Sarah Warne's Blog

Self-contained ecosphere

Sarah Warne — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:54:52 +0000

You have to get yourself one of these. They are easy, completely maintenance free and fun to look at. My husband got me one for Christmas a couple years back and it was my favorite gift. The ecosphere contains the perfect amount of water, air, and algae to sustain the life of the microorganisms (shrimp) within. They are small enough to put on a desk, dresser or shelf in your work or home. I totally love science and this little gift has brought me tons of entertainment and joy. Get one today!

http://www.amazon.com/Ecosphere-Associates-Small-Pod/dp/B000E8WWSG

Protected: My new job

Sarah Warne — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:19:23 +0000

Great Mountain Getaway!

Sarah Warne — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:51:07 +0000

This week I was super lucky to have my sister and brother-in-law come to Denver to hang out. We always have a great time with them, and this time was no exception. To make the family time even more fun, my cousin, his wife and 3 kids were also in Colorado and we got to meet up with them for a couple days in Granby. We stayed at a beautiful cabin that had exceptional views of Lake Granby and the mountains. Seriously, the views were priceless. What made the whole trip even better was our daily ATV rides. I’m a huge fan. Thanks to Cindy and her family for sharing their home and toys with us!

If you’re interested in a GREAT mountain getaway, this cabin is for rent and it’s location and price are amazing. It’s only a matter of feet from the Arapahoe National Forest, about a 15 minute drive to the Rocky Mountain National Park, surrounded by ATV trails and so much more! Check out: http://www.vrbo.com/285103

Styria Bakery

Sarah Warne — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:23:34 +0000

This bakery offers some of the best bread I’ve ever eaten. My friend and I stumbled upon it at the Paris Street Market in Littleton. We bought a loaf of the Lemon White Chocolate bread and we ate almost the whole thing that day! It’s very sweet, and I imagine it would make amazing french toast. I like to just slice a piece and eat it on it’s own.

This bakery only sells at local farmers markets and their website is a bit lacking (http://styriabakery.com), but if you can find them, you will surely be amazed. I’ve heard rumor that they sell at the Dillion Farmers Market as well as the Denver Urban Homesteading Market (200 Santa Fe Drive, Saturdays, 9am to 2pm).

There is another bakery called Styria Bakery II and while I don’t know if they are somehow related, I can tell you that they also sell a Lemon White Chocolate Mint bread that is also good, but not nearly as tasty as the former.

Remember to get out during the summer and fall months and support your local shops, farmers and markets. It’s a great way to get amazing food at reasonable prices. You may even find something you weren’t looking for!

Old Navy (and Gap) on Facebook

Sarah Warne — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:30:47 +0000

If you’re a fan of shopping deals then go ahead and “like” Old Navy on Facebook. You’ll learn about super sales, secret sales and they even offer coupons from time to time. Last weekend they had a downloadable coupon that you could use to get their layered cami’s for $2 each (usually priced at $8.50).

Gap also offers special deals for those people who “like” them on Facebook. On July 5th they offered a 30% off coupon for that one day (all items in the store, with limited restrictions). What a deal!

It’s free to “like!”

Recommended Author – Jane Green

Sarah Warne — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:29:20 +0000

Dune Road

Promises to Keep

The Beach House

Second Chance

Swapping Lives

The Other Women

To Have and to Hold

Straight Talking

Babyville

Bookends

Mr. Maybe

Jemima J

The Guy Not Taken

Jane Green is one of my favorite authors and is considered one of the founders of the chick lit genre. Her most recent book, Promises to Keep, looks at the foundations of family relationships and the bond they share through the good times and the bad. Grab one of her books for your summer read and you won’t be disappointed.

Promises to Keep
Dune Road
The Beach House
Second Chance
Swapping Lives
The Other Women
To Have and to Hold
Straight Talking
Babyville
Bookends
Mr. Maybe
Jemima J

Fish Stick Taco Recipe

Sarah Warne — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:52:14 +0000

This is seriously good, easy to make, and great for left overs (you can easily heat up the fish sticks and reuse the prepared toppings).

