The Envelope

The world is a big, yet small place.  The following story is completely true; the names have been changed to protect the parties involved.

I was the typical teenage girl who was attracted to bad guys.  You know the type rebels, tough guys, the kind that your parents warned you about. Well, when I was younger, thankfully I grew out of this stage, I started talking to this guy, we will call him Tyler Durden (cute huh?).  Tyler Durden was my best friend’s boyfriend’s best friend. I started talking to him one night.  We became close and we talked every day for hours. Well Tyler got in trouble and ended up going to Boy’s School, which is also known as Juvenile.  I never did know exactly what he did to get in there.  I pretty much stopped talking to him, we would occasionally send each other letters while he was in Boy’s School. I decided that I didn’t really want to per sue anything with Tyler because he was not a good guy to be around and I met another guy which I will call Bob Marley.  Bob was not much better than Tyler, he used to live under a bridge. He was pretty much a hippie and not a really good guy to hang around either but I was young and dumb and I thought I was in love. 

I pretty much stopped responding to Tyler after I started dated Bob.  I wasn’t really interested anymore and I still didn’t know what he did. However I did think it would be cool to date my best friend’s boy friend’s best friend.  Tyler would still send me letters and call me when he could. One day my mom decided to get the mail. I think it was a weekend day. So, she saw the Boy’s School stamp saying this letter was from an inmate.  My mom knew I was dating Bob Marley and the letter had hand written on it Bob Marley.  They would give you a set amount of envelopes and when you ran out you were out of luck.  My mom was pretty upset for two reasons, her teenage daughter was receiving mail from an inmate and it was from someone who was named Bob Marley.  I explained that it wasn’t my Bob Marley and told her the truth about who it was. I was forbidden to talk to Tyler Durden. After things with Bob Marley didn’t work out, I was talking to Tyler Durden again for a little while longer. I gave him my friend’s address and he sent the letters to her.  I found out that Tyler ran out of envelopes and borrowed one from  Bob Marley whose real name is a very common first and last name. It was a sheer coincidence.  After that I stopped talking to Tyler Durden.   This was in like May.

I am sure you are like so what, people have the same names all the time, but it gets weirder.

In October, I was home from school, I had been sick, I was on AOL in a chatroom. I started talking to this  random guy and I knew his name was Bob.  I didn’t want to type anymore so I gave him my number and he called me. The caller id said something like Martha Marley.  I thought wow another one? Well it is a pretty common name after all there must be millions of Bob Marley’s out there.  Then I was like thinking about it while I talked to him and asked him, figuring he would have no clue what I was talking about, Do you know a guy named Tyler Durden?  He responded yeah, I was in Boy’s School with him.  I squeaked out, I got your envelope.

What is a Homeware?

The media seem to like throwing around jargon that either means nothing or a thousand things at once, the key word they’ve cottoned on to at the moment is homeware. We see it in articles relating to the home, and shops have even started using it as a category to put a wide variety of items under. But what does it actually mean?

The dictionary definitions say that homeware is furnishing for the home, this includes furniture and cushions. But is there more to homeware than just furnishings? Furnishings tend to imply those little extras that finish a room, the curtains and knick knacks, but are modern homeware more? Does it include cutlery, plates and other kitchen items? Well the shops seem to think so and most people you talk to seem to agree with them.

So it seems in the modern world homeware has taken on a new definition and expanded its range to, well, everything that may be needed in the home. Be it bedding, curtains, a bin, kitchen equipment or even a bed itself homeware covers it all. There is of course a question where the term homeware stops and appliances begin. For example a blender can easily be considered to be homeware, but what about a fridge or tumble dryer? These are traditionally considered to be appliances, maybe in the case of crossovers it depends upon the size, with smaller items that can be tucked away, being considered as homeware. Or maybe, just maybe, homeware can be considered an overarching category that appliances falls under in its own sub category.

If homeware is now deemed to cover the home and everything in it, it seems the next logical question is how far the term home extends to. Does it cover the garden and gardening equipment? What about the garage and its contents?

It seems that the term homeware is a continuously evolving idea that changes depending on the worlds current needs and demands on it. Given 50 years who knows how homeware will be seen, it might have changed dramatically from the view we have of it now.

Visit Very.co.uk today for all your homeware needs. 

New Signature Brands Icings Review and Giveaway

 

I love desserts, they are probably my favorite thing to eat. I love when things have a lot of frosting like on cakes, brownies and cupcakes.  I had the opportunity to try out some new icings from Signature Brands. They have Oreo icing. Let me tell you about how much I used to love Oreo Brownies.  In the 90’s there were Oreo Brownies. I loved them so much. They came in a box of 6 and they were so delicious. They stopped making them. I was really upset about it, they were better than Oreo cookies because they were so moist and the icing was amazing.  A few years ago I was in the Reno airport and I saw an Oreo brownie, I was so excited. I thought it was back. I found them at the store and immediately purchased 4 of them. I was sorely disappointed when I tried them. They were not the same Oreo brownies I fell in love with, they were really not even good at all. I ended up throwing away the rest of them.  After a year or so I bought one more, just in case the one I had wasn’t very good for some reason. I had the same result.  I had come to realize that those were a thing of the past. I was kind of used to it because when my mom or I really like something it ends up being not made anymore. 

I had the opportunity to try out the Oreo icings from Signature Brands, and they enclosed a recipe for Oreo Brownie bites.  I thought that it sounded really good. I had seen the Oreo icing and the S’mores icing at Wal-mart and I was really curious as what they tasted like.  When I received my packages from Signature Brands with everything I needed to try out the recipes I decided to try the Oreo Brownie Bites. I had my trusty assistant Noah in the kitchen with me and it was really easy to make. I was really surprised how quickly we made them. I ended up making normal sized cupcakes instead of the minis. I also forgot to put the icing in the middle, so I will be sure to do that next time.  I can’t tell you how delicious they were even without the icing in the middle. I had found that Oreo Brownie taste once again,  just as I remembered it. I really had to control myself from running in the closet and sucking down the whole package of icing.  I have thought about going to Wal-mart to buy a package just for that purpose.  I really think that Oreo Brownie Bites are my new favorite dessert; they are a brownie and a cupcake in one.  Noah loves them too, I had to hide them from him because he would eat them all if he had the opportunity. I can’t wait to make them again soon. 

There are four flavors of the icings from Signature Brands, Original Oreo, Chocolate Oreo, Original Hershey’s S’mores  and Chocolate Cinnamon S’mores. You can easily put icing tips on the frostings so whatever you make will look like a professional made it. I love that because I am left handed and I am horrible at icing cupcakes and cakes. 

Be sure to check out the website for more recipes. You can find the delicious icings at your local Wal-mart.

Thank you to Signature Brands for providing me with samples of the icings to try out and for the kit to make the recipes and providing the giveaway prize.

I have a giveaway for you.

One (1) lucky reader will receive their own chance to make the recipes and receive their own baking kit.

Mandatory  Entry:  Go to The Signature Brands website, take a look around and tell me which icing flavor you would like to try and which recipe other than the Oreo Brownie Bites would you like to make.

Extra Entries:

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Follow @Sheilacakes7 on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including the link. This can be done once a day.

This giveaway will end on June  24, 2011 at 11:59 pm ET

This giveaway is open to US Residents ONLY