A FEW TIPS

This morning, as I sipped my cup of morning Joe and attempted to catch up on the days headlines on my iPhone, a message popped up, "not enough storage to view." I turned on my iPad where I saw the same message. My new iPad, charging, screamed, "downloading latest updates. 1 hour 20 minutes remaining." My iMac was also busy charging. And my incredibly sleek, totally cool desktop decided to take the day off.  Only a few sips into my morning, I wondered how it was possible to have a technological world so incredibly advanced yet completely unreliable? So, in a world filled with complicated checks and balances, I decided to revert back to a few of my incredibly simple tips today. I also happened to have a few minutes to kill this while waiting for my devices to wake up!
RUB-A-DUB-DUB:
We tend to shop at big stores like Cost Co and Sams club for home goods, so with that comes enormous, ugly packaging. Because I don't want a bottle of dish soap the size of bag of flour on our countertop, I use various smaller bottles to use in plain view. Several years ago I purchased beakers in various sizes to use as vases, water jugs for dinner parties and mixers for cocktails (often fun, for example, to have fresh lemon juice, freshly squeezed orange juice and other mixers out for guests during cocktail parties). For dish soap, I grabbed a smaller beaker and added a cocktail pour-spout to the top for a fun, simple holder of dish soap.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE:
I love to save interesting bottles for various future uses. In the past I've placed cool bottles on tree limbs so things like apples or pears could grow into them (then add vodka and let sit for a month for flavored vodka), I use them for water during dinner parties, vases, or water for guests on bedside stands. After cleaning them it's often difficult to get them to DRY. My quick tip to do that...roll up a paper towel in a funnel-shape and stick in the bottle. 24 hours later the towel will absorb the water and you'll be ready to go!