Cinnamon Rolls the easy way

I learned about these when my friend Lisa and I were talking about pregnancy cravings.

She mentioned how she sent her husband out late one night in search of these and how unfortunate it was when he couldn't find them and had to bring back the Pillsbury ones in the tube.

Up to this point when I wanted quick cinnamon rolls the only ones I ever had were the ones from the tube! After that conversation I went looking, and found these Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls at Wegman's in the freezer section. I will never buy the refrigerated Pillsbury ones again.

Let me tell you why they are better:

1. They just taste delicious, not manufactured. I get complements every time I serve them to guests.
2. They come with plenty of cream cheese topping, not a scant amount where you have to struggle to cover every roll
3. They rise a lot and are really fluffy (see below picture)
4. You don't have to touch any gooey, sticky dough to arrange them in the pan
5. They come in their own pan so there are no dishes to do when they're gone
6. And my very favorite part - no preheating necessary. You just take them from the freezer and stick them into a cold oven that you set to 350 degrees. They're ready to eat in 30 minutes.

If you try these, let me know what you think!

No-slip hair bands

I admit that I found these by accident.

I was at Target looking for a really stretchy hairband - preferably one with the rubbery tread to use as a tie for the emergency clutches I gave out at the last favorite things party.  I couldn't find what I was looking for, and didn't like how the regular hairbands weren't stretchy enough for fitting around the clutch comfortably.  I almost gave up, but then spotted these new hairbands that scunchi makes.  They are really neat! Stretchier than a usual hair band, they are made out of a clear-ish rubbery material with no clasps or clamps anywhere on the band. It is grippy without being sticky, if that makes sense. Take a close look at the picture and you can imagine what they might feel like.

I was excited to try one in my hair, and I really like them!  If I put my hair up it is usually in a ponytail that is pulled through, and I have to fix the hair that is coming loose maybe once every hour or two. This one stayed in all day with no adjusting. And when you take it out it doesn't rip any hairs out and is not uncomfortable at all. They are especially great for working out since they have that extra hold you need to keep your hair in place.

If you feel like you are constantly messing with your hair bands then give these a try! I found them at Target for about $3.

Favorite things, round two!

After the first favorite things party, I learned so much, and we all swapped so many great hints that we decided it had to be an ongoing event!

We just had our most recent party in January, and here's what was brought:

• Lysol 4-in-1 cleaning spray
• Ghriadelli chocolate chips (Lisa, who brought these, makes the best toffee in the world with them)
• a fabric memo board for holding info/papers/pictures/hairbows or anything else
• Clorox wipes - one of the best cleaning products ever
• Yoplait strawberry cheesecake yogurt bites - only 30 calories each, and delicious
• A Valentine gift box with chocolates, strawberry plant starter, notecards, lotion & dish towel
• Dark chocolate covered butter cookies & Yankee maple syrup tealight candles
• an Emergency Clutch inspired from this post here
• a microfiber cloth and mini bobby pins
• Zotz sour candy - they have a fizzy middle, too
• Listerine strips (along with a great hint to keep them in your pocket for when you might get tired - you won't fall asleep with one of these in your mouth!)

always-accessable clips

These magnetic clips are fantastic. I bought them several years ago, probably from Target. They were Kitchen aid brand. However, when I had my favorite things party I went to hunt them down and couldn't find any since they were discontinued. Finally I found these Faberware ones that are just like my originals. I could only find them at super Walmart, but alas, I now have some more. They last forever since they are heavy-duty. And it is really nice to always be able to find your clips since they stick right on the fridge. The magnets are strong so we also use them to hold up our calendar and other things on the fridge when they're not needed for any chips. Give them a try!

Favorite Things Party

A few weeks ago I came across an idea for a Favorite Things party and thought it sounded like fun.

Here's how it works:

Each person brings their favorite thing (anything you like.. your favorite lip gloss, favorite kitchen tool, favorite magazine, favorite gift wrapping supply, favorite nail polish, a gift card for your favorite frozen yogurt, etc.). It can't cost more than $6, and each person brings five of the same thing.

You write your name on five slips of paper and throw them in a bowl and each person takes five names

Each person introduces their favorite thing and then reads the five names they picked from the bowl, passing out their gift to those five guests. Each person will end up with five gifts to take home.

We had a great time discussing our favorite products, books, movies, dates, day trips, local restaurants, make up, perfume and more. Now I have a whole list of fall activities I can plan, restaurants to try, books to read, and more.

We also ate some favorite things, like Ghirardelli brownies, snickerdoodle cookies, Ben & Jerry's red velvet ice cream, Simply Orange & Mango juice, coconut M&M's, Keebler olive oil & sea salt crackers, peanut butter snickers, and probably some more I can't think of at the moment.

I forgot to take a picture of everyone with their favorite thing! Here's what was brought:

• Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper
• Twix Bars
• Organizational container for baking supplies -put your baking soda, baking powder, corn starch, shortening -- any random baking supply -- and when you are ready to start baking, all you have to do is pull out this one container and set it on the counter rather than  hunting down the right ingredient in your cupboard!
• Fall leaves for decorating
• Extra spearmint gum
• Lindt chocolate truffles
• Farberware magnetic chip clips
• Bath & Body works Coconut Lime Verbena antibacterial hand lotion
• Chocolate "Ice Cubes" candy
• Coconut & warm ginger hand soap
• Warm sugar scented Yankee Candle
• Dish Scraper
• Patterned scissors

It was a great time and fun theme for a girl's night. Will have to do this again soon!