Woo Hoo! It's Friday! It's Friday! I love Fridays!

I know you can't tell, but I'm doing a little happy dance! 🙂

If you've been reading BigSisLilSis for any period of time, you already know that Friday is my favorite day of the week and today is not only a Fantastic Friday, it's a Fantabulous Friday!

SirHoney and I got some fantastic news this week, plus BigSis and SisMama are here in Southern California visiting us, and today, we're heading to the casino! BigSis says she enjoys gambling at online casinos at the moment because you can learn all you need to know about online bonuses and take better advantage of them. I told her we won't be benefiting from many bonuses in this casino, but she was happy enough that we were getting to play some slots. Since we're probably going to be playing penny slots, were not really expecting to hit it big, but we're going to have fun trying! Perhaps we may have to follow this link or find another online casino similar so we can play something a little more thrilling than penny slots, this way we'll have a better chance of hitting it big as well, wish us luck!

On another note, since we were just talking about Man vs. Food, did anyone happen to catch the season premier episode on Wednesday night that was filmed here in San Diego? It was awesome! Our favorite part of the show was when Adam tackled the legendary Ironman Challenge at the infamous Broken Yolk Cafe.

Broken Yolk Cafà© Special (For the Iron man or woman)
A dozen-egg omelet filled with mushrooms, onions, American cheese and smothered with chili and more cheese. On the other half of a 15-inch pizza pan is a generous pile of homefries and two biscuits. The Broken Yolk Special is free if you eat it all within an hour.

Here's a peek at just a couple of their giant four egg omelets. Can you imagine what that 12 egg omelet looks like close-up?

We're trying to talk HayHay into letting us take him to Broken Yolk Cafe to attempt the challenge, so if we make our own Young Man vs. Food video, we'll be back to share it with you. Otherwise, we're in Vay Cay mode here in So Cal and we'll check back in if we have something fun to report.

Have a great weekend! 🙂

~LilSis

Posted under This & That

It seems like my weekend shopping trips are lots more challenging these days since I can't just breeze through Target and mindlessly grab my usual products.  Making a commitment to purge animal-tested products from my life has been a real project, but I'm committed to it, as LilSis is also.

I've had a longtime love affair with my Swiffer WetJet since the day I laid eyes on it, but alas, Swiffer is a Procter & Gamble company.  Procter & Gamble does animal testing, so Swiffer is out of my house, which made me sad at first.  I envisioned returning to a drippy string mop or sponge mop with a big steaming sloshing bucket full of Pine Sol.  Gah!

Thankfully, there are other alternatives, and I found a nifty one. I bought a Rubbermaid Reveal Microfiber Spray Mop during my last trip to Target.  How much do I love it?  Let me count the ways:

• As far as I can see, Rubbermaid doesn't do any animal testing.  If I'm wrong, someone please correct me!

• There are no expensive disposable pads to buy.  The Reveal Mop comes with a microfiber pad that is washable!  Brilliant!  You can buy replacement pads if you ever need to.

• You can use any cleaning solution you wish!  Brilliant again!  Not only are you free of the pricey Swiffer solution, but you can use a completely environmentally-friendly, green solution!  Use plain water, or water with white vinegar, or buy a natural cleanser from Method, Mrs. Meyers, or Caldrea.  You choose.

• Another cool thing?  You can buy extra refillable spray bottles so you can switch out your solutions for different surfaces: tile, wood, vinyl, or laminate.

• No batteries required!

Even though I imagined the worst (stringy ol' yarn mop), what I ended up with is better in many ways than my old Swiffer!

Before you even think about mopping though, you need freshly-swept floors right?  This is the perfect time to introduce you to my new electric broom; the Electrolux ErgoRapido Bagless Cordless Handheld/Stick Vacuum Cleaner.

My last electric broom lasted for probably 10 years, but it finally got weary of sucking up all that cat litter and hair, and it just passed away.  After a ton of research, I decided on the ErgoRapido and I'm so thrilled with it:

• It works well and has good suction.  It will occasionally take two passes to pick up some of the fine bits of clumping cat litter, but I think that material is a real challenge for any sweeper.

