Everyone knows that you need tongs, a spatula or two, a decent knife set, yadda yadda yadda.

But what do you do when you’ve reached that intermediate stage of cooking – that no-man’s land of not a n00b but not a professional either? Such lost and wandering souls go to Williams-Sonoma and boggle over all of the slots holding items in the Tools wall, and stare vacuously at the mounted and labeled samples like one would at butterflies skewered by pins in the Natural History Museum.

Fear not! The Czarina has compiled a list of kitchen tools that you now need, you cute graduate you! Alternatively, you can “suggest” your significant other buy them for you this holiday season. And by suggest, I mean that you should buy a bunch of them for yourself and proclaim proudly to your partner, “Look what you bought me! Aren’t you nice?”

On to the goodies:

Read more »

So, we’ve been talking a lot about interesting things you should buy and fascinating things that you should do, and all of this costs money. Where are you going to get that play money when you are supposed to be saving for retirement? When you are supposed to be acquiring a rainy day fund?

The Czarina is going to let you in on a little secret: you know that “vintage” furniture or junk that you don’t want anymore, like that hideous floral ceramic foo dog with the clock in his stomach from Aunt Gertie? Someone else wants it. You can make money from it. And then you can use this money to have a good time. You know how the Czarina knows? She’s run about 10 moving and yard sales so far, and she can tell you that people will cheerfully buy the ugliest abominations imaginable. But the Thing is only ugly to you! To others that bionic foo dog with a floral affliction is pure art.

The idea of having a garage, moving, or yard sale tends to give people the heebie jeebies. It can feel overwhelming and not worth the trouble. However, with a few simple tips, it is definitely worth it (of which there is some) and it isn’t too overwhelming (it can even be fun!). The last two garage sales the Czar and Czarina held raked in $400 and $300. They promptly used some of that money to go out to dinner at Restaurant Gary Danko.

Read on for how to make money by uncluttering your living space.

Read more »

Ah, yes, fancy party planning. Coordinating your very own special event can be fascinating and exciting, or it can be completely miserable. The key to making the experience the former is to be organized, and prepared to ask many, many questions.

When the Czar and Czarina got married, the first thing they did was to sit down and create a list of questions to ask the special event manager at the chosen venue. This list was originally compiled from many different sources, and was later modified from our own experiences as we interviewed over 10 potential sites. We used this checklist not only for our self-coordinated wedding, but also for the Czar’s recent major birthday milestone held here in Chicago at a luxury hotel. Download this free tool (you will need Adobe Reader to view it) and use it as you seek the perfect venue for your perfect special event. There are a few blank lines included so that you can customize the sheet for any other questions relevant to your specific party. Read on for a few extra tips and tricks based on the Czar’s and Czarina’s experiences.

Stylefool Special Event Checklist - download here

[digg_plugin]digg_this|mode:compact|position:right|[/digg_plugin]

Read more »