (either with a soft makeup pad or fingers) of skin where you make have clogged, dirty pores!
Rinse and repeat if needed. You'll see instantly clean pores!
The lactic acid in milk gets rid of dead cells and cleans the pores while the baking soda creates a scrub that sucks dirt and oils out!


My face felt a little dry afterward so I just put some Vitamin E oil on there. You can do the same with Oliver Oil.

If you have around 15 minutes go ahead and make this mask to really moisturize your pores!

Two Tsp. of Honey
1Tsp of Extra Virgin Olive oil.
Mix honey and olive oil in a small clean container.
Leave on for 10 minutes then rinse! VOILA!

A lesson on listening

Today I'm gonna talk about something that has been really prominent in my life lately, and something that I think everyone needs to bring awareness too, even if you are good at it... LISTENING.

I had a Life Coaching class this past weekend, and the people I worked with as coaches actually left me feeling unheard. One session with me as the client actually brought up some deep abandonment issues.. then left me feeling abandoned. When I went home, surrounded by friends, I tried to communicate my feelings, but no one would listen to me. I felt really abandoned still. I felt like I needed to do something in order to be heard... Then last night I had another class and this class was centered and focused around developing listening skills! This got me thinking... Most people are never heard, so they repeat their stories over and over until they get someone to help by giving them what they are searching for. This may be assurance, advice, just being HEARD, understanding, relation, etc...

So next time you run into an issue where someone keeps telling that same story over and over again try listening. One amazing phrase (that is now my favorite) that I learned in Life Coaching is the phrase "What in that story did you want me to hear?" This helps the person to step back and really analyze what you were meant to hear, and maybe even what they are trying to get out of it. By really working with people on this even you could get something huge out of it.

There are people in your life that you avoid talking to simply because they are a repeater, or maybe even because they dont let YOU get what you want to say out. It may even be because they call YOU out on being a repeater. Either way, here are some information on listening:

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to be understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." -Ralph Nichols

Listening is receiving and perceiving information. In order to listen you need to have a clear mind, good intention, come from a place without judgement, interest, and to not assume you already know the information. Even if 5 people come up to you in the same day to talk about the same thing, like the presidential debates, or the weather, They may all have something different to share. They may have a new angle, different information, and it may be the same subject but different intention. Be open to anyone that needs your ear. This is what being a good friend is!

93% of communication is non verbal, so only 7 percent is actually what you say. The rest is the tone in your voice, body language, facial expressions, and energy. Be mindful of how you say things because they can be perceived in hundreds of ways.

Someone in my class brought up a great example. The sentence 'I Didnt say I slept with your wife" Can have dozens of meanings depending on where the emphasis is.

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

"I didnt say I slept with your wife."

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

Those are all completely different sentences! Crazy, huh?

Try these tips out to improve your listening skills, let me know how it works out;

• Allow pauses, and breathe before responding. Make sure the other person is done talking.
• When you speak incorporate in what you just heard the other person say in order to make sure what you are saying is relevent.
• Focus on the facts. If they are a worrier and say "Im gonna get fired and this person hates me and blah blah blah" make sure you ask questions or comment only on the part of it that is concrete, not assumed or made up by the person. 
• Try not to focus on the dramatic part of the story, so again - facts!
• Make summarizing statements - "so what I hear you saying is..."
• Don't contradict them or take away from how they feel about the situation.
• Understand and THEN be understood.
• Be present and engaged.
• Ask clarifying questions.
• Use phrases like "Im wondering..." or "Im noticing" especially when their tone doesnt reflect their body language or their words.
• Dont be uncomfortable with silence. Filler is just that - filler. Really reflect and appreciate the person you are listening to.
• Stay open minded and don't take things personally.

And remember, think "What in this story do they want me to hear? People are social beings and need interaction. Someone if telling you something for a reason. Stay conscious and blessings!