Adulthood has its nemesis…

Several years ago I had an unfortunate accident.

23 year old me had quite a lovely collection of wines in my little wine rack, a rack purchased especially from Pier One because it was so pretty. Above the pretty little wine rack rested a shelf on the wall, installed by moi (therein lies the antagonist of this story.) And there they sat for many months, the shelf collecting knick-knacks (and some dust), the wine rack struggling to maintain capacity against my daily requirement to sample its wares. Successfully, I eventually had filled each hole with a different bottle of wine, mostly red, with pride.

One evening, having dinner in my little dining room with friends, laughing and joking, we heard a “CRASH!” from across the room. You guessed it: my shelf had fallen prey to my abominable handiwork and flaw-filled installation and come crashing down onto the wine rack. Gasp! And there went several of my red wines, broken and spilled onto the almost-white carpet of my rental townhome!

Oh. My. Goodness. All I could see were dollar signs before my eyes as I imagined the bill for having to replace the carpet in the house.

Just my luck.

From behind me a friend said, “Quick, pick up the broken glass and sop up as much of the liquid as possible.”

I was skeptical. I didn’t think that would help much. After all, it was red wine. RED. The color of blood, of broken dreams, of my landlord’s eyes when she saw what happened.

But my friend-in-shining-armor just smiled, grabbed baking soda and vinegar, and poured both onto the stains. A few treatments of pouring and dabbing and the stain was slinking away. She promised to return the following day with her steam cleaner in tow to finish the job.

And guess what. It worked.

Baking soda and vinegar saved my carpet, and my security deposit, from destruction. Hallelujah. Miracles do happen.

In the many (many, many) years since that incident, little hacks like the baking soda and vinegar one have saved my behind in a crunch. How about you? I know we’ve all begged the heaven’s for a little help now and then.

So in tribute to the Great Wine Debacle of…Yesteryear (I’m seriously not saying WHAT year, which would be silly!) I present to you:

Life Hacks!!

1) Painting a room but it’s taking longer than a day? Put the wet brush or roller into a zip lock bag (or a plastic bag with a rubber band) and zip the wet paint in! It will keep it moist for a couple of days, but beware of molds forming if you wait too long!

2) No room in under the sink? Hang a curtain rod up, then hang your cleaners on the rod! Voila!

3) Spilled wax when blowing out that candle? If it is on carpet or fabric simply place a washcloth over the spill, then use an iron to transfer the wax from the carpet to the rag!

4) Grease on your clothes? Rub white chalk over the stain. The chalk absorbs the stain

5) Use a squeegee (you know, for the shower?) to pull pet hair out of the carpet!

6) Dirty microwave? Fill a bowl with water and vinegar and microwave it, allowing the steam to loosen dried food or messes, making it simple to wipe away!

7) Put a stocking over the end of the vacuum hose to find tiny items, such as earrings

8) If you mess up a voicemail to someone, simply press “#” to erase and re-record

9) Adding one teaspoon of baking soda when boiling eggs makes the shell remove easier

10) And in honor of the Great Wine Debacle: Freeze grapes to chill white wine without watering it down!

You’re welcome ;)

~A