While the Laguna Pools review is still up in the air, All Star Constriction will be getting a stellar review right here on my blog as soon as the house is done next week. Super experience so far!

    

Having a pool built by Laguna Pools. Once they are all finished, I will share my experience here.

I also plan to write reviews on GOOGLE PLUS< YELP< YAHOO LOCAL< YELLOW PAGES< ANGIES LIST>CITY SEARCH and of course the BBB.

Then of course I will Tweet and Facebook

    

3 lbs beef stew meat

Preheat oven to 325 with rack positioned on bottom third.

Spread meat on paper towels for 20 minutes to dry all excess juice.

Brown in very small batches on high heat in a 6qt Dutch oven, using a small amount of vegetable oil. Remove and drain.

Add vegetable oil as needed and add

1 chopped onion,

2 medium celery sticks

3 cloves garlic minced
1 medium carrot

and cook until softened 5-6 minutes stirring and scraping pot.

Add 1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried chilies

and cook for a minute or two more.

Add one cup red wine to deglaze the pan, raise heat and scrape pan, boil and reduce by half about 5 minutes.

Add 2 1/2 cup homemade vegetable stock and the meat. Cover and place in oven and stew for 1 to 2 hours

Add vegetables stew in oven, cover and simmer until everything is tender …about one hour.

Vegetables: parsnips turnips rutabaga, golden beet, carrot, celery, onions, potatoes.

Vegetable Stock

Use the peelings and ends of parsnips, turnips rutabagas, golden beets, carrots, celery, onions, and add some lettuce if you have it.

Add all to a big pot and cover with water. You can add a ham hock if you are not a vegetarian.

Add cracked pepper and a small amount of salt. You can add thyme and lemons cut in half if you wish or any herb. 1/2 bunch of cilantro is optional but good.

Bring to a simmer slowly and put on lowest setting and cover and cook for a few hours or all day.
Strain out the vegetable stuff and use as a base for vegetable soup or beef stew or it makes beans tasty with some cilantro in the broth.

    

I am repainting my art car and am writing this so I won’t forget what works for the next time!

This is my current paint job. The yellow and pink are One Shot, the blue is the color of the car. I used painters tape to mask off the areas. I wish I had masked off all the rubber, too. Most of the details were created using Sharpie Paint Pens. They worked great for a few months but eventually faded to white chalk. I Mod Podged them to make them more permanent but that didn’t work. The chalky residue washed off completely with Goof Off. Which is a nice feature if you want to make a new incarnation of your art car often. I used stick on labels to mask off the peace signs and the hearts before painting the car the first, so they are permanent.

Goof Off also works well for cleaning your hands and brushes and any mistakes while wet. I  mixed the One Shot 9 parts paint and one part hardener. The paint thickens slightly with the hardener and a skin will form overnight even in a small sealed container like the tiny mason jar I used. Mix the paint with hardener  in small quantities that you can use up within a few hours. Wrap your paint brush in plastic wrap if you are taking a short break.
I will post picture when I am finished!

    

One of the questions I get asked all the time as I go around in my colorful car and wearing my brightly dyed hair is ” How do I do that?”

Jill Johnson from originally from Venus Salon in Houston, and now at her own shop on White Oakhttp://bombshellhairshop.com gave me the skinny back in 2008 when I made my first art car.

The first thing you have to do is bleach your hair platinum! Not blonde, not ash, but white as snow is best.

For me with my very dark brown hair with lots of grey, that means 5 one hour sessions of whitening over a week or more.

My hair is stubborn and goes orange, yellow, straw and finally white. The trick here is not to damage your hair. I do it at home but if you don’t have the know how, this part is best handled by a pro.

I usually spend a week as a platinum blonde as it is interesting to see how people treat me as a blonde as opposed to a brunette.

Next comes the color. I have tried many brands of color and love Rage N Color. It is very bright and lasts a long time. Manic Panic is also good but fades faster. But if you want color that really lasts try the new Ion Color Brilliance Brights Semi-Permanent Hair Color in all the bright colors. Warning! This stuff lasts!!!

Pink in all brands fades fastest of all the colors. After that in least fade resistance is purple.  Blue lasts fairly well and teal lasts longest.

After years of living in the suburbs, driving a normal grey car and living in a grey house, I love having colorful hair, driving a colorful car and living in a colorful house!

It makes me happy!