Cindy-Campbell.com

It’s the 21st Century. You most likely have access to a digital camera and a computer. So please please put a few extra moments into making you photos worth posting. This plea mainly goes out the ETSY shop owners and Ebay sellers of the world… your photos are such a critical component to the buyer’s decisions process, you need to be putting your best foot forward.

I must admit now, I am by no means a professional photographer. I have a point-and-shoot camera that is a few years old and about 1” thick. It’s only “accessory” is a mini-tripod I got for under $10 at Wal-Mart. BUT, since acquiring this accessory, and learning how to make simple adjustments using Picnik.com, my online photo postings have increased by leaps and bounds.

For example:

*Click to enlarge

I like to use Picnik.com because it is easy and FREE. Bare minimum, just upload your photo end hit the “auto-fix” button (on the edit tab). You’ll usually see a big difference.

Next I go to “exposure” button and then hit the “advanced” option (don’t be scared). Drag the “highlights” and “shadows” buttons until the photo has the look you want (usually the graph will have black bars hitting it on the right and left side).

Making adjustments under the “colors” button will add some nice effects to your photos too. Experiments are good. And you can also hit the UNDO button if you’ve gone a little bit too crazy.

There are a lot of different sites that will let you edit photos, Picnik.com is just one I have been hooked on the past year or so. At any rate, I hope this inspires you to bring out the very best in all the pictures you post online!

The first time I went to an In-n-Out, I didn’t eat there. I went across the parking lot, got food from Arby’s and brought food back to eat with my family at this place I hadn’t heard of before.
I still love Arby’s. And food coupons. Yay!

Print out this coupon for a free drink and curly fries when you try their NEW Angus 3 Cheese and Bacon Sandwich.

Awesome.

Find an Arby’s near you... the two closest ones to my house are in a Target parking lot. Can’t beat that!

I love going to zoos. Growing up, I would go to the Phoenix and San Diego Zoos (setting maybe my expectations a bit high). The Bronx Zoo is pretty amazing too. My roommate in Hoboken insisted it was the best, but I said San Diego was. We agreed to disagree and that adults shouldn’t fight over zoos.

I have not been to the Houston Zoo yet. I realize it will be much smaller, but small zoos can be good too (I loved the zoo in the middle of Central Park in NYC. They have penguins).

Did you know that the Houston Zoo offers FREE admission... on the 1st Tuesday of every month, from 2pm-6pm. If I lived Downtown, this might be of more use to me.

Even better: Bank of America card-holders receive free admission to the Houston Zoo (and The Children’s Museum and Fine Arts Museum) the first Weekend of every month!

Bank of America has a program called Museums on Us®, and BofA Credit/Debit card holders receive free admission. Right now, it looks like 150 Museums/Zoos in 29 states are participating. The fine print: Free admission is for the name on the card, you’ll still need to pay for a kids admission if you’re bringing the family.

Check out the Bank of America Museums on Us® site for more information! The Central Park Zoo is not a Participant. But the BRONX Zoo is! And so is the Met! Oh my!

I just got these earrings in the mail today, and I must say they are just lovely! They are the creation of That Old Blue House on Etsy. The shop specialized in making jewelry out of vintage quilts, lace and other items. I had some X-mas money from my sister earmarked for Etsy accessories… so after months of window-shopping I finally made a purchase.

Considering opening an Etsy shop myself, I was interested to experience the process veteran sellers used (i.e. packagings, shipping metods, customer service etc…). That Old Blue House was very good at communicating with me on when the item would be shipped out. She let me know it would be delayed a couple days because she needed more boxes. At first I wondered why she needed a box, I was sure such a small item could fit in an envelope. Well, that envelope came in the mail today, and this was inside:

What simple yet wonderful packaging! Great from a branding perspective, and exciting from a buyers perspective… a little gift I get to open It’s the little personal touches that makes you realize it came from a person and wasn’t mass produced in a factory. Inside:

The earrings were exactly as she had described. So pretty. And lightweight, considering the quilt piece is sandwiched between 2 pieces of thin glass and soldered.

I’m extremely happy . Both with the service and quality of the item. I’ll defiantly keep watching Etsy for more finds… especially around gift giving time

Admit it, you love those cheesy commercials! Usually “as seen on TV” type things are good concepts, but the actual product is a bit lacking in quality. If you’re like me, you’re tempted to call in, but usually don’t… knowing you could probably find the item at the nearest Bed Bath and Beyond or Dollar General.

The Perfect Brownie Pan is one of those items that my entire family though was an interesting idea… and wouldn’t you know, my brother got me one for Christmas. Now, this one isn’t the same brand as the “as seen on TV model” and that is fine by me. It seems to be pretty sturdy, construction wise, and the bottom piece has handles so you can lift it up and out, as opposed to the TV version that has a little stand that pushes the bottom up and out (“perfect for entertaining” )

Here’s the 3 pieces so you can get a better idea of what I’m talking about: The divider, the side of the pan, and the bottom of the pan.

For this brownie pan test, I went with a boxed mix. Actually, for 99% of the brownies made in this house, we use a boxed mix. No shame in that.

Put the bottom piece in the side piece. Spray the whole inside with baking spray. Add batter. Easy enough. I was curious to see how much batter would leak between the two pieces…

Insert the divider straight down into the pan. In my haste, I forgot an important step: SPRAY THE DIVIDER with cooking spray! Opps.

We got a little fancy and put some toffee bits (homemade toffee that is) on a couple of the pieces, just to see what would happen

Bake according to your recipe (or side of the box).

30ish minutes later: WE HAVE BROWNIES! I somehow managed to not let an equal amount of batter get into each little segment, so some of the outside pieces didn’t get as big. Or it may be because I did not rotate the pan… or that the outer pan edges get hotter than the inner divider edges. It did not affect the brownie taste, so it’s all good.

One important lesson about this contraption: You need to wait until the brownies are cool before removing the divider. I did not, and thus removing the divider brought along some brownie segments with it.

Overall, I am quite pleased with this pan. It delivered on all of its promises. Brownies tasted just fine and were perfectly separated. Also, only a minimal amount leaked in between the side and bottom pieces.

It worked out so well, we’ve of course “tested” it again, and again I think it might be cute to use a cake batter, then frost the top and sides of each piece and decorate like a mini-cake. That is for another day…