[Are tiaras tacky?]

I vote wear it.

 

Granted, I have been known to play dress up with my daughter and forget to take my tiara off before going outside to work in the garden. My neighbor thinks it's hilarious.

[what else would i like if i liked Doc Martin?]

Definitely Kingdom. I really wish they had done another series or a Christmas special or something.

 

Foyle's War and Inspector Lewis are really good too, if you like mysteries. And if you want something more cheerful, Jeeves and Wooster (the one with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie) is awesome.

[Ikea lovers, help me out please!]

I love the idea of bookshelves on either side of the desks, and I've been thinking of doing something similar on a smaller scale in the kids' rooms with Expedits.

 

Maybe some of the other posters would know how Billy bookcases hold up over time. My sisters had one and the shelves started to buckle after a year or two, but that may have been a fluke. They had a lot of textbooks on the shelves but it wasn't like they were climbing them or anything lol.

[Are YOU going to dress up for Halloween?]

We're doing costumes at work (although I was planning to do a costume this year anyway). I'm Clara from Doctor Who, and my boss is going to be the Doctor.

[Meal Planning...does this exist?]

Rachel Ray had a show like that - I think it was called Week In A Day - where you would cook one day and get 5 meals out of it. I think there are still reruns on the Cooking Channel, but you can probably find the recipes on her website. Sandra Lee might have had something similar, but it's been ages since I watched any of her shows.

[Glossy paint over wallpaper-ish stuff?]

I would prime first. Would a paint store have any suggestions for removing the paper instead, though? Glossy paint really highlights every little flaw in the wall.

[What is your favorite common store brand of balsamic vinegar?]

I second Costco's Kirkland brand.

[Large Family Place Settings? Just Plates? Corelle?]

I've dropped Corelle plates on granite counters and the plates were fine. Their everyday line that you can find at places like Walmart is pretty indestructible.

[What to do with the child who wants to save everything?]

Could you take a picture of the items and then have the pictures cycle through as the screen saver on the computer? That's what we did with my son's artwork/projects and he loves it.

[Not to miss classic books for Middle School and younger?]

I loved the Oz books when I was that age. I want to say there are 14 of them, but I'm not positive about that. They're a fun, very quirky read.

[Comparing LL Bean & Lands End .....]

My husband swears by the LLBean rugby robe. It's the fleece lined one with the hood. He got it in the tall size so it's closer to ankle length and he lives in that thing in the winter.

[Code box near front door]

I used to live in a neighborhood with a large Jewish population, and a lot of the houses had keyless locks, so that was my first guess. Most of the ones I saw had the keypad on the door itself, but maybe this is an older model?

[What do you cook when you want to use up a bunch of veggies and/or meat?]

Pasta salad or an omelet/frittata type thing.

[Things you never thought you would say prior to kids...]

This week has been variations of "I don't care how angry you are, you can't threaten to put your sister in the garbage can." Sigh.

[Being overprotective or just using common sense?]

Normally I would expect an 18 year old to get themselves where they need to go.

 

What makes me hesitate here is that your daughter herself is uncomfortable walking alone. That's going to show in her body language, and that plus a dicey neighborhood is not a good combination.

 

If she's the one driving, I don't think you tagging along is babying her.

[What to do with apples]

I've used them diced up in split pea soup when I didn't have carrots. I actually prefer pea soup that way now, even though it sounds weird. :)

[Sweden]

Ikea. I was on their website today trying to figure out bookshelves.

 

Next would be Wallander.

 

Not that Sweden doesn't have plenty of other awesome aspects - those two happened to have come up in my life this week.

[Hand cream]

I'd go with Aveeno or the Avon lotion mentioned above. I have fairly sensitive skin and both worked well.

[knitting the Dr. Who 4th Doctor scarf......]

It's definitely doable - I made one for my sister a year or two ago. The knitting itself is easy; it just seems like the scarf never ends. I'm pretty sure I used the pattern that unsinkable posted, but I used less expensive yarn from Michael's. I want to say it cost about $20-25 to make.

[Would the movie Chariots of Fire be interesting for a 13 and 10 yr old?]

I saw it around that age and I enjoyed it, but I ran track so I might have been more interested than the average 13 year old would be.

 

Honestly, I don't recall the profanity. If I had to take a guess, the one Jewish character or his coach may have had racial slurs directed at them, but it's been years since I saw it so I can't swear to that. I would pre-watch it before writing the movie off entirely.

[Fountain pens?]

As far as cheap and decent go, I love the Pilot Varsity pens. They're disposable, come in a bunch of colors, and a 7 pack is usually $10-15 on Amazon.

[If you were starting from scratch: painting walls and trim]

Depends. My old apartment had blue trim and buttery yellow walls in the kitchen nook. It had a cheery, country kitchen feel to it without screaming 1980s.

[If somebody needed to tell you that you snore so loudly...]

I'd have no issue elbowing him in the ribs at 2am and saying "Dude, you're not breathing. Do something about it or I wash my hands of this nonsense." I'm so not sympathetic when I'm sleep deprived...

[Do you wash swimsuits after every wearing?]

If we're not going to use them again for awhile, yes. Otherwise I just rinse them in the sink and let them drip dry.

[Is your white Ikea furniture really white? Does it stay really white?]

If you haven't painted the trim yet, and you have to paint it anyway, couldn't you just paint it the same antique white as the expedits? That sounds like less work than painting the shelves.