What you need:

Fish Sticks (any brand or your favorite fish will work too!)
Soft flour taco shells
Cabbage (or lettuce if you don’t like cabbage)
1 Tomato
8-10 oz Sour cream
1 tablespoon Taco Seasoning
8 oz Shredded Cheese

What to do:

Bake fish sticks according to package directions (I use 2-3 fish sticks per taco)
Mix the sour cream and 1 tablespoon taco seasoning and set aside
Cut the cabbage into this strips
Chop your tomato

Fill the taco shells with the sour cream mixture, fish sticks, cheese and other toppings.

I like to use low-fat sour cream and a fillet of mahi-mahi when I’m trying to cut calories and fat. Enjoy!

Yogurtland or Pinkberry?

Sarah Warne — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:02:31 +0000

The soft serve frozen yogurt craze is hitting the nation (again). We’re lucky to have two very good options near our home. I’m not gonna say that one’s better than the other. It’s frozen yogurt. It’s soft serve. It taste great on a 95 degree day. You’ll have to decide for yourself.

Yogurtland offers about 16 flavors of frozen yogurt along with an estimated 36 toppings ranging from fresh fruit to sugary cereal, nuts and assorted candies. What’s fun about Yogurtland is that it’s all self-serve and reasonably priced. You can mix and match as many flavors as you want. The choices are endlessly overwhelming and delicious! http://www.yogurt-land.com/

Pinkberry typically has 4-5 flavors on tap with a smaller selection of fresh fruit toppings, chocolates and even some liquid concoctions of mixed fruit juices. Everything tastes incredibly refreshing and if you go during their happy hour, you’ll enjoy your frozen treat for half-price (which I highly recommend since it’s a bit pricier). http://www.pinkberry.com

Both places boast a healthier, delicious treat with live and active yogurt cultures. Check their menus for non-fat or sugar free options and be mindful of your toppings if you’re watching calories, fat and sugar content.

Either way, you can’t go wrong with these delicious frozen treats. Indulge a bit before the weather takes a turn…

Shaving my cat (Wahl hair clippers)

Sarah Warne — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:09:32 +0000

We have two long haired cats. My husband is very allergic and I’m sorta allergic. So smart, I know (they were just so cute as kittens we couldn’t pass them up!) So in order to help with our household allergies we give our cats baths. It helps, but as our summer here in Denver has gotten hotter and hotter, our cats are shedding more and more. I’m practically vacuuming up a cat’s worth of fur every time I turn on the machine. Tonight I went to our local Target and picked up a pair of hair clippers. I put my furriest cat in the bathtub and after about 30 minutes, I now have a shorthaired cat. Mind you, I kept the fur around his face and tail long, but we have a much improved fur ball running around our home.

I used the Wahl 20-Piece Color Coded Clipper Set. It worked great, cut through the thickest fur, and only cost about $20. Totally worth it!

Japan-Osaka

Sarah Warne — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:34:31 +0000

I had an awesome time in Japan a couple weeks ago traveling with Relient K. John and I flew into Osaka where we spent a couple days before jotting off to Nagoya for a day on a bullet train, stopping off for a moment and then continuing on to Tokyo where we spent the rest of our time.

Osaka was a maze of alleyways and arcades. Close to the hotel was this sweet mall, The Park, that had a multi-level outdoor park like setting. Great for getting lost in or photo bombing the locals on a morning bagel stop. We also braved the subway/train systems to go check out the Osaka Castle which was a pleasantly beautiful park in an overwhelmingly urban setting. Perhaps the better part of our trip was our first experience with a bidet. The toilets in Japan can be very rustic (a hole in the ground) or super high tech (lots of buttons, warmers, lights, etc.). I’d much rather have the latter of the two, thank you very much.

John and I got into Japan a few hours before everyone else so we decided to go out and explore a bit. One of the things we noticed was that a lot of the signs for restaurants and stores were in English even though English wasn’t spoken or understood. Okay, I say we noticed it, but I guess I should more accurately state that we learned this. We wanted some coffee since we’d been awake for about 20 something hours and attempted to order some at the Sunshine Corner Cafe. Turns out they were trying to figure out if we wanted to be seated in smoking or non-smoking while we were trying to order coffee to-go. In the end, we ended up leaving without coffee and went to the safest place we could think of. McDonald’s. And then Starbucks. We quickly became well versed in pointing at menu items, smiling, and looking confused. It worked.

On our way out of Osaka we saw sumo wrestlers (the real deal!) and rode the bullet train to Nagoya where we stopped off for a couple hours before heading on to Tokyo.