• It's lightweight, cordless and rechargeable.

• There are no bags, and the canister is easy to empty.

• It's a stick vacuum cleaner AND a handheld vacuum all in one.

• It looks really cool!

So with both of these tools in my cleaning closet, there's no excuse for a dirty floor, right?  Now, all I have to do is teach my furkids to sweep and mop while I'm at work, and we're all set!

~BigSis

Posted under Home

Are you following BigSisLilSis on Facebook?  If not, you've already missed 2 weeks of health and fitness tips to get your New Year off to a great start!  Do you know which cellulite cures work and which don't work?  Do you need some ideas for quick guilt-free lunches?  Are you looking for a new workout?

If you've been following our tips, you'd have those answers, and more!  It's not too late though.  We have 2 more weeks of daily tips for you, so come check us out!  We can always learn something new from each other and we'd love to hear your tips and tricks!

photo credit: petname

~BigSis

Posted under Fitness

How about another colorful cupcake for Valentines Day?  By the way, have you made the Pomeranian Pomegranate Cupcakes that I talked about a few days ago?  If not, here's option #2 for your Valentine's Day, and it's another vegan one!

These are actually called Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes (I love the name!) and they're from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule. I have several of Isa's other cookbooks, but I just got this one and these cupcakes are the first thing I've baked from it.  This cute little cookbook was named the “Cookbook of the Year” by VegNews.

So, back to the baking.  There was nothing weird in this recipe that required an emergency trip to my favorite little hippie health food store (although that would be dandy with me since I love it there).  Just flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and soda, soy milk (I used almond), canola oil and flavorings.  It was super easy to whip up, so the recipe wins kudos for that too.

I also made the icing recommended for this cupcake, Old Fashioned Velvet Icing.  I can't say that I'm a fan of it though.  I thought I followed the instructions to the letter, but my icing came out grainy, and I hate to say, it was just a tad weird for me.  Sorry, Isa.  I only iced one cupcake for the photo, and just left the other eleven nekkid.  I'd rather have a nice traditional cream cheese icing on my red velvet cupcakes, so I'll try that the next time I bake these.

And I will bake these again.  They were easy, inexpensive, pretty, and most important of all: delicious and moist!  Run out and buy Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, or use the Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes recipe I found online, but do make these cupcakes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

~BigSis

Posted under Holidays

So, you wanna see my shoe closet, BigSis?  Well, I know you won't be surprised to find out that I do not have a color photo of each pair of shoes on the outside of a plastic Container Store shoe box. For some reason, I've never liked keeping my shoes in boxes. I'm sure it's better for the shoe to be tucked away in a dust free box, but I tried it once and it bothered me. I like to keep my shoes in racks or on shelves so I can see them.  Right now, I have a combination of the two. The top ranked favorites get the shelf.

Now, when a new pair comes into the picture, another has to get demoted to the rack, as the shelves are full.

Here are my two shoe racks. Oh, and did you say you like black shoes? I have a few myself.

Here's the other rack. These are the least worn and in line to be donated to a local womens shelter.  I usually go through my closet a couple of times a year and donate those that haven't been worn for a while.

And I always keep two pair of running shoes handy, just on the floor in my closet, not in a nice hanging shoe bag. When I buy a new pair for running on the street, the old pair gets is used for running on the beach. And, I've got my baby blue pair of converse just for casual running around.

So, now you know how I keep my shoes organized. Nothing fancy.

I definitely think that we will have to talk about the P-Touch Labeler at a later date, when we're ready to talk about another obsession:  office supplies.  I've got a cute, cute set of little baby erasers shaped like little pastries that I'm about to order. (They were so popular that they've been on back order.)  I'll share those with everyone soon!

Are we weird, or do we both just have a mild case of OCD?

~LilSis

Posted under Shopping